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Home , And She Was, Burning Down the House, Grown Backwards, I Zimbra, Like Humans Do, Psycho Killer

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LIVE REVIEWS

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June 24, 2004

David Byrne / June 21, 2004 / Chicago (Navy Pier Skyline Stage)

Irony is inherent in David Byrne shows. It's ironic that an ALBUMS artist perhaps best known for penning the refrain "same as it SINGLES & TRACKS ever was!" rarely falls into the same groove twice. David Byrne has spent his career first inventing forms of music as HOME VIDEOS the front man for the seminal Talking Heads and then HITS OF THE WEB reinventing it again and again as a solo artist.

CHART BEAT And it's ironic that a man who sings, "This ain't no party, this TOP CONCERTS ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around," would clearly like you to get your dance on. His second of two sold-out nights at Chicago's Navy Pier Skyline stage provided ample opportunity for fans to enjoy, but Byrne's artistry demands the NEWS audiences take him seriously, even as they sway, pogo and sometimes lurch. REVIEWS Byrne's latest incarnation, in support of the Nonesuch album "Grown Backwards," FEATURED ARTIST finds him surrounded by limited but lush strings and percussion. Working with non- traditional instrumentation in turn led to some unpredictable arrangements of TOUR FINDER material both new and old. "Psycho Killer" found itself fueled by a driving BREAKING & ENTERING xylophone before the drummer, playing bare-handed on his kit, and Byrne's distortion-filled solo took over. HOT PRODUCT NEW RELEASES On "What a Day That Was," (taken from Byrne's first solo endeavor, "The Catherine Wheel," -- a score for a Twyla Tharp ballet), Byrne led a call-and- RIAA CERTIFICATIONS response exchange between his guitar part and the superb, six-piece Tosca THE TANGLED WEB Strings. ON THE TUBE As his talented band provided the musical muscle for the show, Byrne remained solidly in control. His vocals were always out front in the mix, but he commanded the audience's attention and for the most part, they gave in completely. Sure, there was the band of drunks dancing up front with a sort of graceless enthusiasm FREE EMAIL all the while calling out for "Burning Down the House." Which leads one to wonder NEWSLETTER if Byrne had played that early in the set (or at all), would they have just gone ASK BILLBOARD home and let the rest of us be? THIS WEEK'S POLL Byrne bopped around the stage, dressed in a stylishly tailored, three-button gray MUSIC CROSSWORD pinstripe body suit. Indeed, the 52-year-old Byrne is as animated (as in, cartoon- like in his movements) as ever. His gaze scanned the crowd like one of those paintings where the eyes seem to follow you around the room. He reacted to specific cheers from the room, and basked in several long ovations -- just standing CLASSIFIEDS / on stage, beaming and laughing. REAL ESTATE BILLBOARD The two-hour-plus set leaned heavily on the new album, but didn't shy away from DIRECTORIES Talking Heads favorites. Byrne also cherry-picked a couple songs from his various BILLBOARD EVENTS other solo albums. And he introduced nearly every song with a two-sentence story about the history of the track. He prefaced "And She Was" with this: "This is a song about a girl I knew in high school in suburban Baltimore who took LSD and INDUSTRY AWARDS lay in a field near the YooHoo chocolate drink factory."

RESEARCH SERVICES This tour featured no elaborate costumes or visual -- gone were the Power Point MUSICIAN'S GUIDE TO presentations or the pink feathered suits of outings past. Instead, it was clean, TOURING AND simple, effective and focused on how much different music -- new wave to an PROMOTION elegantly-sung version of Verdi's aria, "Un Di Felice, Eterea," featured on "Grown Backwards" -- can be made with flexible bandmates. In many ways "Grown Backwards" is an apt metaphor for Byrne's career, as he continues to look back while he moves forward. BILLBOARD BULLETIN AIRPLAY MONITOR Hometown heroes Poi Dog Pondering opened both dates. Playing in a venue it has sold out on its own, the group treated fans to a 40-minute set of old classics AMUSEMENT BUSINESS such as "Sound of Water" from its 1989 self-titled debut through to its most recent BILLBOARD RADIO single, "Simple Song." The 11-member band was an excellent fit on the bill, blending earthy grooves and percussion with soulful singing, luscious strings, funk BILLBOARD LIVE rhythms, layers of loops and good old fashioned acoustic guitar. If its any BILLBOARD SONG indication how much Chicago loves its Poi, the roadies were booed when they CONTEST came out to break down the band's gear.

Here is David Byrne's set list: Learn About Our "Glass, Concrete & Stone" Events "I Zimbra" Search Directories "Finite = Alright" Buy Products "She Only Sleeps" "The Other Side of This Line" "This Great Intoxication" "(This Must Be the Place) Naive Melody" "Road to Nowhere" "Nothing But Flowers" "Once in a Lifetime" "Un Di Felice, Eterea" "Tiny Apocalypse" "Psycho Killer" "U. B. Jesus" "Like Humans Do" "Dialog Box" "What a Day That Was" "Blind" "Desconocido Soy" "Life During Wartime" "And She Was"

-- Matt Carmichael, Chicago