Mr. Oberst

Did anyone enjoy or get this?

I ask because I would love to know…

Personally, in 30 years of live music I have never had such a hard time with a set of music.

Kudos to PB for bringing in some fresh talent(someone must think he’s talented), but my ears still hurt…

I didn’t get Connor Oberst either. I would characterize his musical style as “whiny emo folk.” And what the heck does he have to whine about so much? He’s no Brett Dennen, that’s for sure.

But hey, he was still light years better than Ryan Adams.

I do, however, agree with the Planet’s attempts at bringing in fresh faces, new talent and new musical directions. They like to throw the “curve ball” at us, but I often strike out. It’s just part of the package and while I don’t always enjoy the curve ball, sometimes it’s a home run (eg, D. Byrne, Zac Brown)

conor oberst gets railed for being too loud.

only at telluride.

:lol

:argh

Tsk Tsk… sound may have been a little off at times but kudos to TBF for bringing one of the most prolific and rocking songwriters of our generation to the festival. Talking about Ryan Adams here… not Conor Oberst who I personally despise. “Whiny emo folk” …couldn’t have said it better myself.

one of the most prolific and rocking songwriters of our generation :lol

I did not see R Adams at Telluride but I did see C Oberst last weekend and I have seen both at other venues in the past. I think they are both talented artists and in my mind the outdoor festival may not be the best venue for either of them. I much more enjoyed them in clubs and smaller venues.

I personally thought it was too loud as well, but mostly in a “This sound mix is horrible and I can’t make out the actual lyrics because the rest of the band is too loud” sense. It was just hard to listen to, not painfully loud… just would have preferred to have been able to understand him.

I think you’re on to something here. I can think of a number of acts I’d love to see in small venues, on their own, but not at TBF. Sometimes it’s an issue of “fit” with the rest of the day’s or weekend’s music - at least for me anyway.

[/quote]
Tsk Tsk… sound may have been a little off at times but kudos to TBF for bringing one of the most prolific and rocking songwriters of our generation to the festival. Talking about Ryan Adams here… not Conor Oberst who I personally despise. “Whiny emo folk” …couldn’t have said it better myself.
[/quote]
One of the funniest things I heard all weekend was a husband ask his wife what Mr. Oberst was whining about and her response was: “EVERRRRYYYTHINGGGGG”
It was priceless.

Tsk Tsk… sound may have been a little off at times but kudos to TBF for bringing one of the most prolific and rocking songwriters of our generation to the festival. Talking about Ryan Adams here… not Conor Oberst who I personally despise. “Whiny emo folk” …couldn’t have said it better myself.
[/quote]
One of the funniest things I heard all weekend was a husband ask his wife what Mr. Oberst was whining about and her response was: “EVERRRRYYYTHINGGGGG”
It was priceless.
[/quote]
YEah to each their own I guess…I know Conor Oberst has been very influential to other artists and is talented…just always rubbed me wrong despite trying to get into it.

All you Ryan Adams haters: take a look at his entire catalogue, from the Whiskeytown albums, his solo work (Heartbreaker, Gold) and his later stuff with the Cardinals…then talk shit if you still think he is garbage. He has written more amazing songs in half his short career than most noted artists could ever hope to write in their whole career. TBF isn’t “trying,” they just know who the talent is, and its unfortunate that it gets so easily dismissed by the legions of Sam Bush groupies that attend TBF.

All you Ryan Adams haters: take a look at his entire catalogue, from the Whiskeytown albums, his solo work (Heartbreaker, Gold) and his later stuff with the Cardinals...then talk shit if you still think he is garbage. He has written more amazing songs in half his short career than most noted artists could ever hope to write in their whole career. TBF isn't "trying," they just know who the talent is, and its unfortunate that it gets so easily dismissed by the legions of Sam Bush groupies that attend TBF.

easy tiger. (:jester, get it?)

It has nothing to do with the loyal court of the king. It has everything to do with how Ryan presented himself to this overly attentive listening crowd. I’m a BIG RA fan, but his set that night a little over a year ago was the loudest thing I’ve heard in the valley. Nevermind the fact that I’m pretty sure he never picked up an acoustic guitar for the duration of the set.

Let’s not get into name calling. many here enjoyed the set, and many did not. It is what it is. I have no doubt that one day those that haven’t followed up on Mr. Adams catalog will one day find themselves captivated by a song, or 10, only to realize “It’s that loud guy they’ve been giving Dustin such a hard time for all these years.” :wink:

Remember…everyone is entitled to an opinion…it’s accepting ones that are different from your own that make yours just as valid. :flower

No I didn’t get it either. I have a music service and download a couple songs of his which I thought where boring. I was hoping he had something else to offer, but he appears to be just a boring artist. Oberst may have put on the most bland set in the history of Telluride. I didn’t hate it, it was like watching paint dry.

Ryan Adams was loud, but he played songs that were good and his band at times swung. They also crashed and were just too dang loud. But for sure not boring or bland. I didn’t like his set over all, but I’ll take anything with real emotion in it over Oberst’s set.

I thought Conor was fine. Sometimes it was a little loud but overall i found most sets of the festival to be a wee bit too quiet, epsically Sam Bush. Conor rocked em imho.

It has nothing to do with the loyal court of the king. It has everything to do with how Ryan presented himself to this overly attentive listening crowd. I'm a BIG RA fan, but his set that night a little over a year ago was the loudest thing I've heard in the valley. Nevermind the fact that I'm pretty sure he never picked up an acoustic guitar for the duration of the set.

Let’s not get into name calling. many here enjoyed the set, and many did not. It is what it is. I have no doubt that one day those that haven’t followed up on Mr. Adams catalog will one day find themselves captivated by a song, or 10, only to realize “It’s that loud guy they’ve been giving Dustin such a hard time for all these years.” :wink:

Remember…everyone is entitled to an opinion…it’s accepting ones that are different from your own that make yours just as valid. :flower

Oh, christ. Well my opinion is that a lot of people have bagged heavily on some of the artists that TBF has booked without acknowledging their own musical biases and preferences, and so I feel compelled to call em on it… at least judge an artist on a wider spectrum of their work than on an isolated late Thursday nite in 45 degree weather.

Ryan Adams is a very unpredictable personality…and his setlist that nite was par for the course, as far as Cardinals sets go. Did TBF sign him to play an acoustic set? If not, then why was his set shocking to anyone other than folks who knew nothing about him?

Apparently I was wrong to think that Telluride was a great fest for people who love bluegrass, acoustic, AND rock n’ roll. I mean, that’s why I go. It’s as if Lucifer himself emerges as soon as someone throws on the distortion in that valley.

I can go to any fest and see Yonder, Del, and Bela or another one to see Adams, Oberst, and Byrne, but that’s what makes Telluride special is that you get both. If people are so easily unsettled by edgier music, perhaps they should stick with RockyGrass or something similar.

Here here to TBF for continuing to bring a diverse lineup to the festival…it’s what brings my friends and I over a 1000 miles to attend.

I enjoyed the Connor Oberst set. However, I bought his latest album about a month before the festival and had time to let it really sink in. At first it sounds like the average indie-folk rock band, but after a few turns you can hear where it stands out as a well crafted piece of 21st century music. There is alot of Dylan influence while at the same time you can hear influences of bands like The Clash, Wilco, and Conner Oberst’s own personal touch, not for everybody, but worthy of some critical praise.

It’s very interesting that Ryan Adams becomes such a heated discussion every time it gets brought up. I’ll put it this way, if you ever get a chance, see him out of the festival circuit. I really enjoy his recordings, but thought during Telluride he could hardly keep up with his backing band, The Cardinals (which have members that could play a great show with or without RA). However, when I saw him at the Murat Theatre it was an absolutely stellar show full of rock tunes, country-rock tunes, sweet tunes, and everything inbetween. In some way it’s similar to Todd Snider’s set, which was good (better than Ryan Adams set), but lacked the amount of tongue-in-cheek, personal atmosphere he usually creates at a show done by himself.

A very fair assessment. I think that what gets my goat is that every time Ryan Adams gets brought up, he gets criticized for reasons such as “he was too LOUD” or “he sucks” … which are musical criticisms I expect from my great grandmother, not open-minded music fans that the majority of TBF patrons seem to identify themselves as.

I still haven’t heard the new Oberst album because of previous opinions of him, but after reading your positive review I’ll have to give him another chance.

Her is what it boils down to. Give every artist a chance. If you dont like the music walk away and find something constructive to do like by a beer for someone or just walk around and people/mountain watch. the people are too nice and the setting too beautiful to let a set of music you dont enjoy kill the buzz.

Aw, jeez - I’m almost sorry I brought it up. Try to crack a joke around here…

Anyway, for the record, I’m no Ryan Adams hater. I was psyched to hear he was on the bill last year because I was familiar with Whiskeytown. But I just wasn’t able to appreciate his set, and like I said, I sometimes just don’t get it. And I’m entitled to that.

Like I’ve also said, I, too, appreciate the diversity Planet Bluegrass brings us. It’s their Festival, and they are entitled to that. And if I don’t like it, I can go get a corn dog or something.

Planet Bluegrass isn’t getting any complaints from me about the line-up or the musical variety, and I keep coming back knowing I’ll never connect with every band. Rather, I’m just saying what I like and don’t like. I’d bet a nickle that most people would have different opinions than me.

However, over the years at TBF I’ve seen lots of bands that you might not expect to see at a bluegrass festival. Some tried harder to connect than others. And you can call me on this if you want, but it’s my opinion that Ryan Adams was one of the acts that didn’t really try. And my frame of reference is acts like the Barenaked Ladies and Counting Crows, both of whom reworked a bunch of material specifically for Telluride. Those bands felt to me like they knew they were slightly out of their element and they were there trying to earn our respect, and I thought that was cool. Which is not to say that every non-traditional band should be in Tellulride grovelling for kudos from us bluegrass groupies.

Wow- I’ve held this Ryan rant for over a year. Here goes:

I very much looked forward to his set, but I was embarrassed for him. The Cardinals propped him up (or attempted to) all night.

I don’t know what was wrong, but something was wrong with RA. Drugs, alcohol, inner ear, I don’t know. He was consistently trying to draw phrases out longer than the bars (the musical ones) would allow. He seemed at a different tempo, vocally and on the guitar, than his band. I could not stand to listen to it. It had nothing to do with volume. It was painful.

As I walked off the field in mid-set, I remember thinking of the old rehab center commercial: if you don’t get help here, get help somewhere- just get help.

It was well known, even before last year, that there was a “good Ryan” and a “bad Ryan”- it doesn’t take anyone’s grandma to figure out which showed up.

I hope he gets help with whatever it is and can function in life. I still love the work that he has done and wish him the best. He’s too f-n young and talented.

I think that Conor Oberst was a bit of an interesting choice for Telluride. I had heard his newest album and was somewhat unimpressed. I thought that it was rather sloppy and uncreative in regards to his previous ones. Furthermore, his songs are mostly not happy ones, that has certainly been spoke about on here. That fact is a large reason why I was unimpressed. In the middle of the day, I want to happy as hell and Conor actually managed to bring me back down to a pre-fest mood and sent me to my tent at Warner for a little ear-plugged nap.

With that being said, I needed that nap and was happy I wasnt missing someone that I would have loved to see. The point is, there are some people that dug that set and others that obviously did not. There is also some people that dug the Steeldrivers set(me) and some that did not. To each their own. I think Planet Bluegrass should keep taking risks and every once in a while, they will turn out incredible.