A Musician Taking Cues From Worlds Near and Far …it's both a well-wrought show and a delicate mutt: chamber music, mellow marimba tones and domesticated Afro-Cuban rhythm. New York Times 7.1.05
Pink linen Suit and another creative hat: David Byrne's show at the Bowl, with inspired new bands, proves he's also an impressario In music as in life, you can tell a lot about a person by the company he keeps. L.A. Times 6.28.05
Live Review: David Byrne in Saratoga, CA Given the ambitious nature of the event, and the plethora of musical styles on display, the concert felt amazingly cohesive and astoundingly fluid. LiveDaily 6.23.05
The name of this act is sheer quality The audience couldn't quite believe their luck, either, to find Byrne in such spectacular voice — his vocals seem more powerful now than at any time in his career — and able to unite the numerous genres he has investigated into an entertaining, seamless concert. Brisbane, Courier Mail 2.21.05
A fine night with Byrne... After an unassuming entry - the lights came on, and there he was, dressed in black, still wiry thin though his once-jet black hair is now a shock of grey - Byrne launched into a history of his first song, Glass, Concrete and Stone, written for the film Dirty Pretty Things. It was a pattern which would be repeated for most of the set, during which Byrne would reveal a wicked sense of humour, self-deprecating and warm, that further endeared the quirky performer. The Advertiser - Adelaide 2.14.05
Versatile David Byrne changes direction Change is good, but it can also be a b- - - -. In the four years since his last album, David Byrne parted ways with Luaka Bop, the eclectic label he founded. Miami Herald 10.22.04
Speaking in Tongues If some despistado (confused person) had bet that David Byrne's show would be centered on his last album, "Grown Backwards", clearly lost the bet. La Nacion 10.21.04 Photo: Alejandro Querol
Brazilian Revolutionaries at Town Hall
His concert at Town Hall involved his official role as well as his previous jobs: songwriter, singer, bandleader and rubber-legged dancer. The concert was a benefit, sponsored by Wired Magazine, for Creative Commons, which has devised a new copyright license that lets creators permit their work to be freely shared on the Internet and sampled and reused by others.
New York Times 9.25.04
Speaking in tongues, David Byrne WOMAD, Reading
Stop the world he wants to get on. Byrne hits the heights at The Guardian reader's favourite weekend out. MOJO October 04
This CD is Meant To Be Copied and Shared
For more than a year, the music industry has held firm on its zero-tolerance position on online file swapping, suing 4,679 alleged digital pirates to drive its point home. But now, 16 high-profile artists, many of them signed to the same global music companies that have brought the lawsuits, are participating in a project that will allow music lovers to freely copy and trade some new songs without risking legal retaliation.
The Wall Street Journal 9.20.04
David Byrne
If Thursday night's David Byrne concert at the Sheldon Concert Hall is any indication of what they venue has in store for this 2004-05 season, concert-goers are in for one heck of a time. Byrne's quirky showmanship and relentless rhythms made for a near-flawless two-hour show. St. Louis Today 9.17.04
Byrne continues to redefine rock
Few musicians possess the ability to have Wookie-lookalikes and bespectacled old men in high-water pants dancing side by side in the aisles. David Byrne, though, displays a limitless imagination and unparalleled work ethic that few musicians could even dream of having.
Lawrence.com 9.17.04
Growing Forward: David Byrne moves with operatic direction, and it works
The first song Talking Heads covered with distinction was Al Green's "Take Me To the River," a natural fit for a band that made dance songs for people who frequent museums. The Kansas City Star 9.10.04
No style proves too difficult for Byrne
At this point in his career, it's less a matter of what David Byrne does musically -- which is anything imaginable -- than how he does it. Last night at Bass Performance Hall, Byrne brought along a three-piece rythm section and the six-piece Tosca Strings from Austin, and the resulting hypnotic cacophony had the near-capacity crowd up and dancing from first notes...
Star-Telegram (Ft. Worth, TX) 9.14.04
Tosca burning down the house with David Byrne
What do you call a rock star who is, among other things, a noted photographer, graphic artist, film score composer, film director and a writer/performer who has recently added "Au Fond du Temple Saint" from Bizet's opera "The Pearl Fishers" and "Un Di, Felice" from Verdi's "La Traviata" to his play list? Well, David Byrne would work.
The Austin American-Statesman 9.09.04
Backwards and Sideways with David Byrne
Talking Heads Icon Never Stops Making Sense: David Byrne, though born in Scotland, is New York through and through. He lives fewer than three blocks from Madison Square Garden. He is ecstatic that his My Backwards Life Tour, which includes four Colorado dates in the next four days, kept him away from the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Denver Post 9.03.04
Don't Touch Me I'm a Real Live Wire
Ex Talking-Head Proves It's Better To Byrne Out Than Fade Away: Watching him at Zellerbach Hall Friday, reprising his awkward pseudoacrobatics from his days busking in front of Cody’s Books, his status as not just the suavest, but also coolest and most self-assured human alive became more apparent than ever.
The Daily Californian 9.02.04
David Byrne is no stranger to high-end concert halls: He's trod the board at Carnegie Hall, London's Royal Festival Hall and the Santa Fe Opera House. But as the leader of the first full-sized pop band in the Disney Concert Hall, he seemed a little tentative stepping onto the stage.
Variety 8.31.04
Byrne Still Moved By Global Rhythms
David Byrne's musical expeditions have taken him over an ever-expanding swath of territory culturally, stylistically and chronologically. But one thing was clear from his career- and planet-spanning performance Saturday at Walt Disney Concert Hall: No matter where he journeys, he'll never get far from the beat.
Los Angeles Times 8.30.04
Byrne Baby Burn, Opera, Melody Light New Fires Under Ex-Talking Heads Cheif
Bel canto opera isn't the first musical genre one associates with former Talking Heads front man David Byrne.
San Jose Mercury News 8.20.04
David Byrne: Unquestionably Brilliant
When David Byrne performs on stage, he does this funny little dance. His hips swing and twitch sideways, moving precisely to the beat. His arms flap and stir the air beside him.
Seattle Post Intelligencer 8.17.04
Byrne's New Music Seduces Heads Fans
"We decided that if George Bush gets elected, we're all moving here," said David Byrne shortly after taking the stage with his 9-piece band at the Centre for the Performing Arts on Tuesday night. By the end of Byrne's mesmerizing set - which spanned three decades of material, four languages and styles that ranged from art pop to dance to opera - there were undoubtedly at least a few fans secretly wishing for a George W. win.
Vancouver Sun 8.12.04
Same as he ever was: David Byrne's remarkable new album, Grown Backwards, is his most accessible
Last Thursday morning, the former Talking Heads member David Byrne woke up, did laundry, got a haircut, took his computer to the repair shop, had lunch with relatives and then bicycled to an office near his Manhattan home to call Vancouver for an interview.
Vancouver Sun 8.9.04
David Byrne Explores Everyday Minutiae
After a day of delayed flights and missed appointments, David Byrne has finally settled into his room at the Holiday Inn in Reading, England. It's 10 p.m. He's tired. Maybe he'll have a shower using complimentary hotel soap. Maybe he'll check to see if there's a bible in the drawer next to the bed. Or maybe he'll stick his head outside and watch particles spinning around a nucleus or planets encircling the sun before flicking on the news.
Straight.com 8.5.04
Innovation continues to be the calling of creative David Byrne
An innovator to the core, singer-songwriter David Byrne took a new approach to writing sons for his current album "Grown Backwards". Byrne, who started his career as frontman for the Talking Heads, hummed melodies into a micro-cassette recorder and then unscrambled the fragments to create the 15 songs in the album. It was a departure from his usual practice of adding melodies to improvised sounds and textures.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer 8.3.04
David Byrne in the Radisson
David Byrne is not known as "the most intelligent man in rock" for nothing. Who else could sing about particle physics and chaos theory in a three minute song and have the audience hanging on his every word?
Galway Advertiser 7.29.04
Unlocking classical brackets
David Byrne, former frontman of Talking Heads, the band that revolutionized music in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, brings his My Backward Life tour to Russia, performing in St. Petersberg, in between dates in Tempere and Stockholm.
The St. Petersburg Times 7.16.04
Byrne balances dark and light
"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around," sang David Byrne, in "Life During Wartime" Sunday evening. That didn't stop a sellout crowd at the Pabst Theater from dancing and singing along with this song of fear, danger and deprivation. Byrne can make disaster and paranoia fun, and that might be the key to his staying power. In his musical persona, at least, he is a sophisticated man, aware of the harsh realities but philosophical enough to enjoy life in spite of it all.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinal 6.21.04
Audience appreciative of eclectic Byrne
After being greeted with a two-minute standing ovation, David Byrne began his Thursday night concert at Skyline Stage with "Glass, Concrete & Stone", a breezy first-person narrative of a city dweller's daily routine among fabricated surroundings that threaten to mute personality and emotion.
Chicago Tribune, 6.18.04
David Byrne, Walker Art Center share construction hats
It's a year of reinvention at the Walker Art Center, and who better to throw a party for Minneapolis' beloved modern-art museum than the ever-changing David Byrne? The former Talking Heads frontman headlines the annual Rock the Garden concert today at the Walker, which is closed for renovations until well into next year. Patrons can still stroll the sculpture garden, but the white halls inside are dark. Byrne himself has seemingly been under construction since the Talking Heads last worked together in 1989. His eight proper solo albums have varied from Latin dance to lush Scottish ballads to the opera-styled pop of his latest CD, "Grown Backwards."
Star Tribune 6.18.04
Byrne Keeps Amazing, Bemusing Fans
Life on the road with David Byrne can be a glorious adventure. Take those peculiar dance moves -- one "butt wiggle" in particular -that the ex-Talking Heads frontman trots out on stage during his concerts. "It's like he's got a different dance move every night," marveled violist Ames Asbell of the Tosca Strings, which accompanies Byrne on the My Backwards Life Tour.
Grand Rapids Press, 6.13.04
On-line interview with Carol Cooper
Strings have an unfortunate reputation. They're seen as the last refuge for a pop star who craves respect and to be finally taken seriously. They also signify upwelling of passion, sentimentality and romantic emotion- these I may be occasionally guilty of, in measured doses....but if anything I've been taken too seriously for years, so hardly need more of that.
Village Voice On-Line
David Byrnes Down The Hall
When you think of a musician playing a solo gig at Carnegie Hall, you think about artistic achievement and contemporary relevance — and David Byrne cemented both
of those qualities in his triumphant concert at the venerable hall Tuesday.
NY Post, 6.10.04
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