The Bird and the Bee "Polite Dance Song" (21.2 MB) from Please Clap Harder Schubas Chicago, IL January 11, 2008

So, some things that were kind of weird about this show, or rather, the venue. The ticketed show area is separate from the main bar, and though there is a small bar in the back of the room, there's also wait service throughout the room. This seemed reasonable during the intermission, but it was really odd to have a couple of waitresses squeezing in and out of the sold-out crowd while the show was going on. It was less noticeable during the opening set by acoustic singer/songwriter Charlie Wadhams, since fewer people were in the crowd, but that set was greeted by maybe the least attentive audience I've ever seen. Basically nobody even noticed that the guy had started his set and everyone just continued to chit-chat -- much worse than some of the loud High Noon shows in recent years.

But anyway, the end of the Bird and the Bee set. I'd started to think they weren't going to play anything from their recent EP, but late in the evening they pulled out this opening track, which is another one with the Grey's Anatomy seal of approval (this makes me think I may need to recalibrate my taste-meter). Their encore was also taken from the EP -- their cover of the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love -- with the other three tracks left for next time, hopefully to be coming soon.