Good musicians always sound better live. Great musicians take that maxim a step further and see their performances as an opportunity to bring their music to life in a way that studio recordings are unable to capture. If there was one thing Andrew Bird did this past Saturday evening, it was just that. Not only did he perform his songs well, he reinvented them.
When he stepped on stage at Sonar, Bird's relatively nondescript appearance only reaffirmed fans' expectations based upon his albums. While his work certainly carries an air of intensity, it may be a stretch to call it "rock" music. Shaggy-haired and wiry, sporting a worn denim jacket over an oxford shirt with a skinny striped tie, Bird seemed more like the well-read, mild-mannered boy next-door than a musician.
With a backdrop of three large gramophone speakers hovering over his shoulders, blue light engulfed him, casting a serene glow about his silhouette. Immediately, Bird picked up his violin, brought it swiftly to the crook of his neck, and began to play.
Elaborate on-stage performances are nothing new to the world of indie rock; for proof, one need only look to bands like the Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene who bring hordes of backup performers onstage to attend to countless instruments.
One would expect the same from Bird's show, and with such a complex stage arrangement, the crowd was left to wonder how he could possibly recreate the grandiose sounds of his albums with only two men backing him up. It was not long, though, before that mystery was solved.
Trading his violin for a guitar, he threw a charming smile to his drummer before launching into the opening chords of "Fiery Crash." As Bird's distinctive croon filled the air, he swung his guitar behind him, kicked off his shoes and tossed them offstage, revealing two mismatched, colorfully striped socks. Hurrying back to the microphone, he turned knobs and pressed pedals with his feet as he continued to play and sing without missing a beat. The music reached a crescendo and Bird's electric guitar, accompanied by the looped sounds of his violin, meshed with the drums and it became startlingly clear that this performance would be far from the expected. This was, in fact, a rock show, but in the most unusual sense.
In transforming his recordings to live performances, Bird created an intricate musical landscape in which he played fresh takes on songs universally recognized by fans. With the aid of synthesizers, loops and two fantastic spinning gramophone speakers that projected the music and spun it around, Bird and his bandmates were able to recreate the sound of a multi-piece band and infuse added energy to each song as to play off the spirit of the crowd. Essential to this was the interplay Bird established between his guitar and violin; it was both incredible and completely natural to watch him rush from instrument to instrument. His proficiency with the violin - which he has played since he was four years old - was by far the most impressive as he played it classically with a bow as well as nontraditionally plucking it with his fingers like a mandolin.
Not only did he use his performance to show off his proficiency with the violin, Bird also showcased his sweeping, entirely unique vocals. His albums do not nearly convey the depth and richness of his voice, which was incredibly stunning this past Saturday. To top it off, there was his almost mind-boggling whistling skills, which he used at every opportunity, opening songs with a few chords and adding whistles wherever he saw fit. It can be easy to forget that performers at concerts like these are, after all, musicians, but here there was never a hint of doubt. Not only is Bird a musician, he is an incredibly talented one.
Though he did not talk much during his set, Bird's intelligent and quirky personality made itself apparent throughout the course of the night, starting with the nervous tic he adopted at the start of "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left." He played with lyrics, transforming them on the whim, as well as introducing some songs with little anecdotes such as "they kicked some ass and made some beautiful art" about the Scythians before "Scythian Empire."
After nearly an hour and a half of an absolutely delightful show, the set came to an end and the house lights came back up. In typical club fashion, after the crowd had thinned out, Andrew reluctantly emerged from backstage to meet his fans. Though visibly exhausted, he signed setlists and T-shirts, giving the dedicated few a special something to remember his show.
