Thomas Dolby, Psycho Killers team for fantastic show
Baltimore Sound Stage was hopping Friday night, as Thomas Dolby joined the Psycho Killers, a Talking Heads tribute band, along with opening act LITZ, in an extended jam session that lasted well into the night.
LITZ opened up the night with a saxophone overture that brought the crowd into a groove. After a full set featuring two songs from their upcoming album, LITZ announced during the show that the band will begin residence at the 8×10 Club starting in February.
The Psycho Killers began what would be a B-side heavy performance with the 1985 single Road to Nowhere. Out of their first set of 10 songs, only four were originally released as singles. The band never failed to put a unique spin on each of the songs, with some long-forgotten B-side tracks lasting upwards of 10 minutes.
After the band’s first set, the Psycho Killers were joined by 80’s phenom Thomas Dolby.
Dolby, 57, looked to be at home as he performed on stage. The musician famous for his She Blinded Me with Science has been lecturing as a professor at Johns Hopkins University since March 2014.
Dolby opened the second set with the Talking Head’s hit Cities, improvising the lyrics to reference the city of Baltimore, including the line “Look over there, Sugar Factory, a good place to get some thinking done,” referencing Baltimore’s Domino Sugar plant. After finishing the song, Dolby admitted to the crowd, “I’ve lived in London, Paris, and New York, but now I’ve finally found myself a city to live in.”
Dolby played a total of four songs in the second set including his immortal one-hit-wonder She Blinded Me with Science and concluding with an original mashup of the Talking Heads hit This Must Be the Place and the ’92 Dolby single I Love You Goodbye.
As the Psycho Killers played out the last of their second set, the band announced its next performance is scheduled for Feb. 13 at the 8×10 Club. The band performed a 10-minute jam of the eponymous hit Psycho Killer during their encore with Thomas Dolby rejoining the band one final time. In total, the band played 21 songs over the span of over four hours.
Setlist
First: Road to Nowhere, Slippery People, Burning Down the House, Pulled Up, Who Is It, Moon Rocks, Once in a Lifetime, Making Flippy Floppy, Warning Sign, (Nothing But) Flowers
Second: Cities*, Artists Only*, She Blinded Me with Science*, This Must Be the Place/I Love You Goodbye*, Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town, And She Was, Born Under Punches, Crosseyed & Painless, The Great Curve, What A Day That Was
Encour: Psycho Killer*
*Songs performed with Thomas Dolby
Philip Swanson is a sophomore at UMBC.