David Byrne (Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, 26 June 2005)

I don't know much of David Byrne other than what he released with the Talking Heads. I didn't pay much attention to Talking Heads or David Byrne until Arcade Fire covered "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" in San Francisco. After that, I bought the Talking Heads' Best Of and didn't realize that these were the same guys who did "Psycho Killer" and "Burning Down the House."

After the high of Arcade Fire, and my anger for missing half of their set, I made my rounds around Hollywood Bowl and quickly saw some friends. It couldn't have worked out better since all three of them were within ear shot of one another. I got the scoop from Robin on Tom and Katie (she still insists its a stunt), said hello to Dylan (who was sporting an Arcade Fire shirt) and my yearly visit with Angela (who I finally gave that damn mix CD to!). Oh, and Jason cut his finger trying to open a Beck's using my dad's signature bottle opening trick, but I managed to find his dad who just happened to have a band aid. Go figure.

So, here comes David Byrne. After a brief introduction by Nic Harcourt, David Byrne immediately launced into song, citing the rather strict time guidelines of the venue. Sporting a pink seersucker suit (I think), he launched into one of his solo songs that I have no idea of. It sounded good, but there's just way too much of those bongo drums going on. More of his solo stuff was played, accompanied with strings, along with one Talking Heads song that I don't know the tile of. At this point, Jason and I were bored. We noticed that all the young kids were gone and how we were all surrounded by old people (i.e. 40 yrs. and older). The only thing amusing us is seeing this Beyonce looking silhouette in the Terrace section dancing.

This is where Jason made one of the greatest predictions in concert history. He said something along the lines that David Byrne is going to do a Destiny's Child song. Now, that is just an outrageous claim to begin with, especially since the man is making this prediction after finishing all but 3 bottles of the Beck's that night. We had a good laugh and continued to watch the show.

Things started to pick up once David Byrne played "Burning Down the House." I was in the bathroom at that time and once people heard that song, the bathroom immediately emptied and everyone ran back to their seats. The oldies were dancing now, so much so that you can hear the creaks in their knees. I have to admit, it was a great rendition and I was caught tapping my feet with the 3/4 beat.

After a couple more songs, David Byrne introduced Arcade Fire. This was definitely expected and they played "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" with Regine on the steel drum and the blokes all sharing a mic doing backing vocals. At times, Win would trade vocals with David Byrne. Overall, another excellent rendition of a fan favourite. The addition of the Tosca strings and David Byrne's session musicians gave the song a lot more than usual.

Then this is the part of the show where things started to get weird.

After a couple more songs, here comes Extra Action Marching Band coming from the sides of Sec. K2 and marching their way over to the other side of the Bowl, and then down towards the stage. Lead by their cheerleading squad of 2 guys and 4 girls and 2 flag girls, the band found their way on stage and played for about 7 minutes.

Then, the percussion section of the band stayed and the horns stood on the side a bit. Then David Byrne played "Burning Down the House" which drove the entire Bowl ape shit. I too was having a lot of fun at this point.

Just when you think it couldn't get any better than that, the rest of Extra Action joined in David Byrne. This time, the cheerleaders were dressed in their signature skimpy thong outfits (yes, even the guys were dressed like that - I feel sorry for the guys that had to stand in front of them) lining the outside of the pool circle. Then David said, "we've never done this before, so here it goes."

The horns started playing, and oddly enough it sounded like a Beyonce song. I'm like, "NO WAY!" And it was! It was "Crazy in Love"!! [WATCH CLIP: David Byrne - Crazy In Love] Jason called it (OK, it's not a Destiny's Child song, but it's close enough). This was absolutely amazing! The cheerleaders were doing their whole pom-pom thing and Extra Action and the band were just going crazy. David Byrne didn't know the lyrics, so he was cheating by keeping his head down and reading it. He would stick his head up during the chorus, but it didn't matter at this point. Everyone in the Bowl was dancing and standing up. People were looking at one another with huge smiles in their faces, but yet a puzzled look in their eyes. Mobile phones were raised up high with the listener in the other side probably cursing to him/herself that they weren't there to witness this one-of-a-kind spectacle.

That was the last song and as people were exiting the venue, they couldn't stop talking about the cover song.

As we left the venue, we saw Lloyd again! This time we yelled out his name. "LLOYD!!" And he would constantly ignore Jason and I. He was sort of far, but we wanted to say hello. He would still ignore us. We then saw him walking alone on Hollywood Blvd. and we again yelled but again he would ignore us. So, if Lloyd is reading this, what gives man? Why you dissin'? Well, I hope you enjoyed the show.

Beer Rating: 1.5 Beers