David Byrne
June 26th at the Greek Theater, Berkeley

David Byrne stops at nothing to ensure that his audience witnesses something spectacular when he takes the stage. It’s not only his musical catalog and dynamic stage show that make him a truly consummate performer, it’s as much about longevity. The works of Byrne have spanned some three decades, and much of it still sounds provocative and timeless; material that he wrote with the Talking Heads way back when they were helming a music scene that would ultimately change the course of rock ‘n’ roll endures to this day. David Byrne helped define a time and a place and a movement… and then transcended that moment.

After a supporting set of gypsy-flavored rock by Denver-based DeVotchKa, Byrne and his exceptional ensemble took over the Greek Theater on Friday night. The show did not sell out. Those of us who took a seat in the enveloping stone bowl certainly felt like we were part of something extraordinary. Having never seen Byrne before, but being promised a show that’d be nothing short of riveting by previous spectators, my expectations were high—but what transpired on stage that night actually surpassed them. Byrne was supplemented by a seven-piece backing band (which included three singers) and three nimble dancers, all clad in white, Byrne himself a spiritual vision with that shock of white hair and ageless grace that likens him to a sage, or musical prophet. While the dancers loosely flipped and danced their agility into a sunset procession of performance art, Byrne stood at the forefront commanding both stage and audience, through old Talking Heads standards and new songs off his recent collaboration with Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Highlights abounded (though the whole show was a highlight), and included “One Fine Day”, “House in Motion”, “Crosseyed and Painless”, “Heaven”, “Born Under Punches”, “Once in a Lifetime”—an incredible setlist met by multiple encores. “Take Me to the River” prefaced a surprise appearance by the fantastical Extra Action Marching Band, who clamored straight down into the theater dome from behind us, ascended up to the stage through the crowd, and then joined Byrne and company for a captivating “Road to Nowhere”, which led into a most amazing summation of a most amazing night, a sensory-overloaded “Burning Down the House”, played from beneath cascading white balloons that rained down on the rapt audience and colorful musical troupe. On an apt solo note, reminding us whose show this actually was, David Byrne closed down the set with an acoustical “Everything That Happens” from the new record. I floated out of the venue, telling anyone who would listen that my mind was officially blown. – Angela Zimmerman

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