David Byrne amazes again at Cruïlla

BarcelonaDavid Byrne has reflected on music with great wisdom. For example, in the book "Com funciona la música (2012), available in Spanish from 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 stage gestures that sought new ways of presenting himself, and in his solo career he has gone further. He already proved 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 illuminate themselves with colors, and a dozen musician-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 workers of a secret laboratory, or like the medical staff of a clinic run by a minimalist enthusiast.

The effect is powerful, and the faces of the audience on the Estrella Damm stage confirmed this as soon as Heaven and Everybody laughs began to play. It's not just an aesthetic finding. The design of the show has a dramatic sense. The images and choreographic movements (simple and understandable) complement the songs, which follow one another like scenes from a movie, the great movie about how to put on a different, visually striking concert that at the same time preserves the image of musicians playing live. And with no cameras on stage! It's clear that David Byrne opened a path that other artists are following, such as Rosalía on the Lux tour. The effect is also powerful when the screens show different landscapes and it seems like the musicians are inside them, playing with the dynamics of theatrical backdrops, 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 anti-immigrant police violence (the fearsome ICE) in Life during wartime, during which many spectators danced with those controlled spasms typical of art-funk that haven't been seen in clubs 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.