Andrew Bird's records have grown quieter and more intimate in recent years, but he remains a remarkably dynamic live performer: Last year's Break It Yourself wouldn't seem to be the stuff of blockbuster live shows, and yet when he took it to the stage, he injected its characteristically smart, brooding songs with surprising intensity. Of course, it helps that, 12 albums into an unpredictable career, Bird has become a cult superstar whose fans clearly fuel him onstage.
Hear Andrew Bird dump out his bag of tricks — including a formidable vocabulary, classically trained violin chops and the best whistling in the business — as part of the 2013 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 28 in Newport, R.I. -- STEPHEN THOMPSON
SET LIST
"MX Missiles" "Give It Away" "Something Biblical" "When That Helicopter Comes" (The Handsome Family cover) "Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dyin' Bed" "Dear Old Greenland" "Begging Questions" "Dark Matter" "Tenuousness" "Three White Horses" "Headsoak" "Danse Caribe" "If I Needed You" (Townes Van Zandt cover) "Don't Be Scared" (The Handsome Family cover)
