David Byrne @ The Greek Theater – Encore Trickery

I was lucky enough to see David Byrne and friends at the Greek last Friday.  An epic show, despite the beer lines that rivaled the Mission Safeway in inefficiency.

While I have graduated to medium-resolution photography with my new iPhone (the auto-focus and background contrast selection is pretty damn cool), I point you to the many photographers on Flickr who were closer and had better cameras than me.

David Byrne @ The Greek Theater, Berkeley 06-26-2009

Originally uploaded by hippiesaredead

(A note to those attending a concert: If there are a thousand balloons suspended in nets above the stage, yet the band takes a bow as if to leave, DO NOT GO HOME. The concert is likely not over, and you will be seriously insulting those who inflated the balloons.)

As far as I can tell, encores are devices that allow the band to go to the bathroom.  If you have to pee, they probably do too.

The DBD (David Byrne Dancers) were great, and then there was the arrival of the Extra Action Marching Band through the crowd. There was a lot happening on stage.

Originally uploaded by hippiesaredead

While I was fully prepared for the dropping balloons, the onslaught of hundreds of white beachballs bouncing down from the rear/top of the Greek was pretty damn cool:

(Oh yeah, iPhone video = pretty damn handy.)

I think at least half of the BART train that left Berkeley got off at 24th, many of whom were carrying white beachballs.

David Byrne’s blog is pretty interesting — there should be a post on the show soon.