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

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

As singer-songwriter Andrew Bird welcomed “The Pitt” composer Gavin Brivik to the stage at Largo at the Coronet, the room seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.Then, the reverent sound of a looping violin broke the silence.A pair of acoustic guitars chimed in, and suddenly we were transported to a fictional Pittsburgh hospital to relive our collective heartbreak over a beloved character’s death.“All I know is you need someone, in the by and by, you need someone who’s gonna cry for you,” Bird crooned, eyes closed, voice nearly breaking with emphasis on the aptly titled “Need Someone.”In the company of Bird’s loyal fans and “The Pitt” collaborators — including actor Ernest Harden Jr., who played Louie Cloverfield, the character “Need Someone” was written to send off — the weight of those words hung heavy.

It was a testament to an intimacy fueled by shared experience, the kind stoked both by live music and watercooler television at its best.Intimacy was key to the sold-out “Andrew Bird and Friends” concert, which took over Largo on Saturday to benefit mental health organizations for healthcare workers.(While the specific organizations have not been announced, Bird told The Times his team is deciding between four potential beneficiaries.)“Need Someone” is the first and only original, lyrical song to appear in “The Pitt,” HBO’s award-winning drama series spanning a shift-in-the-life of emergency healthcare workers in Pittsburgh.Taking a break from studio sessions and an orchestral tour to celebrate the song and the story behind it with a benefit concert at Largo, his Los Angeles “home base,” made sense to Bird.“I think what ‘The Pitt’ is helping us all with is the PTSD of the pandemic,” Bird told The Times, “and how we all have a bit of collective amnesia about the whole thing and haven’t dealt with a lot of what happene...