Review by DCist contributor Erin Keane

“Utterly whimsical” are the two words that best describe Andrew Bird’s performance at 9:30 Club last night.

The homespun sculptures reminiscent of the large gramophones Mr. Bird often uses as set pieces hung from the ceiling, spinning like lazy wind socks. Occasionally a red or blue light would catch them in such a way they conjured up images of lava lamps.

Ephemera reigned supreme, not only in the scenery, but also in the collection of tunes strummed, whistled and sung by Bird and his band. The set included an entertaining mix of old favorites and new material beginning with two solo wordless songs on the violin.

The striking element of Bird’s performance, and perhaps what made it so whimsical, was the sense of play embraced by the artist. Clearly a perfectionist with a decent sense of humor, he cutely brushed off too-slow tempos and false starts and continued conducting himself as he sang. This childlike aspect of the evening is easily illustrated in Bird’s bluesy rendition of Kermit the Frog’s, “Bein’ Green.” He also alluded to exiling his stuffed animals from his crib as a toddler after playing “Pacifier.”

When he swapped the violin for the guitar, the night took a turn toward the rockier side of Bird’s oeuvre. Songs like “Measuring Cups,” and the better live than recorded title track of his new album, Break it Yourself, pumped energy into the club. However, the sense of returning to one’s roots this music evokes was not lost when plugged in. An Andrew Bird rock song sounds and looks like something you might imagine the Stones or Beatles showing off.

After the “last song” played, the sold out club insisted on more and Bird obliged. The encore consisted of a one mic performance of a couple of bluegrass classics and finished with a raucous version of “Fake Palindromes.” The crowd lingered as his consistent set piece, a two-headed phonograph, spun in circles crooning hauntingly beautiful tones as exit music.