Burning down the house

Despite Phish, The Dead, Bruce Springsteen, and U2 all touring right now, David Byrne is the must-see show of the year. His tour is comprised of music he created with producer Brian Eno, both from an album they did recently, as well as much of the best-known Talking Heads material from between 1978-82. I hadn't heard the new album, but from what we heard at the show last night, it's excellent.

Byrne's stage presence was phenomenal. The entire audience hung on every word between songs, whether he was recommending people smoke pot discreetly, or he was bashing Ticketmaster. He was funny, clever, and definitely the coolest guy in the room. His back-up dancers are a testament to that fact, too - three skinny kids (two girls and a guy) with shaggy hair, highly trained dancers who were able to match Byrne's wacky moves. His band was great - the percussion, drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals - every member was on top of their game.

When he broke out with some of the Talking Heads stuff, the audience went wild. And he really enjoyed it - played it up, even. The highlight of the 2-hour show had to have come during the second encore with "Burning Down the House." Each back-up dancer and band member discretely slipped into full-on tutus for the most amazing throw-down dance number I have ever seen... and then they were joined by a troupe of at least 50 more ballerinas and ballet-dudes (ballerinos?), also wearing tutus. It was so cool, and the ballerina/os thought so, too - I guess it's not every day that they perform to thousands of roaring fans. This show was as entertaining as any I've seen.