A Musical Diversion

One nice thing about living in the city is the opportunity for entertainment and cultural experiences at my fingertips. I don't take advantage of them as often as I should, but I'm improving. Last night, I found out that one of my favorite new artists, Andrew Bird was opening for Nickel Creek right down the street at the Fillmore. So, after work, I walked on over and got in a line about 1/2 block long, about 30 minutes before the doors opened. You could tell it was a bit of an "older" crowd, because all the people in the front of the line rushed for the seats on the side, leaving the front of the stage wide open. I got a standing spot front and nearly center.

Andrew Bird was weird and quirky and amazing to watch as he crafted his music. Since I'm terrible at describing music, I will quote the Righteous Babe website.

Bird is a masterful and intuitive singer / songwriter, and what he does while performing — alternately plucking and bowing his violin, then immediately sampling the results, layering the sounds with guitar, whistling, glockenspiel and vocals— bears little resemblance to what most people might expect. It's only one of several devices in his arsenal of instruments, melodies, and imaginative wordplay.

The glockenspiel seemed to give him a lot of trouble last night. It kept falling off it's stand. Luckily, there were no injuries! That can really ruin your evening.

Nickel Creek was a pleasant surprise for me. They are a young bluegrass band with a lot of rock influence thrown in. They are amazing musicians, and they put on a good show. The highlight had to be their version of Britney Spears' Toxic. Imagine that song with violin and mandolin. It was pretty unique. They also did some serious bluegrass music with beautiful harmonies and touching lyrics.

I don't know why I seem to always be attracted to the little known opening acts, but it's a great way to meet people when they are standing around saying "Who's opening tonight, anyway?" And I get to be exposed to some new music too. I can see some Nickel Creek cds in my near future.

Next week's shows will be Rasputina on Friday and The Dandy Warhols on Saturday....and I don't know the opening band for either show. How disappointing.