Bright Eyes Performing Twin 2005 LPs On Tour

(photo: Autumn de Wilde)

Bright Eyes will play their twin 2005 albums I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn in their entirety at three special shows next summer — their first to celebrate their back catalog in this fashion.

The events will take place May 6 at Red Rocks outside Denver, May 23 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and June 6 at Forest Hills Stadium outside New York. Tilly and the Wall, the Moldy Peaches and Built To Spill will each open one show. Tickets go on sale Friday (Dec. 12).

The folk rock-driven Wide Awake and the techno/pop detour Digital Ash were both released on Jan. 25, 2005, by Nebraska-based Saddle Creek and presented two very different windows into the Conor Oberst-led group’s sound.

“I think Digital Ash is about the fear of death,” he told SPIN at the time. “I feel like with the Internet there’s the idea that you can have all the world’s information — every piece of art, every library, every blueprint, everything. Its essence exists, but it doesn’t have any substance. It’s not like this [touches the table in front of him]. I don’t understand mainframes and shit like that very well, but it’s not tangible and I find that amazing. I see that in the context of our bodies and love and music and souls or whatever. There’s energy that’s very real but has no physical form, and I like to think about that. These things are gonna fall apart — these things that we walk around in — and I don’t really know what I think about the afterlife, but I do think that things can continue beyond their physical being.”

As for I’m Wide Awake, he reported, “I guess the main idea for the song and [album title] was that you’ve gone through this supposedly long night and the sun’s up, but it’s not necessarily hopeful, like everything’s gonna be okay now. It’s more like, it’s gonna be a crazy busy day, and it’s a rallying call to get your head on straight; pay attention, you’re gonna have to focus because everything’s gonna happen really fast and you’re gonna have to be on point.”

Reflecting on the albums now, Oberst explains, “I have always hated my birthdays but I love parties. And I remember being really excited when I turned 21 for obvious reasons. So when the idea came up to celebrate the 21st anniversary of these two records who were born on the same day, Nate [Walcott], Mike [Mogis] and I took a long look in our full length mirror and finally said, fuck it, why not? So, we hope you can join us at one of these shows. It will be the three of us and many old friends coming together to make what will hopefully be this magical thing happen. Hope to see you there. We are really excited. Love and light.”