David Byrne wows raucous, dancing crowd at The Fox

David Byrne performs at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Dec Photo courtesy Stuart Myerburg Night one of David Byrne s two-night stand at The Fox Theatre was a raucous loud and jubilant evening of music as the Talking Heads frontman rolled out particular of the band s classic hits as well as his own solo work The Who Is the Sky Tour in endorsement of his new solo album might feel a little familiar to anyone who saw the American Utopia tour its Broadway incarnation or Spike Lee s documentary film about the show Byrne and a cadre of musicians vocalists and dancers bring the songs to an empty stage with a giant projection wall behind them Everyone s carrying their instrument and wearing a mic so the troupe can move freely across the stage This choreography Byrne s banter and systematically chosen projections bring a theatricality to the proceedings quite unlike anything you ve likely seen at a rock concert At Byrne might be silver-haired but his voice is still as distinctive and rich as it ever was and he s front and center for the two-hour show while also allowing each band member a moment to shine Out of the songs performed of them were Talking Heads biggest tunes and of curriculum had the crowd screaming the lyrics and dancing in the aisles At a few point the ushers just seemed to give up because there was no containing this mostly GenX crowd This Must Be The Place Naive Melody Slippery People Life During Wartime Psycho Killer Once In A Lifetime and Burning Down the House seemed to have an extra edge and urgency Solo work like Independence Day My Apartment Is My Friend Don t Be Like That and a stirring version of Strange Overtones from his Brian Eno collaborations all fit neatly together in the setlist David Byrne performs at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Dec Photo by Collin Kelley Drone footage of an Atlanta suburb photos from the soaring atrium at the Marriott Marquis in Downtown and a projected Atlanta Kicks Ass message helped ground the show in the city There was also a political undertone to the show as a montage of protestors pushing back against ICE raids and the message Make America Gay Again brought cheers from an already charged-up audience Decisively seeing Byrne live was on my bucket list and I have now euphorically crossed it off If you can get a ticket for tonight s show you will not be disappointed Just be prepared to sing and dance Because contrary to the lyrics of Life During Wartime this is a party a disco and an affirmation that Byrne s new wave world sound is still as potent as it was years ago The post David Byrne wows raucous dancing crowd at The Fox appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta