With outfits matching his shock of white hair, David Byrne—our current Icon Issue honoree—brought the same oddball dance and music troupe we saw a couple months ago at Radio City to a remote hillside in Northern Vermont on Monday to play a highly-choreographed set, mostly culled from his frequent collaborations with Brian Eno. It was a family-friendly funk show, with an adoring crowd politely eschewing the weirdly-enacted "No Dancing in Front of the Stage" law to groove in what might be the most picturesque concert setting outside of Red Rocks or the Gorge (even the Port-o-Lets tucked behind a stand of pine were pretty). Byrne worked through a mix of Talking Heads hits ("Crosseyed and Painless," "Once in a Lifetime," "Take Me to the River," "Life During Wartime") and Byrne-Eno gems ("Help Me Somebody" from the seminal My Life in the Bush of Ghosts) with a nervy confidence and strut that threatened to melt all the free Ben & Jerry’s being doled out from a truck parked at the top of the hill. The adoration was mutual—Byrne wound up playing three encores despite the mountain air dropping from almost comfortable to "I should’ve worn pants" levels.
Download the current Icon Issue, check out our interactive slideshow of David Byrne’s insane office narrated, just for you, by the Luaka Bopster himself, and by all means check out Byrne’s Band of Merry Dancers on his current tour, coming to a hillside near you. Setlist after the jump and more photos over on The Tripwire.
SETLIST
Strange Overtones
I Zimbra
One Fine Day
Help Me Somebody
Houses in Motion
My Big Nurse
My Big Hands
Heaven
Life is Long
Crosseyed and Painless
Once in a Lifetime
LDW
Feel My Stuff
ENCORE #1:
Take Me to the River
Great Curve
ENCORE #2:
Air
Burning Down the House
ENCORE #3:
Everything that Happens
