Conor Oberst at the 9:30 Club (Mehan Jayasuriya)

NEXT »

« PREVIOUS

The last time we saw Conor Oberst at the 9:30 Club, performing under his Bright Eyes moniker just prior to the release of Cassadaga in 2007, the mood in the room was quite different. Oberst had decided to draw a line in the sand and accordingly, refused to play anything from his extensive back catalog. His fans, however, weren't having it, shouting out requests at every opportunity (naturally, alongside screams of "I love you Conor!"). This clearly irritated Oberst and about halfway through the set, he finally snapped. “You know all those songs you’re yelling out? Yeah, we actually played those,” he sneered at the tweens in the front row. “You’re just five years too late.”

Oberst's performance this past Monday was of a far different tenor, but that's likely the result of better managed expectations. This time around, he was performing under his given name, alongside his new backing ensemble, The Mystic Valley Band. As such, most of the fans who showed up probably didn't expect much more than tunes from Oberst's latest, self-titled LP of folk-rock, and that's precisely what they got, alongside a smattering of new songs and a couple of covers.

Hitting the stage in a sweater and cowboy boots, with a fedora slung low over his eyes, Oberst looked like he was playing the part of the troubadour in the school play - a role he's increasingly tried to embody as his once schizophrenic catalog has veered further toward full-band Americana in recent years. Upon first stepping up to the microphone he seemed a bit sluggish, lethargic even, but that likely had more to do with the fact that the opening band wasn't an easy act to follow.

If Americana is a genre that's as preoccupied with authenticity as many seem to think it is, The Felice Brothers should have no trouble winning over fans based on credibility alone. Hailing from the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, this five-piece country-rock band employs traditional folk instruments — the fiddle, the accordion, the washboard — to create rollicking, up-tempo barn-burners. But that's not all. The three brothers Felice got their start playing at cookouts organized by their carpenter dad, and are said to have recorded one of their albums in a chicken coop. That last experience apparently paid off, as on Monday night, the band had the audience pecking out of the palm of their hand: clapping along, cheering on command and hopping up and down to the band's loose folk jams. While the music undoubtedly had a lot to do with it, the fact that the band looked like they were genuinely having fun certainly didn't hurt.

Oberst, by way of contrast, is known for his morose stage presence, and while he's certainly lightened up in recent years, he could still give Morrissey a run for the "Pope of Mope" title. Kicking off with a few mid-tempo numbers from Conor Oberst, the band slowly worked its way into a groove, eventually picking up steam on the ode to escapism, "Moab". Throughout the show, the audience was respectful, if a little indifferent toward the new material, and this appeared to put Oberst at ease. At one point, he even picked up a pink balloon that someone had thrown onstage and read the love note that was scribbled on its surface, remarking that it was from "a secret admirer, or maybe, a not-so-secret admirer."

Seeing how Oberst has now spent such a large portion of his life in the spotlight, it was a little strange seeing him hide behind that fedora for the bulk of the set. He's decided both to take a step back and to share his slice of the limelight with others. "I Got a Reason #1" found drummer (and Rilo Kiley member) Jason Boesel taking a turn on vocals, and later in the set, the band would debut a new song without Oberst ("I slept too late to sound check today, so I didn't get to learn that one," Oberst explained). In contrast to some of Oberst's previous backing ensembles, The Mystic Valley Band is starting to sound just like just that — a rock and roll band — and on no song was this more apparent than "NYC - Gone, Gone". Amid handclaps, stomps and a bluesy riff, Oberst led the room in a chant: “Gone, gone to New York City / Where you gonna go with a head that empty?” This marked the only point during the night where Oberst and company would approach the egalitarian momentum built up by the Felice Brothers.

For their encore, the band selected a fantastic, if unusual, set of songs. On "Sun Down", the breezy title track from Mystic Valley Band guitarist and solo artist Nik Freitas' most recent LP, Oberst and Freitas sang a duet, bringing a bit of California sunshine to an otherwise cold Washington night. They followed up with a cover of Bob Dylan's take on the 12-bar blues standard "Corrina, Corrina", and heaped on a generous helping of blues riffs and saloon piano (just how Bobby likes it). Closing with the best song from his self-titled LP, the comic, life affirming, "I Don't Want to Die in the Hospital", Oberst appeared to finally hit his stride. Standing on top of the drum risers, dressed from head to toe in denim, holding his guitar over his head like his old buddy M. Ward and shaking his hips like Elvis, Oberst looked, at last, like the road-tested Troubadour he has long aspired to become.