In “Moisturizing Thing,” off David Byrne’s new album recorded with Ghost Train Orchestra, Who Is The Sky?, the Talking Heads songwriter imagines an anti-aging lotion that restores his face to toddler-like freshness, frustrating everyday interactions: “And when we go out, they ask for ID/ It’s not always easy when you look like you’re three.”
A little over halfway through his set at Bass Concert Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 25, Byrne introduced the whimsical song as a cautionary tale with a casually scripted lesson about judging by appearances, complete with an anecdote about being mistaken, in his younger years, for the fictional character from Psycho, Norman Bates.
The humorous lyrics and wide-eyed wonder of the new release highlight something more than Byrne’s pointed lesson in the context of his theatrically staged touring production: his longstanding fascination with exploring human complexity through simple means.
The multimedia artist’s Who Is The Sky? performance was awash in contrasting colors, issued forth from stage lights and the 180-degree curved screen, cleverly layered behind the performers. The combination created captivating shadows and delightful optical illusions that toyed with the 13 performers’ traffic-cone-orange outfits, like Cocomelon for artsy grownups.
As in Byrne’s American Utopia show, the musicians were mobile, adorned with wraparound microphones and futuristically ergonomic marching band getups (think BabyBjörn for robots) that allowed them to travel with often-changing assortments of percussive and melodic instruments. Their stage-crossing choreography charmed with uncomplicated synchronization and pattern making, magnanimously drawing attention to different performers and occasionally obscuring Byrne altogether.
The setlist visited many phases of the 73-year-old’s storied career and carried several nods to, and many tracks from, Talking Heads’ critically acclaimed concert film Stop Making Sense. Though full of bells and whistles, this concert began as that one did: subtly. Byrne and three musicians stood on stage for a moving rendition of “Heaven,” which then burst into a cinematic experience, pairing Who Is The Sky? single “Everybody Laughs” with footage of the UK-born musician’s chosen home of New York, some of which featured in HBO’s How To With John Wilson. The ensuing performance upheld this pacing strategy, switching between stripped-back stage arrangements and complex multimedia productions, re-arranged older tracks and fresh new ones.
Documentary footage appeared woven throughout the set. “Moisturizing Thing” was performed from within a still shot of Byrne’s own bathroom, and the follow-up, “My Apartment Is My Friend,” took place in the living room. The impression of the pandemic is palpable in these new songs and in the stories Byrne tells about them. He reveled in getting to know his home like one gets to know a lover in that time, he told the audience. He also, like so much of the world, was captivated by outreaches of human connection across such divided spaces. At the end of “What Is The Reason For It?”, videos of operatic balcony performances filled the floor-to-ceiling screen. “In Italy, during the pandemic, people opened their windows and came out onto their balconies and sang for complete strangers on the street,” Byrne narrated. “They did this especially on what they call Liberation Day. That’s the day they celebrate their freedom from fascism.”
As in this statement, the songwriter’s political messaging benefited from few words. “T-Shirt,” a post-album single co-written by Brian Eno and released earlier this month, featured a montage of belief-proclaiming slogans, many political and others – “I’m With Stupid” – seeming to satirize the form. Near the end of a largely nostalgic performance of “Life During Wartime,” complete with running choreography, the screen crackled to life with contemporary footage of ICE arrests and police brutality against immigrants and activists.
The septuagenarian proved, singing in an unfalteringly full voice and picking up the guitar with familiar precision, that he is still with it, keenly observing the world and reflecting back what he sees. Who Is The Sky? may be the most concretely realized version of his artistic reporting from a lyrical perspective, which doesn’t lend itself to the cunning poetics of his most enduring tunes. However, paired with colorful onstage revelry in the shapes and patterns of human nature and an ultimately optimistic critique of America’s tense political situation, Byrne shows he still has fresh perspectives to offer on our simple minds and the complex messes they get us into.
See more photos from David Byrne’s Nov. 25 show here.