In which I saw Andrew Bird
Posted by Isabel on July 20th, 2009. Filed under: Addictions, They're just my friends.Like most people, I associate music with certain times in my life. The Beatles will always remind me of high school. The Beastie Boys will always remind me of my early 20’s.
And Andrew Bird will always remind me of my last miscarriage.
This isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it makes my heart feel good. I didn’t purposely start listening to Andrew Bird to get through my miscarriage. It’s that I just happened to get all of his CD’s from the library at that same time. Andrew Bird’s music is mellow and thought provoking and was just what I needed to be listening to. So I listened to Andrew Bird in March. And April. And May and into June. Finally The King told me, “if you don’t quit playing Andrew Bird, one of us is going to slit our wrists.”
Yeah, Andrew Bird wasn’t really uplifting my spirits. But still, it’s what I needed to be listening to at that time.
(Thankfully Rhett Miller’s new solo CD came out in June so I had something else to listen to. And something far more upbeat.)
We were first introduced to Andrew Bird when Babboo was a baby and watching “Jack’s Big Music Show” all the time. Andrew Bird made a cameo as Dr. Stringz.
I had no idea who this person was,but we loved him on the show. I googled him and found out that his name was Andrew Bird and that he was quite the prolific artist.
Long story short, I love Andrew Bird and I’m thankful for what his music helped me get through. Of course he will never know that and never understand this. But I know. And I’m appreciative.
I found out, months ago, that Andrew Bird was coming to Seattle. But with us trying to save money and The King not having a job, it just wasn’t in the stars for us to go to Andrew Bird’s show. I gave up hope.
And then, AND THEN, I received an e-mail last week from a friend from church telling me that she had FOUR FREE TICKETS TO SEE ANDREW BIRD. She knows how much I love him and since she knows a guy ,who knows a girl, who dates Andrew Bird’s tour manager….I got a GUEST PASS for the show (and so did my three friends).
That’s me with my Guest Pass.
So, the thing about this concert was the Andrew Bird wasn’t even the headliner. The headliners for the show were The Decemberist. While I’ve heard of this band, and I currently have five of their songs on my iPod….I’m really not familiar with them.
The opening was Blind Pilot. Who I’ve loved since I heard them do an interview on NPR earlier this year. We got to the show just in time to hear Blind Pilot’s last few songs.
And then….
Andrew Bird came on stage!
And he, and his violin (and his sock monkey?) rocked the house.
I mean, totally rocked it.
My friends and I ran right up to the front of the stage and didn’t leave until Andrew Bird was done rocking.
**Side note: Andrew Bird’s drummer looked exactly like Ryan Gosling in “The Notebook”.**
We were all very happy to be there.
I even wore a bird feather in my hair for part of the show. And one of the girls I was with wore her bird’s nest necklace. (Birds, get it?)
(NERDS!)
The Decemberist came on stage with some ladies in costumes and dancing and I got really confused until one of my friends explained that their new album is a “concept album“. Although none of us could figure out what the “concept” was. We *think* it may have involved a wedding, since there was a woman in a wedding gown.
But yeah, we couldn’t be sure.
We still had fun and enjoyed The Decemberist. And, thankfully, after they ran through the entire concept album, they played their older stuff for an hour. And dude, their older stuff ROCKS.
They even did a shout out to home town stars, Heart, by singing a cover of “Crazy on You“. Which brought the house down.
End of show.
Seeing Andrew Bird didn’t remind me of my miscarriage (in a bad way). It just reminded that his music evokes intense feelings in my heart. And for that, I will always love and appreciate his music.
Thanks Andrew Bird.
So tell me, does music take you back to a certain time in your life?
July 20th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
LOVE your glasses! They look amazing on you!
I haven’t listened to Andrew Bird, but I’m definitely intrigued. I’ll have to go listen. Music, for me, is one of the most therapeutic and amazing things to be on this Earth. I have found solace in music for all of my life. I have songs and types of music that take me back to various points of my life, and I love it. I’m currently obsessed with Kings of Leon and Alexi Murdoch, but it’s always changing for me depending on where I’m at in my life and what I’m going through. LOVE MUSIC.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
What an absolutely awesome gig that looked!! Glad you got to go and be reminded of the thought-provoking-ness of music! Music never fails to move me and transport me back to somewhere or sometime or both… Bryan Adams’ “Everything I do” reminds me of summer at my grandparents’ caravan, as it was the first song I ever knew the words to (I was little at that time) and I heard it on a car radio as we walked down the street and was singing it to my parents (oh such happy, carefree days)… the hymn “Colours of Day” reminds me of primary school assemblies (I loved the song even though I didn’t understand it!)… Allegri’s Miserere Mei Deus reminds me of my days in a church choir (I was terrified of singing, thought I sung terribly, not helped by the fact the music was SO high and everyone else was so good and could read music and I couldn’t… I was miserable I couldn’t sing but loved the beauty of the music and being in church each Sunday so I stayed longer than I probably should have for my sanity!)… and then there are the German folk songs that remind me of many happy days working in the old people’s home run by the Salvation Army just outside Berlin (oh how I loved Berlin and my days with the Army and miss them terribly sometimes, so I sing them to myself!)… and Enya “The Celts” reminds me of sitting in my room in Russia, praying my landlady wouldn’t make me cry again and just trusting that my 3 months would soon be over and I could go home but also wishing I could enjoy my time more (that cd still haunts me sometimes though I adore the music)… sorry this is a looooong comment (I actually wrote a blog post about my “memories cd” a friend made me but I’ll be darned it I can find it now!
July 21st, 2009 at 12:35 am
music is such a visceral experience. I’m a firm believer that certain music finds us at the times when we need it most. andrew bird’s music found you right when you needed it most. and for a true existential mindf*ck, think about all the other people at the concert–the music found them at just the right time, too.
(also, that bird’s nest necklace is gorgeous)
(and, did you know I went to college with and was buddies with chris funk, of the decemberists. evidently I live under a rock, because I JUST found this little tidbit out, through a mutual college friend)
July 21st, 2009 at 2:09 am
It looks like this concert let you get some fun memories associated with this music, and I think that’s awesome!
July 21st, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Oh, yes. I think that music is the passageway into our past. There are so many bands/songs that take me right back to times in my life, good and bad.
Glad you had fun at the concert. I’ll have to try to look up a few of the bands. And, btw, you look cute in your glasses!!
July 21st, 2009 at 6:26 pm
YAY ANDREW! Do you think his friends call him Andy? I love the last name “Bird”. I wanted to marry a boyfriend who had a noun-last-name just because it would have made my name more poetic. But we didn’t get married. Obviously.
CAT STEVENS. He was so 70’s-emo. I love him. And I love all men named “Harold”. But you already know this.
July 21st, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Basically, the Decemberists new album tells the story of a girl who falls in love with a shape shifter (new fascination, by the way). The girl in the white dress was the forest queen. I don’t entirely get it, but I have the CD, which I will gladly burn for you if you’re interested. Also, I have their last album (The Crane Wife) which has Valencia and the Perfect Crime which are my two favorite songs.
Let me know and they’re yours
July 29th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Music is tied to every aspect of my life. I adore Blind Pilot and Andrew Bird and The Decemberists and well, I could go on and on. Sounds like a GREAT show.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
what a great show! i don’t have any andrew bird stuff, but i love hearing him on the radio. and the decemberists? a huge favorite of mine. love!