Every year, Knitting Factory/City Winery founder Michael Dorf hosts a tribute concert at Carnegie Hall benefiting music-education programs. And the honoree of this year’s 11th annual show was a true New York music legend: David Byrne. Featuring performances from the likes of CeeLo Green, Amanda Palmer, and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, it was a night of yelpy singing, jittery dancing, and at least one comically oversize suit. Here’s a rundown of the night’s highs (high high high high hiiiiighs )
David Byrne also crashed his own tribute concert, leading a marching band down the aisle at Carnegie Hall and, eventually, to an onstage dance party to the tune of “Uptown Funk.” Showing up at the end of an annual tribute that benefits music education, an unusual sight since past musicians whose work was celebrated — like Paul Simon and Prince did not perform. David Byrne’s entrance came after CeeLo Green brought the tribute to a close by singing “Take Me to the River.”
The former Talking Heads frontman, dressed in a white shirt with black bracers and black bow tie, sang “God’s Army” with the brass-and-drum Brooklyn United Marching Band, singing to the audience that “everything I did, I did for you.”
The band, joined by red-suited dancers, belted out “Uptown Funk” while most of the artists who performed Byrnes’ work joined them onstage.
The artists led a highly danceable romp through Byrne’s eclectic catalog as a solo artist and bandleader. Soul singer Sharon Jones brought the audience to its feet with the first notes of “Psycho Killer” and kept them there.
In an unusual mash-up of 1980s culture, ZZ Top guitarist Billy F. Gibbons spoke-sang Talking Heads’ Afro-funk “Houses in Motion.” Gibbons easily beat singer Steve Earle, who performed the Byrne solo song “A Million Miles Away,” in the longest beard competition. Other highlights included “Once” singer Glen Hansard dueting with Jherek Bischoff on “Girlfriend is Better,” with a piercing fiddle. Joseph Arthur painted a portrait in the midst of his eerie version of “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).” The Roots were joined by singer Donn T for “Born Under Punches.” Santigold brought fire — and some synchronized dancers — for “Burning Down the House.”
Appropriately enough, the benefit was opened by a group of school-aged youngsters performing “Stay Up Late.” Then, presumably, they went to bed.
Performer: Cibo Matto featuring Nels Cline Song: “I Zimbra”
Well, this was wonderful: a perfect pairing of performers and song. Clad in all-white everything, the recently reunited Japan-by-way-of-NYC food-pop duo Cibo Matto expertly walked that very Byrne-ian tightrope between artful self-seriousness and goofy, unadulterated joy. During the instrumental part, they did a series of synchronized dance moves that recalled a cross between air-traffic controllers and the backup singers from Stop Making Sense, while Wilco guitarist Nels Cline provided some of his signature avant-noodling. Mostly this performance served as evidence that Miho Hatori is still one of the most stylish people on the planet. Perched on Cibo Matto‘s keyboard was a drawing of a bicycle with a big basket — Byrne’s usual mode of transportation around the city he calls home.
Performer: Jade from (or formerly from?) Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Song: “Here Lies Love” (from the Byrne/Fatboy Slim musical Here Lies Love) Jade — best known as the female singer in that one Edward Sharpe song that everyone knows — has a pleasant voice, but her stage presence last night was a little awkward. Dressed as a Disney princess who was loosely based on Janis Joplin, she spent most of the song twirling, swaying, and generally looking deeply uncomfortable as a front person.
Performer: Alexis Krauss from Sleigh Bells Song: “Life During Wartime” Before she came to front the demolition derby/pep rally that is bubblegum-punk duo Sleigh Bells, Alexis Krauss used to be a New York public schoolteacher, in a school so underfunded that it didn’t have a music program. In a touching speech before her song, she told us that she and her father used to provide free after-school music lessons for her “scholars” (that was cute), and she sweetly brought her dad out to sing backup. And then she straight-up ripped the fucking roof off Carnegie Hall. I was not a huge fan of the last Sleigh Bells album, but after Krauss’s exhilarating and overwhelmingly charismatic performance (she even did the rubber-arms dance from Stop Making Sense!), I am anxiously awaiting an inevitable Alexis Krauss solo album. The crowd, rightfully, went nuts for this one. RememberMarch 23rd, 2015 is the day a member of Sleigh Bells got a standing ovation at Carnegie Hall.
Performer: Pete Molinari Song: “Heaven” , The British folk singer Pete Molinari is a human-size Kewpie doll they dressed to look like Bob Dylan. He was the only performer of the night who played without a backing band, and let’s just say this minimalism did not exactly serve him. Molinari “reworked” the melody to “Heaven,”
Performer: Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top The song: “Houses in Motion” Legendary beardo Billy F. Gibbons began by telling us how much he has always admired Talking Heads press photos, because Byrne was always looking off into space instead of at the camera. What was he looking at? Billy wanted to know. None of us could say. “Well,” said Billy, with a gruff pause, “Here’s looking at you, David.” There are maybe three people in the world who can get away with this sort of stage banter, and God bless them, they were all once in ZZ Top. While I will forever dream of what a Billy Gibbons cover of “Swamp” might have sounded like, this really was a perfect song choice, with the enchilada-bluesman finding the southern funk in this gem from Remain in Light’s weird(er) side. His spoken-word delivery was on-point, and (bonus points) he was very nice to the fan I saw ask him for a selfie on the street after the show. .
Performer: Amanda Palmer Song: “Once in a Lifetime” Not liking Amanda Palmer is so easy that it seems villainously lazy, like taking candy from a baby. But then sometimes that baby comes out ahead of her cue on what was otherwise an exceptionally well-oiled show and impatiently demands into the void, “Can I get a spotlight on me?” and then you’re like, “Oh, yeah. That’s why.” So I am really looking deep inside of myself here when I tell you that this performance was not terrible.
I guess it is hard to fuck up one of the most cherished entries in the Great Human Songbook, its strange for a visibly pregnant woman singing a song about existential confusion. The circle of life, am I right?! Her goth-cabaret delivery of the chorus, but I cannot deny she was channeling it from somewhere else during the verse about the water at the bottom of the ocean. We’re cool for now, Palmer.
Performer: O.A.R. Song: “And She Was” This was the most faithful cover of the night, basically a note-for-note rendition by a very good bar band. I am giving them an extra point because even though there was a bongo left onstage from a previous performance, no one from O.A.R. even touched it.
Performer: Sharon Jones Song: “Psycho Killer” The first performance of the night that got everybody on their feet. I mean, this one speaks for itself: Sharon Jones, in sequins, singing the shit out of “Psycho Killer.” Pete Molinari lied! This was Heaven!
Performer: CeeLo Green Song: “Take Me to the River” the entertainer, and pop culture & fashion icon, and professional ladykiller” in his bio?. Fashion icon CeeLo Green was dressed in black slouchy Hammer pants and a shirt inspired by black slouchy Hammer pants, making him look like an evil genie who would fail to read you the fine print about your wishes or something. His performance was fine, but I can think of a thousand singers who would have done this song just as well or better.
Performer: David Byrne and an entire Brooklyn United Marching band Song: “Uptown Funk”?
Yes, for real. The finale of this glorious night was the man of the hour Mr David Byrne — clad in a crisp dress shirt, bow tie, and black bracers walking through the aisle of Carnegie Hall with the Brooklyn United Marching Band behind him. First they played a jaunty version of “God’s Love,” and then, just when it seemed like they might end with one of Byrne’s more well-known hits, the marching band instead launched into … “Uptown Funk.” Byrne did not sing (sadly) but instead danced around angularly and hugged everyone onstage. Which means it was the ultimate David Byrne performance.
The Fat Angel Sings 