There'll even be a band

Last time I saw Andrew Bird, I determined that the perfect setting for his show was the Orpheum Stage Door theater. I may now have to call it a tie, because Andrew Bird at the Hideout is pretty great too.

Saturday night's show had sold out in minutes, which was no great surprise - the Hideout is a tiny space, right on Andrew's home turf (Tim Tuten introduced him as Illinois's State Bird) - and in fact, his next show in Chicago after the new album comes out in March will be at the Riviera. Quite a difference. Despite the size and sold-out status of this show, the Chinook Lounge (hee hee) didn't really start to fill up until halfway through the Paulina Hollers' opening set. Come to think of it, that's another reason why I love the Hideout.

The Paulina Hollers themselves were quite enjoyable. I don't think their music has a particularly specific Celtic bent, but it nevertheless reminded me a performance we saw at a small pub in Glenbeigh when I was in Ireland. Must be all the fiddling. Although "Lost Girl" wasn't the Tilly and the Wall cover I'd secretly hoped for (I'd pay extra to see Jim Becker tap out some percussion), they wound up with a really nice rendition of the Dock Boggs classic "Sugar Baby." For some reason it seemed vaguely familiar.

Andrew warned us of a "marathon" set early in the show, and he was telling the truth. He played for about two hours, which was unexpected. By me, anyway. Accompanying him were Martin Dosh on drums, and Jeremy Ylvisaker on bass, guitar, and occasional backup vocals. The vast majority of the set was made up of new material - some songs I'd heard at previous shows, some I knew from the new Fingerlings disc, and some that were totally new to me. I like what I'm hearing, which makes me happy - I get the feeling the new album won't be as, well, different as the last couple have been; maybe not quite as adventurous - but I think it will still be good. I'm eager to hear the album versions of "Simple X" (a song Martin composed) and, if there is one, "Fiery Crash" - because both of them rocked quite hard in the live setting. Maker's Mark was being doled out courtesy of Katie, and the mood onstage and in the audience was pretty relaxed.

If I had to pick out some other highlights, I'd have to once again include "Why?" - Andrew is truly masterful at doing that one live. I think this was as close as I'd ever been to the stage for one of his performances, which made the subtle nuances all the more apparent and impressive. And of course, the smokin' closer of "Tables and Chairs." (In fact, I'm looking at Jay Ryan's lovely artwork for that very song on my wall right now.) Although he is "not one for singalongs," Andrew requested audience assistance with the violin melody toward the end of the song - he said he's been trying to get away from using any prerecorded tracks while playing "Tables and Chairs," so he'd need some help recreating that part vocally. We were only too happy to comply.

From the setlist:

Intro (TBD) [of course, I don't remember]
Nervous Tick
Measuring Cups
iMitosis
Why?
Sic of Elephants
Plasticities
Heretics
Armchairs
Dear Dirty
Simple X
Ravel
Cataracts [I think either this or Ravel wasn't played]
Scythians
Fiery Crash
Skin
Spare-ohs
Dark Matter
***
Glass Figurine
Tables & Chairs

Immediately following the show was the Hideout dance party. Sooz had to call it a night, but I was there with Sam for the better part of an hour. There was 90's party planning, a furry-hatted Tim jamming on congas by the bar, and some serious boogying with Thax. Also, if I had to coin a term to describe Andrew's dancing, I'd go with "gracefully spastic." All things considered, a worthy Saturday night at the Hideout.