Byrne-ing Down the House: David Byrne/Charlotte/12.10.08

photo of Baltimore, MD show in September 2008

Last night, I had the great pleasure of seeing one of the best showmen in music, David Byrne in Charlotte, NC. Byrne, former front man of the Talking Heads, is touring in support of his newest collaboration with Brian Eno called Everything that Happens Will Happen Today, a really great record released this year. Byrne was accompanied by a band comprised of a bassist, keyboardist, drummer, percussionist/multi-instrumentalist, three back-up singers, and three dancers–all of them clad completely in white.

As you probably know from the Talking Heads videos, Byrne is a very visually-oriented person–trained in the visual arts, in fact. He is putting his know-how to great use in this tour as the lighting work is fantastic and the dancers throw down dance moves that are as delightfully awkward as Byrne’s vocal delivery. Byrne joins in on the dancing quite bit himself as well.

The show was billed as “The Music of David Byrne and Brian Eno,” allowing them to play anything from the two albums that Byrne and Eno have made together as well as the Talking Heads albums which were produced by Eno: More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light.

The set was split up between Talking Heads songs and songs from the new album–however, it seemed to weigh a little heavy on older stuff, which the crowd loved. Byrne and Co. played some classics like “I Zimbra,” “Houses in Motion,” “Take Me to the River,” “Air,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” “Life During Wartime,” and “Heaven.” There were also one or two songs from other Byrne/Eno collaborations like 1981’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. And they played some tunes from the new record including “My Big Nurse,” “Strange Overtones,” and “I Feel My Stuff.”

The show was amazing–every song adapted really well to a live performance. The entire vibe of the show changed when they played “Once in a Lifetime” a little over halfway through their set. Everyone in the multi-generational crowd was up on their feet–dancing and singing–and they stayed there for almost the rest of the evening.

Here is a video of “Once in a Lifetime” from the Boston show on 10.31.08.

For the first encore, they played a wonderful rendition of “Take Me to the River.”

For the second encore, they played another classic, “Air.”

After this, we thought we might have to leave without hearing “Burning Down the House,” which we feared might not be eligible since it is not a Byrne/Eno composition. The house lights stayed down, the crowd was going nuts and Byrne, band, and dancers appeared on stage again. We hoped. We prayed. As the first notes of it began to play the place went berserk. As soon as the singing started the house lights came up and we could see that everyone in the room was singing, screaming, and dancing. It was one of the best audiences I’ve ever seen. He literally burned the house down–it is no longer there. In video below, he’s wearing some kind of mask, at our show he and everyone else on stage were wearing tutus.

Here’s “Burning Down the House” from the Boston show:

Take a look around Youtube and you can find various videos from recent shows of almost all the songs mentioned above. Also, take a listen to the newest Byrne/Eno album–you can stream it for free at there website: http://www.everythingthathappens.com/ And if this show comes to your town, by all means, go see it!