Covering 'Heads' makes for a great night of fun

Any band worth its weight can break out a cover song from time to time, but it takes a special sort of animal to perform an actual whole tribute to a famous band.

Tribute bands come in all shapes and sizes, and while some choose to dress up like the acts they are copying, sometimes the best tribute bands are the ones that simply rely on the ability to produce an uncanny facsimile of its subject. Such was the case with Same As It Ever Was on Friday night at The Pour House on James Island. The Knoxville, Tenn.-based band had played the same venue a few months back, and while I missed that performance, a friend advised me not to miss the Talking Heads tribute band when it returned.

I rarely have had a bad time at a tribute band show, mostly because these acts usually realize that they are not the bands they are posing as, and as such they are there to make sure the audience has fun.

Local examples of good tribute acts include AC/DC clones TNT, Clash aficionados Sandinistas! and G 'N' R Lies, which covers Guns N' Roses songs.

The first thing I noticed about Same As It Ever Was at last Friday's show was that the band was not trying to look like the Talking Heads. To me, it meant that the band likely would be concentrating on the aural aspect of the experience. That was an understatement, as it turned out. When lead singer Curtis Geren stepped up to the microphone in all of his blue-haired glory and opened his mouth, David Byrne fell out. No, really, if you closed your eyes and listened, you would have sworn that the Talking Heads front man suddenly emerged from Geren's body to take over the show. Geren's inflection and mastery of Byrne's singing style was amazing. As for the rest of the band, it soon became apparent that the musicians had done their Talking Heads homework. Rhythm guitarist Grant Geren, bassist Taylor Hiner, percussionist Matt Aurand, lead guitarist Josh Hobbs, drummer Steve Corrigan and vocalist Laura Bost all worked together to deftly re-create the often complex music of the Talking Heads.

Probably the best thing about Friday's show was the fact that the band didn't just play the biggest hits by the Talking Heads. These guys proved themselves to be experts on the band's entire catalog, beginning the show with the lesser-known "Lifetime Piling Up" and the Afro-beat classic "I Zimbra" before moving on to more familiar songs such as "And She Was" and "Wild, Wild Life." Often when the band performed a song that was featured in the Talking Heads concert film "Stop Making Sense," Same As It Ever Was presented the tune as it was heard in the film rather than sticking to the album version. Other selections from the first set included "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel," "Pull Up the Roots," "Love for Sale" and a version of "Stay Up Late" that morphed into a cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance" before returning to complete the original song. The first set ended with a version of "Life During Wartime" that found almost the entire band running in place for the entire song, never missing a note.

After a short break, the band returned to the stage, beginning the second set with "Road to Nowhere," which showcased the ability of the members to harmonize with one another. Highlights of the second set included "(Nothing But) Flowers," "This Must Be the Place," "Once in a Lifetime," "Girlfriend is Better," "Psycho Killer" and a version of "Crosseyed & Painless" that would have made Byrne proud. The encore featured "City of Dreams" and "Born Under Punches," and it probably would have gone on longer, but with 2 a.m. creeping up, the powers that be at The Pour House had to turn on the lights and get everyone out.

I had worried when the show was about to start at 10:30 p.m. because there were only about 30 or 40 people in the venue. But by the time the band had hit the stage and set the mood with a few songs, the place was packed and people were dancing away.

Same As It Ever Was encouraged the party atmosphere, and it was impossible not to be positively affected by the mood in the room. With any hope, the band will return soon to the Lowcountry. And if you're a fan of the Talking Heads, you need to check out how well these musicians re-create the classic band's sound.

Reach Devin Grant at chucktowncritic@yahoo.com.