Andrew Bird and Band of Horses in Concert
Andrew Bird at the Hollywood Bowl, July 7, 2007
Andrew Bird in concert is like a juggler who is keeping six spinning plates on poles up in the air at the same time. I don't think I've ever seen such a busy musician on stage as he is.
Accompanied only by drummer Martin Dosh and bass player Jeremy Ylvisaker, the rail-thin Bird supplies almost all of the sound you hear. He switches quicker than a mouse-click between singing, whistling, lead guitar, violin, and xylophone, often doing two at the same time in perfect coordination.
At the same time, his feet, in bright-colored striped socks, are independently tweaking pedals and dials as he plays and records samples to build up the layers of a song, much the way we've seen Joseph Arthur do. It's absolutely amazing to watch.
Although I liked "Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left" from Bird's 2005 album The Mysterious Production of Eggs enough to put it on my Favorites for that year, I felt that this year's Armchair Apocrypha overused the pizzicato and whistling to the point where I was bored with it.
In the context of this concert, however, it all seemed to fit. The plucking took on an orchestral quality. Bird's eerie whistling bridged and connected the songs and reminded me at times of tuning in an AM radio. The occasionally revolving double-gramophone on the stage behind him reinforced this old-timey notion.
Although technically brilliant, I have found Armchair Apocrypha kind of a cold album that does not touch me emotionally. After hearing the songs live, however, I feel that I should revisit the album. In spite of the lovely acoustics at the Bowl, the dynamics of Bird's music will probably come over better in a theater setting.
My live recordings posted below are greatly diminished by the incessant chatter of the couple directly behind us. I recorded the whole concert, but the other songs aren't good enough to post because of audience noise. Oddly, I can't figure out what the last song is in spite of the fact that Bird mumbled the name of it.
Setlist:1. Instrumental - ?
2. Imitosis
3. Fiery Crash
4. Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
5. Plasticities
6. Armchairs
7. ?
MySpace | Website
Buy: Andrew Bird's website, eMusic, iTunes
Tour Schedule:
Jul 11 2007 - Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
Jul 13 2007 - Terral Festival, Malaga
Jul 14 2007 - Indian Summer Festival, Glasgow
Jul 15 2007 - Latitude Festival, Suffolk
Aug 6 2007 - The Pabst Theater, Milwaukee, WI
Sep 1 2007 - Richard’s On Richards, Vancouver
Sep 2 2007 - Bumbershoot 2007 (Mural Stage), Seattle, WA
Sep 8 2007 - 11th Annual Hideout Block Party, Chicago, IL
Sep 10 2007 - The Bijou Theater, Knoxville, TN
Sep 11 2007 - The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
Sep 12 2007 - The Carolina Theatre, Durham, NC
Sep 13 2007 - The Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
Sep 15 2007 - Austin City Limits Festival, Austin, TX
Sep 17 2007 - The Granada, Lawrence, KS
Sep 18 2007 - Lyons Brown Theatre, Louisville, KY
Sep 19 2007 - Buskirk Chumley Theater, Bloomington, IN
Sep 20 2007 - Wisconsin Union Theater, Madison, WI
Sep 21 2007 - Pygmalion Music Festival at Tryon Festival Theatre,
Sep 24 2007 - Asbury Hall at The Church, Buffalo, NY
Sep 25 2007 - The Opera House, Toronto
Sep 26 2007 - La Tulipe, Montreal
Sep 28 2007 - Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT
Sep 29 2007 - Sonar, Baltimore, MD
Sep 30 2007 - Toad’s Place, Richmond, VA
Oct 2 2007 - Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh, PA
Opening act: Band of Horses
Band of Horses, one of Indie Mom's Favorites of 2006, opened for this concert with a six-member lineup. They executed songs from their debut album Everything All the Time with skill and perfection, however it would have been nice if they had talked more to the audience. The band members were not even introduced.
Nonetheless, they received a very good reaction from the crowd, better than most opening bands; and they deserved it because they were definitely better than a lot of opening bands we've seen.
Good news: the group has recorded a new album that may be released in October. Those who plan to see Modest Mouse in August are in for a treat at the shows where Band of Horses open. See tour schedule below.
Wicked Gil
MySpace | Website | Label: SubPop
Buy: SubPop and iTunes
Tour Schedule:
Aug 1 2007 - Red Rocks Amphitheater (w/ Modest Mouse), Morrison, CO
Aug 3 2007 - City Market (with Modest Mouse), Kansas City, MO
Aug 4 2007 - Picador, Iowa City, IA
Aug 5 2007 - Diesel Club Lounge, Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 10 2007 - La Sala Rosa, Montreal, QC
Aug 11 2007 - Lees Palace, Toronto, ON
Aug 12 2007 - Traif Music Hall, Buffalo, NY
Aug 13 2007 - Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
Aug 15 2007 - LC Amphitheatre (w/ Modest Mouse) Columbus, Ohio
Aug 16 2007 - Time Warner Amphitheatre (w/ Modest Mouse), Cleveland, OH
Aug 17 2007 - Pines Amphitheater (w/ Modest Mouse), Northhampton, MA
Aug 18 2007 - Download Festival @ Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA
Aug 19 2007 - Festival Pier (w/ Modest Mouse), Philadelphia, PA
Aug 21 2007 - Louisville Gardens (w/ Modest Mouse), Louisville, KY
Aug 22 2007 - Ryman Auditorium (w/ Modest Mouse), Nashville, TN
Sep 2 2007 - Download Festival @ Alpine Theatre, East Troy, WI
Related posts:
Time Travel Tuesday: Pre-Concert Songs
Tomorrow: Headliners, the Decemberists
7 comments:
Hey Alt Gramma,
I saw Andrew Bird support Midlake last night - they are both over here for the Latitude/Indian Summer festivals. I can really relate to your description of his performance - I came away feeling a bit cold. He's undoubtedly an amazing musician and his first tracks hushed the (mixed and a bit challenging) crowd into awed silence. But after about 15 minutes of exaggerated ego, ticks and too much whistling, most people were back mumbling into their pints and discussing the outrage of the recent smoking ban! To be honest, I think he was probably just a bit too LA for a Yorkshire crowd. But, like you, I'm going to give the album another listen with new ears. I've pointed our readers your way - hope that's okay.
X
x
Oh, Beth--
Go right ahead and point! I appreciate it!
:)
hello! I came across your blog via google blog search. archive.org has The Decemberists' set but I was also hoping to find a recording of Andrew Bird's too, so thanks for recording and sharing the songs!
the last song he did was Skin Is, My.
i'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the show.
when i saw him, i felt like he put his entire heart and soul into every song, gave it everything he had. of course, i saw him in a much smaller venue, which probably added to that effect.
and boy, is he ever skinny! : )
Marianne--
Thanks for the name of that last song. I searched, but he has a tremendous catalog, and I wasn't able to figure it out in time for the post.
The Decemberists' set is going up today--soon!
Marcy--
I think smaller venues have a lot to do with emotional connection to the audience, which is why I prefer them. Last year we saw The Dears at the Troub (small) and at the El Rey (about 3 times larger). The small show was definitely the better.
I found out that first song in Andrew Bird's set is an untitled track from Mysterious Production of Eggs.
i would really love it if you could re-upload those songs from the Andrew Bird concert. The links don't seem to be working. I was at that concert and I've been looking all over the internet for a good recording.
Post a Comment