photos by Ryan Barkan

Tom Tom Club is forever fresh.

They've been playing for 30 years, but the husband-and-wife team of Weymouth and Frantz have barely aged at all. If anything, their nimble fingers and legs put all of the younger musicians that I've seen lately to shame. This incarnation of the Tom Tom Club is made further complete with old friends, like Victoria Clamp, who added a lovely extra layer of vocals, and Bruce Martin, who juggled keyboard lines and tropical percussion with ease.

Here, everything shines with the passage of time. Their older songs, like "The Man With the Four-Way Hips," sound like gritty photographs re-touched with the power of funk, while their newer songs, like "Punk Lolita," have nostalgia written right into them ("this is about going to CBGB's and seeing all the cute girls who would do anything for their guys"). -[The OC Weekly]

Tom Tom Club were touring in support of a new double-disc live album Genius of Live, out now. The Brooklyn Bowl show was with opener Command V. More pictures from that show, with both setlists and some video, below...

Continue reading "Tom Tom Club finished a tour @ Brooklyn Bowl (pics & setlist) "

photos by Kurt Christensen

"Let's get one thing straight: Crowded House isn't a one-hit wonder. Sure, the Australian band is known by '80s music fans for its 1987 hit "Don't Dream It's Over" (and maybe the subsequent "Something So Strong"), but songwriter Neil Finn has actually guided different incarnations of the band through six full-length albums and earned critical acclaim for his solo albums and side projects." [NPR]

Continue reading "Crowded House played Fallon (video) & Bowery w/ David Byrne, Liam Finn, Sharon Finn & Lawrence Arabia (pics) "

photos by Andrew St Clair

Crowded House completed their three-night run at Bowery Ballroom in NYC last night (7/21). It was also at the third show that David Byrne came out for the encore to join the band on two Talking Heads covers. We actually have pictures from that show too, but the pictures in this post are from the 2nd night, July 20th. Stay tuned for the ones from night three.

If you missed the show, there's one more NYC-area chance when Crowded House plays Wellmont Theater in NJ on Friday.

More of the night two pictures, video of the David Byrne part from last night, and all three setlists (including which songs Neil Finn's wife Sharon son Liam played on), below...

Continue reading "Crowded House played 3 nights @ Bowery Ballroom (night 2 pics, all 3 setlists, video of last night's guest: David Byrne)"

DOWNLOAD: Peter Gabriel - Flume (Bon Iver cover) (MP3)

Peter Gabriel's new record Scratch My Back is an all-cover, orchestra-backed collection of songs from Bowie's "Heroes" to Arcade Fire's "My Body Is a Cage." There's also a Bon Iver cover, a soft-spoken take on "Flume," which you can get above (full track list below). The record is described as "the first part of a series of song exchanges in which Peter and other leading artists reinterpret each others songs." It comes out in UK/Europe on February 15th (through EMI), in Canada on February 16th (through Universal Music) and in the US on March 2nd through Gabriel's own Real World Records.

Gabriel's album-supporting tour is short and sweet. He plays three European cities in March, then there are three North American stops - one night in L.A. and Montreal, and two nights at New York's Radio City Music Hall on May 2nd and 3rd. Tickets go on AmEx presale Sunday, Febraury 7th. General sale starts Tuesday, February 16th at 10am. For all the dates, he'll have a 54-piece orchestra in tow.

In other rock legends playing Radio City news, tickets go on general sale Friday for a show Ringo Starr and his All Star Band are playing at the venue in July.

Full Peter Gabriel tracklist w/ album art, an audio interview with Peter about the album, and tour dates, below...

Continue reading "indie rock-covering Peter Gabriel announces shows - 2 nights @ Radio City Music Hall & other dates, Bon Iver MP3, more"

photos by Chris La Putt, words by Andrew Frisicano

David Byrne opened the Celebrate Brooklyn 2009 Season with a free show at the Prospect Park bandshell last night (Monday, June 9th). The show continued Dave Byrne's year-long tour of material from his collaborations with Brian Eno. That show, on its trip around the world, visited NJ's Wellmont Theater on June 3rd, and Radio City Music Hall on February 27th and 28th. (Pics and reviews from those are linked.)

In Brooklyn, the above-capacity crowd wasn't deterred by threats of rain, which held off for the length of the two-hour set. David Byrne noted that he biked to the show; he wasn't the only one, as the 'bike valet' was packed (apparently Byrne rode home too). Those who did park in the bike valet were automatically entered to win a new bike which Byrne showed off from the stage before his set. Those that couldn't get through the door caught the open-air action from video screens aimed towards the back of the crowd.

Byrne's set opened, as it has all tour, with "Strange Overtones," the hypnotic single off the newest Eno/Byrne collaboration Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. The bandshell's reverberating walls were an incredibly jarring transition from punchy studio sound of the original -- as catchy as the tune is, it was kind of a strange, underwhelming start.

Things only went up from there, as the band's sound melded together and its accompanying dancers boosted the visuals. Their dance moves, which traded off with the members of the band, seemed to mimic Byrne's own jerky mannerisms, as well as the themes of the songs (eg. office chair props during the wage slave anthem "Life Is Long").

Overall, the energy on stage and in the crowd was high. "Once in a Lifetime," which came near the end of the set, sent the remaining seated show-goers to their feet. One older couple, who I'm sure had to be around when Byrne hit the scene in '75, went from joking with their granddaughter about the pot smell in the air to cutting a serious rug for the set's high-density end.

Byrne used his first encore to introduce the band and special guest, percussionist Steve Scales. The Talking Heads/Byrne regular, who played on both The Name of This Band is Talking Heads to My Life in a Bush of Ghosts for starters, joined the band for two songs that included "Take Me to the River." As the only one not dressed in all white, Scales bounded across the stage and hyped up the crowd. His unscripted enthusiasm, far from the composed moves of Byrne, added a nice party vibe to the choreographed set.

The band returned for a second two-song encore that included the non-Eno song "Burning Down the House", and finally, back for a third time, closed with an acoustic-led version of "Everything That Happens."

The rest of the pictures, the setlist, and remaining Byrne dates (of which there are more TBA) below...

Continue reading "David Byrne played Eno-songs @ Celebrate Brooklyn's Prospect Park Bandshell in NYC - pics & setlist"

photos by Tim Griffin

"Besides their dedication to their art, most [of those participating in Dark Was The Night are] successful -- but one senses that fame wasn't their primary engine for choosing a career in music. There was no hierarchy in this group -- everyone was treated as an equal, and participated with everyone else where they could. Many were already acquaintances or friends. Times have changed. No one was drunk, on drugs or two hours late for rehearsal. There was no "rock star" behavior. That could sound boring -- but such rebellious, clichéd behavior hasn't always guaranteed good music. When great music would surface from a personal or professional mess, it often seemed like a rare but happy accident, unlikely to be repeated." [David Byrne]

Last night (6/3), David Byrne brought his Eno-show to the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. Now on a 2nd-leg of his 2009 U.S. tour (the first leg included two shows at Radio City) , Byrne will bring the show to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY on Monday June 8th. That 'Celebrate Brooklyn' show is FREE.

All tour dates, more pictures from the Wellmont show, and three videos Fader made of David Byrne giving a guided tour of his office, below...

Continue reading "David Byrne - Wellmont Theater pics, tour dates, video office tour, free show reminder & a Dark Was the Night blog post..."

David Byrne @ Radio City Music Hall (more by Chris La Putt)

Celebrate Brooklyn's opening night gala (and first concert of the season) will take place at the Prospect Park Bandshell on June 8th.

The Green Gala will be an exciting eco-friendly evening with a zero waste goal that launches other green initiatives including cycling and recycling efforts to reduce the Festival's environmental impact and to promote eco-friendly practices. All proceeds from the gala provide vital funds for Celebrate Brooklyn's free programming and will also support our green initiatives.

5:30 Cocktails & Dinner
7:30 Remarks
8:00 Performance (reserved seats)
10:00 Dance Party

Most of the shows at the Brooklyn bandshell are free (like did I mention David Byrne on June 8th???), but a few are benefits (aka cost money) to help make the free ones happen. MGMT and Kuroma (sold out), Animal Collective (still on sale), and Jackson Browne (still on sale) all fit into the benefit category. Now you can also add Bonnie Rait and Taj Mahal to that list. They are on tour together and will play there on August 12th (on sale date TBA) (all dates below).

The full lineup of free shows happening at the bandshell in Prospect Park this summer will be announced in a few weeks. Until then we can try and figure them out. One possibility is King Sunny Ade on July 18th. Do you know any others? We're also keeping track of who is playing Central Park Summerstage.

The bandshell is not the only place events happen in Prospect Park though. The Long Meadow, with the addition of a stage, can and has also become a venue (usually for opera, orchestras, and other more-high-art events). According to the Daily News, there's now also a chance it will also become the location of Woodstock's planned NYC anniversary concert...

"It's big, it's convenient. There's public transportation - and Brooklyn's cool," said Lang, 64. "I'd love to do it. But it's been a very tough year."

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe confirmed the city is in talks with Lang about the event.

"New York City has a wonderful legacy of great free concerts," said Benepe, adding Prospect Park would be a great spot for such a concert.

"It's a park we have been pointing concert promoters to," said Benepe. "There's no space anywhere in Central Park as large as the the Long Meadow in Prospect Park."

Lang, who grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, said he knows the clock is ticking and that to make the free daylong show work, he has to find the necessary $8 million to $10 million to pay for it by the end of the month.

If the money comes through, Lang is hoping to attract up to 150,000 people and feature a mix of Woodstock legends like Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Neil Young, as well as newer bands that fit the vibe, like Dave Matthews and Phish.

Bonnie Rait & Taj Mahal dates below...

Continue reading "David Byrne (!), Woodstock, Bonnie Rait, Taj Mahal & other Prospect Park concert news "

photos by Chris La Putt

Byrne was greeted with a returning heroes welcome. I've never heard an ovation as deep and long as that following "Houses In Motion" - it seemed to begin in the back of the large hall and move forward till the room was one extended, hearty bravo that resonated for minutes, stunning even Mr. Byrne.

Byrne was onstage at about 8:20 - no flashy intro, in fact, it seemed he needed to kill some time (allowing concertgoers a few extra minutes to get to their seats, a technical delay?) so he rambled on a bit (in somewhat disjointed Byrne style) explaining the musical makeup of the evening. It was interesting that in speaking about his earlier music, he pointedly made sure not to mention the name of his first band - Talking Heads.

The set smartly opened with the new "Strange Overtones" - immediately hooking the audience, and then proceeded with a blend of mostly old, some new, and a few semi-obscurities (from the lp "My Life In The Bush of Ghosts"). When the 3 dancers came onstage for "I Zimbra", the party really started. Tbe dancers, the choreography, the simple but standard stage uniforms - it was classic theatrical David Byrne - making sure that it was more than just a rock concert - it was a joyous stage show.

At the finale, Byrne, the band, the dancers and an additional chorus line of dozens all flooded the stage - and all wearing tutus! A chorus line of high kicks, followed by bows and waves to the audience, concluded a memorable evening of great musicianship and extraordinary showmanship." [drewo]

Continue reading "David Byrne @ Radio City Music Hall (night 1) - pics & setlist"

DB's backup singers in Austin (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

David Byrne finally announced the much-anticipated 2009 leg of his current Eno-tour (see recent setlists here and here), and that includes, as many hypothesized, a show at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. The date is February 27th. No tickets yet. All dates below...

Continue reading "David Byrne - 2008/09 Tour Dates (Radio City Music Hall!) "

David Byrne @ the Paramount, Austin, TX (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Pardon the bulk mailing. I Can't Vote. I am an immigrant with a Green Card and, therefore, I am not eligible to vote in a federal election. ... On Election Day, I see my neighbors heading to the nearby elementary school to cast their ballots. The voting booth joint is a great leveler; the whole neighborhood - rich, poor, old, young, decrepit and spunky - they all turn out in one day.

But most of you can vote. What can I say? The Republicans have made us less safe than before 9/11, bankrupted this economy, started an illegal war they can't - and don't intend to - finish, removed what sympathy (after 9/11) and respect the world had for the US, and have robbed US citizens of many of their basic rights.

Global warming? What's that? Science and education? Investment in our future? No, thanks - we'll stick with a good 'ole hockey mom. Ignorant, and fucking proud of it, as is always the case.

Although it looks like a shoo-in, it ain't over 'til Florida. And there are plenty of racists in this country who will vote against their own best interests. So please, get to your local elementary school, post office, town hall, or whatever, and cast your vote and make this a country we can all be proud of. We can get out of this mess, and life can be better than it is.

David Byrne
NYC

Download the 2CD "ultra-limited release of the David Byrne live bootleg "'Stop Wearing Suits'" at this RapidShare link.

And in semi-related news, the Talking Heads song "Once in a Lifetime" appears in the trailer of the Oliver Stone movie "W". You can watch that video below...

Continue reading "David Byrne played NJ (setlist), says vote (though he can't)"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Last night, Thursday, September 25th, David Byrne kicked off the non-festival grounds portion of the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival with a performance at The Paramount. He played some Eno-produced Talking Heads crowd favorites as well as songs off his new Eno-produced album, "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today." We don't have the setlist, but you can get an idea of what he played by looking at the one from the first night of the tour.

It was a loaded performance with backup dancers whose choreography complemented Byrne's tunes perfectly. Byrne and co. will do it again Friday night, this time as one of the actual ACL festival headliners on a day (today) that will also see performances by Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend, Gogol Bordello, Jamie Lidell, Hot Chip, Jenny Lewis, N.E.R.D, The Swell Season, The Mars Volta and Manu Chao. You can view the entire ACL festival schedule HERE. More pictures of David Byrne below...

Continue reading "David Byrne @ the Paramount, Austin, TX (ACL) - pics"

David Byrne kicked off the tour in support of his new Brian Eno-produced album Everything that Happens Will Happen Today in Bethlehem, PA last night. Tickets for future dates are on sale at Ticketmaster. Last night's setlist and all dates below...

Continue reading "David Byrne's Eno-tour kicked off in Bethlehem, PA - setlist"

David Byrne @ St Ann's Warehouse (more by Bao Nguyen)

David Byrne will embark on a six-month world tour starting September 16. The tour, titled "David Byrne, Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno," will feature Byrne performing songs from his numerous collaborations with Brian Eno, including tracks from several Talking Heads albums produced by Eno, the pair's 1981 collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and their newest collaborative effort, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. "The live shows will...try to draw a line linking this new material with what we did 30 years ago," explains Byrne. He will tour throughout the U.S. from the fall of '08 through early '09, Australasia in early '09 and Europe in March '09.

For the release of Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, everythingthathappens.com will offer listeners a free download to preview the album beginning today, August 4. On August 18 the entire record will be made available for sale as a digital download, exclusively from the site. Other formats available for pre order via the site will include an enhanced CD with download and a deluxe package CD with download featuring artwork by Stefan Sagmeister.

Byrne's current projects include music from season two of HBO's series Big Love; the upcoming Here Lies Love, a song cycle with Fatboy Slim based on the life of Imelda Marcos and the visual art project Playing the Building, an audience-interactive installation presented by Creative Time and currently on view at the Battery Maritime Building in New York City through August 24.

Continue reading "David Byrne - 2008 Tour Dates (no NYC), free download today"

The title of this post is how an October 4th Santa Barbara show is being billed. There's also a September 20th Atlanta show on sale. As previoulsy posted, David Byrne and Brian Eno are going on tour. UPDATE: People don't think Brian Eno will actually be going on this tour.

photos by Zach Dilgard

Tom Tom Club played after Dan Deacon and before Devo at McCarren Pool last week. They were fun. The highlight for everyone seemed to be their hit "Genius of Love". The low point for me was a cover they did towards the end. I can't remember which song, but it was a popular song, and it made me think "wedding band" more than "this group contains two original Talking Heads members". Speaking of which, they also played "Take Me To The River", the Talking Heads song that is actually an Al Green song. Tom Tom Club's reggae frontman Mystic Bowie sang on that one. He has a great voice, and I wouldn't call that cover bad. It was actually okay, but it wasn't even close to as good (obviously) as it would have been had David Byrne been singing it with the same bass player and drummer. The show wasn't free, unless you happened to know someone who lived nearby with roof access. Check out "Take Me To The River" as it looked and sounded from very high up...

Continue reading "Tom Tom Club @ McCarren Pool - pics, VIDEO FROM a ROOF"

Tom Tom Club play with Devo & Dan Deacon at McCarren Pool tonight (June 26, 2008). Even if you didn't realize it was a Tom Tom Club song, you're probably pretty familiar with their 1981 hit "Genius of Love"....

Continue reading "Tom Tom Club, Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde, Annie & Mariah Carey"

"There’s a world of cross-references in Dirty Projectors’ music: stuttering modal riffs from Mali, the meandering melodies of opera or modern music theater, pygmy antiphonal vocals, Captain Beefheart, Zimbabwean and Congolese rock, King Crimson, Talking Heads, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. Usually Mr. Longstreth sustained a sweetly androgynous croon as the music jittered all around him, but in “Police Story” — set to slow tom-tom thumps, steady guitar chords and a descant from the women’s voices — he followed his winding, leaping melody up to a yelping crescendo of desperation." [NY Times]

More on the Bowery show HERE.

He has since gotten better with words...

Continue reading "VIDEO: David Byrne nervous on Letterman in 1983"