Bright Eyes Finishes Strong In Omaha!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

It was a historic evening for the Omaha music scene at the Astro Theater on Sunday (4.27.25). Legendary Indie acts Bright Eyes and Cursive finished their tour in their home town to a solid crowd of friends and passionate fans. If you've kept up with Stories From The Crowd all these years you know I'm a massive Saddle Creek fan. From Bright Eyes and Cursive to The Faint and Azure Ray, these bands shaped my musical taste growing up. Having Saddle Creek in my own backyard was just a massive bonus.

When I saw Cursive and Bright Eyes were touring together I was incredibly excited. I had just shot photos of Cursive back in October so to get to see them again so soon was a dream. To add icing to the cake there were no other openers and the show started at 7:00! My old back was overjoyed. Cursive took the stage and the crowd was ready for the hometown heroes. With whoops and hollers the evening was starting off great. Tim and the crew ripped into "Bloodbather" from their latest release Devourer (which is phenomenal by the way. I picked up a vinyl copy at the show). The song creeps up on you with a slow dreamy jangle riff, but soon Matt is laying down a funky groove and Megan is layering in those haunting strings. Tim's visual lyrics tell a story of self-hatred and fighting your inner conscience.

Like many Cursive shows I've seen previously, the band did a great job of presenting new songs followed by an old favorite. They know how to keep the audience engaged and play to their die-hard fans like myself. They followed up "Bloodbather" with the classic "Shallow Means, Deep Ends" from their 2000 masterpiece "Domestica". I've probably listened to Domestica a hundred times and it never gets old. It's one of those no-skip albums that will forever be a classic. Flipping back to a cut from Devourer , Cursive played "Dead End Days", an upbeat tune with some dreadful lyrics about the state of America.

"Dead end days, all we get is poorer, painting ourselves into a corner." "Who can afford a home, who qualifies for business loans, the banks are our masters. So bring on the debt, we've all got a ransom on our heads. Some bigger than others."

I could comment on every song in the set honestly, but the highlights for me personally were "Sierra" from The Ugly Organ, and a couple cuts from Happy Hollow "Rise Up! Rise Up! and "Big Bang." But let's not forget the special guest on "The Recluse/Lover I Don't Have To Love" mashup. Conor from Bright Eyes sneakily made his way up to the front of the stage in a jacket with his hood up to add his vocals. The crowd went nuts and honestly I was pretty stoked too. I was able to snap a couple pics and I thought about trying to take a video but no, this was a special moment that will live forever in my mind. There's this annoying social urge to capture everything on video, but will we really play it back? Maybe once to show our friends? I'm not against getting some video at shows, but my suggestion would always be to try and live in the moment and just enjoy life as it comes.

Cursive finished the set with "From The Hips" which builds into a cathartic wall of sound that's so satisfying. The crowd cheered as Tim lifted his guitar in triumph and thanked everyone for coming out.

After some stage setup it was time for the man of the hour! Conor and his band broke into the whimsical "Bells and Whistles" from Bright Eyes' latest album Five Dice, All Threes and the crowd danced in celebration. I looked back and many people on the front row were singing along with smiles from ear to ear. I really enjoyed the new album and got to hear a lot of cuts from it including "El Capitan", "Bas Jan Ander", "Tiny Suicides", "Soul Singer in a Session Band", and "Rainbow Overpass".

I actually got to say hi to Conor at the Cursive show last fall. I don't know if he still lives in Omaha full time or if he's on the coast or what, but it was cool to run into him in the wild. I told him that I really liked Five Dice, All Threes but he was a bit withdrawn. It's funny how people can be so energetic and entertaining on stage but much more reserved in every day passing. To quote Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed I wasn't a "punisher", I just told him that at the last show he played one of my favorite songs "Calendar Hung Itself" and I left it at that.

Bright Eyes was on fire from start to finish. Conor's voice sounded great! Minus a few breaks for some sinus issues he didn't let it get him down. You could tell Conor was having a great time with the hometown crowd. He was dancing all over the stage, and talked a lot in between songs, but he never ranted for too long. I know Conor can get on his soapbox sometimes which can make people uncomfortable, but I really appreciated his more political remarks. Essentially he was saying how these times are getting very worrisome and we need to band together against all forms of hate. "Stick together Omaha". I whole heartedly agree! Let's look out for people that look different than us and help everywhere we can.

Being that this was the final show of the tour and their hometown Conor brought out Tim from Cursive for "Nothing Gets Crossed Out" and Ted Stevens for "Hypnotist (Song for Daniel H)" an old Lullaby for the Working Class song. The culmination of years of shows and so many good memories had me in the feels! "Nothing Gets Crossed Out" is so heartfelt.

"But I'm tryin' to take some comfort in written words

Yeah Tim, I heard your album and it's better than good

When you get off tour, I think we should

Hang and black out together

'Cause I've been feeling sentimental for days gone by

All those summers singing, drinking, laughing, wasting our time

Remember all those songs and the way we smiled

In those basements made of music?"

To see Tim up there singing with Conor after all these years was so incredible. Omaha's music scene is one of the best around and I'm super grateful to play a small part in it. Bright Eyes finished out the set with "Let's Not S*!t Ourselves (To Love and Be Loved) and the room exploded with cheers. People got up to dance like they'd never get another chance. Conor shred his electric blue guitar and struck the mic stand down leaving all of his energy on the stage. He thanked the crowd and said how much he loved Omaha before calling it a night. Another amazing show and tour in the books!

This really was a fun one. Thanks so much to Bright Eyes management for photo access and to the Astro staff for their hospitality. Thanks so much for reading and we'll see you at the next one!

Bright Eyes Setlist

Bells and Whistles

El Capitan

Method Acting

We Are Nowhere and It's Now

Four Winds

Bas Jan Ander

First Day of My Life

Mariana Trench

Soul Singer in a Session Band

Loose Leaves

Persona non grata/Spring Cleaning