Andrew Bird gets intimate at the Current studios

Photos by Jon Behm, click here for slideshow

The Current opened up its UBS Forum for another intimate performance last weekend, this time inviting virtuoso Andrew Bird to perform. The small audience of ticket winners clapped especially long and hard for Bird as he entered the room with his entirely local backing band, Martin Dosh on drums, Michael Lewis on bass, and Jeremy Ylvisaker on guitar.

Photos by Jon Behm, click here for slideshow

Bird took turns playing a handful of songs and speaking with host Steve Seel, starting things off with a song that has been heavy on the Current's airwaves, "Fitz and the Dizzy Spells." Between songs Bird was reserved and thoughtful, answering Seel's questions with a very serious, almost deadpan expression on his face.


Photos by Jon Behm, click here for slideshow

The most mesmerizing part of watching Bird from such a close proximity was the way he manned his looping pedals and switched between his instruments; he would begin each song with either a plucked or bowed violin part, record the part into a loop, and then swap his violin for a guitar as he started to sing. The songs would build on themselves as they progressed, and with the addition of backing vocals and handclaps by Lewis and Ylvisaker it was literally a dizzying array of sights and sounds being created on the spot.


Photos by Jon Behm, click here for slideshow

In addition to "Fitz," Bird and his band played four other songs: "Anonanimal," "Oh No," and "Effigy," all off last year's Noble Beast, and "Imitosis" off 2007's Armchair Apocrypha. The full in-studio performance will be broadcast tomorrow morning (Tuesday) at 8:30 a.m. on the Current.