So the week of the Andrew Bird Dutch tour has arrived. Here is the latest info:

May 4 - Doornroosje, Nijmegen
May 5 - Paradiso, Amsterdam (grote zaal)
May 6 - Paradiso, Amsterdam (kleine zaal - possibly sold out)
May 7 - Vera, Groningen

All dates feature support and percussive backing from Martin Dosh.

There is the rather funny situation that next week Final Fantasy will also be performing at Paradiso. Well, it’s really only funny because back in November, when Andrew Bird was playing in Haarlem, Final Fantasy was in Amsterdam and I told everyone via the newspaper to go see Andrew Bird as he’s much better. Was that fair? I think so. They both have a very similar style currently, with both looping violins as a key part of their show. But while I love the music of Andrew Bird, I found Final Fantasy terminally boring when I saw him live - whereas the majority of the young audience had never seen anyone being creative with a violin and loop pedal before and loved it.

Well it turned out someone showed Final Fantasy the newspaper and my comments shattered his confidence ever so briefly that afternoon in Amsterdam, before the pair ended up on the same bill a week or so later and developed a civil appreciation for each other. So for them to show up so close together again is rather weird, but I’ll just leave Final Fantasy and his fans to it this time, as I don’t normally try to spread negativity when I write.