Preview: Same As It Ever Was / November 7 / Jackie O's
By Marc Blanc, Contributor
Friday, November 7 / Jackie O’s
Jettison the image of the campy Beatles cover band in full costume. Same As It Ever Was tributes the convention-bending ‘80s band Talking Heads, and it leaves the David Byrne specs and pocket protectors behind. Often noted for bringing its own personality to the Talking Heads canon while remodeling the sound and spirit of the landmark new wave band, SAIEW flaunts a singer who both sticks his electric blue hair straight up (far from Byrne’s conservative cut) and reconstructs his voice into a nearly impeccable Byrnes impression.
So, seeing SAIEW is like going to Rome and beholding the ancient majesties, with the knowledge that most are replicas. Like the truest fans, singer Curtis Geren knows the line between tribute and imitation.
“I like paying tribute to it even though we don’t wear the costumes and go full-out. I think even that would be doing a disservice,” he told New Earth Music Hall in 2012.
Through ten years of performing, Geren’s ensemble has capitalized on decades of love for Talking Heads, gaining press to validate their claim that the band “strives to maintain the integrity of the Talking Heads’ groundbreaking music, while bringing their own panache to the game.”
Residing in Knoxville, TN, SAIEW often plays south of the Ohio River, and even sold out four consecutive shows in Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee and another Athens, in Georgia, according to Prime Source Entertainment, which promotes the band on its website.
While Athens is the northernmost stop on the band’s fall tour, which goes until December 6, it makes complete sense that the intelligent, artistic music of Talking Heads would be showcased at Ohio University. Vocalist/artistic director of Talking Heads, David Byrne, came from England to attend the renowned Rhode Island School of Design, where met bandmates Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz.
After becoming a quartet, the musicians used artistic sharpness and social awareness to craft some of the most acclaimed alternative records of all time. Singles like “Psycho Killer,” “Once In A Lifetime” (where SAIEW drew its name) and “Burning Down the House” brought the quartet from the dampness of CBGB to the throne of new wave in the ‘80s.
Geren said in an interview with Knoxville’s The Daily Times he recalls watching Talking Heads’ seminal videos as a child before listening the group seriously in adolescence. “It’s very conceptual and very profound music, and at the same time it gets people dancing,” he said. Now, he has one of the tightest commands on the music of the band he loves; he and the band has “nearly the entire Talking Heads catalog at their fingertips.”
