Andrew Bird

Molly and I saw Andrew Bird at the brand new Toad's Place in downtown Richmond.

First off, this was my first trip to Toad's Place since it opened in June. I was very impressed. The building is beautiful. It's just very Richmond..... old warehouse turned state-of-the-art. It was way bigger than I expected. Everything sounded great. Just a great experience.... a venue that Richmond was desperately needing.

Now for Andrew Bird, this was one tremendous show. I'd read for a while how impressive his shows are, and I was not disappointed. The use of live samples was just disorienting and beautiful. I didn't think a song like "Plasticities" could be improved, but he turned a killer song into a religious experience.

It was also nice to hear him play a bit of "Dr. Stringz" as an intro to "Fake Palindromes" (another of my favorites). In fact, he pretty much played all of my favorite songs. If he played "First Song," then that would seal the deal. Still, one unreal show.