David Byrne and company, Denver 2025 (Photo by Roger Len Smith, used with permission)
Every stage performance that the ever-inventive David Byrne has presented over the decades, since fronting Talking Heads in the ’70s and ’80s, has been different from what other rock or pop acts offer. And that hasn’t changed: Byrne brought his infectious, quirky, unique and highly danceable songs to the Buell Theater in downtown Denver for two shows in early November 2025. At this near-perfect-sounding music hall, the 73-year-old Byrne showed again why he is one of rock’s most original creative forces. For his current tour in support of his latest recording, Who Is The Sky?, Byrne again worked on a stage completely free of equipment. Long gone are the loud-looking amplifiers, mic stands, cables and big, muscular drum and percussion setups. In its place—humans. Nothing but humans—all of their equipment wireless, of course.
This clever and visually entertaining approach features Byrne and his stellar band carrying their instruments, including drums (four musicians combined to play the equivalent of two drum sets). Every singer in his 12-piece band sings with a hands-free headset microphone, allowing them full range of movements, in turn giving the concert a decidedly Broadway feel. While clearly similar to Byrne’s American Utopia tours of 2017-19, the show design highlights instead the choreography, a wide-open palate of dance and syncopated moves. Byrne’s bandmates, all decidedly younger than himself, are all graced with natural stage presence and talent, expertly executing Byrne’s new songs and the timeless Talking Heads material.
David Byrne, Denver 2025 (Photo by Roger Len Smith, used with permission)
Further, the use of several overlapping video screens, completely immersive to the point where it seemed like the images in the backdrop were three-dimensional, added plenty of visual dopamine to the festivities. This alone makes it unique: With the wireless technology, Byrne, as usual, takes full advantage of what can be done on a music stage and in turn poses the unasked question: Do we need equipment on stage when performing? Without stage props or sets, the art is in the music, the lyrical content, the physical movements of the players and the joyous singing by the band and the vast majority of the audience. Forget everything and sing.
The whole band, all clad in identical blue outfits (for night two everybody wore orange), provided nonstop movement and energy around their fearless leader in columns, rows and clever formations of seemingly every kind. Vocally, Byrne has lost nothing and, in fact, possibly sounds better than ever. While that may seem odd for someone in their 70s, Byrne’s vocal command was truly impressive.
The songs are as rich and rhythmic as any repertoire on the circuit, featuring uplifting grooves and descriptive lyrics. Byrne’s knack for writing strong choruses was on display throughout as song after song felt nothing less than ebullient. Opening the concert in typically minimalist form—akin to the iconic beginning of Stop Making Sense, one of the all-time great music films —with just Byrne and two other musicians playing the timeless early Heads song “Heaven” from their debut album was a master stroke. Beautiful and pensive, the lyrics show that Byrne’s wit and whimsy were already fully developed decades ago. The second song of the night was the new single, “Everybody Laughs,” followed by the mid-’80s Heads classic “And She Was,” the lone selection from their Little Creatures album and the night’s first truly euphoric moment—seemingly the entire crowd of nearly 3,000 sang the lighthearted lyrics about a woman on LSD.
The next song, “Strange Overtones,” was an inspired choice as the reflective song, written with longtime collaborator Brian Eno, originally appeared on their 2008 release Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. As with their first duo album, the inventive 1981 recording My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, “Strange Overtones” examines optimistically the ever-expanding and fraught-filled connection between humanity and technology. “Houses in Motion” came next, one of two songs on the setlist from the Heads’ peak masterwork, Remain in Light.
David Byrne and band in his virtual apartment, Denver 2025 (Photo by Roger Len Smith, used with permission)
One of Byrne’s greatest talents as a songwriter is to combine danceable grooves with undeniably catchy and memorable choruses, and the show never wavered in its musicality or in the quality of the visual and aural hooks. Despite the joyfulness within the music, the darkness dominating today’s political world was also noted at this show, as the video screens midway showed the rise of fascism in America in no uncertain terms. Pictures of American citizens being attacked and targeted by ICE agents, as well as screens with messages such as “Make America Gay Again” and “life’s a beach,” along with photo-realistic images of forests, cities, people dancing, people wandering through cities and even several very clear pictures of Byrne’s New York City apartment, provided even more fresh content for a rock show. (Who else shows the inside of their home at their concert?) The song performed during this segment, fittingly titled “My Apartment Is My Friend,” also served as a moment for Byrne to regale the crowd with stories of what he did during the pandemic earlier this decade: His Manhattan penthouse pad was clearly a comfy spot to hang during those uncertain times.
An excellent cover of the Paramore song, “Hard Times,” spearheaded the final run of songs, which included, naturally, some of the Heads’ best-known chestnuts: “Psycho Killer,” the rather apropos “Life During Wartime” and “Once in a Lifetime.” Byrne and band encored with his early solo hit, “Everybody’s Coming to My House,” and the final barnburner, “Burning Down the House.” As with most touring acts, the setlist remained static from show to show, with one exception: the mid-set “Moisturizing Thing” was swapped out with “I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party” for the second Denver show.
Watch “Burning Down the House” live in Denver
Related: Our Album Rewind of Talking Heads’ Fear of Music
As with the best art and the most original artists in any medium, Byrne and band embedded the two-hour-long dance party with tunes that reflect society back upon itself. There is no greater truth. Long may David Byrne and company run.
[Tickets for the 2025-2026 tour are available here and on StubHub. Byrne’s 2025 album, Who Is The Sky?, is available in the U.S./worldwide here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.
Watch an entire set from earlier in the tour
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