Bright Eyes Lead Singer Goes On Profane Election Eve Rant About Prop 3 During Kalamazoo Show
Going to see Bright Eyes live in 2022 is a little bit of a lottery of its own. Based on recent tour dates, you never know if you're going to get one of the best or arguably most off the rails shows imaginable. Fans of the band are aware of it, and take it as a challenge to see what they're going to get like a surprise toy at the bottom of a cereal box.
The crowd at the Kalamazoo State Theatre last night was treated to one of Connor Oberst's most electric performances of the 2022 tour season. In Bright Eyes' first return to the Kalamazoo State Theatre since 2007, Conor and his band played several songs that have rarely been seen live including "Bowl of Oranges", and "In An Attempt To Tip The Scales", a song which has only been played live one other time.
But, when Connor Oberst addressed the crowd midway through the show, he asked the date and realized it was election eve. He started into the song "Spring Cleaning", which starts with the lyrics "Amy's got a baby in her stomach" and immediately called off the band and stopped the show.
Oberst addressed the crowd and said, "Can you believe that we have to vote on abortion rights? It's f---ed up. My mother and her friends fought for these rights, and now we have to vote for them again".
The crowd didn't seem to disagree with his rant, and he went back into the song seamlessly. But, it was strangely awesome to see such a national figure have such a strong opinion on our local politics.