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Andrew Bird in Chicago, April 20, 2007

A faulty sound system corrupts the perfectionist’s set

By Meghan Murphy
Published: May 3rd, 2007 | 3:16pm

On Friday, April 20, 2007 at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago, Andrew Bird impressed the crowd with mesmerizing violin loops, rich vocals and his signature melodic whistling.

<img alt="andrew guitar and violin.jpg" src="http://venuszine.com/stories/andrew guitar and violin.jpg" width="150" height="231" align="left" hspace="5"/>
Unfortunately, the Riv's sound system was so overblown that much of what is truly beautiful about Bird's music, the layers of both sweeping and pizzicato violin over complex percussion and reverb-drenched guitar that form a cloud of noise which you could put your head on and drift to another world, were lost. This was all the more puzzling having seen the Decemberists, whose sound had much more clarity, at the same venue the night before. It's such a shame because Bird puts a lot of care into what his music sounds like, evidenced by his custom speakers on stage which most people think are simply stage props.

Bird was clearly overwhelmed at the size of his hometown audience, a sold-out crowd of 2,500. He mused over his younger days when he'd ride his bike to the Green Mill, the legendary jazz club and former Al Capone haunt across the street from the theater.

There were long pauses in between the sprawling songs (some of which treaded dangerously close to "jam band" territory) in which Bird attempted to vamp with shy, awkward stage banter. Bird is clearly a perfectionist, even restarting one song because of some tempo issues. Other bands would have kept going, allowing those problems to work themselves out as the song progressed. Its behavior such as this that makes the listener realize just how thoughtful Bird is about his art.

<img alt="andrew lime.jpg" src="http://venuszine.com/stories/andrew lime.jpg" width="130" height="200" align="left" hspace="5" />
Martin Dosh and Jeremy Ylvisaker, musicians from Minneapolis, filled out the band primarily playing drums and bass, respectively. By some measures this was Bird's first tour with a band since his days with the Bowl of Fire. Although this isn't quite true (Bowl of Fire drummer Kevin O'Donnell toured with Bird many times in the interim), it certainly leaned more toward the collaborative approach of a full band than past solo tours. Dosh, master looper with his own solo albums, even authored the song "Simple X," which Bird acknowledged when they performed it. The standout performance of the night, however, was "Armchairs," the epic centerpiece of Bird’s latest album <i>Armchair Apocrypha.</i> The slow build and more personal lyrics drew the audience in –– not only for the beautiful sounds, but for the genuine sincerity of its delivery.

Photos by Andrew Gill