Andrew Bird at the Knit and Loreley

So after a quick stop at an East Village happy hour in honor of Emily's birthday (Happy Birthday Emily!), I went down to the Knitting Factory with Lauren to meet Andrew and Zoe for the Andrew Bird concert on Friday, May 20th.

I saw Andrew Bird open up for the Magnetic Fields last year and thought he was pretty good for an opener. After his most recent album, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, started getting some good reviews I decided to give him a more attentive chance. Liking the album, I figured I'd go see him again knowing a little bit more about what he does. Andrew Bird sings, whistles, plays violin, guitar, and the occasional xylophone with a drummer to accompany. One of the things that sort of rubbed me the wrong way when I saw him previously was the use of canned music. However, what he generally uses are effects pedals that loop, let's say a violin, melody after he plays the main bit of it. I think occasionally the music was completely prerecorded, but mostly it's just a playback of things performed live in front of you.

So really, the man is working for his living, I assure you. I have to say, he was much better this time, though I do realize that most performers are when they're given they're own show and not just there for support, and I have to say live is the way to really enjoy what he's doing. On the record I find some of his vocals kind of flat, but live they come through as more in the vein of a Jeff Buckley or Rufus Wainwright. He puts more emotion and variety into the phrasing, effectively making the recorded versions launch pads for more adventurous musical venturing in the live show. Additionally, he's a really talented musician who seriously knows what he's doing. Andrew, Lauren, and Zoe all went in pretty much completely unfamiliar with his music and came out fans, so if that's not an encouragement to give him a try, I don't know what more to say.

Afterwards we grabbed a drink at Loreley, a Bavarian-style bar and beer garden on the Lower East Side with a great selection of German beers. I just opted for a straight up Pilsner, but Andrew and Lauren tried the Berline Weisse, a syrup flavored wheat beer that I had fond memories of from the time I was in Germany. They use either a raspberry syrup, or the one with which I was more familiar, a green syrup that I don't know the exact flavor of...it was sort of both like melon and apple. If you know what flavor they're specifically going for, please post a comment about it. Otherwise, here's a picture of what one of them looks like:



Yummy, I think I may have to order one for myself next time!