Bright Eyes in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall

Bright Eyes returned to London's Royal Albert Hall for what may be the last time on June 23rd. After lead singer Conor Oberst suggested in a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone that he wanted to "clean it up, lock the door, say goodbye." referring to the “Bright Eyes moniker” that he, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott have spent the last 16 years forming, the feeling that recent release ‘The People’s Key’ would be the band’s last effort seemed apparent.  

'The People's Key' is reportedly Bright Eyes last album

So to get the chance to attend this memorable occasion was special, after being a self-proclaimed admirer of all things Oberst, and a follower of all his projects, including super – band Monsters of Folk and Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, yet Bright Eyes has always held a special place in my musical spectrum, and one of those bands I can always understand the meaning and purpose of their songs, of which there is in abundance. 

Their new record however, released in February has a much more rocky feel than the bands previous outings, progressing from the more self – reflective folk sounds of I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning and Lifted or The Story is in the Soul, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, to the more indie rock sounds of Cassadaga.

Oberst himself has claimed that the band is over the sound that became their trademark, and rather than pursue acoustic instruments like their past, the band wanted to pursue a more contemporary style, at the expense of ‘country’.  

Speaking to Billboard, Oberst explained:

“I never thought we were very country at all. But whatever that element is or that aesthetic is, I guess it's worn a little thin for me these days.”

But to label Bright Eyes simply under ‘country’ is too simple, and they deserve more than that. Each album they’ve ever released has a new sound, and with that comes a different sense of what they are trying to portray. As cited by many, Oberst is seen as a modern day Dylan, with his ability to articulate the most subtle of emotions with sensitivity and accuracy, without ever seeming pretentious. Whilst his lyrics have been criticised for being overly melodramatic and ‘depressing’, personally I’ve never been able to accept this, as the poetic verses he creates reflect more about the true virtue of the human condition than most of any music I’ve ever listened to.

Johhny and Jenny were one of the support acts

So after one of the strongest support acts I’d seen at a gig in Johnny and Jenny composed of the wonderful Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley fame and her boyfriend Johnathon Rice (check them out here), as well as Welsh singer Gruff Rhys, whose first instrument of choice was a pair a electronic drumsticks much like a pair I once received for Christmas. Both acts, who are already fairly established artists warmed the crowd up nicely, and even seemed humbled by the opportunity to support for Bright Eyes, of which there was clearly much respect.

Obviously keen to promote the new record, the band started with Firewall, letting the surreal monologue from Danny Brewer play out before the band even get on stage  (“If there is no such thing as time, you're already there, and you're controlling this cycle.”), but then illuminating Oberst under a single flash red light, whilst the thousands of onlookers gazed on in awe.

Oberst was a strange performer. He seemed hesitant at first and took his time to settle into the atmosphere, even going as far to sing sections of songs with his back to the crowd. But just the admiration of his presence was enough for the crowd, and his demeanour purely added to the intimacy of his songwriting.

The first key song of the night was Four Winds, a high energy, fast paced track which exemplified the direction Bright Eyes obviously wanted to take, in shaking the roof off the famous Royal Albert Hall.

They mixed up the set list well (see bottom), and although understandably heavy in The People’s Key, the decision to play a variety of much older material really paid off for the diehard fans, as 2002 song Bowl of Oranges grabbed a massive reaction from the audience, maybe even in surprise that the band would reach that deeply into their repertoire, and relay one of the oldest, yet most beloved tracks.

Yet as I’ve already touched on, Bright Eyes are over their old material, and although their audience are most definitely not, the inclusion of new tracks such as the gospel sounding Shell Games, which erupts into a fully synthesized parade, emphasising everything great about the new sound. But amongst the many highlights, the latest single Jejune Stars stood out. Backed by a frantic lighting setup (see for yourself) which followed the booming intro perfectly, the song was again heavy on the synthesizers, a real facet of The People’s Key. Yet the band seemed so much more energetic to the new material, obviously relishing in the ability to progress into rock, with Oberst jumping round the stage, embracing both the audience and the music, as any good front man should do.

         

How to follow such a high intensity song such as Jejune Stars I hear you ask? With one the best Bright Eyes songs, the epic No One Would Riot For Less (left) would be the answer. The 6 minute wonder about “the end of the world” as Oberst put it, echoed round the Royal Albert Hall beautifully, with the lone guitar and organ taking full use of the acoustics of the venue, until the song bursts into life with a it cathartic climax (around 3:55); a perfect gig song for the group. 

So brings us to the highlight.

From I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning; Poison Oak (right) was the choice, one of my favourite songs of all time. A song so powerful, it reduced the man sitting next to me to tears, and he was a big fella. Illuminated by a single, low key light and accompanied by Mogis on the slide guitar, Oberst encapsulated the audience with his classic song with a ambiguous meaning, and for all the times I have listened to it I have never concretely figured it out. But nonetheless, it was spectacular, and a true example of Oberst’s ability to convey a way of thought of thousands of people without cliché or repetition.

The show ended with the most introspective song of the new record, Ladder Song, a song more in keeping with Oberst’s ‘traditional’ songwriting. By this stage, the whole band bar Walcott have left, leaving just Oberst to sit at the keyboard.

Hair covering his face, and a single beam of light showcasing the blooms of smoke around Oberst’s face, but for all the lighting and preparation in the world, when you have songs like Ladder Song under your belt, all you need is a piano and a microphone, check it out below. 

It was the perfect way to end the set, and an encore was demanded. After perfect renditions of Landlocked Blues and Road to Joy, sandwiched by an intimate introduction of the band, the group decided to end on One For You, One For Me, the final track off the new album. A song clearly about unity, Oberst embraced the loving crowd, clambering to each side of the stage to harness the love garnered for him. One man even managed to catch a hug, and almost broke down in disbelief.

 It was a wonderful spectacle to witness, yet once all of this was over; the sense that this may never be experienced again was saddening. Although the decision to want to move on from the Bright Eyes is an understandable one, as Mogis and Obersts musical interests span countless genres, so their indulgence in as many as possible cannot be ignored. But if this is their last record, and their last tour, although the legions of Bright Eyes fans will never be lost, you can’t help but feel that the essence that the group have managed to create over the years will never be achieved with other projects. Although Monsters of Folk are very good, and the inclusion of the brilliant M Ward is mouth watering on a technical level, personally I don’t think they can ever hold a candle to Bright Eyes, which is a shame.

But if this is the end, what a way to go out.  


Full Set list

Firewall

Haile Selassie

Take it Easy (Love Nothing

Four Winds

Bowl of Oranges

Old Soul Song

Shell Games

Approximate Sunlight

Arc of Time

Jejune Stars

No One Would Riot For Less

Cartoon Blues

Lover I Don’t Have to Love

Poison Oak

Another Travelin’ Song

Calendar Hung Itself

Ladder Song

Encore

Landlocked Blues

Road to Joy

One For You, One For Me

Can Murray win Wimbledon?

Murray goes into Wimbledon playing some of the tennis of his career

So it all kicks off this week. The time when everyone starts getting back into tennis for real. But always one question remains, can the guy flying the flag for Britain finally victor? It's been 75 years since the last British winner in Fred Perry, and look what happened to him. The first player to ever complete a Career Grand Slam. by winning all the major tournaments, and even has his name paraded around the streets of 'high fashion' these days.

So a Brit winning Wimbeldon is kind of a big deal. But can Murray do it?

Fresh from his promising victory at Queens, and a near miss at Rolland Garros, this year seems as good as any to claim that title the likes of Tim Henman or Greg Rusedski could only dream about.

But with a potentially mouthwatering semi - final clash lined up with Rafael Nadal, and the seemingly unstoppable form of both him, Djokovic and Federer seem to be in of late, he's going to have the play the tennis of his career.

So one thing that his been noted about Murray, besides his unbelievable technical ability and fitness, is his ability to play his best tennis when he is down and seeming fragile.

Do Murray's outbursts fuel or hinder him?

But this attribute has it's weakness.

Sure he's able to find another gear when he's playing poor against a top 50 player, and even a top 10, as he showed against Viktor Troicki in the 4th round at the French Open, recovering from 2 sets down and a number of broken rackets to eventually win. But against a world class plater like Nadal or Djokovic, these lapses in focus and concentration purely act to fuel his oppositions confidence.

Take the French Open semi - final for instance. Murray lost a tightly fought first set 6-4 to Nadal, and from there, screams of frustration from across the court was music to Nadal's ears, and he was able to use this to his own advantage and secure victory.

By venting his frustration, Murray actually harms rather than composes himself, and although it's always great to see a player hate losing as much a Murray does, as it shows his passion, he's never going to achieve the greatness he deserves if it isn't worked on.

You never see the likes of Nadal or Federer losing control when they're playing poorly, they are able to compose themselves, and due to they're mental strength, never give anything away to the opponent.
Murray has come out recently claiming that he will never lose the emotional intensity of his game, which is a valid point, but positioning those emotions into grand slam winning focus is the key, and this monstrous feat that will take complete mental control from Andy.

OK, I'm not saying that this form of frustration is entirely adverse, as McEnroe's famous outbursts showcased, but most often, even as can be seen below, Federer and Djokovic have been seen losing they're focus, but mainly due to supposed errors from the umpires, and in the last few years, they're mental developments have increasingly lowered these instances.

Even Murray himself has noted that his on court demeanour must improve if he is ever to compete for the top prizes, claiming "it is something that has to get better" but at the same time, he explains how turning up the intensity at certain points in a game has positive effects on his performance.

"It's about picking your moments to get pumped up. It's not a problem to get angry or upset. It's about not doing it throughout the match."

Murray went on to add: "There is always the danger of getting too frustrated and going into Wimbledon, I have to stay level headed and then, when the time is right, use up some of that emotional energy on court."

So Murray is obviously aware of the potential effect of his outbursts but whether Murray's new coaching team, headed by Darren Cahill are able to implement these strategic moments into Murray's game, or whether this will just come with age and experience as it has done with top 3 remains to be seen. But Wimbledon will certainly give us a strong indication of that, and the directions Andy is taking in improving his game, as he, and everyone around him knows he has the capability to emulate the great Fred Perry, and get his named printed on some polo tops in years to come.

Ringwood Raceway: Banger Heaven

Pictures courtesy of Dan Moth

I’ll be honest, stock car and banger racing had never appealed to me in the past. I live 5 minutes away from a main raceway in Arlington, East Sussex when not at university, but I’ve never been, and had never really considered a visit. But when I was invited to attend a bank holiday event at the local racetrack, Ringwood Raceway, situated just outside Bournemouth, I couldn’t resist but attend, even if through blanket curiosity, and an urge to find out more.

Ringwood Raceway was opened in the mid 1950’s and events run regularly from January through May, and commence again in August after the summer break. I attended a special bank holiday event, which included 4 hours of straight racing from a variety of car formulas. As less than a stock car racing expert, I was told the day would include; rookie banger racing, hot rods, thunder rods, junior rods, and the jaw dropping spectacle that is caravan bangers, or ‘caravan chaos’ as was reverberated around the arena by our commentator for the day.

My immediate attraction was of course the banger racing, as mindless destruction is always a satisfying force, and it didn’t fail to deliver. Within the first lap of the first race, there had already been 4 retirements, with blooms of smoke filling the air and the course laden with fresh debris. But this race wasn’t just a reckless surge to destroy opponents (that was saved for later with the caravans); it was part of the rookie British bangers championship, with £400 prize money up for grabs. So whilst the drivers obviously relished the adrenaline rush that comes from such high intensity racing, and found room for ‘exaggerated collisions’ for the spectator’s amusement, these guys wanted to win, and that was clear throughout the whole day.

Wandering through the pits before the races exemplified this.

A massive space filled with around 100 cars, each with mechanics making their last final adjustments to their cars, preparing for battle.

And with this, broke one of my main presumptions of banger racing, in that it was primarily a cheap way for aspiring racers and adrenaline junkies to get their latest fix, without anything ever being at stake.  But this was far from the case; cars had travelled from far and away to compete in the event, and seemed genuinely disheartened when their cars were barely able to roll off the track.  This obviously comes with the sport, and destruction is part of the appeal, but the pride the drivers took in their cars preparation was certainly striking.

Yet all of this purely fuelled the environment, and created the electric atmosphere like nothing I had ever experienced before. The roar of the cars approaching the track, the first corner mayhem, the photo finishes and the greater sense of community was exciting to experience, if only for the day.

The sense of family within the pits as I walked around was contagious, and you really felt the people involved were in their element, and had such a rich sense of belonging, partaking in the hobby they loved.

One of the main appeals of stock car racing is obviously its accessibility. With day licences to race at £20 and a year licence at just £45, the opportunities to partake in such a high intensity sport cannot be rivalled. And whilst the cost of cars is an additional expense, many of the cars involved were picked up for between £200 & £300,and from the state of many of the cars I saw before the races, they had certainly been put to good use. 

But what of the dangers of the sport?

Kids as young as 5 were rallying the latest crash and the true excitement of the day often came with danger, as both the bangers, and the caravan chaos attracted the most audience participation. Whilst there are strict regulations on the content of the cars, such as no glass, no flammable materials, and bolts on the bonnet to prevent it flying up into the drivers, the structure is still essentially a stripped down, average car, with little thorough reinforcement. I asked keen stock car enthusiast and official photographer at Ringwood Raceway Daniel Moth about the dangers of the sport.

“The nature of the sport means injuries are never uncommon, but they’re not as frequent as you may imagine, and never are they ever serious”

So whilst the danger element is not one to glazed over, the drivers are fully aware of the risks held for them, and choose to participate willingly anyway, and due to the number of moderations made to the car, safety is improved tenfold.

The day wasn’t just about banger racing though, but held host to a number of different competitions, including a personal highlight of the junior rods, which featured competitors as young as 10 firing their way around the oval race track. Some of the talent on show from such young drivers was truly impressive, with one girl winning all three races with impeccable displays, even when starting back of the grid. This wide scope of participants was so fresh to see in a sport like this, as often sports with such intensity are often guarded away from young people, as ‘for their own good’, but here it was openly embraced by all of the audience, which was fantastic.

This was then followed by a series of hot rod races, featuring the fastest cars on offer at the event. These thrilling races were amongst the hottest contested of the day, and the fast paced action roars of each car was reminiscent of NASCAR racing, if only on a smaller scale.

With the climactic ‘caravan chaos’ destruction derby as a finale for the day, people’s excitement really began to grew as the commentator urged us to step away from the guarding fence as to avoid flying debris from decimated caravans.

Not a bad way to build to tension for the forthcoming event. But he wasn’t lying.

The finale: Caravan Chaos saw complete destruction across the whole track

Within the first few laps, past caravans lay in shreds around the course, and a massive pile up prevented other drivers from even using the main track. It certainly was a fitting finale, as the course lay laden with ex-holiday homes, and everyone just about recovered from the hectic 10 minutes that preceded them.

So as the day came to an end, and another successful exhibition over, I felt nothing but content having experienced this wonderfully uniting force, witnessing everyone chipping in to help bundle out the annihilated remains just helped reinforce the sense of family at the event. So whilst banger and stock car racing may never reach the popularity it probably deserves, the richness, and not to mention the pleasure of utter chaos that it spread to me within just one day, it’s certainly worth a try.

To find out more about upcoming events at Ringwood Raceway, visit http://trojaninternational.co.uk/