The briefly Scottish born, American home grown ex Talking Heads singer David Byrne gave a spectacular performance at The Playhouse in Edinburgh as part of The Edge festival.
With soft undertones of his previous work with Brian Eno the set was all in all a night worth the ticket price. The three dancers and second trio of symmetrically white clad backing singers and dancers somersault, tumble and carried chairs negotiating their choreography around and with David as he performed.
The fan divide: die hard Scottish Edge Festival rock groupies sitting amicably next to families out for a civilised evening of entertainment created a more complex atmosphere than most rock concerts.
He was supported avidly by both species and faced a sporadically rough group seemingly unfazed. He is if nothing else born for the stage, self assured, talking to the audience as though they were a close friend, despite their persistent if slightly aggressive desire to hear him play, louder, faster, harder...
David Byrne, half stand up comedian, half dancer? As he almost reaches sixty who would have known? Anyone who has looked at his diverse CV from dabbling in ballet to performance art. Byrne proved he is a multitalented, all singing all dancing performer, both on stage and off.
The Playhouse itself is a majestic venue complete with opera style fifty pence rentable binoculars, and the philosophy that seats are unnecessary for music concerts was reaffirmed as the auditorium abandoned their seats in favour of standing for hits such as Road to Nowhere.
Byrnes music however despite everything is missing a certain je ne sais quoi, perhaps because ultimately his music is, as it has been used: the jigsaw piece for movie soundtracks. Despite this the night certainly did what it said on the box and more.