Andrew Bird - Civic Opera House

April 9, 2009, Chicago-

When a local band makes it nationally, that band usually gets the opportunity to do things in their hometown or state that they never thought possible. Whether it's Yonder Mountain String Band playing to a sold out Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado or Umphrey's Mcgee shutting down a random city block in Chicago so they could rock it, these bands tend to take special pride, and get special treatment, when playing shows in their hometown.

Thus Andrew Bird played the Civic Opera House last night (with another sold out show tonight), a big, beautiful theater located within a skyscraper in downtown Chicago. The local boy has made good, as they say, and he came back to show some love to his hometown while on tour in support of his new album, Noble Beast, which I'll touch on briefly here in addition to discussing the show. For those who don't know, Andrew Bird is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/violin master/whistler extraordinaire who grew up in Chicago.

Mr. Bird started the set solo, playing two songs with the help of some fairly ingenious looping. I've seen Keller Williams and John Frusciante do some pretty incredible loops, and Bird was right there with him. And of course, his violin play is second to none.

His band (guitar, bass, drums) joined him on stage thereafter and the quartet proceeded to play a wide selection of songs from his albums Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs, Armchair Apocrypha (great album name), and Noble Beast, putting a particular focus on Noble Beast. I'd estimate Bird played half of the new album.

Personally, I found Noble Beast to be very enjoyable. It's not as good as "Eggs" or "Apocrypha," but it's damn close, and I wouldn't discount the album merely because it doesn't live up to the very high standards Bird set for himself with his two prior efforts. Interestingly, I thought that a couple of tracks in the middle of the album, Not a Robot, but a Ghost, and Anonanimal, could have passed for Radiohead songs based on the song style and Bird's lilt, which can be similar to Thom Yorke at times.

For me the biggest disappointment on the album wasn't really the album at all, it was the companion album (or second disc if you've got the deluxe edition), Useless Creatures. This album is all instrumental tracks, and based on Bird's instrumental prowess and creativity and my love for instrumentals, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, the album doesn't live up to my expectations and is mostly stuff that could be the basis for a real Andrew Bird song, or slowly building dirges that aren't particularly exciting. I can definitely listen to the album while working, but I wouldn't put it on just for the hell of it while sitting around my place.

But he didn't do any tracks from Useless Creatures during the show, and I really enjoyed the entire set. Bird is extremely talented and is fun to watch during the songs; I couldn't look away. He's also goofy between songs and had the audience laughing. At times I really wanted to get up and move around a bit (this was a sit-down concert, which I'm not used to at all). Towards the end I was getting anxious to hear his two most upbeat and loud songs, Fake Palindromes and Plasticities. Out of nowhere he broke into Fake Palindromes and I was really excited for the set to end with a bang (or three). Then, IT happened. He DROPPED HIS VIOLIN mid-song, and the neck snapped clean off. A gasp went up from the crowd, and the song died midway through. Bird dealt with the loss pretty well, cracking some jokes about the tragedy, but he only played one more song before the two song encore, and for all three songs he played guitar. He said he didn't have a spare violin with him. I've never seen anything like that, and I hope he got a spare or found a repair man before tonight.

Despite the catastrophe it was still a really good show, and I'm very glad I went. The videos I'm posting give you a pretty good idea of what the show was like; they were all recorded during the current tour. If you haven't given Andrew Bird a listen, I highly, highly recommend him. He has a unique style and has created some great music. He puts on an excellent show too, as long as he hangs on to his instruments.

Armchairs


Fake Palindromes. He dropped his violin while singing the second verse last night:


Effigy, off Noble Beast


Andrew Bird on myspace