Last night at Benaroya Hall, David Byrne inspired the most extraordinary display of audience love I’ve ever witnessed—and also the worst dancing. It was at once awesome (I had tinnitus from the cheering) and hugely embarrassing (the worst stereotypes about white people and dancing came to vivid, horrifying life. Thankfully, the three Caucasian hoofers in Byrne’s employ were a million times better).

Byrne and his ensemble came out all dressed in white. In addition to his guitar-playing/singing self, Byrne received accompaniment from a bassist, keyboardist, drummer, percussionist, three backing vocalists (two female, one male), and the aforementioned dancers, who athletically swiveled and bopped around Benaroya’s huge stage. This was a show. Byrne (hair totally gray, but eyebrows black) & co. were gonna give you your 45 dollars’ worth, and then some. While one wished Brian Eno were here (the tour revolves around songs on which he and Byrne worked), his absence was compensated for by the group’s spirited playing, the tireless energy everyone onstage demonstrated, and the pleasing range of the repertoire.

They opened with the best song on Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, the swaying, quasi-African funk of “Strange Overtones.” The scintillating, even more Afrocentric "I Zimbra” from Fear of Music followed, still sounding amazingly vital and exciting. The soaring, yearning “One Fine Day” off Everything That Happens brought some lighter-raising gorgeousness and proved that Byrne’s admittedly limited voice really hasn’t lost its emotive power. He wrings its narrow range for maximum effect. (At 56, he is also notably fit, moving with the grace and vigor of a man half his age.)

After this, Byrne found it necessary to explain the sample-heavy construction of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. “Neither Brian nor I sang on this album. The vocals didn’t fall into our laps; we had to go looking for them on the radio and on records. These days they call those snippets ‘samples.’” Surely the sexagenarians in the house appreciated that exposition. The band then burst into the frenetically funky "Help Me Somebody,” with Byrne assuming the black preacher’s role. The sound—at least from the left balcony where I was situated—suffered from the percussion drowning out the guitar and keyboard. Thankfully, this issue later got sorted out. This version wasn’t as edgy as the original, but it was still exhilarating. Sadly, “Help Me Somebody” was the only cut off Bush of Ghosts to be performed.

When “Houses in Motion” from Remain in Light commenced, the crowd went crazy and mass dancing ensued. Throughout the show, Byrne wisely leaned heavily on Remain in Light, tearing through the Afro-rock burners “Crosseyed and Painless,” “The Great Curve,” and "Born Under Punches.” These were roiling rivers of rhythm that have stood the test of time well. Of course, “Once in a Lifetime” triggered the wildest OMG response. I even choked up a bit when Byrne’s searing guitar kicked in to signal the “same as it ever was” coda. The applause was Obama-sized afterward. It was brilliant how the band transitioned from this euphoria to the tense “Life During Wartime,” which they extended and intensified with a vengeance.

The rest of the set focused on Everything That Happens ("I Feel My Stuff" really stood out) and Talking Heads favorites like “Heaven,” “Take Me to the River” (very churchy and clap-along-y), “Air” (such an underrated beauty), and “Burning Down the House” (for which they donned tutus). I thought for sure they’d end with the last one (a self-fulfilling prophecy, or what?), but instead closed the night with “Everything That Happens,” which had an aptly valedictorian air about it.

The group bounded off stage to a thunderous standing o and I went temporarily deaf. For two hours, at least, last night, the former Talking Head banished thoughts of attendees' gloom and figuratively Byrned down the house (sorry, it won’t happen again). But, oy, that dancing in the aisles…