After a lengthy intermission following the opener, which proved to be an agitating wait for fans, a sold-out crowd in Bailey hall was stunned to silence as Andrew Bird took the stage and the sound of his violin filled the building. His classically styled and stunningly beautiful opening song made it clear to the audience, if anyone had any suspicions otherwise, that he is extremely gifted instrumentally, having trained at a young age and going on to study violin performance at Northwestern University.

Bird continued with some older songs, which were at times jazzy, bluesy, soulful, and at other times silly, happy, and harmoniously peaceful. As the concert progressed, it became clear that Bird himself would be no easier to pin down than the genre of his music.

After announcing in a monotone but sincere voice that he was “enjoying himself,” he moved into the next song, effortlessly using at least one instrument at a time while looping sounds, singing/whistling, banging his feet on the ground and shaking his head back and forth, singing as if he meant every word, as if he had not performed the song hundreds of times and was only playing for the fun of it.

Bird’s instrumental skill (though his singing voice is noteworthy enough) is immense, specifically in playing violin, the action of which seems to be as natural to him as blinking an eye; and with his personality (he joked about his roommate setting fire to their dorm room door and contemplated the thought of looking at one’s own eyeball), he exudes a charisma that defines him as both fascinatingly reflective and subtly, yet endearingly charming.

But his most impressive quality is his ability to create the beautifully complex and rich music that he does, alone, while continuing to entertain a crowd at the same time. After bringing out the opening band to help him out with some new songs and then performing some altered crowd-pleasing classics on his own, he left the stage of Bailey Hall only after three separate standing ovations. Seriously, if only I could whistle half as good as he can.