And this Bird can sing

The violin, guitar and glockenspiel do not seem like very many instruments, but when all played by the same person, along with whistling, singing and frequent use of a looping machine, they can be hard to manage. Chicagoan and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird uses these instruments to create sounds comparable to that of a symphony, but with an indie, folk-rock twist. He performed this “symphony” Wednesday to a sold-out show at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.\nPresented by the BCT Concert Series and the IU Union Board, the concert drew in more college students than most of their events. Usually attracting audiences that range from children to the elderly, the Buskirk was filled with college students almost exclusively for the Andrew Bird performance. He came out after a high-energy performance by Le Loup, a seven-member band with loud layers of sound, which often builds up to an indescribable medley of intricately woven noise. Although Bird’s symphony consisted of only one person, properly used loops made it seem like nothing was missing compared to the songs on his album, which are performed by a band.\nOld-style phonograph horns decorated the stage. Other than that, it was just the dapper Bird with his instruments. Even by himself, Bird was able to recreate his songs to be as full as those on his albums, with the exception of not having drums. This, however, gave his music a much more soothing, melodic feel. His baroque-style violin plucking, looped over and over, with bowing on top of that, created the feeling that there was at least a quartet on stage. His whistling acts as another instrument, sometimes eerie, sometimes peaceful. Never off key, his whistling and vocals were as perfectly executed and timed as his looped violin.\nHe began his set with “Sovay” and after ending, he said, “The last time I was here it was one of my favorite shows.”\nThe next song was the crowd favorite “A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left.” This song has a catchy hook of call-and-response between his violin bowing and his whistling, and the upbeat tempo urged the audience to stand. The Buskirk, however, is more conducive to sitting. So with the crowd attentively sitting, Bird performed his set to a seated audience – suitable, however, for his symphonic style.\nHis use of perfect timing was evident during “Why?” when he stopped playing and began a dialogue. The dialogue went along with the rest of the lyrics, but when he spoke them, he seemed to evoke the kind of timing a comedian would use. The crowd laughed at what were essentially just spoken song lyrics. Nothing was particularly funny except the perfect timing; the same perfect timing found in his music.\n“Imitosis” was another crowd favorite. This song is off his new album “Armchair Apocrypha” and is actually a revised version of his song “I” from his 2003 album “Weather Systems.” During this, his swagger while playing guitar and violin made him look as though he was consistently off balance and on the verge of falling. Instead of falling on the ground, Bird would fall into his next note, using short pauses to “fall” and immediately beginning again when catching himself.\nHe ended his set with the song “Scythian Empires” from his new album. After layering a few different loops, he stopped the song.\n“I just want it to be perfect,” he said, before starting it over.\nThe second time around it was much better. At the end of the song, May Tabol and Nicole Keenan came out to accompany him. Tabol sang with him and Keenan played the French horn. After performing a beautiful version of this song, Bird left the stage to an audience standing for the first time since he came out. He came back out for a two-song encore and then retired from the stage. He made his way to the front of the theater, where he signed autographs and talked to fans.\nBird is definitely welcome in Bloomington and hopefully will come back soon. It is always nice to hear something that strays from typical pop music. His songs are as catchy as anything mainstream. Something as intricately layered as Bird’s music is not particularly out of the ordinary, but to be able to do it by himself with the precise use of a looping machine is astonishing. Electronics can often add to or even take away from music, but Bird’s use of loops is nearly unnoticeable, aside from using his feet to control the pedals. He creates it as though he was standing there playing with someone. But he is only accompanied by himself, and perhaps that is the best accompanist he could ask for.