Photos and review by ALYSON CAMUS
LOS ANGELES – Since his 2018 American Utopia tour, a David Byrne show has been a meticulously choreographed affair, with constantly moving performers surrounding the Talking Heads frontman. His two shows at the Hollywood Bowl were no different, although they were staged on a larger scale, with giant multicolored LED screens creating an expansive and immersive experience, even from my too-far-from-the-stage Bowl seat. There were plenty of Talking Heads songs in the set he played on Saturday night, but also many songs from his latest album, “Who Is the Sky?, “which gave its name to this new tour.
The show was a magnificent experience, with wireless musicians and dancers in perpetual motion – a miracle of technology combined with brilliant choreography. Having experienced the American Utopia tour, I still don’t understand why most bands aren’t adopting this elegant idea. It brings so much creativity to a show. The choice of the USC marching band as the opener came as barely a surprise, as Byrne’s idea of a show truly is a marching band in all its glorious wireless freedom.
Describing the perpetual motion of the entire band, all wearing sky-blue jumpsuits, is an impossible task, as they were moving in all directions – sometimes together in formation, sometimes freely, in a kind of controlled chaos. The fact that they can still play these complex arrangements for such a large audience while carrying all their instruments and moving so much is quite incredible. It works so well that you’d think you were being cheated, but of course that’s not the case: everything is live and real.
Byrne opened the show with the Talking Heads classic “Heaven,” accompanied by just a few musicians. As the show progressed, the group grew bigger and bigger. It was still impossible to follow everyone’s movements in front of a stunning view of Earth from outer space, our only home – “The only one we have,” as he put it.
Before another famous Talking Heads song, “And She Was,” he told us about a girl he knew in high school who was extraordinarily happy. “Now, I was not an unhappy person, but I did wonder if she knew something that I didn’t know,” he said. When he asked her about it, she told him that her secret was that she would go out into a field near a Yoo-hoo chocolate drink factory and take LSD. It was a funny, joyous moment, like many others throughout the show.
“T Shirt” was the occasion for strong statements in front of giant signs such as “Make America Gay Again,” “No King,” and “I heart Hollywood,” putting his beliefs on full display on the screens behind him. Later on, “Life During Wartime” was accompanied by plenty of footage of ICE raids and ICE Out protests.
David Byrne was actually quite talkative between songs, but it was no small talk. Before “What Is the Reason for It?” he mentioned a quote he had heard from actor and director John Cameron Mitchell: “Love and kindness are the most punk things you can do right now.” “Yes,” he added, “I have realized that love and kindness are a form of resistance.”
“Who’s to say that they’re not feeling something similar to us inside? We don’t know,” he said in defense of animals before the song “Like Humans Do.” “This separation between us and nature began a long time ago, but it really kicked into gear not that long ago – only a few hundred years ago – and we’ve been living with the consequences ever since. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way forever.” Dancers and musicians appeared on a video on the giant screen, wearing animal masks, while the actual musicians onstage reproduced their movements.
He almost had an introduction for each song: “In Italy, during the pandemic, people opened up their windows, came out onto their balconies, and sang to complete strangers on the street,” he told us before “When We Are Singing,” while clips of Italians singing on their balconies played on the screen. “What a great thing to do! They did this especially on what they call Liberation Day. That’s the day they celebrate their freedom from fascism.”
I would not be the first to notice the house/home theme in many of Byrne’s songs. Buildings and homes are everywhere in his lyrics as physical spaces – “Houses in Motion,” “This Must Be the Place,” “Once in a Lifetime,” “Everybody’s Coming to My House,” “Burning Down the House.” But this time, he went even further, with gigantic 360-degree views of his real-life New York apartment and views over Central Park during the song “My Apartment Is My Friend.”
“This is my apartment, really, in New York,” he said. “In New York, this is considered a pretty good apartment. I know many of you here probably live in houses…” he told us, confirming his fascination with buildings as extensions of identity.
The encore featured the welcoming “Everybody’s Coming to My House,” again introduced with David’s admission that he had discovered the true meaning of the song just after the pandemic. “I got off my bike and listened, and I realized, ‘Oh, it’s people.’ It has been a while! Well, despite all our differences, despite all the craziness, people love being with other people!” he said.
The stage fired up during the finale with the legendary “Burning Down the House.” It was pure joy to see everyone on their feet at the Bowl, dancing and singing to celebrate the incredible career of one of our most iconic and accomplished musicians, at the top of his art.
Setlist
Heaven (Talking Heads song)
Everybody Laughs
And She Was (Talking Heads song)
Strange Overtones (Brian Eno & David Byrne cover)
Houses in Motion (Talking Heads song)
T Shirt
(Nothing but) Flowers (Talking Heads song)
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads song)
What Is the Reason for It?
Like Humans Do
When We Are Singing
Independence Day
Slippery People (Talking Heads song)
Moisturizing Thing
My Apartment Is My Friend
Air (Talking Heads song)
Psycho Killer (Talking Heads song)
Life During Wartime (Talking Heads song)
Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads song)
Encore:
Everybody’s Coming to My House
Burning Down the House (Talking Heads song)
