Conor Oberst @ O2 ABC, Glasgow, 21 July

While angst remains etched through his music like lettering through a stick of rock, a waistcoated and wise-cracking Conor Oberst appears relatively relaxed tonight. When he sings (on the even-keel country-rock of Moab) that “there’s nothing that the road cannot heal,” the lyrics seem to acquire a new dimension with regards to the current tour, which started under the shadow of a rape allegation but ends with the accusation retracted and lawsuits dropped. Then again, maybe the carefree air has more to do with the fact he gets to fly home tomorrow to New York, his “favourite city in the world,” to which an evocative rendition of Lua is dedicated.

Other Bright Eyes numbers to be given an airing include a de-digitised Hit the Switch and the oft-underappreciated If the Brakeman Turns My Way, though it’s new album Upside Down Mountain that deservedly takes the spotlight. With borrowed backing band Dawes helping to amplify the rich, rootsy appeal of Hundreds of Ways and Zigzagging Towards the Light (amongst other highlights), it increasingly feels like Oberst has reconciled the lo-fi catharsis of early Bright Eyes with the ensemble folk-rock of more recent projects, fashioning an exciting middle-ground-sound full of fresh potential.