Bright Eyes played the first of three special shows celebrating the 21st anniversaries of their classic albums I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn on Tuesday, May 12th.
Playing at Morrison’s Red Rocks, Conor Oberst and co. first played the folk-indebted I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning in its entirety before ceding the stage to indie vet Ben Kweller. Following his set, they returned to perform the more electronic Digital Ash in a Digital Urn from front to back.
Tuesday marked the first time Bright Eyes had played many of the songs from Digital Ash in two decades or more, including “Time Code,” “Devil in the Details,” “Ship in a Bottle,” “Light Pollution,” and “Theme from Pinata.”
While kicking off the encore with an instrumental version of “America the Beautiful,” Bright Eyes projected a defiant political statement behind them, calling for the abolishment of ICE and giving a lesson on the history of slavery and immigration.
“ICE is now Trump’s private paramilitary,” the message read in part. “It is now the most well-funded law enforcement agency in American history. Its officers routinely terrorize our friends and neighbors, disappearing innocent people, clad in masks, driving unmarked cars, murdering its own citizens.”
It continued, “ICE should be abolished immediately and their officers should be prosecuted for their crimes. The arc of the moral universe bends towards justice. Trans rights are human rights… America is indeed beautiful when we make it the real home of the brave.”
Closing out the evening, Bright Eyes performed 2002’s “Lover I Don’t Have to Love” and 2007’s “Make a Plan to Love Me” before bringing out Kweller for “Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved).”
Check out fan-shot footage and the full setlist below.
Bright Eyes will play two more anniversary shows in the coming weeks. The first is at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on May 23rd with The Moldy Peaches, followed by a gig at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium with Built to Spill on June 6th. Tickets can be purchased here.
‘Let’s Not Shit Ourselves’ encore at Red Rocks
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Bright Eyes Setlist
I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
At the Bottom of Everything
We Are Nowhere and It’s Now
Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)
Lua
Train Under Water
First Day of My Life
Another Travelin’ Song
Land Locked Blues (with Emma Ogier)
Poison Oak
Road to Joy
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
Time Code (First time since 2005)
Gold Mine Gutted
Arc of Time (Time Code) (First time since 2011)
Down in a Rabbit Hole
Take It Easy (Love Nothing)
Hit the Switch
I Believe in Symmetry
Devil in the Details (First time since 2005)
Ship in a Bottle (First time since 2006)
Light Pollution (First time since 2020)
Theme from Pinata (First time since 2005)
Easy/Lucky/Free
Encore
America the Beautiful (Instrumental)
Lover I Don’t Have to Love
Make a Plan to Love Me
Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved) [with Ben Kweller]
