Have you seen Stop Making Sense (1984)? Do you have the entire Talking Heads catalog on your iPod? How about the Byrne/Eno collaboration projects? Even that one with all the weird newscast sampling that music critics seem to hate? No? Well, no matter, this recommendation still applies to you. David Byrne’s performance last Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 would have blown your mind, regardless of your inability to commit to such obsessive Byrne love.
Twenty-five years after the legendary Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense” tour, David still manages to bring that extremely 1980s quirkiness to the stage in a way that only someone who defined it can do. One will notice at a Byrne show that nothing about him, his presence or his music, seems washed-up or outdated. I have attended too many retro acts where I thought to myself, “This would have been great . . . in the 70’s” or “Man, that would have been sexy . . . if it were done by a 30 year old.”
I think the former is the more pertinent, seeing as how David’s performances have never been about sexiness. Watch those 1984 performances and note that you can call them a lot of things: strange, post-modern, funky, upbeat, energetic, even downright weird, but you can never refer to them in erotic terms (in any seriousness, anyway). This is why there is just as much force in David Byrne’s show today as there was 25 years ago; you can lose your looks, you can lose your mojo, but no matter how old you get, you only get stranger.
His set included songs from both his solo career and his time with the Talking Heads, as well as some tracks he and Brian Eno did together. He treated the crowd with the utmost respect, giving them license to dance in the aisles and take and upload as many pictures as they wanted, “so long as he looked good.” As he awed the crowd, a troupe of contemporary dancers frolicked around the stage doing kicks and throws and even moves that manipulated David himself. All and all, a sight that, when paired with the excellent lighting and presentation of the Paramount Theatre, made for a non-stop optical euphoria.
The encore presentation? David Byrne and the Extra Action Marching Band, a San Francisco-based marching troupe of entertainers dolled up to portray a group of meth-addicted trannies who have been given pompoms and brass instruments and told to “rock the shit out of the audience.” It was at this moment I realized that point I mentioned earlier—you know, about it being really hard to get sexier w/ age, but it being nearly impossible not to get weirder. Needless to say, this was the crux of all Seattle performances, the pinnacle of Northwest stage presence. I doubt that I will ever be as into a Seattle show as I was at that particular moment. A brilliant showing by both parties. Thank you for completing my summer so early on!
David Byrne: Strongly Recommended
DOWNLOAD: David Byrne - Strange Overtones (MP3) or Follow us for more David Byrne MP3s (Twitter)
Justin Townes Earle + Joe Pug - 2/14
Doug Fir Lounge
The Magnetic Fields - 2/21
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/22
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/23
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/24
Aladdin Theatre
El Perro Del Mar - 2/28
Doug Fir Lounge
Basia Bulat - 3/8
Mississippi Studios
Avey Tare was in attendance, along with Angel from Dirty Projectors.
by David on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 08.35 pm from the entry: Atlas Sound + Neon Indian - E&L Auditorium (New York, NY; Feb. 4, 2010)
Good catch, oh masked marvel.
by Ari Sommer on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 02.42 pm from the entry: St Vincent + Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR; Feb. 6, 2010)
St. Sincent...ha.
by anonymous on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 02.04 pm from the entry: St Vincent + Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR; Feb. 6, 2010)
Aan was amazing.
by jarrod on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.02 pm from the entry: Blue Horns + Morning Teleportation + Aan - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR Jan. 30, 2010)
I’d like to clarify that for this show they cut off the back half of Neumo’s floor with a curtain and had the upstairs bar closed. It made Neumo’s obviously seem much smaller than it is. Unfortunately, now having seen Neumo’s fully open at another show I can say that this show was very empty. Still White Denim and Brazos rocked.
by Chris on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.57 am from the entry: White Denim + Brazos - Neumos (Seattle, WA; Jan. 24, 2010)
I agree, it’s very good. Way to deflate their balloon.
by colin on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.03 am from the entry: Third Annual Portland Music Awards - Crystal Ballroom (Portland, OR; Jan. 28, 2010)
Love the photos. And that “Walkabout” song is the drugs.
by Beth Doreian on Sun Feb 7, 2010 at 01.14 pm from the entry: Atlas Sound + Neon Indian - E&L Auditorium (New York, NY; Feb. 4, 2010)
