Andrew Bird w/ St. Vincent, Southern Theater, Columbus, OH - 10/19/2009

Wow, the Southern Theater is a pretty gorgeous venue. This was (oddly enough) my first show there. We started out with a couple drinks at Thurber's Bar next door (yes, as in James Thurber), which was also a cool little venue in and of itself. (Good beers on tap here, too, including the rarely seen [on tap, anyway] Italian imprint Peroni.)

We headed in just as St. Vincent had started. Great seats, maybe 12th row center. Aside from one guy who was yelling a good bit, people were quiet and seated and just digging the show. She, Annie Clark, was pretty great at times and a very striking presence on stage. She can play some guitar, too. I'm not super familiar with her stuff yet but am now that much more interested in picking up her last album.



After a solid 20 to 30 minutes of intermission, Andrew Bird came out. As usual, he started out with a couple of solo songs, but it quickly became apparent that the whole show was going to be a solo affair. This may have normally put me off a bit, but given the feel of the venue and just how into it all he seemed (whereas I've seen him play at bit more disinterestedly recently with the full band), it was kind of magical.

I have some approximation of a setlist ... during the first 45 minutes or so, he played a slightly altered "Dark Matter" (great), "Nervous Tic," "Masterfade," "Tenuousness," and finally got to a song off his disappointing last record, "Effigy" (though this is one of the better tracks on said album). There were a few more songs in there, including some traditional stuff like "Jesus is a Dying Bed Maker" and another newer one, "Anonanimal."





The full St. Vincent band then came out to back him up on an awesome 4-song send out with a new song, the St. Vincent tune "Marry Me" (just Annie Clark and AB), "Scythian Empires" and "Tables and Chairs." It was fantastic.





But nothing could beat the one-song encore ... Annie Clark and AB singing Bob Dylan's "Oh, Sister" into a single mic together. Fantastic.



A real treat ... a surprising, charged performance.