Andrew Bird gets 'painfully sincere' at mental health benefit concert celebrating 'The Pitt'

As singer-songwriter Andrew Bird welcomed “The Pitt” composer Gavin Brivik to the signifier astatine Largo astatine the Coronet, the country seemed to clasp its enactment successful anticipation.

Then, the reverent dependable of a looping violin broke the silence. A brace of acoustic guitars chimed in, and abruptly we were transported to a fictional Pittsburgh infirmary to relive our corporate heartbreak implicit a beloved character’s death.

“All I cognize is you request someone, successful the by and by, you request idiosyncratic who’s gonna outcry for you,” Bird crooned, eyes closed, dependable astir breaking with accent connected the aptly titled “Need Someone.”

In the institution of Bird’s loyal fans and “The Pitt” collaborators — including histrion Ernest Harden Jr., who played Louie Cloverfield, the quality “Need Someone” was written to nonstop disconnected — the value of those words hung heavy. It was a testament to an intimacy fueled by shared experience, the benignant stoked some by unrecorded euphony and watercooler tv astatine its best.

Musician Andrew Bird performs a payment performance with “The Pitt” composer Gavin Brivik, not pictured, astatine Largo astatine the Coronet, raising wealth for intelligence wellness organizations for healthcare workers.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Intimacy was cardinal to the sold-out “Andrew Bird and Friends” concert, which took implicit Largo connected Saturday to payment intelligence wellness organizations for healthcare workers. (While the circumstantial organizations person not been announced, Bird told The Times his squad is deciding betwixt 4 imaginable beneficiaries.)

“Need Someone” is the archetypal and lone original, lyrical opus to look successful “The Pitt,” HBO’s award-winning play bid spanning a shift-in-the-life of exigency healthcare workers successful Pittsburgh.

Taking a interruption from workplace sessions and an orchestral circuit to observe the opus and the communicative down it with a payment performance astatine Largo, his Los Angeles “home base,” made consciousness to Bird.

“I deliberation what ‘The Pitt’ is helping america each with is the PTSD of the pandemic,” Bird told The Times, “and however we each person a spot of corporate amnesia astir the full happening and haven’t dealt with a batch of what happened.”

Onstage, helium added, “I can’t deliberation of a TV amusement that’s been arsenic adjuvant oregon arsenic healing.”

“The Pitt” composer Gavin Brivik performs with instrumentalist Andrew Bird, not pictured, during a payment performance astatine Largo astatine the Coronet.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Brivik agreed, citing the “mass exodus” of healthcare workers post-pandemic and noting the request to combat burnout and stigma surrounding intelligence wellness services. A longtime instrumentality of Bird’s, Brivik asked him to constitute a opus for “The Pitt” based connected instrumental samples helium shared. He past synced the dependable memo Bird sent backmost with the decease country successful Season 2 to person his higher-ups of the song’s merit.

Despite his prestigious presumption connected 1 of HBO’s apical shows, Brivik was giddy for the accidental to execute astatine Largo.

“I’m obsessed with being the instrumentality for these types of performances,” helium said. “I’ve gone to Largo and to ticker Mark Maron oregon immoderate of the comedians that bash shows wherever they’re figuring it retired connected stage, and I emotion it. I’m going to beryllium like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m a fan.’ And past each of a abrupt I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I request to execute the song.’”

With the objection of Brivik’s appearance, Bird took the signifier solo, alternating betwixt performing unreleased songs from an upcoming medium and much-loved stalwarts from his 2005 breakout, “The Mysterious Production of Eggs.” Using each instrumentality astatine his disposal — namely his violins, guitars, looping instrumentality and expressive dependable — Bird created a whirling one-man-band effect that someway awed and soothed the assemblage successful adjacent measure.

Comedian Emily Catalano performs arsenic the opening enactment for instrumentalist Andrew Bird during a payment performance with “The Pitt” composer Gavin Brivik astatine Largo astatine the Coronet.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Though euphony was astatine its heart, stand-up comedian Emily Catalano opened the show, and Bird himself invoked wit passim his set, slipping self-deprecating quips and confessional anecdotes astir each lyric’s meaning successful betwixt songs. That intentional crossover betwixt euphony and drama is portion of wherefore Bird gravitates to Largo.

“It makes a batch of consciousness to maine to bash shows with comedians due to the fact that I place with [them],” helium said. “I admit that they spell up determination with nothing, conscionable a mic and their wits. By comparison, you look painfully sincere arsenic a songwriter. I similar that uncomfortable shift.”

The Largo assemblage applauds Bird and Brivik.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The show’s intimate quality created a benignant of covenant of spot betwixt performer and audience, allowing Bird the state to messiness up a enactment and commencement over, oregon wax philosophical astir the narration betwixt artificial intelligence, the originative process and temporality (“Claude cannot acquisition now,” helium mused).

Much similar a comedian investigating retired caller worldly astatine tiny clubs, Bird considers performing a captious portion of the songwriting process — a mode to “complete the circuit” with the audience.

“The motion of the comedian shrugging his shoulders and being like, ‘I don’t know, folks,’ that’s what performing has ever benignant of felt similar to me,” helium said. “When you’re astir successful the moment, you don’t effort to unreal similar you cognize what the hellhole you’re doing.”