Andrew Bird at Toad’s Place

Last night I saw Andrew Bird at Toad's Place in Richmond. Bird's compositions aren't exactly danceable -- I find them best listened to through good headphones with a certain degree of introspection -- so it seemed a little weird to be just standing there in a crowd listening, except how much fun it was to watch Andrew run around stage picking up instruments, setting up different loops which he would weave in and out of whatever instrument he happened to actually be playing at the time. He was thoroughly a pleasure to watch play. Even while complaining of a fever and feeling "loopy", he couldn't hide the musical gears turning in his head, always considering different sounds and melodies to add and noodle with on already familiar tunes. I decided to take a video of the last two minutes of a rather spirited version of one of my favorite Bird songs (har, har), "A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left" [.mp3]. So let this post also be a memento of my first-ever YouTube upload. My favorite moment of the concert by far, however, was Bird's solo performance of "Why?". Thank goodness the following video exists of an entire Andrew Bird concert in Amsterdam. Each track is a different song; click the forward button 6 times to hear "Why?". For contrast, here's another video. This one is for "Imitosis", the first single off Bird's latest album, Armchair Apocrypha. At first glance I almost thought it was directed by Michel Gondry, but those cute broach-insects were in fact brought to life by Britta Johnson. I'd like to see more of her work. And a few words about the venue, Toad's Place. Go see a show there. Seriously. The sound is great, it's smoke-free, it's easy to find, there's free parking a block away, it's brand new, has two floors, three bars and apparently a restaurant in the near future. My only hope is that they will also book some seated shows.