Opening for Andrew Bird

Opening for Andrew Bird at U of I’s Foellinger Auditorium is certainly one of the highlights of our musical career thus far. We’re happy to report that Mr. Bird and his support staff (managers, roadies, techs, etc.) are good people. They’re not the egotistical rock star types.

We approached last Tuesday’s gig like we would any other show—playing our songs the best we currently know how, interacting with the crowd, and so on. During a discussion about holiday shopping, one audience member informed us that the robot hamster is the hot gift item this year. Heather’s adding that to her wish list! We even attempted crowd participation, with hundreds of people providing the percussive stomps and snaps during “Commercial Paper.”

But of course, in many ways, it was very different from our typical show experience. For example, it was a major production, and we were performing on a large stage in a dome-shaped 2,000 capacity theatre. We loaded in at 2:30 (for an 8 PM set), shared a hospitality room with Andrew Bird and his crew, and had our own dressing room. Yes, a dressing room! As we were getting ready, Andrew’s production manager knocked on our door and said, “15 minutes.” Ten minutes later, we got the five minute cue and a short pep talk.

All in all, we had a really great experience and enjoyed seeing Andrew Bird’s solo set. We’re continually impressed by him! (If you’d like to read more, you can find a review of the show from our friend Gillian’s perspective at Smile Politely.)

Photos by our neighbor Cody Bralts, whose video work was recently recognized by Pitchfork

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