Bright Eyes to Tour With Lullaby for the Working Class, Marking First Reunion Shows in 16 Years

Nebraska folk band Lullaby for the Working Class existed in the late ’90s and ran in the same circles as — and shared members with — Bright Eyes and Cursive. Mike Mogis, Ted Stevens , and Shane Aspegren are getting the band back together to open on Bright Eyes’ just announced fall tour. This will be their first shows since 2010 and first tour since 1999.

The LFTWC lineup for this tour also includes Nate Walcott, who along with Mogis also plays in Bright Eyes, plus Megan Siebe (also of Cursive as is Stevens), as well as Macey Taylor and Tiffany Kowalski.

Mike Mogis says “I am extremely excited to tell you guys that we are going on tour again. The tables have turned, so we will be opening for Bright Eyes, but we will still all be playing together for both sets, just like the old days. I am really looking forward to it, and I hope some of you can make it out and join us at one of the shows.” Read more from Mike below.

The tour begins October 3 in Minneapolis and wraps up October 18 in St. Louis. There are East Coast shows but currently nothing in NYC (Bright Eyes just played Forest Hills Stadium ) so stay tuned. Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, June 26 at 10 AM local time and all dates are listed below.

> MIKE MOGIS on LULLABY FOR THE WORKING CLASS: Lullaby for the Working Class was the band I was in before Bright Eyes (1994–1999). Ted Stevens (Cursive, Mayday) and I started the band as an experiment to try and make more folk-based music with all-acoustic instruments. Up until that point, we had only really played in loud punk and rock bands, so it was an entirely new approach and a new world for us. I learned so much from my time with Ted and Lullaby, both as a musician and an engineer/producer, that I would go on to employ heavily when I started working with this weird little kid named Conor, who Ted was friends with. We also took Conor on some of the earliest Bright Eyes tours, opening for Lullaby with us acting as his backing band. When we started recording and needed some trumpet on our first records, the Consolation EP and Blanket Warm, I heard about this high school kid, Nate Walcott, and got his number from a mutual friend. He ended up playing on all our records and going on some tours with us. I have great memories of us all piled into our old Chevy Transvan, driving around the country and playing anywhere that would have us. We also went on a really long tour of Europe in the fall of 1997, and that was the first time any of us had been there. Back then, everything was strange, new, and exciting. Lullaby ran its course, and I went on to play in Bright Eyes full-time (along with Nate, eventually), while Ted joined Cursive and continued making his own records in Mayday and other projects. We reunited once in 2010 when Conor organized the Concert for Equality in Omaha to fight against a racist, anti-immigration law that had passed in Nebraska. That is the only time we played this century! So I am extremely excited to tell you guys that we are going on tour again. The tables have turned, so we will be opening for Bright Eyes, but we will still all be playing together for both sets, just like the old days. I am really looking forward to it, and I hope some of you can make it out and join us at one of the shows.

Bright Eyes 2026 Tour Dates

Aug 08 – Maha Festival – Omaha, NE

Sept 18 – Riot Fest 2026 – Chicago, IL

Oct 03 – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN *

Oct 05 – Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI *

Oct 06 – Bogart’s – Cincinnati, OH *

Oct 07 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA *

Oct 09 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC *

Oct 10 – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC *

Oct 11 – Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA *

Oct 12 – Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville, TN *

Oct 13 – Tipitina’s – New Orleans, LA *

Oct 15 – Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre – Austin, TX *

Oct 16 – Studio at The Factory – Dallas, TX *

Oct 17 – The Truman – Kansas City, MO *

Oct 18 – The Sovereign – St. Louis, MO *

* with Lullaby for the Working Class

_Originally reported by [Brooklyn Vegan](https://www.brooklynvegan.com/bright-eyes-announce-tour-with-lullaby-for-the-working-class-who-are-reuniting-for-1st-shows-in-16-years/)._