About 45 minutes into her headlining set at New York’s Gov Ball this weekend, Olivia Rodrigo pulled off one of those rare moments designed to open the eyes of some younger fans while warming the hearts of the older ones.
The 22-year-old singer had just finished a lovely rendition of “favorite crime” from her debut album, SOUR. She had enjoyed the support of seemingly everyone in attendance as the crowd sang along with her.
For the following number, she had a different type of support in mind.
Rodrigo, who is in the middle of her massive GUTS tour, split her set evenly between SOUR and her sophomore effort GUTS. Then, toward the end of the main set, just after “favorite crime,” she performed her only cover of the evening. It was a song that came out in 1983, twenty years before Rodrigo was born.
Olivia Rodrigo joined by Talking Heads legend at the Gov Ball
As the lights faded on “favorite crime,” a distinctive, skittery guitar riff emerged. A breathless Rodrigo told the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m so honored to share the stage tonight with this special guest. Will you give it up for the legendary David Byrne!”
By that time, the iconic Talking Heads’ frontman had made his way onto the stage, guitar in hand, bright red overalls covering a plain white tee, playing the beginning of his biggest hit, “Burning Down the House.”
Byrne’s grey hair shone white in the stage lights, and though he has gained a few pounds and no longer has that insane, wiry energy he displayed as a young man, both his voice and his appearance retain the vigor of a man half his age. (He is 73, for the record.)
Byrne’s tenor belted out the first verse, and the line “strange but not a stranger” has never been more apt. The Talking Heads were major players in the New Wave era of the 1980s, but they are mostly an oldies band to the modern-day fans of Olivia Rodrigo.
That has been changing of late. First, there was the album, tour, and Spike Lee-directed film American Utopia about five years ago. A few years later, a restored version of Stop Making Sense, considered by many to be the greatest concert film ever made, was released to celebrate the movie’s 40-year anniversary.
And now, a brand-new video of their iconic single “Psycho Killer” has been released, directed by Mike Mills and starring Saoirse Ronan.
So David Byrne is experiencing a bit of a resurgence.
For “Burning Down the House,” Rodrigo joined on the chorus and then took the second verse herself. Pretty soon, they were dancing across the stage in an updated version of Byrne’s famously robotic movements. They brought it to a climax with some of Byrne’s classic running in place.
In what played as a charming snippet, Byrne kept watching Rodrigo, fifty years his junior, to make sure he was keeping up with the dance moves. He may have been a tad late at times, but it didn’t matter. The crowd loved the spirited rendition of a classic.
If the broad grin on her face as they hit the final line is any indication, Rodrigo loved it too. It was reminiscent of Luke Combs’s awe at performing “Fast Car” with Tracy Chapman at the ’24 Grammys. Only whereas Combs expressed true reverence at sharing the stage with one of his idols, whereas Rodrigo appeared to be having the time of her life.
“Everybody give it up for David Byrne!” she shouted as he left the stage. Then, under her breath, “holy s**t – that was so cool.”
Well said, Olivia.