Burning down the egg
By Ethan Gaddy, Albany Student Press, 11 November 2008 [Link]
David Byrne, legendary front man for Talking Heads, played a sold out show of unparalleled intensity at The Egg last Wednesday. The crowd's enthusiasm and Byrne's Band's performance led to the entire house dancing like feral apes for three separate encores.
"We feel really good about the show," said Byrne, 56, after the concert. Camera crews and a sound taping station provided by Byrne recorded the entire show for a concert video. Byrne and his dancers, backup singers, and other musicians appeared remarkably energetic after playing 20 songs in a row without the help of a warm-up act.
"Sometimes when you have an opening band they can set the tone or the dynamics of the crowd differently then we want it," explained Redray Frazier, one of the singers backstage in the dressing room after the show.
During the set, the band covered material that Byrne had collaborated on with Brian Eno. Eno and Byrne have a decades-long relationship that spanned three Talking Heads albums and the Eno/Byrne creation, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts — now a classic — and the new album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Half of the songs he played last Wednesday were from Talking Heads and the other half from his Eno albums.
While the creative genius of the show comes from Byrne, and Eno in absentium, the dancers, singers, and musicians turned the music into a bona fide performance. All of the performers dressed in pure white and the entire show was choreographed, often involving not only dancers but Byrne and the singers as well. Like "Stop Making Sense," the seminal Talking Heads concert video, the show would have been fun to watch even without sound.
"We woke up this morning and it was not the same America as yesterday," Byrne said softly and calmly into the microphone as he took the stage. He was met with ecstatic cheers. Byrne opened with "Strange Overtones," from Everything that Happens Will Happen Today and followed with the far more familiar Talking Heads song "I Zimbra."
Byrne managed to smoothly introduce material from his new album by interspersing it between the Talking Heads songs people have been listening to for over 20 years. The crowd was starting to dance more as the set continued but "Heaven," a slower song that highlights Byrne's singing sat the audience down. Three songs later "Crosseyed and Painless," a driving song with manic African rhythms, had the entire audience up and dancing.
Typically, The Egg caters to older audiences, bringing in groups that have been together for decades. Byrne, despite his age, surrounds himself with inspired musicians and dancers, and has not let up on the intensity of his performances. Getting the entire Egg crowd up and dancing through almost all of the second half of his show and the entire encore is a testament to his unrelenting virility as a musician.
"Burning Down the House," the last song of his second encore, drove the audience wild enough to demand a third encore, for which he played "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today." The audience and Byrne had enjoyed themselves immensely.
Byrne is spry, lanky, wild-eyed, and moves with an electric energy. By the time I'd caught up with him he'd changed out of his white suit into blue jeans and a red sweater. He was sipping beer from a plastic cup, chatting about the show, and about bicycling, one of his many passions outside of music.
"Yeah, I try to take my bike around on tour, to get out and check out the different cities," Byrne said. His online journal chronicles his excursions and musings from his bicycle. He was interested in Albany's efforts to set up a master-bike plan but didn't have time to for a ride. The band was headed for Pittsburg, Pa., later in the night.
If Byrne and his group's performance last Wednesday is any indication of the rest of the tour, audiences can be assured that Byrne is no money-grubbing has-been on tour to make a few bucks. His artistic integrity has not been compromised over the years and he is most definitely trying.
