David Byrne is one of a kind.
The former Talking Heads frontman rolled into Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre on Monday, the first of a two-night bill, for his “Who Is the Sky?” tour. He brought along with him the 12-piece Ghost Train Orchestra, and the ensemble spent the evening frolicking in a world no doubt dreamt up by the notoriously unconventional and innovative Byrne.
The 21-song set bounced between Talking Heads classics and newer solo material from the album after which the tour was named.
And where did that name come from? While “Who Is the Sky?” sounds like something a 5-year-old might ask, in September Byrne revealed to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that it was born from a friend’s unsuccessful attempt to text him the question, “Who is this guy?” When the autocorrect fail popped up on his phone screen, he said he instantly knew he had the title of his latest album.
When you see the cover art of that album—with Byrne shown in all of his quirky glory, nearly indistinguishable under layers of colorful, K’nex-like, sculptural doodads—you really can’t help but wonder: “Who is this guy?”
For two hours on Monday night, we gladly allowed Byrne and Ghost Train Orchestra to answer that question.
The 73-year-old opened the show with a stripped-down version of Talking Heads’ “Heaven,” accompanied simply by two violinists and a percussionist. Massive curved screens behind the performers displayed lunar surfaces that gradually pulled back to reveal Earth suspended in space. When Byrne gestured toward the planet and called it the only heaven we have, the audience roared with applause. Five decades into his career, he clearly still knows how to accentuate a moment.
“This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)” was a tranquil mid-show moment, and even “Psycho Killer” near the end of the night was delivered with a more subdued tone, yet still kept the nervous energy that makes this track so great.
That isn’t to say that the show was mellow by any means. Byrne and the members of his traveling orchestra—who were all decked out in matching bright-blue shirts, pants, jackets, and shoes—flowed off, on, and all over the bare stage with and without instruments strapped to their bodies.
It could easily have veered toward a cheesy community theater vibe, but was actually wildly entertaining. The constant movement created a sense of equality, like Byrne was the conductor on stage rather than the focal point. There were even a handful of times the singer was slightly out of sync with the undulating dancers surrounding him, which I found to be incredibly endearing.
Byrne didn’t banter very much during the show, but when he did, he delighted us with tales of his life.
“Some years ago, I was in high school in Baltimore. There was a classmate there, a young woman, and she was always extraordinarily happy,” he shared. “I wondered if she knew something that I didn’t know, and how could I find that out? One day I asked her, and she said, ‘You know what I like to do? I like to go lie in the field by the Yoo-hoo chocolate drink factory. You know the one by the highway?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, I know the one.’ And she said, ‘But I take LSD.’ And I thought, ‘Oh man, I’m just in high school. I don’t know if I’m ready to take that road to happiness. But I remembered that story years later, and I wrote a song about it.”
Then he and the orchestra broke into “And She Was.”
In addition to the Talking Heads classics like this and “Slippery People” (which I and seemingly many in the theater deemed a highlight based on the explosive applause afterward), it was fun to hear songs from the newly married singer’s recently released album.
“Moisturizing Thing” was like a reflection on superficial judgment, delivered with self-deprecating humor. “My Apartment Is My Friend” featured a screen-projected tour of Byrne’s New York living space, which could have smacked of self-indulgence but instead felt downright charming. Especially since he played it after sharing this amusing anecdote:
“I lived here alone during the pandemic, which was, well, quite a while,” he began. “I did a lot of drawings, and I learned to cook some Indian and Mexican dishes. Some of them I did quite well, and some…no one will ever know.
“I went out to get groceries one day, and I saw a woman throwing potatoes at another woman. It was then I realized, not everyone is handling this the same way that I am,” he declared as the audience roared with laughter. “I realized that this apartment was kind of a safe haven. A shelter. A place where I was kind of OK.”
Byrne has built a career asking big questions about how we live and what we value, but his real skill appears to be making those questions feel accessible rather than academic; humorous rather than heavy.
So, who is this guy?
I say he’s an incredibly talented man who for years has been open about likely being on the autism spectrum, though he doesn’t have a formal diagnosis.
And he’s someone who clearly thinks that showing the world who you really are should be celebrated. Idiosyncrasies and all.
SETLIST
Heaven (Talking Heads)
Everybody Laughs
And She Was (TH)
Strange Overtones (Brian Eno & David Byrne cover)
Houses in Motion (TH)
T-Shirt
(Nothing but) Flowers (TH)
This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (TH)
What Is the Reason for It?
Like Humans Do
Don’t Be Like That
Independence Day
Slippery People (TH)
Moisturizing Thing
My Apartment Is My Friend
Hard Times (Paramore cover)
Psycho Killer (TH)
Life During Wartime (TH)
Once in a Lifetime (TH)
Encore:
Everybody’s Coming to My House
Burning Down the House (TH)
