Words + Photos by Anthony Bauer
Andrew Bird released his stellar latest album My Finest Work Yet (via Loma Vista Records) earlier this year in March and has been out on the road in support of its release ever since. We caught his album release celebration at National Sawdust back in April of this year so we were very eager to see what the full tour had in store for us. While he was over at Kings Theatre the night before, we saw his second night in Brooklyn at Brooklyn Steel along with openers Chicano Batman (who also opened the Kings show).
Chicano Batman kicked things off for the night and are a band that hails from sunny California. The band has a unique sound that is all their own that seems to blend and bend several genres together, while still keeping the influences intact. Is it rock and roll? Is it psychedelic? Is it funk music? Is it indie? Yes, yes, yes, and… yes. The band checks all the boxes and had the crowd enamored and energized from the start of their set all the way to the end. The band wrapped up their tour with Bird with this stop at Brooklyn steel but don’t fret if you still want to see them, as they hit the road with one stop in Texas and then onto a small run of dates out on the West Coast.
When Andrew Bird named his latest album My Finest Work Yet I’ll be honest and say that I was a little worried, as you only would do that for two reasons: for sarcasm, or because it truly is your best work yet. While we’ve seen Bird have some fun throughout his career, thankfully the naming definitely falls into the latter of it truly being some of his best work yet and were thankful it was not for sarcasm. The album seems to pick and pluck the best elements from every one of his previous efforts and blend them all together into a very impressive collection of songs.
This collection of songs were on full display as Bird and his band treated the crowd to a full run-through of the latest album, along with some old fan favorites and a surprise cover. When we covered his show at The Capitol Theatre back in March of last year Bird was testing some of the new songs in the middle of his set and they sounded flawless then, so getting to hear them again now that they’ve been polished and road-tested for some time now was a true treat. Standouts from the set included “Bloodless,” “Archipelago,” “Orpheo Looks Back,” and surprise cover of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” that was not listed out on the original setlist. The 21-song set was slightly different than the usual Bird setlist we’ve seen in the past as the majority was all new music, but we’re all for shaking things up and keeping things fresh. Where will he play next in New York City, and what will the setlist look like? Wherever he pops up next we’ll be there, ready for whatever Bird will have for us.
Find a full gallery of photos from openers Chicano Batman as well as a full gallery and setlist from Andrew Bird below.
Chicano Batman:
Andrew Bird:
Andrew Bird setlist:
1. Sisyphus
2. Bloodless
3. Olympians
4. Cracking Codes
5. Gotholympians (“Olympians” B-Side)
6. Fallorun
7. Archipelago
8. Proxy War
9. Manifest
10. Don The Struggle
11. Bellevue Bridge Club
12. Roma Fade
13. Give It Away (acoustic)
14. Left Handed Kisses (acoustic)
15. Orpheo Looks Back (acoustic)
16. Something to Believe In (Maddison Cunningham cover, with Maddison Cunningham)
17. Three White Horses
18. Capsized
Encore:
19. Caravan (Duke Ellington cover)
20. Pulaski at Night
21. Fake Palindromes
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