Sick Byrne: Talking Heads frontman in Cleveland

This past Thursday, I saw David Byrne perform in Cleveland, Ohio, as a part of his current Byrne-Eno collabo tour.

Here's a weird photo montage-thing from the event:


David Byrne, Cleveland, 10.23.08 from John Soeder on Vimeo.

Byrne performed songs from More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and this year's Everything that Happens will Happen Today. I've been listening to copious amounts of Talkings Heads and Brian Eno over the last month, and the investment paid off. This was one of the best shows I've seen in the last few years. Byrne busted out a few Stop Making Sense moves, including his running-man dance during "Life During Wartime" and "Burnging Down the House."

Here's a taste, albiet from a different show:



Byrne looked twice as old as anyone else on stage, this is true, but the 56-year-old New Yorker had more than enough vitality to avoid embarassing himself. He geared the set toward his new album, which is easily the worst of the five, but he still managed to play half of Remin in Light(!), arguably the greatest Talking Heads record. Here's the full setlist, with the highlights in bold:

Strange Overtones
I Zimbra
One Fine Day
Help Me Somebody (the set's real stunner)
Houses in Motion
My Big Nurse
My Big Hands
Heaven
Never Thought
The River
Crosseyed and Painless
Life is Long
Once in a Lifetime
Life During Wartime
I Feel My Stuff

Encore I:
Take Me to the River
The Great Curve

Encore II:
Air
Burning Down the House
Everything that Happens