bright eyes tour

[johansen smith]

for those who were worried that Arab Strap opening for Bright Eyes was a match made in hell, fear not. the reception Arab Strap has been getting from Bright Eyes' fanbase has been amazing. I've really heard nothing but great things from people who until they saw the show, had never even heard of Arab Strap. I wouldn't be surprised if their new album does suprisingly well in light of their new-fouind fan base.

[threelobed]

hate to say it, but the "warm" reception from the bright eyes crowd at the arab strap shows is NOT appearing every time they go out to play. i can personally attest to the brattiness and all-around inconsiderate behavior from the bright eyes crowd at the cat's cradle in carrboro last night (and, from what i've been reading online, it's been pretty similar at a lot of other shows as well). it was so bad that about 20 minutes into the arab strap set aidan gave the microphone to a girl in the crowd who pleaded with all of the bright eyes fans to shut the hell up out of common courtesy. too bad it didn't work. it's bad enough having to pay an inflated price to see arab strap play an abbreviated so that a bunch of teenagers can ooh and aah over their chosen hero, but another when they don't even let you fully enjoy your evening.

as for the strap themselves, their set was great - the stripped down nature of the performance was great, as was the song selection. well worth the time and dealing with the crowd, but it'll be even better when they come back for another whirl of their own later this year **without the teens in tow**.