David Byrne live in Suntec Exhibition Hall

What a gig.

My mom and I haven't enjoyed ourselves like that in awhile, everything about this show was just so enjoyable. The crowd really got into the show, the atmosphere was great, the dancing, and the music! The crazy bongo beats, Byrne, the rhythm section driving everything, and the songs themselves are so amazing. The only complaint i have is that it felt like it ended far too soon (and thats after almost 2 hours and 3 encores!)

David Byrne must be the most likable peformer i've ever seen. I love his understated, sort of kooky sense of humour, his little mannerisms, his hilariously cool swivel of the hips as he plays an unforgettable riff on his guitar. The couple of times he spoke to the crowd he made us laugh without making a joke, he even put on a tutu for one of the encores! And he never missed a step on his vocals, switching from the gospel crooning of his newer work to the more frantic stuff of some Talking Heads songs with ease. His guitar work was top notch as well, the funk and the groove he plays with is quite brilliant. Not to mention he wrote all these songs too..

The band were great too. At first the set up seemed pretty simple, besides Byrne there was a lefty bassist (who really was amazing), keyboards, drums and backup singers. But at the second song, the band exploded into life, exchanging instruments, in came the bongos and maracas, and the dancers, everyone was going wild and this carried on through the show. The dancing was pretty cool too, there were three dancers carrying out some weirdass choreography (probably Byrne's work) to most songs, and when Byrne joined in it was hilarious! Reminded me of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks though haha.

Most of the songs played were from his and Brian Eno's latest album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, and while i did certainly enjoy it before, there's nothing like some live performance magic to really open the songs up and make them 'click'. It's been on repeat since i've reached home from Suntec and my gosh are there good songs on there, Strange Overtones, My Big Nurse, Everything That Happens etc etc.

But my favourites of the night were definitely the songs from my favourite Heads album Remain In Light. Houses In Motion is one funky ass song, but it was Crosseyed and Painless that really kicked the whole show into awesomeness midway through the set. Once that red light hit the audience and that brilliant, frantic rhythm came in almost everyone screamed, stood up and started grooving. I kid you not there was this 70 year old chinese man sitting just beside me who jumped right out of his seat and started dancing leaving his wife and others looking on in amusement. He was a definite Talking Heads fan too (not just someone who won tickets on gold 90 haha ;), i heard him singing along to the lyrics and everything.

Setlist:
Strange Overtones (What an opener! Catchiest track of his new album imo)
I Zimbra (thanks to the commenter for pointing this out)
One Fine Day
Help Me Somebody
Houses In Motion
My Big Nurse (nice little break, love the lyrics on this one)
My Big Hands
Heaven
The River
Poor Boy
Crosseyed and Painless (AWESOME)
Life Is Long
Once in a Lifetime
Life During Wartime (THIS AIN'T NO PARTY, THIS AIN'T NO DISCO!)
I Feel My Stuff

Encores:
Take Me To The River
The Great Curve
Air
Burning Down The House (Rocking end to the 2nd encore, before Byrne emerged to a rare 3rd encore with..)
Everything That Happens (Floaty and pastoral, beautiful way to end it off)

Everything that happens did happen today, and it happened to plaster a smile on face throughout the whole show, and it should stay on my face for awhile (at least until i trudge into the office in 6 hours time!) Brilliant concert. Photos here (not very good ones though) (EDIT: correct setlist now up and videos now, thx to ariddesert87)