[ATTENDED: August 3, 2017] Andrew Bird
My experience with Andrew Bird has been frustrating. I often hear a song or story about him and I think, “I love this guy!” Whether it’s a feature on his amazing whistling or his adventurous violin playing, I love the songs that they play.
But when I try to listen to more of his songs, I find them…okay. Never bad, just okay. Perhaps if I really devoted time to the songs I would learn to appreciate them more, but as it is I find them pleasant.
And this concert was much the same. I really enjoyed a number of the songs he played (I don’t know the names of most of them), but by the end of the set, I was sort of drifting off a bit.
Before the show we met some friends who were also there. One of them told me that he often plays solo, looping his violin and such. He did loop the violin a number of times, but he played every song with his four piece. And while I can’t compare something I haven’t seen, I feel like the band worked very well and made the show a bit more upbeat.
Bird himself is an amusing character (he wore a suit jacket for some of the show but had to take it off before the end when it got too hot). His violin playing was wonderful–sometimes fast, sometimes strummed like a guitar and sometimes with the assistance of the Spinning Double Horn Speaker (more on that later).
And then there was his whistling–so effortless and yet so affecting. Sarah and I marveled at his skill at something that we have a much harder time doing.
I really enjoyed the song “Fiery Crash.” I enjoyed everything about “A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left.” The song itself was catchy, but he also embraced the lyrics of his song, (as WXPN’s review put it): “flinching and ticking his head while stomping and singing all at once.”
I thought I would know more songs in this set, but the only one I knew (and one that I really like) was “Capsized.” WXPN has played this song many times and I don’t think I knew it was him for quite some time. But the interesting melody of the song is great and I love the way the chorus has a cool staccato effect.
After a few songs, Bird said, “We’re going to move over to the old timey microphone now.” They played a few songs “unamplified” and he felt that the Mann Center would be a perfect setting for it. And it was. The musicians gathered around the old-fashioned microphone with acoustic guitars and Bird’s violin. It brought a new and different energy to the show. Aside from “Capsized,” this was my favorite part. And I was especially pleased that the microphone was on our side of the stage. They played “Give It Away.” I’m pretty sure they played “Are You Serious.”
Half way through the set a bunch of little kids came up in front of us (we had, much to my surprise, amazing seats in the front section). They turned out to be the drummer’s kids. And he often waved to them through the show (never losing his pace).
I really loved the sound of his violin. You can hear a great solo and then a beautiful riff in this clip.
My favorite song that I hadn’t heard before was “Roma Fade,” with its super cool whistling introduction.
But without question the most interesting thing about Andrew Bird was his spinning gramophone thingy. It is officially known as a Spinning Double Horn Speaker and you can learn more about it here. In this clip you can hear the effects of the spinning as the sound seems to whoosh around. I was most intrigued that he would start the Speaker spinning with a foot pedal but he needed a stage hand to come out and right it when he was done.
I’m fairly certain he also played “Tenuousness” and “Valleys of the Young.”
I enjoyed most of the set, but as I set, I drifted a bit towards the end. Despite that I still think he sounded great. And his violin and whistling were top-notch.
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