Oberst and Bright Eyes rock on despite rain (says W is an idiot)

Full story: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1458&u_sid=2191102

Published Sunday
June 18, 2006

Oberst and Bright Eyes rock on despite rain

BY KRISTIN ZAGURSKI AND JOSEFINA LOZA


WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS

The rain was heavy and the crowd wasn't gigantic, but homegrown indie rocker Conor Oberst and his Bright Eyes bandmates rocked out Saturday night before thousands of soaked fans at Memorial Park.

Oberst's group took the stage about 8:10 p.m. It started pouring about five minutes later, continuing for about 45 minutes.

"If you don't care about the rain, then we don't either," Oberst told the crowd. "We're going to play as long as you want us to play."

The crowd's cheers amused Oberst, who looked up from under the hoodie that was tightly fastened around his head.

Before the concert began at 6 p.m., Mayor Mike Fahey introduced Bright Eyes and the other two acts for the free concert, Omaha band Neva Dinova and Welsh singer Gruff Rhys.

"We wanted to do something to say 'thank you' to Omaha's youth," Fahey said. He welcomed "locally grown, nationally known" Oberst.

Bright Eyes gave a powerful performance, despite the downpour. The band played until about 9:45 p.m.


Conor Oberst performs at the free concert in Memorial Park on Saturday.

Toward the end of the show, Oberst made political comments, even though he said the city had encouraged him not to.

"That's not how my mother raised me," Oberst said.

He said President Bush was an "idiot," and he condemned the Nebraska Legislature for approving a plan to split the Omaha Public Schools into three districts, one mostly white and two mostly minority.

"We have to get together as a city," Oberst said. "I will move out of this city if that's what it's going to be like."

I'd damn near kill to see Bright Eyes. Brilliant stuff.

Oberst is amazing.

I work for the City of Omaha (see union logo in my sig file) Parks Dept. I get to help clean up the leftover mess in the mud today.

• Photo gallery: Bright Eyes rocks Memorial Park

I hope this works.

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