David Byrne
Wednesday, 17 June 2026, 8:00 PM – 9:50 PM
Prague // O2 Universum // Czech Republic
David Byrne tours are not exactly a regular occurrence. His last European run goes back to the “distant” year of 2018. Byrne is a multi-faceted artist, visionary, and activist. You could write novels about his activism and everything else that falls under his creative umbrella, music very much included. The man who remains best known to the masses for his role in the unforgettable art-rock outfit Talking Heads released an album last year — “Who Is The Sky?” — and has now taken it out on the European leg of a new world tour.
The man plays the Pula Arena, not far from Slovenia, at the end of June this year — but fate had it that Rockline would have to miss that one. The annual June holiday in the Czech Republic demands its dues, or does it? Not if Byrne happens to be playing there at the same time. Say, in Prague. His shows have a reputation as a one-of-a-kind spectacle that no fan of musically adventurous performance can afford to overlook.
The man is one of a kind — a hard-to-pin-down creative genius, as he has proven time and again across countless fields of artistic endeavour. Even the very first Talking Heads album, from 1977, gives you a clear window into that innovative vision. And that vocal approach of his. Not only is it deeply distinctive and charismatic, but the approach itself and the colour of his voice present an artistic challenge that’s almost impossible to frame — at least in terms of musical arrangement. By 1991 it was obvious that Byrne had outgrown the artistic confines of Talking Heads, and the only logical next step in that evolution was a solo path that has in practice become a continuation of the “Talking Heads after Talking Heads” story.
David Byrne concerts have always been something else. This is not your classic setup of musicians left, right, front, centre, and back (where the drums usually live). This is not a conventional approach — this is full-on theatrical spectacle. A performance where everyone is constantly moving around the stage. Thirteen backing musicians in total: four percussionists, five backing vocalists, a keyboardist, a second guitarist alongside Byrne, and a phenomenal bassist. A spectacle of precisely choreographed movement and extraordinary choral vocal interplay.
They took the stage ten minutes past eight. At first just Byrne with three other musicians — a mini string quartet with vocals. A dark 3D backdrop that gives a sense of depth, with the Earth slowly rising over it while the stage itself reads like a lunar surface. Byrne: “This is the only heaven we have!” (pointing to the Earth behind him). It was Heaven (Talking Heads), a shot fired back to 1979. But then the full fourteen musicians appeared, all dressed in orange workers’ overalls (in Ljubljana in 2009 they were all in white), and the show truly came alive. A combination of visual effects woven together with the occasional unapologetic protest note — a nod to the fact that Byrne comes from the punk era — incredible choreography that makes the whole thing feel like a dance orchestra. Nobody stands still for a single second. Byrne sings, dances, plays guitar, keeps up an extraordinary rapport with the crowd, and maintains what is particularly endearing about him: a brilliantly lucid quality. The 74-year-old remains astonishingly well-preserved — in excellent vocal form, with no shortage of sharp wit in his between-song addresses and a genuine, infectious cheerfulness.
The sound simply bursts at the seams with fullness, every inch of the sonic space put to use. Absolute top-tier tightness. Byrne is a remarkable commander. The whole thing fleetingly recalls the golden era of Peter Gabriel’s theatrical shows from decades past — yet entirely in Byrne’s own stylistic terms. The artistry that defines not only David Byrne’s music but its live interpretation is elusive, self-grown, and wholly his own. A fusion of multiple genres where world music, refined Afrobeat rhythms underpinned by a heavy funk drive, strands of punk woven in with artistically dazzling skill, and electronic music all shake hands effortlessly and at the highest level — paired with Byrne’s distinctly individual vocal idiosyncrasies, they give the listener a singular musical experience. Live, that experience is magnified even further. Mesmerizing. The whole show grabs you, sets you in motion, and holds you in its world right down to the very last second. It wins you over in an instant — through the sheer force of its powerful messaging too, with punchy slogans occasionally projected across the vast backdrop screens.
Artistically speaking, the musical stories of Talking Heads and Byrne’s solo career are woven together with extraordinary sophistication. You’d be hard pressed to find the dividing line — and at the same time, the Talking Heads classics have reached a high level of arranging maturity over time, which only brings them closer to the material from Byrne’s solo path. The concert moved fast. Talking Heads fans were well served especially in the first and final thirds of the show, when the man reeled off, among others, And She Was, Houses In Motion, (Nothing But) Flowers, and This Must Be A Place (Naive Melody), joined in the grand finale by Air, and then the one that still raises the roof more than any other — Psycho Killer (which sent the whole venue of some 4,000 people into overdrive) — followed by Life During Wartime and, to close the main set, Once In A Lifetime. The only thing missing was Burning Down The House, which the band had wisely saved for the second encore. The concert flew by in a flash — just like that. The new tracks from “Who Is The Sky?” feel perfectly at home in the company of their older musical brothers and sisters, and it all goes to show that Byrne, as an artist and visionary, shows no sign of slowing down in his fiercely singular artistic mission — an absolute one-of-a-kind in music.
If you happen to be on the fence about whether to go to David Byrne’s show at the Pula Arena — stop thinking and go grab a ticket right now. Do yourself a massive favour you’ll be grateful for for the rest of your life. At its core, not much has changed in terms of the stage approach since my first encounter with Byrne back in 2009, when he played Ljubljana’s Križanke. It’s just that we’ve all grown a little older, a little more demanding, maybe a little more musically spoiled. But a one-of-a-kind stays one-of-a-kind. And as such, he will always pull the rug out from under your feet — effortlessly. That’s David Byrne. A genuine, bona fide wizard. So do yourself the favour and go treat yourself to his upcoming show at Arena Pula.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Edita Klemen
David Byrne – setlist:
1. Heaven (orig. Talking Heads)
2. Everybody Laughs
3. And She Was (orig. Talking Heads)
4. Strange Overtones (orig. Brian Eno & David Byrne)
5. Houses in Motion (orig. Talking Heads)
6. T Shirt
7. (Nothing but) Flowers (orig. Talking Heads)
8. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (orig. Talking Heads)
9. What Is the Reason for It?
10. Like Humans Do
11. When We Are Singing
12. Independence Day
13. Slippery People (orig. Talking Heads)
14. Moisturizing Thing
15. My Apartment Is My Friend
16. Air (orig. Talking Heads)
17. Psycho Killer (orig. Talking Heads)
18. Life During Wartime (orig. Talking Heads)
19. Once in a Lifetime (orig. Talking Heads)
—encore—
20. Everybody’s Coming to My House
21. Burning Down the House (orig. Talking Heads)
