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David Byrne Cambridge, England 1997 Wow
- Just returned from seeing David Byrne in Cambridge.
The venue was an old market in the downtown area called the Corn
Exchange. Probably fits about 1,000
to 1,500 people. Very cool place.
Not only are you up close and personal with the band; but the joint is
kitted out with a full bar. Pints
o'brew in hefty plastic cups or Jim and Coke.
To bad I had to drive home. Despite
my soberarity, it was a groovin eve. The
opening act was Jim White. Kind of
like a cross between Beck and John Wait on ludes.
Not a big turn on for the Brits. His
lyrics are either about driving all night or watching your own blood spill all
over the floor. Limies just can't
turn on to long haul drives and violent depression.
Well, I am not a Limey and ended up buying his CD in between sets. Byrne
was very good. His show opened up
with Once in a Lifetime and Making Flippy Floppy.
Dave hit the stage wearing a big pink, fuzzy suit.
Rather strange; but then again, Dave was never very mindful of
conventional fashion. Before he
changed into a baby blue jump suit, he ripped out a newer rock-a-billy tune and
Slippery People. By
this time, four songs were down and only about 10% of the crowd managed to break
into anything that resembled dancing. This
was by far the worst crowd I have ever been a part of.
It wasn't till near the end of the show that over half the crowd were
dancing and I only smelt hash once. Considering
the fact that I was in a college town and the size
of the bar in the lobby, I expected more. The
band consisted of Dave (despite the occasional fashion travesties, wore a kilt
and T-shirt most of the show), a chick singer (who did a very cool trippy tune
that was a cross between Enya and a Dead Space jam), a bass player, a
drummer/MIDI programmer and a keyboard player.
Many tunes had a techno influence which was more groovy than crap. David
was playing a Gibson which was wired into a MIDI set-up. Other
familiar tunes included This Must be the Place (from Speaking in Tongues and my
favourite Heads tune), Road to Nowhere, I Zimbra (the best tune of the show),
Psycho Killer (Dave was dressed in a Mr. Good body suit and the tune was real
techno), Big Blue Plymouth and Take Me to the River. http://www.varsity.cam.ac.uk/VarsityOnline/Online2/Content/Music/Stories/060298_byrne.html
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