An Andrew Bird concert is like a magical experience. You don’t necessarily understand how the act is being performed but the awe and surprise of it all leaves you speechless and applauding for more.   I was fortunate enough to witness an enchanting experience like this last night in the beautiful church of Ani DiFranco at Asbury Hall in Buffalo, Ny.

Accompanying Bird, both as an opener and for nearly a third of his set, was the lovely Annie Clark of St. Vincent, whose charming vocals and interesting guitar work helped to enhance the overall pleasurable experience. St. Vincent’s set was both warm and comforting with a smudge of gratifying dirty business; distorted guitar lines and soothing, doubled melodies of violin, flute, and clarinet tend to have that effect. “Actor,” the sophomore album from St. Vincent is available now through Spiral Scratch Records and Beggars Group.

All words and photographs by Michael James Murray

St. Vincent

Annie Clark of St. Vincent

St. Vincent

St. Vincent

Annie Clark playing with her pedals.

Annie Clark of St. Vincent

Annie Clark of St. Vincent

From start to finish, however, the highlight of the night was undoubtedly Bird’s performance. His eighteen-song set spanned roughly, but rather smoothly, two hours. Unless you’ve ever seen him perform, and say have only listened to his albums, comprehending all that you hear is honestly a tough feat both visually and acoustically. But once you’re standing inches from the man staring up at his shoeless feet, a hallow-back Gibson guitar around his back, a violin in his one hand and a glockenspiel mallet in the other, understanding becomes slightly more plausible.

Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird joked with the crowd between songs.

Andrew Bird with St. Vincent

Andrew Bird welcomed Annie Clark on stage to perform a new song, "Lusitania."

Andrew Bird and Annie Clark during one of Annie's songs, "Marry Me."

One thing that stood out was Bird's perfect pitch with his whistle. As he struck a note on the glockenspiel, his whistle would meet the note with sheer precision.

Annie Clark and Andrew Bird covering Bob Dylans, "Oh Sister" during the encore.

Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird's set list, which was personally handed to me by his FOH sound engineer.

Please excuse the word-filled hot spew here, but I respectively tip my hat to Andrew Bird. The guy is hard to take your eyes off of; he’s a brilliant performer with an earnest approach to making music. A modern conversationalist on the stage, Bird humbly thanked the Buffalo crowd many times over. Do yourself a solid and check out his albums and get out to one of his shows the next chance you have.