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M.Craft is singing about dragonflies. A band member is opening and closing a paper fan. It’s supposed to sound like dragonfly wings. Oh dear.

I’m pretty sure Craft is better than this Playschool literalism. His recent release Arrows to the Sun is a charming love letter to his boyhood. You can imagine a young Craft sitting in the back of his parents’ – œ78 Falcon, bare legs sticking to hot vinyl seats as the summery sounds of Chicago or Supertramp waft from a tinny AM radio. Arrows… doesn’t sound very fashionable, but Craft has built the likes of Young and in Love from a pleasing mix of nostalgia and smart defiance in the face of current trends.

Unfortunately tonight’s short set at the Opera House is far less interesting. Craft struggles to capture the album’s free-spirited essence, which means most of the songs are at best inoffensive and at worst forgettable. Susie & Me is a fairly ho-hum strum-along number; Mexico fails to realise its sunny potential and Young and in Love loses most of its charm in the chords of a lacklustre guitar. The fiery bridge in Beautiful Future is a welcome tonic, but with Andrew Bird’s theatrical – œspinning horn’ looming in the background, Craft seems to be overwhelmed by his supporting role.

You can’t blame him. Bird is indeed an extraordinary talent. He’s an ego-free zone who’s seemingly oblivious to his own jealousy-inducing abilities. Limping onto stage (limp courtesy of a recent altercation between his foot and an amp), Bird looks preoccupied. Seated alone on a small stool, he gives us a cursory acknowledgement before casually looping plucked violin strings and a cello’s rich swell.

What emerges from these basic patterns is a gorgeous instrumental that breathes heady notes into the lofty corners of the Concert Hall. It’s lovely, if not a little uncomfortable. There’s something about Bird’s disposition that makes this feel like a personal, private moment. As if we’re peering through his studio window as he tinkers with new sounds that he may not be quite ready for us to hear yet.

This voyeurism doesn’t last long, however. Once joined by a small band, Bird shows himself to be an entirely engaging, genial presence who takes pleasure in regaling us with all sorts of yarns about the origins of his songs. From the slightly scary guy who chats away to himself at the end of bars ( Effigy ) to how his obsession as a child with the board game Operation led him to write a song about the ethical existential issues surrounding the consumption of animals’ vital organs ( Dark Matter ).

Bird clearly relishes the opportunity to fill us in on some contextual gaps, but his tall stories are nothing more than an amusing diversion. What’s really fascinating about Bird is a refusal to allow his recorded material dictate the terms of his live performances. In a former life, Oh No may have been irresistible, warm indie-pop but tonight Bird decides to give it a bit of tougher makeover. He ups the tempo, introduces a bit of abrasive strumming on the guitar and suddenly the song is transformed into something altogether more raucous.

It’s what makes seeing Andrew Bird feel like a genuine one-off. This isn’t an artist who’s playing Opposite Days for the hundredth time and can barely conceal his boredom. It’s an artist who wants to make it new; turn the song inside out, so its dreamy harmonies and gentle strings are concealed beneath a gutsy outer made of blustering rock and roll.

Aside from Bird’s lust for improvisation, there’s still that infamous whistle of course. A subtle pursing of lips that defies logic to create a sound worthy of its own instrument classification. And the spinning horn is indeed a beautiful addition to the stage: two giant opposing gramophone horns that spin gracefully at key points of the set (although it has to be said that their intended aural effect is a little less arresting).

But what really counts is the fact that it wouldn’t matter is this was your first or fiftieth Andrew Bird performance – your ears would still eagerly lap up all those brilliant sounds like they were hearing them for the very first time.