Bright Eyes at Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Bright Eyes – 21 Years of Wide Awake & Digital Ash

Red Rocks Amphitheatre right here in Morrison is our crown jewel for all the music maniacs and nostalgic indie heads out here that love journeying to the Rockies for a place where memories echo off the stone. For decades, we’ve BEEN getting ready to welcome a band whose legacy hits right in our hearts - and we think we’ve found them for ya’ this time around folks. Maybe it’s the altitude, maybe it’s the early May breeze rolling through the canyons, but there’s something electric in the air… something that feels like the past waking up again. ‘Cause when a group with a catalog this big, emotional, and oh so generation  decides to return to the big stages for a night celebrating not one but TWO of their most iconic albums?? Yeah… that’s when you know we’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime happening, something only us here at Red Rocks can do! And on Wednesday, May 6th, Bright Eyes returns to Red Rocks to celebrate 21 Years (!!! yes, we’re truly that old) of Wide Awake & Digital Ash celebration. And let us tell you folk:  it’s history, nostalgia, heartbreak, and catharsis all coming back around at once.

Bright Eyes hardly needs an introduction at this point: but we’re gonna give you one anyway, ‘cause that’s what we DO! Formed back in the mid ’90s in Omaha (shoutout to our Midwest boys!) by the now-mythical legendary singer-songwriter Conor Oberst, the band grew up alongside the indie-rock revolution, blending raw folk confessionals, experimental electronica, and poetic storytelling into something entirely their own that everyone in the Myspace era was craving. Through albums like Fevers and Mirrors, Lifted, and the iconic double-release of 2005 which we celebrate here today : I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, where were YOU when Bright Eyes became the soundtrack for every kid who kept a journal under their pillow?? With standout tracks like “First Day of My Life,” “Lua,” “Land Locked Blues,” “Gold Mine Gutted,” and “Take It Easy (Love Nothing),” they reshaped an entire generation’s understanding of folk, indie, and emotional honesty. And even between all the hiatuses, reinventions, solo ventures, and orchestral collaborations, Oberst, Mogis, and Walcott have stayed true to the core of alt music. And their return to full-album performances is a gift fans have been waiting decades to unwrap, which is exactly why you can’t miss this night when they put BOTH albums back to back on full display here between the monoliths. That’s why we need you front and center! 

SO - indie kids, folk lovers, aging emos, journal-keepers, lyric screamers… lace up those boots once again, pack the tissues, and warm up your vocal cords. This is OUR night to go back to the glow, and we need you here for all the chaos when it goes down, no questions asked. We’ll see you soon! Let’s go!