Andrew Bird - Live in Singapore ▼

A night not wasted for those who turned up, eh? Bird showed up alone that night- well not really- if you consider that somewhat creepy looking doll propped up on one of the amplifiers. The backdrop was simple enough, armed with his trusty violin, his guitar, xylophone, and that incredible incredible and extremely complex looping system set-up. My god, he practically had to dance to keep in time. Which was why he ditched his shoes early, too cumbersome. So he starts off with a greeting and proceeds on to building a wall sound from scratch. Layers upon layers of overdubbing and you get this really lovely sound which came forth towards the end of "The Happy Birthday Song". Next up was "Why?"(not to be confused with an amazing band of the same name) , it definitely emanated Bird's suave voice. He nailed the bass line in no time, and got to doodling on his violin, amazing performance.


Andrew Bird - Why? (listen)

"Whatever happened to fiery romance
Oh how I wish it was those dishes you were throwing
Damn...... you for being so .....easygoing."

The crowd seemed to not know where Bird's song started and stopped, well I can't blame them. Bird has so much released material (including his Bowl Of Fire days, two songs were played live, which was Why? and Headsoak), it takes a die-hard fan to know all his songs by heart. An eccentric Bird played Sweetbreads/Dark matter next with an innocence you would never have expected from a 37 year old. His superb whistling was in play for almost all of his sets, notably in A Nervous Tick Motion, I couldn't help but try to emulate his whistling, even though I knew it'd be utter embarrasement.

*Bird shakes head to the left*Pauses*"Oh wait, the other left."
Andrew Bird - A Nervous Tick Motion (listen)

At certain points along the show, Bird let in on the background of some of the songs he conjured up, "Oh No" was inspired by a pessimistic kid wailing "Oh noo.... Ooooh Nooooo!" abord an airplane he was on. Sectionate City was about his stay in Chicago. (something about government subsidised apartments and the like). There was a good interaction between Bird and the captivated audience, anyone present could tell he was pouring his heart through his music. Though the crowd at that night were somewhat, a quiet bunch (I was clapping alone to Anonanimal in my section) it didn't dampen the mood even by a little bit. Soon, it was over, and Bird left the stage. A standing ovation, lots of hooting & howling gave way to the encore. "Oh Sister" came on, an intimate song with heartache ;You may not see me tomorrow; made my hair stand on end. He concluded the night, the crowd alas, seemed to have recovered from whatever star-stuck state they were in throughout the show. Finally my clapping didn't seem out of place.

cheers to hadz for taking the pic :)

Me : Which bird can fly ?
Bird : I don't know ..... lots of birds can fly..
Me : Well, you're one of them.
*Bird smiles sheepily*

Get some of his stuff here :
The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)
Noble Beast (2009)

Andrew Bird - Plasticities (listen)