david byrne and annie clark (AKA st. vincent) took to the stage with their band of brass and woodwinds. there was a drummer and a keyboardist as well. no bass player - that’s what the sousaphone was for. they performed the first song from their collaboration love this giant. they then got into formation for the next number. suddenly it hit me: “oh shit, i’m watching david byrne live in concert!”
i was excited about the show because of st. vincent, but i didn’t think about how i’d also be seeing mr. talking heads - and how he likes to put on a PERFORMANCE. those horn players finally got to use their marching band skills - they were all over the place, dancing, sliding, stretched out on the floor, speeding up, slowing down. the duo would do a couple of songs from their record, then one from st. vincent’s catalog, one from the talking heads. this arrangement of her song marrow - already a barn-burner - was so next level. and did i get chills from hearing road to nowhere live? yeah, i did. byrne is one of those guys that i NEVER thought i’d see in concert. he’s a spirited scamp, isn’t he? with his shock of white hair and his weirdo 80’s art house ideas and his still-herky-jerky-after-all-these-years dance moves.
the show was so full of life and vitality. weird words to describe a concert, perhaps, but i had to follow it with an appearance at a memorial service for a young comic who died last weekend. living and feeling vital is heavy on my mind right now.
(above, SoSure with the stealth recording of THE BIG HIT.)
