{"id":484375,"date":"2026-05-14T13:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/484375\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:57:07","slug":"watch-bright-eyes-play-classics-im-wide-awake-its-morning-and-digital-ash-in-a-digital-urn-in-full-as-they-kick-off-21st-anniversary-shows-at-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/484375\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Bright Eyes play classics \u2018I\u2019m Wide Awake, It\u2019s Morning\u2019 and \u2018Digital Ash in a Digital Urn\u2019 in full as they kick off 21st anniversary shows at Red Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bright Eyes<\/a> have celebrated the 21st anniversary of classic albums \u2018I\u2019m Wide Awake, It\u2019s Morning\u2019 and \u2018Digital Ash in a Digital Urn\u2019 by playing them in their entirety at Red Rocks. Check out footage and the setlist below.<\/p>\n

The gig at the Colorado amphitheater took place on Tuesday (May 12) as the first of three special anniversary shows the band have lined-up.<\/p>\n

All three of the shows see them mark the milestone by playing sixth album \u2018I\u2019m Wide Awake, It\u2019s Morning\u2019 in full, as well as seventh LP \u2018Digital Ash in a Digital Urn\u2019 and some other fan favourites.<\/p>\n

Taking to the stage on Tuesday, Conor Oberst<\/a> and co. kicked things off by playing \u2018I\u2019m Wide Awake\u2026\u2019 in full, chronological order, with back-to-back renditions of \u2018At the Bottom of Everything\u2019, \u2018We Are Nowhere and It\u2019s Now\u2019, \u2018Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)\u2019, \u2018Lua\u2019, \u2018Train Under Water\u2019 and more.<\/p>\n

\n

Zoom in on Mike soaking it all in<\/a>
byu\/zemogKA<\/a> inbrighteyes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

From there they took a breather and introduced indie star Ben Kweller<\/a> to the stage for a set, before returning to play their seventh record in full.<\/p>\n

That part of the show saw them play \u2018Time Code\u2019, \u2018Devil In The Details\u2019, \u2018Ship In A Bottle\u2019 and \u2018Theme From Pinata\u2019 all for the first time in two decades. It also included the first rendition of \u2018Arc of Time (Time Code)\u2019 since 2011, as well as more frequently played songs \u2018Down IN A Rabbit Hole\u2019, \u2018Hit The Switch\u2019 and more.<\/p>\n

For the encore, Bright Eyes played an instrumental version of \u2018America The Beautiful\u2019, before closing things off with \u2018Lover I Don\u2019t Have to Love\u2019, \u2018Make a Plan to Love Me\u2019 and \u2018Let\u2019s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved)\u2019 with Ben Kweller.<\/p>\n

For the instrumental version of \u2018America The Beautiful\u2019, the indie icons projected an anti-ICE message behind them.<\/p>\n

\n

America the Beautiful screens 5\/12<\/a>
byu\/phoy44<\/a> inbrighteyes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cICE is now Trump\u2019s private paramilitary,\u201d it read. \u201cIt is now the most well-funded law enforcement agency in American history. Its officers routinely terrorise our friends and neighbors, disappearing innocent people, clad in masks, driving unmarked cars, murdering its own citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another section read: \u201cICE should be abolished immediately and their officers should be prosecuted for their crimes. The arc of the moral universe bends towards justice. Trans rights are human rights\u2026 America is indeed beautiful when we make it the real home of the brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find more footage and the complete setlist below.<\/p>\n

\n

Theme to Pi\u00f1ata \u2013 1st time played live<\/a>
byu\/CaleDestroys<\/a> inbrighteyes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bright Eyes\u2019 setlist was:<\/strong>
\n\u2018I\u2019m Wide Awake, It\u2019s Morning\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018At the Bottom of Everything\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018We Are Nowhere and It\u2019s Now\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Lua\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Train Under Water\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018First Day of My Life\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Another Travelin\u2019 Song\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Land Locked Blues\u2019 (with Emma Ogier)<\/strong>
\u2018Poison Oak\u2019<\/strong>
Road to Joy\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Digital Ash in a Digital Urn\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Time Code\u2019 (First time since 2005)<\/strong>
\u2018Gold Mine Gutted\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Arc of Time (Time Code)\u2019 (First time since 2011)<\/strong>
\u2018Down in a Rabbit Hole\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Take It Easy (Love Nothing)\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Hit the Switch\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018I Believe in Symmetry\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Devil in the Details\u2019 (First time since 2005)<\/strong>
\u2018Ship in a Bottle\u2019 (First time since 2006)<\/strong>
\u2018Light Pollution\u2019 (First time since 2020)<\/strong>
\u2018Theme from Pinata\u2019 (First time since 2005)<\/strong>
\u2018Easy\/Lucky\/Free\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Encore<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018America the Beautiful\u2019 (Instrumental)<\/strong>
\u2018Lover I Don\u2019t Have to Love\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Make a Plan to Love Me\u2019<\/strong>
\u2018Let\u2019s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved)\u2019 (with Ben Kweller)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next anniversary show will be held at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on May 23, with support from The Moldy Peaches<\/a>, and from there Bright Eyes will play at the Forest Hills Stadium in New York on June 6 with support from Built To Spill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In other news about the indie stars, last year, frontman Conor Oberst showed up to his own lookalike contest in Omaha<\/a>, gifting a bag of his clothes to the winner.<\/p>\n

The year before then, the band dropped the album \u2018Five Dice, All Threes\u2019 to critical acclaim, which included collaborations with Cat Power<\/a>, The National<\/a>\u2019s Matt Berninger<\/a> and the So So Glos\u2019 Alex Orange Drink.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the record in an interview with NME<\/a>, the frontman said: \u201cThis time, I still hope the songs resonate and have equal amounts of meaning, but as far as the sounds and approach to the music, it\u2019s a bit lighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word \u2018fun\u2019 is very rarely used to describe my band, but maybe it is a bit more fun,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhen we last went on tour we were cruising around with a 14-piece band and strings and horns. This record is going to be just guitars; rock and roll stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bright Eyes have celebrated the 21st anniversary of classic albums \u2018I\u2019m Wide Awake, It\u2019s Morning\u2019 and \u2018Digital Ash…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[18,117,19,6082,17,337],"class_list":{"0":"post-484375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-indie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-music"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116573283700982983","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}