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

Holiday carolers would probably refer to the weather outside as “frightful.” (I’d refer to it as…something else.) Regardless, with the sudden drop in temperature, warmer comforts are in high demand. So, as some people chose to warm up with space heaters and hot chocolate, Andrew Bird worked on warming up the Sixth & I Synagogue with his Gezelligheid performance. “Gezelligheid” which loosely translates from Dutch to “cozy,” accurately represents Bird’s goal with the performance: an intimate affair that let him loosen up and let the audience settle down.

MONDAY

“Gezelligheid” — a Dutch word loosely translatable as “cozy” — is the term Andrew Bird uses to characterize the unique and intimate series of holiday concerts he debuted last December at churches in Minneapolis and his native Chicago. This week, the show comes to D.C. for a three-night stand at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, the dramatic architecture and superb acoustics of which should make it an sublime setting for Bird’s captivating, loop-layered solo violin compositions. Julianna Barwick opens tonight and tomorrow night, with Marissa Nadler taking over the supporting slot on Wednesday. Sold out. 8 p.m.

Wow. Damn. And wow. It’s hard to reconcile a concert like last night’s exquisite set by Andrew Bird. As mentioned several times by the performers during the evening, Washington D.C. was witness to the final installment of Bird’s tour with fellow genre-defier St. Vincent. The billing seems appropriate. Take one musically gifted, experimental, and odd male musician and combine with a female of the same description.

Post and photo by DCist Contributor Mehan Jayasuriya “It’s just not fair,” my friend said to me as we stood and watched multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird perform at this year’s South by Southwest conference in Austin. “How can one guy be so talented?” Admittedly, it does seem a bit unfair: Bird holds a degree in violin performance, is an accomplished guitarist, knows a thing or two about the glockenspiel, has a soaring voice that often recalls…

Put Your Hands on Standby NYC blog rockers Clap Your Hands Say Yeah made a few ripples through DCist the last time they came to town. Have they honed their live show any more since the last time around? Or, as some people would say, learned to play their songs yet? These observations and more will be yours to make on March 8 as they play the 9:30 Club. Tickets are available through the CYHSY…