Byrne-ing down the house

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing David Byrne perform what was essentially a lively art and dance spectacle with some great music. I won’t go into detail about the show, because I’ve already done that here for Time Out.

Kudos, too, to the knowledgeable Spike, who did a very good write-up of the night (and beat me to it by quite some time).

I did manage to take a shitty cellphone video of what for me was the night’s highlight: a cracking, tutu-clad rendition of Burning Down the House at the end of the second encore. Here it is, replete with tinny HTC sound (seriously, the sound at the show — while not ideal because of the crappy acoustics — was much better than my cellphone would have you believe).

Byrne’s concert came the night after a show I haven’t yet had time to write about: Mogwai, at HITEC’s auditorium. They were brilliant. They might look like five average dudes, but the Glaswegians are superstars when it comes to creating post-rock soundscapes. Their lightness of touch and dynamic interplay between the instruments was formidable.

I was also really happy with the Mogwai crowd: the show was a sell-out, with 700 people, who were noisy in their appreciation. Not bad for Hong Kong on a Sunday night.