David Byrne amazes again at Cruïlla

BarcelonaDavid Byrne has reflected on music with great wisdom. For example, in the book How music works (2012), available in Spanish by Reservoir Books. And the staging of his concerts must necessarily be the result of very deep reflection on how to accompany live music. When he was part of Talking Heads, he already promoted scenic gestures that sought new ways of presenting himself, and in his solo career he has gone further. He already showed it at Cruïlla in 2018, and he returned on Friday with an evolution of the format seen eight years ago: an empty stage, without tool nor fixed instrumental elements; only giant screens that can project images or simply light up with colors, and a dozen musicians-dancers, or rather, choreographed musicians, each moving with their instrument, including the percussionists, the cellist, and the keyboardist. Everyone dressed in blue, like the specialized operators of a secret laboratory, or like the medical staff of a clinic run by a minimalism enthusiast.

The effect is powerful, and so the faces of the audience on the Estrella Damm stage confirmed as soon as Heaven and Everybody laughs sounded. It is not just an aesthetic find. The design of the show has a dramatic meaning. The images and choreographic movements (simple and understandable) complement the songs, which follow each other like scenes from a movie, the great movie about how to put on a different concert, visually impactful and at the same time preserving the image of musicians playing live. And without cameras on stage! It is evident that David Byrne opened a path that other artists are following, such as Rosalía's Lux tour. The effect is also powerful when the screens show different landscapes and it seems that the musicians are inside them, playing with the dynamics of theatrical curtains, but with a sophisticated operatic minimalism. There are plenty of examples. The buildings in Strange overtones, the musicians with animal heads in Like humans do, images of the violence of the anti-immigration police (the dreaded ICE) in Life during wartime, during which many spectators danced with those controlled spasms typical of art-funk that haven't been seen in discos for decades...

On its side plays an unbeatable repertoire, with a lot of Talking Heads material that was immediately recognized and celebrated by the audience, such as Psycho killer, Once a lifetime (with the musicians walking across the stage perfectly choreographed), Houses in motion, And she was, Burning down the house... And with an interesting selection from his solo discography, with classics like the exultant cumbia connection of Independence day and with songs from the album Who is the sky (2025), such as What is the reason for it?, Everybody laughs and a When we are singing, which he accompanied with a call for freedom and against fascism. And it is that, in addition to the staging and the songs, David Byrne's concerts communicate criticism with positive energy. He amazed again, of course.