Latest news with #BrightEyes
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst Attends His Own Lookalike Concert in Nebraska
Indie-rock veteran Conor Oberst has become the latest musician to be the focus of a lookalike contest, with the Bright Eyes frontman going so far as to show up at the event. Taking place on Friday (Aug. 1) at Omaha, NE community space Floors, Floors, Floors, the event was first announced in early July as a fundraiser for youth music organization Omaha Girls Rock. More from Billboard Katy Perry Fan Collapses on Stage During Lifetimes Tour Stop in Detroit Roger Daltrey Labels Zak Starkey's Exit Comments 'Character Assassination' David Roach, Junkyard Vocalist and Frontman, Dies at 59 Having initially 'started as a joke,' attendees were invited to attend dressed as Oberst as part of the lookalike competition, with the indie-rock motif being underlined by the promise of the first 40 people to show up being given a single American Spirit cigarette. Playing into the humor of the event on social media, one commenter had previously asked what the contingency plan would be if the real Oberst attended the festivities, with organizers noting that 'he can play but he can't win.' However, in a recap of the evening, the winner of the competition revealed that despite a limited number of entrants, both Oberst and his Bright Eyes bandmate Mike Nogis attended the event, with Oberst bestowing the victor with a 'giant trash bag' full of his old clothes. 'I was cleaning out my closet so you get a big bag of my clothing,' Oberst can be heard saying in a video from the night. The competition took place just weeks after Bright Eyes wrapped up the European leg of their ongoing tour in support of 2024 album Five Dice, All Threes, and days after the release of their new song '1st World Blues.' The band will be hitting the road later this month for a run of North American dates, with further shows in Asia scheduled for November and December. The concept of lookalike competitions being recognized by their subjects is far from a new one. In October, a Manhattan Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest featured the actor making a guest appearance, while December saw Drake donating $10,000 to the prize pot of a competition focused on him. Famously, Dolly Parton also attended her own lookalike contest, though rather than simply show up, the country icon decided to compete – ultimately failing to take home the grand prize. 'All of these other beautiful drag queens had worked for months and weeks getting their clothes and all that, and they were dressed like me,' Parton recalled to ABC's Nightline in 2012. 'So, I just got in the line and I just walked across [the stage] and they just thought I was some little, short gay guy. And I got the least applause but I was just dying laughing inside. I say it's a good thing I was a girl or I'd be a drag queen.' Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart Solve the daily Crossword
Metro
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
00's rock icon attends his own lookalike contest with a bag of old clothes
A 2000s rock legend showed up to his own lookalike contest in Omaha, Nebraska, delighting fans. The event was held on August 1 as a benefit for Omaha Girls Rock, a music education scheme in the Nebraska city. Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, who is from Omaha, even gifted a bag of his clothes to the winner who was voted to look the most like the singer. The contest gave participants the opportunity to perform karaoke of Bright Eyes' songs together, holding a single cigarette provided by the contest. When Oberst turned up, fans were thrilled to see the singer-songwriter had brought a bag of his own clothes (unceremoniously placed in a garbage bag) that he ultimately gifted to the winner. The winner of the competition wrote on X: 'This will let y'all know who I am but tonight I went to a Conor Oberst lookalike contest and no one showed up so I grabbed some different clothes, came back, and entered. He showed up. I won. And I got photos with him and won a garbage bag of his old clothes.' Bright Eyes, known for hit songs like First Day of My Life and Lua, released their album Five Dice, All Threes' last year. Speaking about the project in an interview with NME, Oberst said: 'This time, I still hope the songs resonate and have equal amounts of meaning, but as far as the sounds and approach to the music, it's a bit lighter. More Trending 'The word 'fun' is very rarely used to describe my band, but maybe it is a bit more fun,' he continued. 'When we last went on tour we were cruising around with a 14-piece band and strings and horns. This record is going to be just guitars; rock and roll stuff.' In recent years, it's become something of a trend for celebrities to make surprise appearances at their own lookalike contests. Glen Powell turned up at one in Austin, Texas last November, promising a film cameo to the winner's family. A month earlier, Timothée Chalamet went incognito at a similar event in New York. Drake took it a step further in Toronto, awarding $10,000 to the winner who most looked like him. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Truth behind Hulk Hogan's two year feud with daughter Brooke finally revealed MORE: Mick Jagger, 82, considering another baby with girlfriend, 38, 'if fate allows' MORE: Country legend Jeannie Seely dies aged 85, months after her husband
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst: ‘There was a time I wished I'd never made music'
In the mid-90s, Omaha made a pretty decent tour stop for up-and-coming bands. Nebraska sits near-plum in the US's middle, and in its most populous city, once famed for its fur trade, stockyards and railroads, there had grown a thriving subculture that centred largely on a book and record store named the Antiquarium and a small venue named the Cog Factory. Conor Oberst spent much of his early teens puttering between these locations, filling his young brain with music and literature. By 12, he had begun writing his own songs, and by 13 he had recorded his first album, releasing it on his older brother's label and selling it in the record store. Sometimes he would take to the stage at the Cog Factory, a small, pale boy with an acoustic guitar and a lot of words. He had already begun recording as Bright Eyes by the time the Texas band Spoon came through town. Oberst and his friends were huge fans, and turned up to the venue early to see the band arrive. 'We loved Spoon,' he says. 'But we didn't know what anyone in the bands looked like, never seen their pictures. These vans pull up outside the club and you're like: 'I wonder which one's the singer?' There was a lot more mystery and fun to it then.'It would be another five years or so by the time Bright Eyes found success – by now a band rather than a solo project, they were widely feted for their fourth album, 2002's Lifted Or the Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, followed by their twin 2005 records I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. By that time, the world was a very different place. Music and media were growing increasingly digitised, and the US was grappling with the presidency of George W Bush and the controversies of the Iraq war. Oberst, whose songs were heartfelt and literate and politically engaged, carrying titles such as When the President Talks to God, became the poster boy of a new generation. His face was everywhere. When Bright Eyes' tour bus pulled up at the venue, everyone knew he was the singer. 'What happened to me wasn't at all overnight because I had been touring since I was 15 years old, and at this point I'm 25,' he says. 'But still, I think when that big push of fame or public persona, identity thing happened to me, it definitely affected me. I definitely felt the insanity of it.' In many ways, the last 20 years of Oberst's career have been an attempt to shake off that intensity and find the mystery and the fun of music again. 'It is a hard thing to hold on to, that innocence, and what you loved about music sometimes,' he says. Nevertheless, he has tried to grip tightly to that feeling; to remember what music is to him beyond a career. He learned the hard way, he says, that there is not much music in the music business. 'But what I will say is music is consistently something that gives my life meaning, and is a source of solace and happiness – not just making it, but listening to it, and seeing people I love doing it,' he says. 'Besides family and friends and loved ones, I would say it's the most consistent thing in my life. There's nothing else. I'm not religious, I'm not really a member of too many clubs or anything, it's kind of just music that's gotten me through it.' The past few years have not always been easy for Oberst – there has been a divorce, the sudden loss of one of his brothers and, in late 2013, an allegation of sexual assault by a female fan. By the following summer, the allegations had been dropped, and the accuser had apologised both to Oberst and to 'actual sexual assault victims'. It is not a time the singer is keen to revisit. He speaks steadily, carefully, and gently declines to go on the record about the specificities of what happened. But one gathers that it led to the period he refers to now as 'a time when I wished I never had made music, and wished no one had ever heard it. And that's about the saddest feeling in the world when that's your whole life, just wanting to not exist.' What he will also say is that music played an integral part in helping him back out into the world again. 'I go into music as a place to understand what's going on. That's a place that I know I can go that's just for myself,' he says. 'But it's all in your mind, so it's up to you to take care of it and tend the garden. And sometimes if you're not feeling well physically or otherwise, or the world's got you down, you stop weeding the garden and the next thing you know your mind's just overrun and snarled. The forest takes over the grounds, and it's pretty dark.' Across the screen, Oberst looks small and bleary and slightly disoriented in his hoodie. 'But you know, things tend to come back around and get better, and worse, and better again,' he says. 'So it's just trying to stay alive through those parts that seem insurmountable. And next thing you know I'm out here with some of my oldest, best friends in the world and everyone's having fun,' he says, with a nod to the room behind him, a grey backstage space at the MegaCorp Pavilion in Newport, Kentucky, where Bright Eyes are on tour with fellow Omaha natives, Cursive. 'This particular leg of this tour is probably the most old-school touring situation I've had for decades. It has been a relief of sorts to be travelling on tour buses again, hanging out till 4am, just fucking smoking weed in parking lots. Playing music. It's great. It's like nothing changed.' Last autumn, Bright Eyes released their 11th album, Five Dice, All Threes. It is their most limber record in some while, capturing a kind of musical camaraderie between Oberst and his longstanding bandmates Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott. For Oberst, the record 'definitely captures that sort of youthful punk rock spirit that maybe I'd forgotten about'. He credits this rekindling in part to his friend Alex Levine, who helped in the writing of the songs at a point where the singer had 'definitely lost interest in kind of everything'. 'He was working at other studios with other people, and he'd come back and I'd still be sitting there on the porch, and he'd be like: 'Why don't we work on something?' The first few times I was like: 'Oh I'm good, man, let's just sit around, I don't care.' And then he wore me down, and next thing we know we're making demos. I think I really do have him to thank for lighting the fire.' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion The fire is not only musical. Oberst today seems once again politically ignited, railing against Elon Musk, the anti-immigrant crackdown, the dismantling of academic centres and legal processes, the attack on trans rights and the funnelling of public money into private contracts, against an administration he describes as 'the greatest grift of all time'. It is a return of sorts to his earlier self: 'I feel there might have been a period in maybe my early 30s where I was like: 'I should, like, grow up. You shouldn't be angsty towards the world. You should turn into this real acceptable thing that a lot of people can get behind,'' he says. 'Because people like the idea of anger more than they like anger. They like the performative aspect. But the thing is, I really feel it. I really fucking hate these things and I always have, and it's hard because I can't not show it.' Lately, at the band's live shows, he has been encouraging his audiences to speak up. 'The world is more fucked up and keeps getting more fucked up so I don't think it's time to act measured,' he says. 'What I've been saying to the kids at the shows every night is you can't wait. By the time you realise how bad it is, it's too late, and that's just something we know from history. Don't wait till it's cool to go down to the park and protest. There's an alarm bell going off above our heads right now and we should all be screaming at the top of our fucking lungs.' He thinks back sometimes to those teenage years in Omaha, when Rage Against the Machine were pretty much the only common musical ground he could find with the high-school jocks, and wonders whether any of them were aware that they were essentially listening to the communist manifesto. 'But it slipped into suburban houses, and it did a public service 'cos it influenced all these people. It turned a bunch of them into political activists,' he says. Each night, Oberst looks out from the stage into the crowd and sees a whole new audience before him, from little kids to an eightysomething woman there with her grandson, via people his own age, and 'straight-up teenagers that could've been at a Bright Eyes show in 1999'. Somehow, amid all the darkness, he finds a hope in this crowd – perhaps even evidence of the role that music has to play in resistance. 'I think music is magical,' he says, 'I think it can cross all political lines.' Bright Eyes tour the UK and Ireland from 16 to 25 June; tour starts Nottingham.
Axios
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Weezer is among the acts headlining Bumbershoot in 2025
This year's Bumbershoot festival will feature performances from Weezer, Bright Eyes and Car Seat Headrest, among other acts. The latest: Organizers released the music lineup Wednesday for the longrunning Seattle arts festival, which will be held at Seattle Center Aug. 30-31. Zoom in: Other performers will include Janelle Monáe, Sylvan Esso, Indigo De Souza, Tennis, Scowl, The Linda Lindas, Real Estate, Murder City Devils and Spellling.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bright Eyes and Cursive Team Up for Charity Song 'Recluse I Don't Have to Love': Stream
The post Bright Eyes and Cursive Team Up for Charity Song 'Recluse I Don't Have to Love': Stream appeared first on Consequence. Just before their tour together, Bright Eyes and Cursive have teamed up for a new song. 'Recluse I Don't Have to Love' is a mashup track of two of the longtime collaborators' most well-known tracks: Bright Eyes' 'Lover I Don't Have to Love' and Cursive's 'The Recluse.' Stream it below. Released on National Transgender Day of Visibility, the single is available to buy through Bandcamp, with all funds going directly to the Poison Oak Project, Bright Eyes' non-profit. According to Poison Oak's mission statement, the organization's goal is to 'foster a more just and affirming world for LGBTQ+ people in America,' with a special focus on trans individuals. Get Bright Eyes Tickets Here The song came together at the suggestion of Carly Maginn, the spouse of Cursive's frontman Matt Maginn. One night while Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst played 'Lover I Don't Have to Love,' Carly noted that the track's lyrics and melody lined up well with Cursive's 'The Recluse.' Now, the scenario has finally been realized. Bright Eyes have already kicked off their 2025 tour, which previously featured Hurray for the Riff Raff as a supporting act. Going forward, their next show is on April 1st in Colorado, with later stops in Chicago, Brooklyn, Omaha, and more (get tickets here). Cursive will provide support starting April 3rd, with their last show on April 26th. Bright Eyes will then head to the UK and Europe with their final show currently slated for July 12th at Lisbon's NOS Alive Festival. Bright Eyes' latest album, Five Dice, All Threes, was released in September 2024 via Dead Oceans. Cursive released their 10th album, Devourer, last September via Run for Cover Records. Check out Bright Eyes' 2025 schedule below, including the shows Cursive will provide support on. In the meantime, revisit Consequence's 20-year retrospective on Bright Eyes' simultaneous releases, I'm Wide Awake and It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Bright Eyes 2025 Tour Dates: 04/01 — Fort Collins, CO @ Washington's 04/03 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee # 04/04 — St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre # 04/05 — Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed # 04/06 — Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection # 04/08 — Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre # 04/09 — Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre # 04/10 — Toronto, ON @ History # 04/11 — Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Riverworks # 04/12 — Huntington, NY @ The Paramount # 04/13 — Portland, ME @ State Theatre # 04/15 — South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground # 04/17 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount # 04/18 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues # 04/19 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia # 04/20 — Washington, D.C. @ The Anthem # 04/22 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre # 04/23 — Newport, KY @ MegaCorp Pavilion # 04/24 — Louisville, KY @ Old Forester's Paristown Hall # 04/25 — Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre # 04/26 — West Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom # 04/27 — Omaha, NE @ The Astro # 06/16 — Nottingham, UK @ Rock City 06/17 — Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy 06/18 — Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy 06/20 — Dublin, IE @ The National Stadium 06/21 — Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall 06/22 — Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland 06/24 — Wolverhampton, UK @ Wulfun Hall 06/25 — London, UK @ O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire 06/27 — Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje 06/28 — Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik 06/29 — Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt 07/01 — Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller 07/02 — Stockholm, SE @ Fållan 07/03 — Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival 2025 07/05 — Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter 2025 07/06 — Amsterdam, NL @ Bostheater 07/07 — Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria 07/09 — Barcelona, ES @ Apolo 07/10 — Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool 07/11 — Gibraltar-spain Neutral Zone, Spain @ Gozo Festival 2025 07/12 — Lisbon, PT @ NOS Alive # = w/ Cursive Bright Eyes and Cursive Team Up for Charity Song 'Recluse I Don't Have to Love': Stream Jaeden Pinder Popular Posts Morgan Wallen Walks Off SNL Stage: "Get Me to God's Country" Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl Halftime Show Received 125 FCC Complaints Chet Hanks Recreates Forrest Gump Scenes with Tom Hanks in New Music Video: Watch Gorillaz Confirm 2025 Release for New Album Heart's Nancy Wilson: It's "Embarrassing" To Be an American Right Now Bodies of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa Remain Unclaimed Over a Month After Their Deaths Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
