By Samuel Rubenfeld

Omaha, Nebraska is not a city one normally associates with music, but indie-wunderkind Conor Oberst, and his band, Bright Eyes, refer to their hometown proudly. The quavering, unsure voice with the soulful lyrics of a modern day Bob Dylan entertained hipsters and sensitive folk alike at New York’s Bowery Ballroom for two nights as part of a small US tour to promote a new EP, Four Winds, and an upcoming full-length, Cassadega.

Anticipation for the set was as widespread as it is for the record, which will see an early April release. The indie-rock community may have to hand Oberst over to the masses, though, because the voice quavers no more.

The 100-minute, 16-song set was comprised mostly of newer songs pulled from the Four Winds EP, of which he played all six tracks. The folky, roots-rock and countrified sound for which Bright Eyes is known is beginning to mature. Oberst now sings on-key, his music is uniformly relevant and his lyrical content continues to metaphorically be political, personal and emotional all at once.

Two openers preceded Bright Eyes: A. Bondy, a solo artist with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica who sounded like he may have been Oberst’s protégé. His introduction was unique: “I’m six pellets into a mescaline trip,” he said. “Let’s see how this goes.” He instantly had the small crowd’s applause.

The second opener, Craig Wedren, was another singer-songwriter, but he had a band around him, though no one in attendance seemed to pay much attention. He kept promoting himself as a “film” musician; he writes scores for movies, such as Reno 911: Miami. However, the crowd seemed not to care, his band’s sound seemed both generic and unoriginal and his presence was unwelcome on the stage, as everyone was anticipating the headliners.

Oberst has hired, for the first time, permanent members to join his band. Bright Eyes used to be a project that featured only Oberst and a rotating cast of friends from Omaha. The band now features Daniel J. McCarthy on bass, Mike Mogis on banjo, mandolin, pedal steel guitar and electric guitar, Anton Patzner on violin and Maria Taylor on drums.

Bright Eyes’ songs were all well received by the capacity crowd. He played one track, “Make War,” from his sprawling release Lifted. Introduced as a “country song, though I’m not from the ‘country,'” the song featured a twang that far surpassed the level of his traditionally folk sound. In addition, he played a some rarities, including a song from a split CD with Britt Daniel of Spoon called “Spent on Rainy Days,” which was the heaviest song in the set.

Some of the quieter moments were aided by guest-musician M. Ward, who played a huge part in the EP, including singing credit on “Smoke Without Fire” and, if speculation is correct, a hand in the songwriting. He came out and played on two tracks of the main set, as well as the entire three-song encore.

GRADE: B+