Andrew Bird is truly a one-man-band: thoughts on a live musical montage in a London church
I saw Andrew Bird tonight for the first time tonight. I was blown away. I am a fan of his alb ums, seen lots of video online and heard many stories of how good he is live. I had no idea he was that good. Jaw-droppingly good. Laugh out loud good. Stand for five minutes and stare at an empty stage after the performance good.
It was the combination of it being delicate, intricate and deliberate that knocked me back. It looked effortless, but you know that it was anything but. Are you familiar with his concerts? If not...
...Tonight he was solo. The stage was set up with a guitar, three microphones, a xylophone, a floorboard full of pedals, his trusty violin and his ever ready whistling skills were on hand as well. Oh yeah, behind him, on a pedestal was this double-sided gramophone thingy that spun around in a circle when he stepped on the foot pedal. He could also control the speed at which it spun around. When it did spin, it sent the music through each side of it and it made a whoooshing sound each time it passed the microphone (you can see it in the background of the video).
He starts out the song by playing some sounds from one of his instruments...or when he whistles. He uses is foot pedals to record the sounds into loop. He then plays the loops over each other as a background/accompaniment to the song he is about to play! Sometimes he records two and three of loops together and plays them along with the original loops. It is amazing. He is his own muse. You have to watch the video. When you do, remember...he is the only one playing. He is making these sounds up as he goes along.
He creates the sounds and then he curates them into a collection of ambient sound-scapes. This sound is no calamity or cacophony. It is fluid and it is mesmerizing. His work is steeped in integrity and he has unreal talent.
Right now in Australia, Britney Spears is tits-deep in a lip sync controversy. $1,300 seats and fans (reportedly) walking out because of her miming her performance to pre-recorded vocals. She has to plead her case that she is not faking it. Fuck me. If you want integrity, if you want sincerity, if you want to know that your faith in live musical performances does not have to be tested by flesh-pimps like Britney...go see Andrew Bird. There is nothing fake about this guy.
Here are two vids. One is the first music piece he did. He was enjoying the benefits of the venue, which was an old (still functioning) London chapel. It was so very authentic and the acoustics were amazing. I was seated in a pew up in the balcony. The second vid is him performing a fave song on mine: Scythian Empires.
Comments (6)
Add a Comment