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David Byrne adds a post-European-tour NJ SHOW, takes on NY Times Radio City reviewer +++ Radio City TUTU video

David Byrne & dancers @ Radio City Music Hall in NYC (photo by Jane Kratochvil)
David Byrne

“C warned me that there was a not so complimentary review in the NY Times this morning, and advised me against reading it. I don’t read all the press and reviews we get, but as I do read that paper regularly, I would have inevitably stumbled upon it. Apparently the reviewer, Jon Pareles, loves the Bush Of Ghosts album and has some kind of nostalgia for those days. We all know music snobs who like to remind everyone that they heard so and so back when they were really good. This, however, is the same reviewer who leveled charges of “cultural imperialism” against Bush Of Ghosts in his Rolling Stone review back in the early 80’s. For years afterwards, almost every interviewer asked me to respond to his charge, and many press articles quoted it. It was like the joke about “When did you stop beating your wife?” — the charge was silly and ill-informed, but one was constantly put on the defensive, and even assumed to be guilty, simply by the question being raised. It was annoying, it lasted for years, and it hurt.

Given that track record, I guess 30 years from now he’ll figure out what this show was about.

I still haven’t read the review, and don’t intend to. While taking criticism on board can be constructive, it can also be detrimental to the creative process if it’s considered while that process is still under way. It undermines one’s enthusiasm and will — which is OK, beneficial even, but only after a tour (for example) is over. This review, by all reports, wasn’t helpful criticism anyway — it seemed to be one of those reviews that comes from some psychological issues the writer has — and therefore even a belated reading is not going to help us refine what we do.” [DAVID BYRNE]

The review in question was titled “Spectacle, Including a Singer in a Tutu”. As you can see above, there were tutus! Our previous Radio City photo set didn’t capture that aspect, as all of those pictures were taken during the first three songs.

Missed both Radio City shows? Good news! David Byrne has added a June 3rd show at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. It happens after (over a month after) he gets back from the European leg of the “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today” tour. $65.00 & $45.00 tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 AM.

All tour dates, and TUTU VIDEO FOOTAGE, below...


Burning Down The House from Jane Kratochvil on Vimeo.


This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco from Jane Kratochvil on Vimeo.

David Byrne – 2009 Tour Dates
March 9 Düsseldorf, Germany Tonhalle
March 10 Antwerp, Belgium Koningin Elisabethzaal (QEH)
March 12 Hamburg, Germany CCH2 – Congress Centrum
March 14 Frankfurt, Germany Alte Oper
March 16 Copenhagen, Denmark Falkoner Theatre /
March 17 Stockholm, Sweden Cirkus
March 19 Oslo, Norway Sentrum Scene
March 20 Malmo, Sweden Concert House
March 22 Hannover, Germany Theater am Aegi
March 23 Berlin, Germany Tempodrom
March 24 Utrecht, Netherlands MC Vredenburg
March 25 Paris, France L’Olympia
March 27 Bristol, England Colston Hall
March 29 Birmingham, England Symphony Hall Birmingham
March 30 Manchester, England Bridgewater Hall
March 31 Glasgow, Scotland Royal Concert Hall
April 1 Gateshead, England The Sage /
April 3 Liverpool, England Philharmonic Hall
April 4 Sheffield, England City Hall
April 6 Dublin, Eire National Concert Hall
April 7 Belfast, N. Ireland Belfast Waterfront
April 9 Oxford, England New Theatre Oxford
April 11 Nottingham, England Royal Centre
April 12 + 13 London, England Royal Festival Hall
April 14 Brighton, England Brighton Dome
April 16 Stuttgart, Germany Hegelsaal
April 17 Zürich, Switzerland Volkshaus Zürich
April 19 @9pm Senigallia, Italy La Fenice
April 20 @9pm Verona, Italy Teatro Filarmonico
April 21 @9pm Milan, Italy Auditorium Dal Verme
April 22 @9pm Modena, Italy Teatro Comunale
April 24 Barcelona, Spain Palau de la Música Catalana
April 26 Oviedo, Spain Auditorio Príncipe Felipe
April 27 Madrid, Spain Teatro Lope de Vega
April 28 Lisbon, Portugal Coliseo
June 03 Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ