Show Review: Bright Eyes starts 2025 with packed Arizona performance

The winter chill thawed for one night when Bright Eyes resumed their headlining tour with a kickoff show at The Van Buren in Phoenix. After last year’s cancellation, hopeful fans turned up in huge numbers for one of the first big events of the new year. 

The band took the stage with little fanfare but the cheers from the crowd brought smiles to everyone’s faces. Singer Conor Oberst wasted no time jumping into the setlist from 2024, including “Bells and Whistles” and “El Capitan”. Fans shouted praises and requests in the infrequent lulls between songs and one bold attendee even tossed a shirt onstage as a gift for Oberst. 

A wide range of ages was represented in the room and they all sang along boisterously to both older favorites and songs from the the band’s latest album, Five Dice, All Threes. Oberst spoke sparingly between songs but the gratitude from the group was earnest and palpable. “First Day of My Life” was a clear favorite (and one of their most popular songs overall) before the mix of new and classic continued.

This show was long-awaited and finally reaching this point was a breath of fresh air after a stagnant winter season. After an hour of warm energy, the band returned for an encore that included the first performance of “June on the West Coast”- Arizona lyrical references included- in over ten years. The night ended with rousing, stomping renditions of “The Calendar Hung Itself…” and “One for You, One for Me”. Fans left The Van Buren in high spirits, ready to take on a brand new year with the energy of this amazing show behind them.