I remember going to a midnight screening of Jonathan Demme’s concert film Stop Making Sense in 1984. I was a huge fan of the New York band Talking Heads which successfully emerged out of the New York punk rock/new wave scene in the 1970’s. There is no possible way to estimate how many times I listened to the album Remain in Light. I finally got around to catching David Byrne’s American Utopia during the final week of its Broadway run.
This supremely stylized concert opens with Mr. Byrne seated at a table and contemplating a plastic brain. He delves into neural connection theory noting that our brains become less functioning as we age. “Does this mean babies are smarter than us and we get stupider as we grow older?”
Unlike Bruce Springsteen’s spectacular Broadway memoir, this piece is a concert with a few musings inserted along the way. The mood is unadulterated joy. He and his musicians are all wearing gray suits. Their feet are bare. Instruments are carried marching band style. For fans of halftime shows, the percussion is exultant.
Voting is an important message as demonstrated by the registration table in the lobby. Mr. Byrne comments on the 55% turnout for national elections and the 20% number in local ones. The average age in those contests is 57. Lighting shines on 20% of the audience to punctuate the point. The concert moves on to the next gloriously staged song but the point is made simply, quickly and effectively.
In the most serious section, he informs that he asked Janelle Monáe if he could cover her song “Hell You Talmbout” despite being a older white male. She agreed. This version was the closest this concert got to anger with the repeated phrasing of African American victims of racial violence. The lyric “Trayvon Marton” is followed by “Say His Name.” Mr. Byrne implored the crowd to join in which was only partially successful.
That moment was powerful but reminded me of the Springsteen show. In that one, certain audience members were hoping for a singalong show of greatest hits. Bruce had other ideas in mind. David Byrne’s American Utopia is certainly much more of a feel good concert and the big hits “Once In a Lifetime” and “Burning Down the House” are explosive. In between smiles and joy, however, playful seriousness lurks before quickly returning to a happier place, the imagined utopia of the title.
On the stage is a striking three sided curtain of hundreds of metal chains. The lighting design by Rob Sinclair is endlessly inventive and often highly dramatic despite rarely using color. The palette of this show is silver and gray like its’ star. Mr. Byrne is the elder statesman performing to his flock.
Is this concert a symbolic utopia? If you consider the outstanding orchestrations for this twelve person ensemble, the answer is yes. When you add in the phenomenally interesting and unique choreography by Annie-B Parson, utopia becomes an understatement. Marching band meets David Byrne meets funk and dabbles in rock. Somehow the physical movement tops everything and you cannot peel your eyes away.
Many songs from his whole career catalog are included in this show. From Remain in Light, I was thrilled to hear a superb rendition of “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On).” Consider this line today: “Take a look at these hands/ The hand speaks/ The hand of a government man.” Could there be a more appropriate thought bubble in our increasingly fragile democracy? As Mr. Byrne brilliantly demonstrates, have your fun but pay attention. And vote.
David Byrne’s American Utopia is closing this weekend. There were some open seats in the back of the orchestra likely due to unsuccessful scalping. Try your luck by showing up at the theater. This show is, after all, once in a lifetime.