2016 Folks Fest addition: Conor Oberst

[BluegrassBrian]

It's #FolksFriday, so we've got another huge addition to share for the 2016 Folks Fest lineup...

Conor Oberst   (!!!!!)
www.conoroberst.com
(headlining on Saturday, August 20)

Conor Oberst has been writing and recording music since 1993 from his home base in Omaha, Nebraska. An inspiring collaborator and bandleader, and remarkably prolific singer-songwriter, Conor has recorded and performed with Monsters of Folk, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Park Ave., Desaparecidos, and most notably Bright Eyes, his main musical vehicle for the past decade.

Conor's last solo album, 2014's Upside Down Mountain (Nonesuch) was hailed in a glowing 4-star Rolling Stone review as a "sumptuous immersion in Seventies California folk pop."

Conor played a memorable 2009 set on the Telluride Bluegrass stage, and we're thrilled to welcome him to Lyons for the first time this August.

As one starting point, here's Conor's Tiny Desk Concert (with Dawes as his backing band):
   youtube.com/watch?v=NIfTCmwgIbY

[BluegrassBrian]

Due to some scheduling issues, we've had to move Conor's performance date to Saturday, August 20.  (He was originally announced to perform on Friday night).

If you ordered single-day tickets for Friday night specifically to see Conor Oberst, give us a call in the office and we'll work with you to exchange those for Saturday tickets...  800-624-2422.

(Though... keep an eye on the Forum in the next few days for the announcement of our Friday night headliner... You might end up wanting to join us both days!)

[acustode]

Everyone is talking about how badly he sucked. WHY or WHY would you have that many guitarists on stage who weren't tight and who were somewhat out of tune. Such a disappointment that he had the honor of the best slot of the festival when he was so beneath the bar set by others. There was a mass exodus after his first 2 songs. Please don't invite him back... or at least do a survey first... I'm fairly certain I'm not alone in my sentiments (and I'm someone who always appreciates the diversity FolksFest brings).

[lwirbel]

I completely disagree, Acustode. I thought Oberst's set was fine. While I've always liked his music, I enjoyed his decision to go for rowdy country. And most of the people I was with agreed with me. But then again, I thought some of the finest sets were those by DakhaBrakha, Andrew Bird, Accidentals, Darlingside. It's the predictable mellow or Southern-rock music by folks like Lone Bellow and Darrell Scott that I find much less interesting.

 Listening to: Califone, Lydia Loveless

[retsin2000]

Needed more guitar.

[Sap]

good lord  lwirbel - you'd have to be his mom or dad to defend that train wreck.

it was not a bad show because he went for "rowdy country", it was a bad show because he was drunk, out of tune, sang out of tune (his wife couldn't sing very well either), couldn't talk to the audience, couldn't stand up straight, couldn't hold his guitar or adjust his guitar, couldn't remember words, etc, etc.    He tuned his guitar into the monitor for pete's sake.    complete unprofessional train wreck.    We were actually wondering if he got paid his full amount.   

Worst headliner (that would actually be a good thread) in Folks history in my opinion.   I have never seen that many people stream out of the headliner show.  I have never seen a headliner not do an encore (not that anyone wanted more Conor).   

On the bright side, he gave us all a new drunken catchphrase - "Les go!"


I do agree with you on DakhaBrakha and the Accidentals.  Those were two of our favorites of the weekend.

[Nowhereman]

  's go, y'all!!

When Mavis Staples described the next evening how well the artists were being "taken care of" backstage someone next to me commented, "Well, that would explain Conor's set!!"

[lwirbel]

Sap, what's surprising is I talked to a lot of people who thought Lucinda was drunk, more so than Conor, and I had to explain to them that she naturally slurs her words. But with a tight band behind her like Buick 6, her whole set sounded great.