Conor Oberst @ Grimey’s Records – Nashville, TN, August 8, 2008

I showed up to Grimey’s at five expecting to be more than fine. The Conor Oberst in store didn’t start for an hour and who could be here at five, people have real jobs still, right? I wanted to enjoy some solitude, buy some vinyl, and generally just chill. When I arrived I knew I was a fool. Parking was nowhere to be found off 8th Avenue, and the building was already nearly full. At the end of the day there were probably around 75 people crammed into what little free space Grimey’s has to offer among the towering racks of New & Used CD’s, LP’s, & DVD’s.

An hour later, a few minutes behind schedule, Conor and his band showed up, walked in the door, picked up thier instruments and played a short 6, well 5 1/2 song set consisting of Moab, Cape Canaveral, NYC – Gone, Gone, Souled Out!, Hand-Delivered, & Eagle on a Pole. Conor never removed his dark sunglasses, though I could’ve sworn the room was dimly lit, made one remark about how “Scary” the display Grimey’s had made of his records was, and left the second the song was over with a simple “thanks.” Call me old fashioned but if close to 100 people spend their afternoon sweating it out in a cramped record store for an hour just to see me play 6 songs on a makeshift sound system – I’d be a bit more personable, not get into the back of a car to be whisked away. It’s not like these were rabid fan girls either, there parents were at work – the mean age of an audience member was probably 21, and I didn’t even hear a single “Marry me, Conor.” Overall it was an underwhelming and slightly agitating event. Maybe that’s to be expected with an in-store from such a “big” artist, but I sure won’t be doing that again any time soon.

[mp3] Conor Oberst – Souled Out!

Buy Conor Oberst, out now on Merge.