Andrew Bird put down his violin last night in the middle of his set at Radio City Music Hall and quietly said something along the lines of “I just want a moment to take this in." He paused, took a moment to contemplate his next words, but decided to remain silent as he stood on the lip of one of the world’s most famous stages. While this is an amazing accomplishment for the musician, it shouldn't catch him that off guard. His last two albums Armchair Apocrypha and Noble Beast have increased his following, and just last January he played at Carnegie Hall.
Since Radio City Music Hall is most well known for hosting some of the biggest, most visually stunning shows in the world, it may have given some people pause when they heard the violin-playing, whistling Andrew Bird would be performing in the iconic space. The large venue requires a lot of its performers, but Bird delivered with pitch-perfect notes (both whistled and sung) which beautifully filled the cavernous space. While the visual details of him looping music and playing and plucking his violin were lost in this venue, the sounds were unparalleled.
What really makes last night’s performance so memorable, and Bird such a great performer, stems from his belief that none of his songs are ever truly finished. Even after a track has been recorded, bought and downloaded by thousands of people, Bird wants to find new ways to change the sounds he’s created. This was apparent last night as nearly every song he played had something new to offer from what we have downloaded on our iPods and listened to on repeat.
Probably the best part of the show, though, was when special guest Calexico returned on stage to play with Bird and his band. While Calexico is certainly talented in their own right, they seemed dwarfed by the large space when they opened the show to the half-full audience. The two bands meshed very well together as they played some classic Bird songs. Most notable were Calexico’s trumpets in Bird’s “Skin Is, My”.
The night finished with, arguably, Bird’s most loved song, “Fake Palindromes”. The song’s immediately recognizable crescendo received a standing ovation and had the audience throwing their blue glow-in-the-dark drink straws up above their heads. Radio City Music Hall was filled with a standing and screaming crowd, great music, and an impressive light show—the venue was right at home.
anonymous
