Last night my wife and I saw David Byrne in a beautiful venue in downtown Vancouver. We were in the 4th row it was EXCELLENT.
There was a space created within the space of the stage where the performance took place. I say performance because all of the musicians were carrying their instruments like a marching band, and were wireless as well, so they had a 50 foot maybe? square area. The space was created with walls of hanging beads that allowed people to pass in and out of the performance seamlessly. Brilliant really. All these people were moving almost constantly the entire time and playing while carrying their instruments. No amplifiers, no raised platform for the drums, only a huge monochrome room with great mood lighting and amazing choreography.
I always count how many people are on stage and last night I was so taken away with the performance I totally missed that part. I estimate at least 10 - bass, guitar, 5 or 6 drummers / percussionists, one keyboard, congas, and 2 backup singers / dancers. My wife has stuff on her phone so I'll have to watch closely. And they all wore matching grey suits with ever-so-slightly darker grey shirts, and all in bare feet, dancing around the stage.
The music was about 50% off his latest album (which as an aside we each got a free copy with the ticket!) and the rest was Talking Heads. I guess he must own the rights to all of the songs. The sound was really well dialed in and the balance of vocals to instrumentation was very good. All of the drums were miked too but it was not an obvious thing. The musicians were all top notch as you would expect.
The crowd absolutely loved him too. Right off the bat we were standing and never sat back down until we got on the skytrain coming home. 2 hours and 2 encores. This is the second time we have seen David and it was really a great show. Being in the seats we had, we could see his facial gestures and had an excellent view of the entire stage as well. Not for the weak of wallet though - our 2 seats were CDN$375. Well worth it though in our opinion.
If you get a chance I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND seeing him, especially if you are a Talking Heads fan.
Aural Robert
... This is a crime, against the state ...
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