[TICKET GIVEAWAY] Bright Eyes w/ Hurray for the Riff Raff | March 14 @ The Caverns

Though he’s been prolifically making music with a whole host of projects for more than 30 years (despite only being in his mid-40s), from solo work to short-lived emo outfit Commander Venus to cult punk band Desaparecidos to indie pop gem Park Ave. to folk supergroup Monsters of Folk to Phoebe Bridgers teamup Better Oblivion Community Center, there is, perhaps, no other Conor Oberst project as renowned or enduring as Bright Eyes. Undoubtedly the group that first introduced him to a wider audience- especially if you’re a millennial who was dialed into the indie and emo scene of the 2000s- Bright Eyes began as something a solo moniker for Conor’s intimate folk songs in the ’90s, before morphing into a full-fledged folk and rock band by the 2000s, propelling the Omaha, Nebraska native to indie acclaim with lauded early efforts like 2000 third LP Fevers and Mirrors and 2002 followup Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, before a pair of records released on the same day, in 2005- the folk-oriented I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and electronic leaning Digital Ash in a Digital Urn– catapulted Bright Eyes into the mainstream. A few more prolific years would follow, before the band- formally rounded out by multi-instrumentalists Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott- embarked on something of hiatus after 2011’s The People’s Key, spending nearly a decade focusing on other projects, during which time Oberst released numerous solo LPs, reunited Desaparecidos, formed Better Oblivion, and continued to regularly tour.

While, functionally, Oberst’s solo stuff always felt like an extension of Bright Eyes’ catalogue, there always still seemed to be a nostalgia for that moniker from fans, and, finally, after nearly a decade apart, the group announced their official return at the start of 2020. Unfortunately, as with many other ill-timed reunions from early that year, Covid put some of their immediate plans on hold, but the band still dropped an album- their first in nine years- that summer, Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, and resumed touring in 2021. Since then, they’ve stayed active, reissuing their prior discography through new label home Dead Oceans and continuing to regularly perform live, and kept the momentum going with a new album (their tenth or 11th depending on how you count them) last fall, Five Dice, All Threes, met with enthusiastic acclaim and featuring some excellent guests like Cat Power and The National’s Matt Berninger. Despite a slight setback late last year, when medical issues forced the cancellation of a handful of shows, Bright Eyes are set to kick off a lengthy North American tour this month, which returns them to the Nashville area for the first time since 2022, for a very special underground performance at The Caverns in nearby Pelham on March 14, along with longtime site favorite Hurray for the Riff Raff!

As we feel inclined to mention any time we tell you about a show at The Caverns, this venue is one of the most unique concert experiences you can have anywhere, hosting performances underground in a literal cave (see below), and we think it’s always worth the trek from Nashville anytime an artist we love is on the calendar. Tickets are still available right here while they last, but we’re excited to announce that we’re also giving away a pair of GA tickets and a camping pass (if you’d like to stay on grounds; a convenient option for this venue) to one lucky fan! Preview the lineup and enter below.

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Bright Eyes and Hurray for the Riff Raff will perform Friday, March 14 at The Caverns in Pelham, TN. The show is all ages, begins at 8 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.), and tickets are available to purchase for $88.32.