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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Wearing White After Labor Day

David Byrne - 9/17/08 - The Lyric (Baltimore) - $38

My old man was kind enough to invite me up to his hood for a peek at former Talking Heads front man, and Baltimore "local," David Byrne. My ticket - an early birthday present. For those who are still looking for a gift for me, I'm in need of a nice knife sharpener.

The venue, Baltimore's The Lyric, is akin to DC's DAR Constitution Hall, with its many rows of seats, and balconies, and carpet. It is, after all, officially the Lyric Opera House. This proved a barrier at first, as the seated crowd remained seated for the first 3/4 of the show, getting up for "Once in a Lifetime," only to sit back down for the next several tunes. Like me, I'm guessing that there were a good number of folks who were much more familiar with Byrne's TH catalog than his solo work.

But off to the side balcony, close to the stage (and basically where we like to stand at the 9:30 Club), the audience there was on its feet throughout, and I decided to get a closer look with 1/4 of the show left to go. It was a good move as the vibe was much more of what I enjoy, people actually moving around and enjoying themselves. It was also a great vantage point, and it gave me the opportunity to snap a photo and capture some video.

Thanks to Emma Peel's post last month, I had listened to Byrne's latest collaboration with Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, via the internet. And Byrne played a good chunk of it tonight. Here's what I remember him playing from the new album (in no particular order):

Home
My Big Nurse- I hadn't notice the "when the angel fucks the whore" lyric before tonight
Everything that happens
Strange Overtones
Life is Long - I like the "soul to soul" chorus
The River
One Fine Day
This show was exactly that - a show. It's a good day when there is actually a performance to experience. The dancers were a nice addition, and mostly because they weren't the only ones dancing. The back up singers, and Byrne himself, were all part of the choreography. It was something to see. Well done.



In addition to "Once in a Lifetime," Byrne busted out additional Talking Heads favorites. These appeared mostly in the last 1/4 of the show, and kept everyone on their feet.

The TH tunes I recall:
Cross Eyed & Painless
Life During Wartime
Take Me to the River
I was hoping he would close with Psycho Killer, but he's the boss. Byrne performs on Day 1 of ACL. It would be worth checking out again, especially without seats in the way.

7 comments:

sacklunch said...

I've always liked the older Talking Heads stuff. Sometimes though, Bryne goes to far in the direction of "world music", of which I have never been a huge fan.

I dig the white suit, much better than the giant suit from the "Once and a Lifetime" era.

Potsy loves going to shows with his pops....

Jumbo Slice said...

I love Talking Heads and until recently I had slept on most of his solo stuff. Like Sacklunch, I'm not a big world music fan. Albums like Grown Backwards and his collaborations w/ Eno are more my speed.

Did you guys hear about the building he turned into an instrument? I also saw some cool bike rakes he designed in NYC. The guy has more creativity in his pinky than all of us combined.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure we'll see much of his set at ACL since we're going out to dinner that night. We might need to head out after Hot Chip.

Unknown said...

I turned my dick into an instrument of mass pleasure and haven't looked back since

Anonymous said...

I second the awesomeness of this show. Sage and I were there, too. Not dancing.

John I said...

Great show. Other Heads tunes were "Heaven", "I Zimbra", "Houses In Motion", "The Great Curve."

I liked the new songs, though I haven't heard the record yet. Another highlight was "Help Me Somebody" from the "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" collaboration. A song I thought I'd never see done live.
-John I

Potsy's Old Man said...

Hey Potsy, you must have been to a different show then me! I don’t remember any of the songs you listed but then again I didn’t know you could play electric guitar without being “plugged in” to an amplifier. Guess I’m a real gizzer.

Your old man.

Jimbromski said...

if I had a nickel for every time some dude came on here and claimed to be Potsy's dad...

just kidding.

next show, Potsy Sr is driving us all in the station wagon.