CONCERT REVIEW
David Byrne: Same as he ever was
by Seth Rogovoy(LENOX, Mass., Aug. 9, 1997) -- From the moment he hit the stage behind the instantly recognizable bass line of the Talking Heads hit "Once In a Lifetime," David Byrne proved himself as electrifying and intriguing a presence as he ever was at the Berkshire Performing Arts Theatre on Friday night.
Byrne has always taken as much care with his performances as with his recordings, and this time around was no exception. Beginning with his high-pitched, grand entrance -- bedecked in a furry suit of shocking-pink and adopting the guise of a deranged evangelist -- Byrne delivered a program of intensely dynamic highs, generous in its share of Talking Heads songs, but also chock full of the new sounds and perspectives we have grown to expect from Byrne.
Backed by a stripped-down trio and a female vocalist/dancer, songs old and new were given a fresh, contemporary sheen. Taking advantage of state-of-the-art technology, Byrne's minimalist band provided a dense, sonic backdrop with pre-recorded loops and samples that gave old songs like "Making Flippy Floppy" and "I Zimbra" an industrial patina and rhythmic, techno-based boost.
The biggest surprise of the night was Byrne's seeming willingness to let Talking Heads songs dominate. Since becoming a solo artist, Byrne has typically preferred playing songs from his own albums, with only an occasional nod to the seminal, influential hits that powered the punk-funk and new-wave evolution of late-'70s and early-'80s rock.
Perhaps egged on by his former bandmates' ill-fated reunion tour last year, Byrne reclaimed the Heads' legacy for his own once and for all, along the way neatly wrapping his post-Talking Heads work inside what came across as one complete package.
New songs off Byrne's recently released album, "Feelings," such as "Fuzzy Freaky" and "Dance On Vaseline," shared the funk pulse and the polytextural feel of Heads songs like "Take Me to the River" and "Road to Nowhere."
Byrne even tackled a few new ballads off "Feelings." Rather than killing the momentum, his quiet, jazzy rendition of "A Soft Seduction" only served to pull his listeners -- most of them on their feet throughout the entire show -- in even closer to him. During the number, attention was so riveted on Byrne you could practically hear the proverbial pin drop.
The 45-year-old Byrne displayed acrobatic-like grace and stamina throughout the show, often dancing and jumping around in his trademark, herky-jerky style. After shedding his pink suit early on, he went through several other costume changes, including various styles of jump suits favored by the techno/electronica crowd, but also harkening back to new-wavers like Devo (who collaborated on some of the tracks on "Feelings").
For the first of three encores, Byrne appeared in a head-to-toe suit with a map of the human musculature, which made the song "Psycho Killer" -- given a full panoply of industrial chirps, whirrups and hammers -- all the more creepy. He donned a zippered, powder-blue with black jumpsuit for "Amnesia," and gave the final encore, "I Zimbra," a ringer from the landmark Talking Heads LP "Fear of Music" replete with ersatz foreign dialect, a complete acid-house overhaul.
In the end, with his engaged, articulate and relentlessly funky performance, Byrne came across as nothing less than an intellectual James Brown, in what is bound to be looked back on as one of the most exciting shows of the year and perhaps even the decade.
New Orleans' Coolbone warmed up the audience with a set of its self- styled "brass-hop," which grafted the instrumentation of a New Orleans brass band atop a hip-hop rhythmic foundation. While an intriguing concept on paper, neither the brass nor the hip-hop was particularly catchy, and the raps of MCs Eric "Cash-Us" Clay and Andre Carter failed to ignite.
[This review originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Aug. 11, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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