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Published: November 24th 2009
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Six hour bus ride to Madrid to see a concert with two guys I barely know, followed by a six hour trip back to Sevilla, all in the span of 24 hours. I almost wish that something had gone wrong so that I could have a better story to recount, but it really couldn’t have gone any better. At all. It was positively fantastic. Allow me to tell you about it…
At 10:30am last Saturday the bus departed Sevilla, and what a bus it was! I guess the only differentiating quality that it had from other, ordinary buses was that each seat had lots o’ leg room, but I was sufficiently impressed. After few meager attempts at homework and a viewing of the film “Rat Race” dubbed in español, we arrived in Madrid at around 4:45pm. The doors for the concert didn’t open until 8pm… so we took the metro to the general area of the concert venue (stop Sol, if you know Madrid) and hung out for a bit. I thought it might be a little weird traveling with two people I had barely ever spoken with, but Michael and Alex, also in the ISA program, are the kind
Andrew Bird
This is where I was standing originally, then the security guards made us move... but we didn't have to go far. of people it’s easy to feel comfortable around. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them, and I realized that it was the first time I’d actually hung out with Americans of the opposite gender (besides Brandon, pictured in some earlier blogs, but for some reason Brandon doesn’t count). Ridiculous. I won’t fault them for being completely incompetent when it came to the metro system, or just figuring out where to go in general, really. You’ll note how extreme the situation was when I tell you that it was I, yes I, who did all of the navigating this trip. What? Exactly.
We wandered, wandered; I heard stories about lighting Sevici bikes on fire and illegally rafting across the river in Sevilla… we listened to street musicians, breathed in Madrid, found the venue, and then finally decided around 7ish to grab a coffee. We walked around the corner, and saw “Chocolatería” so, uh, we OBVIOUSLY had to go there! Turns out we stumbled upon somewhat of an iconic location: Chocolate y churros were the specialty of the “Chocolatería San Gines” and the place was packed. It took us at least fifteen minutes just to find somewhere to
Andrew Bird's audience
View from the second location, plus his adoring fans. sit, but it was so worth it. See photo for better understanding.
Nice leisurely pre-concert churro snack, followed by a nice leisurely stand in line where we met a ton of other American students studying abroad. It was like we had all converged on this musical shrine after partaking in an extensive pilgrimage from our respective origins. We ended up befriending two girls studying in Madrid for the year, and stood by them during the concert. “They were hot,” the boys agreed later, “Sorry, Lindsey, you’re getting treated like a guy. Didn’t you think so?” “Uh… yea. Hot.”
Ha. No but really, they were nice, and quite the Andrew Bird fans. Morgan, I believe her name was, snagged a set list and a string from his violin bow after the show. “Are you going to build a shrine to him or something?” I wondered. Her answer was vague and evasive. I took it as a yes.
And now for my musical review. If you aren’t as much of an Andrew bird aficionado as Morgan here, check out this
link to the YouTube video for my favorite song of his, “Measuring Cups.” (If you don't want to listen to him talk at the beginning, skip to around 0:46.)He sadly did not play this song during the show, but I’ll get over it eventually. Mr. Bird, as odd of a person as his lyrics suggest, traipsed out onto the stage and promptly took his shoes off, revealing bright pink socks. But he’s so over caring, right? Just look at that outfit, it just oozes accidental style. I jest, but you really do get the feeling that Andrew Bird doesn’t much care what you think of him himself, really, he just wants to play his music well. And he did appear to have a few jitters to get rid of, but after the first couple songs he got into a one-man groove and didn’t slow down. No band, no nothing, just him and his equipment. Pardon my lack of technical prowess as I explain the following: he managed to play all the parts of his song himself by recording them, then layering them on top of one another. Guitar, violin, xylophone, voice, whistling… an interesting combination of sounds lending to a melodic uniqueness catering to a rather specific taste that has kept him out of the mainstream musical arena. It was amusing to occasionally take quick glances over at the first row, where the super devoted can be found. Close your eyes, Andrew Bird fan; rock your head side to side, I want to see some reverence! Adjust your dark framed glasses and mouth the words to songs that it seems strange to sing along to, just so people know you know them. I try not to identify with any particular genre of music, or whatever style happens to accompany it, and I feel this gives me the authority to make fun of everyone.
What I’m trying to say is that after the concert, while I listened to his albums on loop all the way home, I did not have Andrew Bird fantasies nor draw out the schematics to an Andrew Bird temple. I just like his music, apparently enough to spend twelve hours on a bus just to see him.
The concert ended rather anticlimactically, I must admit, and with our bus leaving at 1am we had just enough time to walk through the streets of Madrid one last time, singing random tunes. Actually, it was more like Michael and Alex doing some surprisingly impressive harmonization while I worked on keeping my embarrassment meter down, occasionally throwing in a note or two. Quick midnight snack of kebabs, and then off to the bus… 7 hours later I crawled into bed, wondering if it had actually happened. But I have pictures, so it must have!
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Erik Mellgren
non-member comment
Incredulous
I am still hesitant to believe your claims that you navigated anyone anywhere. Although, if this is indeed the case I must say that I am impressed. I always knew you had it in you. Beyond this, I will say that I do not sing along at Andrew Bird concerts, but I am among the people who whistle along with the whistling parts. I fancy myself an adept whistler, and if you want to make fun of me, then I challenge you to find another popular musician who incorporates whistling as well as Mr. Bird. P.S. I am now going to nitpick your composition for editorial purposes. P.P.S. Second paragraph, 7th sentence: Did you actually hang out those boys or did you mean to include a "with" in that sentence? P.P.P.S. Final paragraph, second to last sentence, you need an "it" after if.