After the detour of the country-oriented Handsome Family cover album
Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of... (2014), Andrew Bird
has continued down the path of folk-pop that he leaned into with Are
You Serious (2016). My Finest Work Yet
(2019) is sonically similar, but lyrically, Bird took a new turn into
the explicitly political. Although the title might just be another
joke based on the self-absorbed boasting of his primary target, it's
actually rather fitting: it is a well-crafted album that covers
difficult topics with finesse and without getting bogged down by
their weight.
Artist: Andrew Bird
Venue: Funkhaus
Location: Berlin,
Germany
Date: 19 June 2019
Opening Act: Madison
Cunningham
Setlist:
01. Archipelago [instrumental]
01. Archipelago [instrumental]
02. Sisyphus
03. Bloodless
04. Olympians
05. Cracking Codes
06. Fallorun
07. Why?
08. Truth Lies Low
09. Roma Fade
10. Archipelago
11. Proxy War
12. Manifest
13. Don The Struggle
14. Bellevue Bridge
Club
15. Give It Away [one
mic]
16. Orpheo Looks Back
[one mic]
17. Three White Horses
18. Capsized
Encore:
19. Gentle on My Mind
[one mic; John Hartford cover]
20. Pulaski at Night
[one mic]
21. Tables and Chairs
Opening act Madison
Cunningham was a fitting choice for the job, as she contributed
vocals to Bird's latest album. She
initially appeared alone with just her guitar and played
impressive compositions of precise fingerwork paired with her
well-trained voice. After two songs in that style, she brought out
Alan Hampton on bass and
Abraham Rounds on
drums, both of whom also played on My Finest Work Yet.
One song also featured keyboards from Jack Sherman. However, the
blues-pop
style of the full-band songs was somewhat less exciting and unusual.
I still admired her vocal and guitar skill, but I preferred her
unique technique when she was alone. That said, I appreciated that
she tried both variations. The variety was enriching even
if I wanted more of how she
started.
[Madison Cunningham.]
When Andrew Bird
came out, I was amused to see Cunningham return to her place on
guitar and vocals alongside the other performers that had already
backed her. Working double duty must be stressful, but it made for a
special vibe. It felt like the musicians were friends and knew well
how to work with each other. They opened with what sounded like an
improvisational instrumental based around "Archipelago". In
traditional Bird fashion, he looped his various violin parts to build
a deep soundbed.
Thereafter, Bird dove
into My Finest Work Yet in
earnest, starting from the beginning and proceeding through the
tracklisting. "Sisyphus" and "Bloodless" are both
perfect examples of Bird's latest trend of matching careful pop
songwriting with cleverly political lyrics. The former even featured
an awesome joint solo in which Bird's whistling harmonized with
Cunningham's wordless vocals.
After
finishing the first half of the album, Bird announced a pause in the
album flow for a few other tunes, which were his older favorite
"Why?" and two of the better tracks from Are You
Serious. The second half of the
live rendition of the new album proceeded mostly predictably,
although the doubled solo of "Proxy War" in which Bird's
whistling was paired with Cunningham's guitar was particularly cool.
The last three songs all featured Bird on a 12-string guitar, which
he used for a bluesy version of the solo in "Manifest".
This
gave way to more familiar territory for Bird. First he gathered the
band around a single microphone for his preferred
trick of the last several years. "Give It Away" appears to
be his favorite song to do in that manner; he did it at both
the last
shows of his I saw. This version was particularly good, as
Sherman took a harmonica solo and Hampton and Cunningham switched
instruments. "Three White Horses" was performed in the
normal band arrangement, but extended and enhanced with typical Bird
looping for a particularly memorable rendition.
After
finishing the set with "Capsized", one of the singles from
Are You Serious, I
expected that
Bird might just call it a night. It was late and the venue was in a
somewhat remote neighborhood. To my surprise, he came back for three
more. "Gentle on My Mind" carried on Bird's trend of doing
an old-timey cover around a single mic, but it was done as just a
duet with Cunningham. The rest of the band joined for a one-mic
version of "Pulaski at Night", and the final number was the
classic "Tables and Chairs", which Bird said still seemed
relevant and fresh despite being over ten years old.
[Andrew Bird.]
Andrew Bird continues
to surprise and delight. My Finest Work Yet
is even better than Are You Serious
and cements his move away from the country/folk of the preceding
albums and the violin and loop-heavy indie rock before those. He
still pulled out some of his looping tricks, but they were clearly
less of the focus. Thankfully, his violin and whistling skills are
still prime and he wasn't shy about showing them off. The full-album
performance gimmick is getting old for me, but I appreciated that
Bird at least broke it up with a few diversions in the middle. I was
glad to see Hampton's nimble bass back in the fold, and his other
collaborators were an even more interesting match than the last crew
I saw. The energy of the whole evening was a bit dampened by
uncharacteristic Berlin heat and humidity, but Bird hardly let that
spoil the show.
Scores:
Madison Cunningham: B
Andrew Bird: B+
My Finest Work Yet:
A-
P.S.
Thanks to Elaine and Pit!
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