Conor Oberst has a reputation for being a weirdo. This is done by the founder and front man of the band project Bright Eyes, with whom he made a guest appearance in the Muffathalle on Friday, at the beginning of the concert. His hair hangs in his eyes. Jeans peek out from under the knee-length white shirt. The first song “Dance and Sing” is from the current, long-awaited album “Down in the Weeds, where the World once was”. The piece is about the broken world through which you have to dance. Colonel is also dancing, waving his arms, it looks wild.
The 42-year-old is an indie rock icon. He achieved this status with a great feeling for songwriting and his unique voice, whose conscious trembling harbors the possibility of an emotional volcano erupting at any time. But at the concert he mostly roars about the music played by his big show band. Everyone hits hard, it overcompensates. The moderations between the songs are confused, Oberst often speaks of his tour manager: she allowed him wine on stage if he drank water with it. In the past he has made headlines with personal and alcoholic problems. During a performance on this tour in America, he left the stage after two songs. In Munich, the question arises as to whether it is fair to let someone appear in this condition. One has pity.
Sometimes a musician sings “Nobody cares” in one of Oberst’s ever-longer speeches, sometimes a fan calls him “Drink some water!” from the audience, sometimes Colonel fights with the technology. At some point the band will leave first, then he. Confusion in the hall, is that it? But everyone comes back, Colonel now in a shirt, tries again. He’s doing well. The heartbreaking hit “First Day Of My Life”, eagerly awaited by fans, is weird. In the last song, the background singer takes the microphone from him, they sing together briefly, he goes off. With wine and water in hand.