Apologies, can’t help myself – but after seeing a few more references to his last tour in the Top 3 Gigs thread, I just have to signal possibly a lone voice of dissent…
I admit that mass enthusing does tend to drive an urge to look for a contrary reaction – even more so when the panting reviews are used as marketing by the artist themselves with DB himself quoting the NME’s ridiculous “The Best Live Show Of All Time”.
But this is an artist I’ve long admired, never seen before live – and he was doing some Remain In Light and Fear of Music tunes. Fab! So I went to Hammersmith wanting to join the throng of superlative givers
And? Just about OK – not a live show but a self-consciously hip performance of – in some cases – average songs. And then you get to the groove monsters from Remain In Light…surely exciting spontaneous wig-outs, or at least get into that groove..no, more mannered smuggery.
Yes, that’s the word that summed it up for me – smug…
So if anyone out there feels the same – great! Otherwise, please just walk on past and shake your head…
Smug? If that was smug then everything Byrne does is smug, and perhaps it is, but no more than normal.
No, it wasn’t Talking Heads wigging out on Remain In Light. Fuck me ! Why didn’t they print that on the ticket?
Why was it a superb show? Disclosure- not in my top 3. Well, for starters it wasn’t just a reformed Talking Heads belting out their classics. It was a reformulation of presentation of contemporary music. Yes, it was choreographed. It had to be. It had me reassessing how contemporary performance can /should be presented.
Never liked him for precisely that reason. Too arch and knowing with a silly voice. OOAA.
DB has talked a lot about not doing TH songs, or for that matter even his own oldies (Rei Momo and so on). He doesn’t want to play with Talking Heads either, and not just because Tina Weymouth thinks he’s a total arse-head. With this in mind it’s surprising that any Heads material whatsoever turns up in a modern Byrne set.
Re the Remain In Light track – I wasn’t asking for my money back, or suggesting misrepresentation, but just saying that was my hope and then my reaction to the performance.
Rather than walk on past shaking my head, I’ll respectfully disagree.
I haven’t contributed to the top 3 live shows thread yet, partly because I can’t make up my mind, but the David Byrne show was definitely my favourite of the last couple of years.
I won’t claim to be a DB obsessive – I have the early Talking Heads stuff and some of the later solo stuff but there’s a gap in the middle there, and I wouldn’t have paid the pricey ticket cost if I hadn’t heard the hype.
But: this was a joyous show. I go to plenty of gigs, and spend most of my time fully enjoying them without giving any outward show of doing so – I just stand there nodding my head gently or tapping my toe. American Utopia had me grinning from ear to ear for the entirety. It was just completely unlike anything I had seen before, and I expect I won’t see anything like it again either. I actually laughed on one or two occasions at the chutzpah of it all.
Even my least favourite part of any live show – the bit where the star introduces the band – was brilliantly done.
I’ve said it here before, but fun is a much underrated quality in a live gig.
@monsignorbonehead
That last point is an excellent one.
@monsignorbonehead I agree entirely with your comments.
So @timtunes describes it as just about okay?
Even if he didnt like it and assume from his comments he didnt then ‘just about okay’ is probably as insulting as he could get
Just the choreography itself and the stage setting were way beyond just about okay
The music with the massed percussionists was superb – joyous and yes it had me grinning too.
David Byrne has dared to do something very different in live music and for me he succeeded in spades. Not sure this is a panting review more an expression of admiration for a show that really moved me and by the way I actually dont like the Anerican Utopia album that much.
Surely I can present an opinion as to my reaction without it being ‘an insult’?
Just okay – means on balance, 3/5 – but as the cliche goes, OOAA and in this case are quite plentiful and dissenting
Yes you can TT and has prompted a good discussion.
@timtunes you misunderstood my comments I think. Of course you are free to dislike it or have any opinion. I just thought the phrase ‘just about okay’ was totally wrong even if you didnt like it – the thought and effort that went into the show transcended just about okay in anyone book. Just about okay is your favourite band going on stage playing your favourite numbers but telephoning them in. I have seen loads of artists do that.
He dared to be radically different and even if you thought it was crap it certainly wasnt just about okay.
Fair point – I certainly didn’t think it was crap, just – on a personal level – I didn’t get what everyone else did.
I thought it was wonderful (and went twice). However I think I may have preferred The “Songs of Byrne and Eno” tour he did about 10 yrs ago. Actually I have seen him 7 or 8 times since ca 1989 and each one was outstanding in it’s own way.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was extremely unusual and well thought-out. The entire band choreography and the lighting was wonderful. The Talking Heads songs were true to their spirit, which always included a sense of fun. Byrne has a keen eye for the ridiculous. His voice, is, of course, his voice. Burning Down The House was a highlight but I got emotional over I Zimbra. It was the only song in the set that I’d witnessed live before, almost exactly forty years ago. I felt the sands of time slipping through my fingers at the same time as experiencing a thrill of recognition.
I Zimbra was definitely a highlight
And…as to “performance” elements..thought Kate Bush’s Before The Dawn at the same venue was far more engaging and innovative
Shame she ruined it with an abysmal live recording of the event.
My view of Byrne is that he became less interesting when he shed his nervy, alienated, angst filled self to become more comfortable in his own skin. No doubt he was happier but the music lost something as is often the case. The edge was lost sometime after 79/80 and never came back. No doubt this tour was clever, creative stuff. I tried a youtube clip a while back. Couldn’t make it all the way through one song. He’ got so New York high brow artsy fartsy.
You say “New York high brow artsy fartsy” like it’s a bad thing
I enjoyed the American Utopia show. but I can understand that the highly choreographed approach could put people off.
The tour he did with St Vincent and a brass ensemble was perhaps even more exciting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDsK0KDuaRQ
Many of his live shows are on my list of best concerts ever.
Mmm, have to admit, I much prefer the second clip, although I have to say that Wild Wild Life is my favourite of his songs. I found the first one to be a little bit, how can I put it, naff, to be honest. I have read to much about this tour that I was expecting more. It looked like a rehearsal. I went to see Christine and the Queens not long back and that knocks spots off it, as far as, choreographed stage routines go, without sacrificing the musical element of it.
David Byrne is 67.
He’s also the proverbial butcher’s dog. Cycling you see. And I bet he’s never had a pot noodle or a Party Seven in his life.
He is from Aberdeen – he was probably drinking Buckfast at the age of 10.
Dumbarton and by the time he was 10 he had moved ro Canada and then on to the US.
Hey Paul! Have you heard True Stories Complete Soundtrack from last year? It’s brilliant.
The songs on the True Stories soundtrack are one of Talking Heads’ finest hours.
Now you have got me really interested!
It contains all the incidental music and the songs as performed in the movie in the correct sequence. There are only three tracks replicated on the Talking Heads album from 1986: Wild Wild Life, Love For Sale and City Of Dreams. Annie McEnroe sings Dream Operator, a choir of children Hey Now and John Goodman People Like Us. The songs make much more sense with those voices and they sing them in a much more moving manner. The Kronos Quartet make an appearance on Dinner Music.
Of course, I’ve edited it down to resemble the as released True Stories and it’s so much better.
https://www.nonesuch.com/albums/true-stories-soundtrack
You make a very persuasive case for purchasing the True Stories soundtrack, Tigger.
I saw True Stories when it was first released, and enjoyed it, but have never seen it since. I’d been thinking of getting the Blu-Ray of the film, and wondered why it was so expensive. Now I see that the Blu-Ray package also includes a CD of the full soundtrack, so that price …. Starts Making Sense.
He is from Aberdeen – he was probably drinking Buckfast at the age of 10.
I forget that he’s Scottish. It would explain song titles like –
Crivvens, Love Comes Tae Toon
What a Tay That Was
Burning Doon the Hoose
We’re On the Road to Falkirk
….and his enigmatic collaboration with Brian “Baldie Yin” Eno, My Life in the But an’ Ben.