David Byrne joined Anna Calvi on stage in Halifax and Cardiff for performances of their collaborative track ‘Strange Weather’ – see footage below.
Calvi served as the support act for both dates on Byrne’s ongoing ‘Who Is The Sky?’ tour, opening for him at the Piece Hall in Halifax on July 18 and at Cardiff Castle on July 26.
On both occasions, she invited the former Talking Heads frontman on stage to revive their 2014 cover of ‘Strange Weather’, the song by French-Israeli artist Keren Ann that they recorded for Calvi’s covers EP, also titled ‘Strange Weather‘.
“An honour to share the stage with David Byrne last week at The Piece Hall,” Calvi later wrote on Instagram. “It was really inspiring to perform Strange Weather with him once again. Thank you Halifax.”
Check out footage here:
NME gave the ‘Strange Weather’ EP a three-and-a-half-star review back in 2014, writing: “It’s only worth doing a version of someone else’s song if you bring something new to it. Anna Calvi certainly does that on this five-track EP of covers. Potential cover performers take note: this is how you do it.”
Byrne’s tour is in support of his latest solo album ‘Who Is The Sky?‘, which he released last September as his first studio record since 2018’s ‘American Utopia‘. It featured contributions from Hayley Williams, St. Vincent and The Smile‘s Tom Skinner.
NME was at his set at Mad Cool this summer, describing it as a “bonanza”, adding: “As he and his backing musicians moved in formation across the stage, video screens depicted a variety of colourful environs – waves, a misty forest – before the Talking Heads track ‘Life During Wartime’ was accompanied by images of brutal ICE raids.”
He will also be going on an intimate book tour in the UK to support his forthcoming book Sleeping Beauties. He will visit London, Brighton, Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh in November – see all of the info here.
Calvi, meanwhile, released her collaborative EP ‘Is This All There Is?’ in March, featuring Matt Berninger, Laurie Anderson, Iggy Pop and Perfume Genius.
She also appeared on the star-studded War Child benefit album ‘HELP(2)’ earlier this year, which has now been nominated for this year’s Mercury Prize.
