President Donald Trump has spent much of his second term fanning the flames of bigotry. He’s signed executive orders and issued statements meant to demonize already marginalized people, including immigrants and transgender Americans.
And Conor Oberst, for one, has had enough.
The Bright Eyes frontman mounted an emphatic rebuke of the 47th president and his lackeys midway through the band’s April 18 performance at Citizens House of Blues Boston. In it, Oberst lamented the erroneous deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the detainment of Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“That was terrifying. That will live with me,” Oberst said of the viral video capturing Öztürk’s arrest. “It was like an episode of ‘Watchmen’ … where the cops all have to wear masks because they’re doing something f—ing illegal.”
The five-minute, expletive-laden tirade also tackled the erosion of reproductive rights, Republicans’ aim to sow division across the nation and the Trump administration’s research funding freeze at nearby Harvard University.
Oberst and his bandmates’ righteous indignation over the White House’s increasingly controversial measures fueled the two-hour set from beginning to end.
During the opening song, “Bells and Whistles,” an energetic Oberst spun about the stage, whipping his shoulder-length black hair. Possessed and lacking spatial awareness, he routinely found himself mere inches from collision with his Bright Eyes collaborators. Later, during an encore rendition of “One for You, One for Me,” a visibly exhausted Oberst nearly stumbled off the stage.
Although Oberst’s rebellious antics and spirited rhetoric kept the crowd engaged throughout, what really brought it to life was, of course, the music. Unsurprisingly, Bright Eyes mostly played tracks from their latest album “Five Dice, All Threes” and the band’s acclaimed, folk-infused LP “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning,” which turned 20 in January.
“First Day of My Life,” from the latter release, was a highlight that slightly diverged from the studio version’s production while maintaining its wistful quality. Unlike the original, occasional tambourine hits, maracas shakes and banjo string plucks accompanied Oberst’s soft vocals.
From the same album, “Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)” details an anti-war protest — at the time, the United States government was weighing an invasion of the Middle East. This live iteration was a rousing one, again propelled by qualms with the current Republican administration.
“Grey light, new day leaks through the window / An old soul song comes on the alarm clock radio,” Oberst began gently, his vocals more conversational than melodic. “We walk the 40 blocks to the middle / Of the place we heard where everything would be / And there were barricades to keep us off the street / But the crowd kept pushing forward / ‘Til they swallowed the police.”
His voice gradually grew in volume before finally exploding into a harsh, throaty belt that the audience, too, adopted: “Yeah, they went wild / Yeah, they went wild / Yeah, they went wild.”
It was nothing short of cathartic.
“Rainbow Overpass,” an uptempo, punk rock-influenced track from “Five Dice, All Threes,” offered fans a similar release. They shouted and jumped alongside Oberst, shaking the 16-year-old venue in turn: “So, I’m not slowing down / No, I’m not slowing down / And I’m not slowing down, I’m speeding up.”
Peppered with acerbic, politically-charged commentary, Bright Eyes’ performance not only left its frontman dizzy with excitement but triggered a newfound determination to combat injustice.
After all, as Oberst said in his aforementioned rant: “We need to do everything we possibly can to resist what’s happening right now.”
