Oh my gawd.
If this year’s fest is known for anything, it will be Byrne’s performance. It was truly one of the most amazing performances I’ve ever witnessed in my long years of music fests and concerts. I expected something creative, but was completely floored by this band.
It seems like every year PB tries something out of the box. Last year, Ryan Adams was the left turn of the show, and even tho I hated just about every second that I stood there hoping that it was going to get better, I had to applaud the Planet for TRYING. (With all the various fests that I go to, I’d have to say that the best part is being exposed to someone who I didn’t know a lot about, or at least had never seen. So Adams was tolerable from that standpoint.)
So when I saw Byrne on the schedule I was wondering what he was gonna do, and how the TBF audience would react. I’m sure not everyone will have reacted so positively as I; I just hope those who didn’t like the show appreciate PB’s “trying”.
But oh my gawd, what a show. From the time he and his band walked out on stage in white suits, he commanded complete attention. It took only one song to bring out the three white-clad dancers who, it seemed, never stopped moving. The show was choriographed to perfection. Byrne would be at the mic singing, then suddenly, with out looking, step back so as to not get hit by a hard charging dancer. Another time he just fell straight back into the waiting arms of his army of dancers and singers.
But sometimes, the man himself became the dancer. Well, “dance” is a subjective term. What else would you call putting your arms out to your sides with your hands pointing down and walking in unison with your army back and forth across the stage? Can’t synchronized office chair movements be called a dance? I’m not sure, but it sure made me smile.
Smile a LOT.
The music, as expected, was top notch. A very small band pumped out lots of different styles of music, but to say that one was better or more important than the others would be ridiculous. The bass player, percussionist and drummer held down the thundering lines, but how could just ONE keyboard player make so much noise? Bryne’s guitar work must be called minimalist, but oh so effective.
THis was theater from start to finish. Yes, there were some great songs, new and old (the Talking Heads’ songs became more prevalent towards the end), but it was a SHOW, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of
byrne except to turn to my friends to make sure they were seeing what I was seeing. They were, and they were smiling just as much as I.
Even our TBF favorites were entranced by the show. The next afternoon brought references from several of the acts on the Friday schedule. No less than three acts mentioned wearing white, and Jerry Douglas did quite a rendition of a Byrne dance.
So thank you, thank you, thank you, Planet Bluegrass. Booking Byrne was quite a gamble, but you won over a big part of the crowd. I can’t wait to see what you bring us next year!