Bright Eyes & Lala Lala Debut Loose ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ Cover In Santa Ana

Bright Eyes stopped by The Observatory in Santa Ana, California on Wednesday. Frontman Conor Oberst and company welcomed opener Lala Lala (Lillie West) for a cover of The Cure classic “Boys Don’t Cry.”

Bright Eyes kicked off their set with “An Attempt to Tip the Scales” from their 2000 album Fevers And Mirrors. The band also delivered tunes from their latest studio album of new material, 2020’s Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once Was including “Mariana Trench” followed by the sole Cassadaga cut of the evening, “If the Brakeman Turns My Way.”

Bright Eyes, however, leaned heaviest on their 2005 album I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, performing the LP’s “Old Soul Song (For The New World Order), “We Are Nowhere and It’s Now” and closing out the set with “Frist Day Of My Life” and “Another Travelin’ Song.” The band returned to kick off their three-song encore with “I Believe In Symmetry” before bringing Lillie West out for The Cure cover.

“So this is a thing that Lillie and I conceived of last night,” Oberst said. “We wrote this song last night,” West joked. “We decided to do this last night and I still think it’s a great idea. So we’re just gonna do it. Fuck it.” Oberst added. The band then launched into “Boys Don’t Cry.” West delivered a pretty spot on Robert Smith with Oberst backing her up on vocals.

Watch fan-shot video of Bright Eyes and Lillie West covering “Boys Don’t Cry” below: