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On February 27th and 28th, David Byrne (avid cyclist, friend of Gothamist) took to the Radio City Music Hall stage, but it looks like not everyone was dazzled by the performance (which included an amazing dance with tutus). Did Byrne get burned by the NY Times? The musician points out on his own blog that "the reviewer, Jon Pareles, loves the Bush Of Ghosts album and has some kind of nostalgia for those days. We all know music snobs who like to remind everyone that they heard so and so back when they were really good. This, however, is the same reviewer who leveled charges of 'cultural imperialism' against Bush Of Ghosts in his Rolling Stone review back in the early 80’s." Apparently Pareles doesn't like gimmicks (really?), but maybe he needs to loosen up—this looks like fun!:
If you want to see the show live, Brooklyn Vegan points out that Byrne just added a June 3rd performance at the Bowery Presents New Jersey venue, the Wellmont Theater. Tickets are on sale Saturday morning. In other Byrne news: the musician discusses NYC parking wars after witnessing a stand-off on his street.
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That Times review blows. All Pareles does is wax nostalgic about the '70s and '80s. Newflash: it's 2009. If Byrne still performed Talking Heads songs the way he did 30 years ago, Pareles would probably rag on him for lack of innovation/progression.
music reviewers like pareles and frere-jones are the most pretentious critics.
What an adorable perfomance!
I was at the Friday night show, and it was just incredible. One of the best shows I've ever seen in my life. And when the Rockettes came out on stage spontaneously during Burning Down the House, everyone in the audience went insane. It would be practically impossible not to have enjoyed yourself at that show!
I was there also, unfortunately all the way up in the next to last row... Great show anyway...
i was there as well (row 2... sweet!) - are you sure they were rockettes? they looked kinda short to be rockettes. i thought they were just some dance troupe.
I just read on DB's blog that they were NOT Rockettes, despite what I was told by everyone sitting around me in the audience. I stand corrected!
I love David Byrne, but I wonder how he can criticize a review he admittedly didn't read? From all accounts I've heard it was a great show, and I'm sure Pareles didn't get it, but DB is better than that, criticizing something through translation.
David Byrne is such a diva.
"David Byrne is such a diva."
in a tutu!
The more I read these comments, the more it seems that maybe Pareles was on to something, rockettes, etc...sounds a bit like so much fluff.
seriously, when did David Byrne become the Mayor and Poet Laureate of New York? He gets plenty of pussy so why can't we have an honest criticism of his work?
What's the point of a rock show critic today? This is a job for the Internet.
If you want to see the show, you must buy the tickets way in advance. Even the biggest acts only put on a few shows in the area. Most only put on 2 shows before leaving town. Even a short-term play with a famous actor is around for 6-8 weeks. Movie, theatre, food, TV, travel and music critics comment on something I might buy or not with plenty of time.
This is why a hero should always die at a tragically young age. Otherwise they get old and senile and start doing REAL STUPID things like wearing a tutu.
The only thing that burned down was Byrne's reputation.
I saw the show in NC. The "rockettes" style finish was obviously a tribute to Radio City and unique to that venue. What deserves great credit is the musical quality of the show, the song selection from a huge catalogue and the use of dancers, not for their sexuality, but for a modern interpretative stance on the songs. I think most of the commenters understand the intelligence of this show as well as the continuing innovation of David Byrne.
Let he who has ever written a hit song or performed two sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall cast the first stone.
David Byrne is genius and has the right to be annoyed at anyone who publically doesn't 'get it'. The encore was an homage to Radio City as posted above. If you were at the show - the energy and sheer happiness/enjoyment of the audience was undeniable. So sorry The Times reviewer was in a funk, and not the good kind. Maybe he had delusions of grandeur of being a Rockette himself as a child - a bitter soul.
David Byrne is just too ironic for his own tutu.
Winnner!