David Byrne

Byrne is an extraordinary creator. Musically he artfully to puts together the very best of pop with the most exciting and cutting edge ideas and experimentation. Aurally it’s a feast, complex sounds, intricate rhythms and extraordinary lyrics and where that to be the whole deal one would no doubt come away feeling both excited and satisfied. But for Byrne that is clearly not enough, not even half enough because he delivers that musical feast with a level of theatrical skill and artistry that goes way beyond the usual bounds of a musical gig. This is theatre, real theatre, not just theatrics, and it’s ballet, contemporary dance, startlingly complex choreography, not delivered by a team of well versed dancers but by Byrne and his incredible band of musicians, drilled to perfection in a seamless performance that fills the stunning simplicity of the chain curtained set and is lit by a complex lighting plot that surely must be using some kind of GPS system to be quite so precise.

But most of us had gone to hear the music, music that for around 40 years has fascinated his fans, uncompromising music that he delivers with an 11 piece ensemble driven forward by the most extraordinary percussion led team who from the very start are as involved in the complete visual experience as Byrne himself. Guitar, bass, keyboard, two vocalists, I will not demean their role by using the term “backing singer”, drive the whole forward with such power that it was hard to believe that they were not using backing tracks, a point that he feels necessary to explain and demonstrate – and you could see or should I say hear why.

The set comprised not only his recent work but was peppered with older hits, to the delight of the fans, and with this drum heavy ensemble he achieves a level of funk that out funks the greatest. This much lauded American Utopia tour will stay with me, along with the greatest gigs I have ever seen, and left me wondering who or how could anyone top this experience? Five stars are not enough so when I say five stars multiply that by 12 for the performers on stage, add in the team behind the scenes and I leave you to do the maths.

The Brighton Centre

30 October

Andrew Kay

Rating: