17/05/2026
I have been sharing all your posts about Byrne's Night and hadn't got round to making one of my own because finding the right words while also compiling the most appropriate photos to represent the night, is difficult when you are feeling all the emotions.
I woke up at about 7am on Saturday, with that feeling you have when you've been to an amazing gig the night before. Suddenly I felt a pang as I realised "I put that on!"
And that's not just me being cocky, because it was all due to bringing the best and loveliest talented people together - four brilliant bands, two superstar DJs, the hardest working professional tech crew, a marvellous compere, immensely lovely helpers, and some of the coolest visual artists. They all made Byrne's Night the incredible night it was.
I feel like all I did that night was thank people, so I'm not sure if it ended up sounding hollow, but I really do mean it, thank you to everyone who put in all the hard work to make this happen, everyone who gave me helpful advice, and everyone who bought tickets and showed up, especially those of you who travelled from as far as Aberdeenshire, Dublin, and the Midlands, to be there, because this wouldn't have happened without you.
The live music started off with John Cavanagh introducing Radhika, historically the first singer to play a David Byrne tribute set in his hometown (as far as we can tell). With her unique, gorgeous vocal style and drones, it was more like Psyche-o Killer (sorry, I had to).
We then had The Cords playing a set that was at times, fiery and explosive, and at others, beautiful and moving.
The Beat Poets were on next with an absolutely genius triple saxophone arrangement of This Must Be The Place, as well as deep cuts like She's Mad and Electric Guitar.
Lung Leg rounded off the night with an overwhelmingly poignant Road To Nowhere that had the whole room singing along, which really summed up the night - we're on a road to nowhere, but we'll just enjoy it as much as we can, and isn't that wonderful?
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