I caught the incredible, multi-talented Andrew Bird last Friday at LA's beautiful Orpheum Theatre. Joined by DJ KRC (who only a day earlier had booked a flight from SF for a less-than-24-hour jaunt), we grabbed a cold one from the lower-level Tavern and quickly found our spacious Mezzanine seats.Bird took the stage a short time later dressed in a three-piece suit with shoes that he kicked off barely into the first song, apparently to better manipulate his pair of DL4s. He then proceeded to play a solo set showcasing his chops: bowed and plucked violin, vocals, guitar, world-class whistling and, of course, looping. After wowing the hushed audience for almost 25 minutes, Bird was joined by Jeremy Ylvisaker on guitar/bass and Martin Dosh (of Anticon fame) on drumkit, keys and additional looping.
DJ KRC and I had seen Bird's performance at Coachella, but this time he bumped things up -- way up. The whole set clocked in at an hour and forty minutes with full and extended selections from throughout his catalog. Fans of Weather Systems, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, and Armchair Apocrypha would not have been disappointed. And (t)he(y) pulled off the tracks with a level of musicianship that people aren't lucky enough to frequently experience.
There's still time to catch the remaining U.S. dates, but you'll have to go Anzac to see Bird anywhere else. Right-click, "save link as" the below tracks from the performance. Pics from Losanjealous too.
Fiery Crash
A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
Dark Matter
No comments:
Post a Comment