Last night I saw the wonderful David Byrne (ex-) lead singer of Talking Heads at Oxford's New Theatre.
Despite missing the first 3 or 4 songs due to rubbish train systems it is still by far the best gig that I have been to in 2009. Backed by an incredible band (sure they're not Talking Heads but they would certainly give them a run for their money!) he ripped through several songs from his fantastic 2008 collaboration album with Brian Eno Everything That Happens Will Happen Today as well as a truck load of Talking Heads classics.
The backing singers were pitch perfect and full credit goes to the sound engineer who made the utilisation of two percussionists totally worthwhile.
The band were also accompanied onstage for the majority of songs by a few dancers who performed some of the most bizarrely choreographed dances that I have ever seen, but they suited the mood quite well and were always enjoyable to watch, especially when Byrne himself joined in.
Another highlight of the night was when a bouncer told a dancing member of the audience to sit down, which David Byrne happened to spot. He stopped mid-song to reprimand the bouncer and told everyone that it was ok to have a good time, causing the whole audience to stand up and dance for the rest of the show! Legendary.
Finally came the part that Dasal would not have liked. In total disregard of Dasal's second rule of encores he and his band proceeded to leave the stage not once, not twice, not even three times but FOUR TIMES, pausing to bow on each occasion. They totally deserved it though and it was nice to hear a crowd actually working for the encores for once. Maybe it was because it was mostly full of middle-aged people, but it certainly was a breath of fresh air and created a wonderful atmosphere.
The highlights for me were 'Houses in Motion', 'Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)', 'Air', 'Life During Wartime'... I could go on until I named everything he played. Having missed the first few songs I am very tempted to go and see him again in London this coming week.
Rob
