Live Review: Conor Oberst, The Felice Brothers

Twilight At Taronga may be the best way to watch live music over summer: cruise past the tree kangaroos and elephants, down onto the lush green and sprawl on a picnic rug to sip white wine, with a view of the sun setting over the harbour (and fireworks over the Opera House on the way out, wow).

Conor Oberst’s touring backing band The Felice Brothers had their turn in the spotlight, opening for the emo-Americana singer-songwriter. It was standard bluegrass fare, becoming more polished as the set wore on, with Oberst making a guest vocal appearance.

Conor Oberst, all shaggy hair and brooding vocals, acoustic guitar slung across his torso, set out to make the assembled crowd cry. He was successful.

It’s a tour for his 2014 record Upside Down Mountain, so Zigzagging Toward The Light, Time Forgot and Hundreds Of Ways got a run: his folk turn is skilled, the mark of a singer-songwriter evolving over 20 years, but it was the Bright Eyes songs that got the crowd hooked and singing along and – yes – crying.

He’s an assured performer with a real command of the stage, but what’s really piquing punters’ interest is a weird sense of nostalgia, that 15-year-old angst made valid by the knowledge that you weren’t – and are not – alone in feeling alone, best captured in the closing song and squealing breakdown of Easy/Lucky/Free.

The moments of the most poignancy came when Oberst took to the stage on his own: Milk Thistle and First Day Of My Life standing out as tear-jerkers, although Bright Eyes’ later record Cassadaga was also represented with Four Winds and its standout violin section. We dare you not to cry when Oberst’s voice cracks with emotion: “She just can’t sustain the pressure where it’s placed. She caves…”