Just got home from seeing David Byrne at Massey Hall - pretty damn exceptional. Had much more fun, and was far more impressed, than I thought I'd be. Had no idea what to expect, and I got it. Wow.
Exceptionally precise and energetic - think up-tempo jazz. That may be a weak analogy, but I just woke up. There's a lot of movement - they had two percussionists, a bassist, a keyboardist, three backup singers and three choreographed dancers - the dancers, backup singers, and David Byrne all interact, seemingly randomly, but timed so well that you know it's been long rehearsed. But that's not music - you were asking about music. He has an incredible voice - a really great singer. The musicians all were totally tight - there's a few of his live performances on You Tube, check them out - it'll give you an idea of the quality of the performance, but not the energy. By the end of the show, everyone was on their feet and dancing - I totally hadn't expected that.
He was the lead singer of The Talking Heads, now does solo work and collaborations, notably with Brian Eno. Here's a link to his web site - there's some streaming audio / video if you want to hear what he's about (you can also find him on You Tube). When he's speaking to the audience, he's totally like Marc, then when he starts performing, he's transformed - it's uncanny. If Marc had become a musician, this is who he would have been.
For my friend Mike's benefit, he played mostly new stuff - some stuff from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and a fair amount of Talking Heads material, mostly in the encores - of which there were three. I don't really do the show justice - there's a good review in the National Post:
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http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2008/10/30/concert-review-david-byrne-toronto-october-29.aspx
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