David Byrne's Still Happening

Massey Hall

Toronto, ON

on Oct 29 2008

Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

10/30/2008 11:46am

I'm a huge sports fan, so it would have to take something pretty important to make me miss watching the potential final game of baseball's World Series and the season opener for basketball's Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

Well, in my universe, David Byrne is important. The veteran singer, songwriter and guitarist and his talented troupe of musicians, vocalists and dancers made me forget about jockdom for their concert's 105 minute duration. One of the marks of a good show is that the minutes fly past and make it seem like the band have only played a fraction of the time they really have, and leave you wanting more. That was definitely the case at Massey Hall.

The performance was in support of the new Byrne and Brian Eno album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, but Eno isn't part of the extensive tour, which is crossing North America before heading to Europe in the spring.

Nonetheless, the work that the men did on that record, the three early Talking Heads albums on which they collaborated and their groundbreaking, 27-year-old My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts LP was showcased wonderfully even without the former Roxy Music keyboardist and past and present U2 producer on hand.

Byrne looked tanned and trim, and dressed from head to toe in white along with everyone else on stage. He received a standing ovation from the almost packed house just by walking up to the microphone, and he received several more as the show moved on.

He began with "Strange Overtones," one of the best songs from the new album, and later added its "One Fine Day," "My Big Nurse," "The River," "Life Is Long" and the main set-closing "I Feel My Stuff." They're all standout tracks on the record, and the stage interpretations — some of which included choreography — gave them even more life and allowed them to slip in comfortably with the more seasoned songs.

While the audience was appreciative of the new material, many people probably weren't too familiar with it, since it's only been available online and is still about a month away from being released on CD. But cuts from Talking Heads' second, third and fourth albums — 1978's More Songs About Buildings And Food, 1979's Fear Of Music and 1980's Remain In Light — drew deserved rapturous applause, beginning with "I Zimbra" and continuing on through "Houses In Motion," "Heaven," "Crosseyed And Painless," "Once In A Lifetime" and "Life During Wartime."

Drummer Graham Hawthorne, percussionist Mauro Refosco and bassist Paul Frazier ensured that the propulsive rhythms of those songs on record weren't lost in translation to the stage. While two young women in the balcony were dancing from the beginning, it wasn't too long before almost everyone was caught up in the music and began to move — but none nearly as artistically and athletically as dancers Lily Baldwin, Natalie Kuhn and Steven Reker, whose routines added a unique perspective whenever they were on stage. Byrne also got to show off his often-overlooked guitar prowess on "Houses In Motion."

Byrne inserted "My Big Hands (Fall Through The Cracks)" from The Catherine Wheel musical score, a fine, unnamed new song that Byrne says hasn't yet been recorded and My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts' "Help Me Somebody" into the 75-minute opening set before leaving the stage to another standing ovation that lasted until he returned to introduce the ensemble members.

The encore began with Al Green's "Take Me To The River," which Talking Heads included on More Songs About Buildings And Food and made into one of their signature songs. "The Great Curve" ended the encore, but it wasn't too long before there was another one that opened with an edgy and exemplary "Air."

Byrne then went off the program, but got the biggest response of the night, with "Burning Down The House" from 1983's non-Eno-produced Speaking In Tongues. The performance was ebullient and energetic, and you couldn't help but get carried away with it — much like I have with adjectives beginning with 'E' in this paragraph.

Everyone left the stage after the third 11-person Broadway play-styled group bow of the evening, but the clapping and cheering wouldn't stop until they all returned one last time and performed "Everything That Happens" from the new album. It was a bit of a subdued conclusion, but a third encore wasn't expected, so there were few, if any, complaints. Byrne was beaming as he waved and walked off.

Indie kids fell in love with Vampire Weekend this year, but I doubt that many of them realize how big a debt that band's sound owes to Byrne and Talking Heads. However, I'd be willing to bet my quickly dwindling mutual funds that Vampire Weekend won't be able to do what Byrne pulled off on Wednesday 30 years from now.

Maybe your parents were right. You should respect your elders.