Photos and Review by Max Stewart
David Byrne walked onto the Fox Theatre in Atlanta stage like your coolest uncle at Thanksgiving dinner, a whimsical and always entertaining character you cannot wait to spend a few hours with. And from the moment he took his first step beneath that celestial ceiling (those twinkling faux-stars in the iconic Fox Theatre that feel like Atlanta’s personal planetarium) it was obvious that we weren’t here for a normal concert. This was Byrne painting in motion, sculpting sound with a troupe of musicians who moved like satellites orbiting a benevolent, gray-haired sun.
The whole performance felt like someone turned the inside of Byrne’s mind into a diorama and let us crawl around inside it for two hours. Yes, it was a concert. But it really was more of a performance, with layered and thoughtful production at every turn. When the band emerged alongside Byrne all dressed in blue, members were holding mobile gear a la nomadic musical monks. The supporting cast was equally impressive, and featured Mauro Refosco (percussion and music director), Ray Suen (guitar and violin), Daniel Mintseris (keyboards), Kely Cristina Pinheiro (bass and cello), Yuri Yamashita (percussion),Tim Keiper (percussion), Stéphane San Juan (percussion/drums), Jordan Dobson (vocals/dance/multi-instrumentalist), Sean Donovan (vocals/dance), Tendayi Kuumba (vocals/dance), Sasha Rivero (vocals/dance), and Hannah Straney (vocals/dance).
Byrne’s voice hit the room not with nostalgia but with this new weathered warmth, like a lighthouse whose bulb may be older but shines even farther now. Then the setlist began pinballing between Talking Heads tunes and tracks from his impressive solo career (with a heavy emphasis on his 2025 album, Who Is the Sky?). Nothing in the setlist felt mismatched, it was all distinctly Byrne, stitched together with a kind of eccentric precision.
The projections behind him were a whole character unto themselves and were complimentary to the performance without being overbearing. Sometimes the content resembled a retro screensaver cooked in the brain of a musical genius. Then there was the movement throughout the night: the unique choreography that made the entire show feel like a marching band fever dream.
David Byrne opened the show with Talking Heads’ “Heaven,” a calm, atmospheric start that set the tone for the evening. He moved quickly into “Everybody Laughs” and “And She Was,” blending new material from Who Is the Sky? with classic Byrne art-pop. “Strange Overtones” added a smooth, rhythmic pulse, as tunes like “Houses in Motion” and “T Shirt” drove the energy forward. Somewhat of a deep cut Talking Heads song, “(Nothing but) Flowers”, created a bright, communal moment where diehards stood to their feet.
The crowd, as always at Byrne shows, was its own kind of wild ecosystem. Boomers who saw Talking Heads in their heyday stood next to twenty-somethings who looked like they wandered in because a friend promised “Trust me, you’ll get it.” And they did. The middle of the set balanced older hits with newer tracks, while the end was a nonstop fury of Talking Heads gems.
“Psycho Killer” followed with jagged precision and a cool almost James Bond-inspired backdrop, and you could feel the temperature in the room jump. “Life During Wartime” snapped everyone into motion, a sprint of paranoia and rhythm which peaked into the powerful “Once in a Lifetime” to end the set. Returning to the stage with 2018’s “Everybody’s Coming to my House”, it indeed felt like we were in Byrne’s unique personal space for a few hours (which was also evident with “My Apartment is My Friend” song that paid tribute to his 2020 relationship with the safety of his NYC abode). “Burning Down the House” closed the night and dropped the entire theater into a warm, glowing sway. The entirety of the show was mystical and captivating for the full nearly two hours, almost more of Broadway production than a typical concert.
Byrne, at 73, doesn’t perform with the urgency of someone trying to prove anything. Instead, he works with a kind of gentle and eccentric authority, and plays off the fantastic performers he brings along on stage. Byrne could have years ago cashed in on a Talking Heads reunion and circled the globe a few times and cashed in, but he has pure artistic intention and wants to keep pushing forward. We will always look for a spot at the table next to Uncle David whenever he’s in town, you never know quite what you will get but you’ll be in for a wonderful and whimsical night.
