Andrew Bird in Durham

Last night I went to see Andrew Bird play the Carolina Theatre in Durham, an event I've been waiting for now for the past couple years. My friends and I got in the auditorium halfway through Augie March's set and from what I saw they were a decent opening act. It made me realize one reason I really am starting to enjoy seated shows - the opening acts are less likely to be horrible, and if they do end up being bad, you don't have to stand through them. Also, you can get to a show after the start time and still be guaranteed a decent view. After Augie March finished their set, I went out to the lobby to talk with friends and hydrate before Bird's set. The show felt very much like a Chapel Hill show - I knew at least 15 people in the crowd. Also, the ever present Old King was in the seat in front of me.

Before his set, I heard news that Andrew Bird would be sans-drummer, which automatically deflated a bit of my enthusiasm. I was expecting a lot out of the play between Bird and Martin Dosh, super-drummer/keyboard player. However, once Bird came out to play any disappointment was gone.

The main man came out and started immediately to lay down loops on violin. After the loops had been tracked, Bird moved into "Sovay," making most everyone in attendance happy. Bird was accompanied by a sideman in a few songs to help out on guitar and bass, but there was no question who the main attraction was. Bird's setlist, from what I can remember, went as follows:

Intro
Sovay
Why?
Plasticities
Wait
A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
Opposite Day
Masterfade
Cataracts
Lull
The Happy Birthday Song

(Encore)
Trimmed + Burning
Scythian Empire
Spare-Ohs

The most interesting aspect of Bird's set was seeing which songs worked in new instrumentation and arrangements, and which songs were flat. "Plasticities" sounded like a full band thanks to the looped pizzicato violins. "The Happy Birthday Song" sounded great as well. However, "Lull" lacked that same push that it gets from the drums on Weather Systems. "Nervous Tic" sounded like a demo of the album version. Besides being awed by Andrew Bird's great musical ability, I was rather interested in his stage presence. During "Why?" he seemed to ham it up every chance he got, almost acting out the song.

"Why?," "Wait," and "Trimmed + Burning" were all unexpected treats - Bird's new albums have moved away from almost any tinge of folkiness he has in him, and those old songs allow Andrew Bird to really 'go off' in a way that the pop songs do not. Watching him put everything into them, it is easy to see why those three are still in his setlist.

A special treat was finally hearing an explanation behind "The Happy Birthday Song." Bird described the song as being indirectly about a friend from North Carolina who, 'could take "Happy Birthday," the most cliche, sing it out of tune song ever, and make it sound like the most beautiful thing in the world.'

After the encore, Andrew was nice enough to come out and sign merchandise for fans. I got my copy of Fingerlings 2 tagged up by Mr. Bird, and plan on putting it up so everyone can see it. See:
Nice, right? The only bad thing about the night was getting lost in Durham on the way back to Chapel Hill.

Now I'm going to go up to Memorial Hall and see if anyone is selling extra tickets to Al Green. Have a good night everyone!