Andrew Bird Reimagines Eggs with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Bird with The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Clowes Memorial Hall
Indianapolis, IN
April 9, 2026
There are anniversary tours, and then there are reinventions. On Thursday night at Clowes Memorial Hall, Andrew Bird didn’t just revisit The Mysterious Production of Eggs, he reframed it with accompaniment from the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. The results were mesmerizing.
Opening with the instrumental tease of “/= /,” the orchestra swelled underneath him like a tide coming in slow motion. “A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left” snapped into focus with a jittery elegance. “Fake Palindromes” and “Measuring Cups” leaned into their lyrical elasticity. By the time “Masterfade” and “Opposite Day” closed the first set, the album’s 20-year-old core had been fully re-sequenced, still intact, but undeniably evolved.
Set two pivoted hard, opening with “Pavane pour une infante défunte,” a nod to Bird’s deep classical instincts. There was a sense throughout that Bird wasn’t just performing songs. He was recontextualizing them in real time each night with a different symphony orchestra.
For an artist nearing three decades into his career, Andrew Bird remains stubbornly unclassifiable. At Clowes Memorial Hall, backed by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, he didn’t try to fit into any tradition, he just expanded the edges of all of them.
Current Tour Info: https://www.andrewbird.net/home#tour
Set 1: /=/, Sovay, A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left, Fake Palindromes, Measuring Cups, Banking on a Myth, Masterfade, Opposite Day
Set 2: Pavane pour une infante défunte (Maurice Ravel cover), Skin Is My, The Naming of Things, MX Missiles, /=/=/, Tables and Chairs, The Happy Birthday Song, Orpheo Looks Back, Three White Horses
Encore: Pulaski at Night, Weather Systems
