Birdy's Concert: A Review
I paid twenty two dollars to stream the concert by Birdy.
It was money well spent.
The last rock or pop concert that I attended was the band Chicago. Adler Theater. October 2, 2019.
I didn't know how long it would be before I would get to go to a concert again.
Birdy is an artist I have loved since 2012. I downloaded the soundtrack to The Hunger Games from i Tunes. I finally got to Birdy's song, Just a Game, while running in the Wild 5 5K in Bettendorf, Iowa in May of that year.
I downloaded her 2011 eponymous album Birdy over the summer of 2012.
I bought her follow up album Fire Within at the Twist and Shout in Denver, Colorado in 2014.
I bought a CD copy of the album Birdy when I came upon it at a Barnes and Noble in Bloomington, Indiana in 2015.
I bought Birdy Beautiful Lies at a Barnes and Noble in Duluth, Minnesota in 2017.
So it is a very big deal for me that Birdy has another new album coming down the pipeline, Young Heart. I got to hear many of the songs from this album for the first time in her concert at the Wilton Performance Hall, one of the oldest performance halls, in England.
I had a similar experience to seeing Steve Winwood in concert at the Orpheum in Minneapolis. And at the Chicago Theater in Chicago. Or seeing Chicago at the Coronado Theater in Rockford.
What a wonderful live concert. Backed by a band of piano, strings,a bass, and guitars, we got the treat of an evening largely comprised of tracks off of the yet to be released Young Heart.
Birdy is businesslike about her concert. She cuts to the chase. She takes the stage and goes right into the music. The only spoken word from her came at the end, when she introduced her band. But her band clearly reveres her, and she cherishes having them in her presence to perform.
I had seen one of the music videos for the first single, Surrender. It's vintage Birdy. In the one I watched, she takes a road trip by car. There's another video where she goes to the coast by train. I miss travel with the pandemic. I miss live music during the pandemic.
Birdy's concert on my laptop, matched with that music video, comprised a glimpse into a life I used to live before the pandemic.
Getting to go on a road trip or train trip. And going to a concert. The fact I was billed 22 dollars through ticketmaster was exciting. It gave me the same sense that I was about to enter a theater and see a well known recording artist, at a concert that was going to be good.
Loneliness is another song title I caught off of somebody's music stand.
All I can say about the new music is that it was beautiful. I'll review those tracks individually once I get ahold of the album.
In the meantime, here were some other highlights:
Shelter (off of 2011 album Birdy)
Wings (off of 2014's Fire Within, and I put it on Greatest Hits Volume 35.)
People Help the People (on both Birdy and Fire Within)
Skinny Love (off of both Birdy and Fire Within, and I put it on Greatest Hits Volume 34.)
Terrible Love (off of 2011's Birdy)
Comforting Sounds (a bonus track
I got on the iTunes download of Birdy).
Birdy made excellend use of the live band backing her. The songs that have an orchestra backing on her albums were all able to be played.
Though she is quiet and unassuming in demeanor, Birdy's voice and music is deeply personal and revealing. It is borne of personal experience. Now, that being said, any influences on her song, the stories behind them are not open secrets, like Taylor Swift songs. In that sense, Birdy is sharing the songs. We all get to own them. We can adhere to them our own experiences. Or project our own feelings onto them.
Birdy reaches us through her Music. And no pandemic could prevent her from doing so through a live concert.
4.5 stars.
It was money well spent.
The last rock or pop concert that I attended was the band Chicago. Adler Theater. October 2, 2019.
I didn't know how long it would be before I would get to go to a concert again.
Birdy is an artist I have loved since 2012. I downloaded the soundtrack to The Hunger Games from i Tunes. I finally got to Birdy's song, Just a Game, while running in the Wild 5 5K in Bettendorf, Iowa in May of that year.
I downloaded her 2011 eponymous album Birdy over the summer of 2012.
I bought her follow up album Fire Within at the Twist and Shout in Denver, Colorado in 2014.
I bought a CD copy of the album Birdy when I came upon it at a Barnes and Noble in Bloomington, Indiana in 2015.
I bought Birdy Beautiful Lies at a Barnes and Noble in Duluth, Minnesota in 2017.
So it is a very big deal for me that Birdy has another new album coming down the pipeline, Young Heart. I got to hear many of the songs from this album for the first time in her concert at the Wilton Performance Hall, one of the oldest performance halls, in England.
I had a similar experience to seeing Steve Winwood in concert at the Orpheum in Minneapolis. And at the Chicago Theater in Chicago. Or seeing Chicago at the Coronado Theater in Rockford.
What a wonderful live concert. Backed by a band of piano, strings,a bass, and guitars, we got the treat of an evening largely comprised of tracks off of the yet to be released Young Heart.
Birdy is businesslike about her concert. She cuts to the chase. She takes the stage and goes right into the music. The only spoken word from her came at the end, when she introduced her band. But her band clearly reveres her, and she cherishes having them in her presence to perform.
I had seen one of the music videos for the first single, Surrender. It's vintage Birdy. In the one I watched, she takes a road trip by car. There's another video where she goes to the coast by train. I miss travel with the pandemic. I miss live music during the pandemic.
Birdy's concert on my laptop, matched with that music video, comprised a glimpse into a life I used to live before the pandemic.
Getting to go on a road trip or train trip. And going to a concert. The fact I was billed 22 dollars through ticketmaster was exciting. It gave me the same sense that I was about to enter a theater and see a well known recording artist, at a concert that was going to be good.
Loneliness is another song title I caught off of somebody's music stand.
All I can say about the new music is that it was beautiful. I'll review those tracks individually once I get ahold of the album.
In the meantime, here were some other highlights:
Shelter (off of 2011 album Birdy)
Wings (off of 2014's Fire Within, and I put it on Greatest Hits Volume 35.)
People Help the People (on both Birdy and Fire Within)
Skinny Love (off of both Birdy and Fire Within, and I put it on Greatest Hits Volume 34.)
Terrible Love (off of 2011's Birdy)
Comforting Sounds (a bonus track
I got on the iTunes download of Birdy).
Birdy made excellend use of the live band backing her. The songs that have an orchestra backing on her albums were all able to be played.
Though she is quiet and unassuming in demeanor, Birdy's voice and music is deeply personal and revealing. It is borne of personal experience. Now, that being said, any influences on her song, the stories behind them are not open secrets, like Taylor Swift songs. In that sense, Birdy is sharing the songs. We all get to own them. We can adhere to them our own experiences. Or project our own feelings onto them.
Birdy reaches us through her Music. And no pandemic could prevent her from doing so through a live concert.
4.5 stars.