Recap Andrew Bird at Schubas

Every concert contains the distinct possibility that it could be the best concert you've ever attended. Do you like the artist enough to appreciate most of the songs being played? Will they actually play the songs you like? Will they avoid any sound problems? How's the crowd? Can you see? Will everyone shut up?

Andrew Bird's fiddling and whistling have long outgrown the comfortably cramped Schubas, and yet he appeared there last night for a one-night-only show benefiting Chicago's Rock For Kids. He played the most textured selections from his new, infinitely listenable album; threw in archived songs he probably hasn't played since the last time he was at Schubas; experimented with sound like he did at The Civic Opera House; and saw perhaps the most supportive crowd of all time. There were almost no hiccups last night--just a rare opportunity to see a master of his craft up close visually and aurally. In a word: perfect.

The area just outside the back room was packed. Fans without tickets hung by the entrance hoping to catch an earful every time someone opened the doors, and one girl even attempted unsuccessfully to bribe the doorman $100 to get in. But the inside was surprisingly sparse—full, but with plenty of room to duck and weave up to the front. By the time Bird casually took the stage (sneaking in a side door 10 minutes before his slotted 10:15 p.m. start time), the room was so neatly spread out, it was as if Schubas had handed out an assigned seating/standing chart.

Bird launched into the show, using a microphone off to the side to loop his sharp, wobbly whistle, silky vocals, and rich violin riffs. When it didn't seem like the looping machine could take any more, Bird turned his head towards the crowd and started in on a softer version of "Darkmatter" (or rather its precursor, which he later identified as "Sweetbreads"). The set did justice to even the most complex of Noble Beast's songs, including a more folky "Natural Disaster" and a version of "Fitz And The Dizzyspells" that leaned heavier on the guitar than the album version. Bird never seemed to rest on the default appeal of those popular songs: he furrowed his brow at every beginning series of notes, pondering their perfection. If he deemed them off, which happened a handful of times, he'd quietly shake his head and re-record into the looper. He spent a fair amount of time deviating from Noble Beast, too, like throwing an unplugged version of the twangy "Some Of These Days" into the encore.

Right around his crowdpleasing rendition of "Not A Robot, But A Ghost" (about one-third of the way through the main set), a couple pushed to the other side of me in the crowd. They'd previously been standing by two dudes in their early twenties, wooing and hopping up and down. And while Bird had this odd way of quieting the audience—even a girl who came late moaning about the bus ride over was suddenly awestruck and fell silent—these guys wouldn't stop. And they were the only ones. "We don't wanna be by those guys who are on acid," the relocated guy leaned in and shared. It's easy to understand. When you've finally found that perfect concert, the last thing you want is for something to spoil it.

Bird plays Lollapalooza today at 7 p.m. Here's a video from last night's show: