suprise suprise, yesterday conor oberst and the mystic valley band came to town.... to play a sold out show at the 681 capacity variety playhouse. of course i was there. in the front.... right up under conor's microphone. im sure you would expect nothing less from me... :]

jen and i spent about half the day up in little five points where the variety playhouse is located. its this really cool little neighborhood in atlanta where all the hipsters live. anyways, they have this awesome assortment of shops (vitage, kitschy, fetishy, and a lot of botique type shops selling pricey alterna-wear.) about three hours beforehand we went back over to the variety and scoped out the line. there were already two people in it, so we decided why not and joined them. i must say, we made friends with the first about 8 people. they became our new bffs. it was definitely the most fun ive ever had hanging out with people before the show. when it was about thirty minutes before doors opened, i went with two of my new friends to a pub up the road to use the loo because they wanted to grab a drink. i walked towards the bathroom in the back and lo and behold, mr. oberst was sitting there eating dinner. moggers, you will never know the supreme amount of self control it took for me not to go over there. i didnt want to interrupt his dinner, and look crazy rude doing it. i am crazy, i am obsessed, but appearantly i even have a little bit of dignity. but i am going to have to have a little conversation with the concert gods about my two narrow misses with my fav artists. its just not fair.

the first band that opened was called RIG 1(i thought they were saying their name was red wine, but their name was really RIG 1 lol). and they were just awful in my opinion. AWFUL. straight up CRAP. usually i can find at least one redeeming feature for a band, but with them i couldnt find any. they were a white boy rap band (like some cheap super nerdy beastie boys wannabes) and they just did not fit in. AT ALL. i might have liked them better if they had been opening for someone else. but they just really werent the same style as the felice bros or conor & co. so i iphoned the whole time they played their set.

then the felice brothers played. its the third time ive seen them and DAMN! they never fail to entertain. their brand of rock and roll made everyone want to dance. so we all did. they just put on a really good show. i highly recommend seeing them live if you get a chance. after they played, i was a little worried that conor might not be able to top their set. they were just that ON.

i shouldnt have worried though. conors set of 19 song was the best two hours of music ive ever heard. well maybe. its at least tied with ben gibbard's solo gig i saw last may. but, i think it even topped when i saw him as bright eyes last, i think it even topped when i saw conor with jenny at the ryman! the last time i heard him he played all the songs on his album, and about half of those were slower. and nobody stood up at all until he played i dont want to die in the hospital. this time, he played a good number of new songs, and many of them were faster songs. i stood there in front of his microphone and danced the whole time! it was seriously the most fun ive had at a concert in a long time. conor is just so HAPPY with the mystic valley and i love that. bright eyes music just speaks to me, and the slower songs he does with the mystic valley band remind me too much of his bright eyes stuff, and then it makes me want to hear old BE favorites. the faster songs he does with the mystic valley band are the ones that really shine, and really stand out to me as something new and different from bright eyes. the encore was especially amazing for me, because when he sang danny callahan during the line "you reach out your hand" conor reached out his hand, and i reached out mine, and for all of about three seconds we held hands. our eyes met. we smiled at each other. and in that moment, i swear we were infinite. (lol i have been waiting years to use that line!) it was epic. actually, i like to think it was some small karmic reward for my amazing display of self control. but anyways, it made my night. he didnt hold anyones elses hand or look at them! hah! could i get any lamer?

i did get a set list (again). but i gave it to my friend jen who rode to the concert with me, because somebody very wise once sang in a song "if you love something give it away". so i did.

PICTURES:

the felice bros.

conor oberst and the mystic valley band :]

i took em with no flash, because i love them too much to be rude and flash in their faces (but mainly conor's, because thats where i was located)

set list:

you can find my lovely vid of conor at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAz3NgTsWys