Just Strange Brothers will present Burning Down the House: Hits from Talking Heads on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Fitton Family Theater. Tickets for the concert are $32 for members; $39 for non-members.
“There is no Talking Heads show anywhere around here like this,” said Ian MacKenzie-Thurley, executive director of the Fitton Center. “So, if you’re a fan of the Talking Heads, this is the place to be. You’re not going to see it anywhere else. This is just coming to the Fitton Center and we’re really excited by that.”
“We’re really excited to show this music off here at the Fitton Center, because for us, it’s always about that quality of intent and Just Strange Brothers has always brought that here since the very first show they did back in 2016,” MacKenzie-Thurley said.
Just Strange Brothers has previously performed at the Fitton Center with Life on Mars, A Tribute to David Bowie and the sold-out Women of Rock and Kickin’ Some Brass shows. The band also performed a 70′s & 80′s Jukebox show at Fitton on the Hill at Pyramid Hill in 2020 and returned to Fitton on the Hill in 2021 with the Yacht Rock show. In May, the group closed out the 2021-2022 season with “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: A Tribute to Elton John.” Most of the shows have been exclusively commissioned for the Fitton Center.
“Our tribute shows are a little different than other ones. There’s no dressing up. There’s no pretending to be David Byrne or Jerry Harrison. It’s about the music, and that’s totally what they’re focused on, is bringing that music to life,” MacKenzie-Thurley said,
Danny Manning, singer, musician and band leader for Just Strange Brothers, said the group has partnered with the Fitton Center every year since the Bowie show.
“This is a big version of us …This is really the main Talking Heads version when they had their big, live album, ‘Stop Making Sense,’ and anybody who’s a Talking Heads fan knows that project. So, it’s what we base the show around. It’s not exclusive to that live concert, but it’s the starting point for this show,” said Manning.
He said the band will feature double keyboard and double guitar, and the performance will have a big vocal sound, because those musical elements were characteristic of the Talking Heads.
“You can’t tap into David Byrne’s personality, only to a certain degree. So, we’re not trying to get up there with a big suit and that kind of stuff. Although you never know what might be up our lead singer’s sleeve, but the music and the character of that, Pete Hall just nails it,” Manning said.
As a band, he said Just Strange Brothers tries focus on music that its members are passionate about and that has musically integrity. The band also effectively combines groove, rock and funk.
“The music is clever. It’s different. It’s just an interesting thing to unpack. It’s all about the layers and textures of the music,” Manning said.
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