David Byrne; American Utopia on HBO!!!

The Matt Walsh lookalike was distracting. 

Yeah, the red hair stood out. 

Made ya uncomfortable, eh?

I was waiting for him to drop lines from veep like I can't go because I have to walk my dog. 

His hair also reminded me of the time my friend shaved the top of his head to look like a clown. 

Yeah I'm psyched

Gunna get fuckin super drunk on gose beer and high as a freakin kite with edibles and moonsticks!

"Say His Name !" 
Pregaming starts Now!

I'm really looking forward to this since I was only able to catch the preview show before the tour started (thank you Disco Stu) and had tickets for when the show re-opened on Broadway and that may or may not ever happen now. I'm a big David Byrne fan and loved the music but was just as enamored by the staging and design. I'm sure it got even better with some performances under it's belt. 

No pre-game here, just anticipation. 

protip :   Turn on CC

Say Her Name !

Skif --

You're welcome.  As I recall,  we attended Opening Night of DB tour in Red Bank at the Count Basie Theatre.  Preview was at Trenton War Memorial Theatre,  and I didn't have connections to get in there,  although maybe you went.

Trenton was my first Talking Heads show in 1978,  and I've been to that place a half-dozen times over the years. Mr. Shakin' Nagan got me in there for a P-Funk show when  he was doing that.

I agree that the Staging and concept was unique and fresh,  nothing like I'd ever seen before. We had excellent Loge seats for a fine point of view and perfect Sound.

Seen David Byrne there at the Count Basie before,  and also Doctor John maybe 1988 ?

Just phenomenal.

Top 5 live show experience for me without a doubt.

Its cool to be able to see it again in this format.

^^^ I couldn't agree more! Really the best TV time I've had in ages. I am recommending this to everyone. It's Powerful!

I took my daughter and we had the first opera booth off the floor stage left. High enough to see the detail of the marching formations from a bit above. She was amazed and couldn't believe it, so was I. Great night for me 

We just got our refund for the rescheduled show we can't make /:

*don't wanna try to make

Well said Noodler I completely concur.

I thought it really competes with "Stop Making Sense" for best concert film of All Time.

Mrs Pumpkin the concerts were super fun, the Broadway production , although entertaining where NOT like seeing Dave live. No Dancing on Broadway! I felt like a caged tiger. You are probably saving a boat load of dough. Spike Lee did this show justice for sure.

Loved it !!! 

Just fantastic!! Byrne does it again!!

I loved it! I was really bummed that I could not see the live performance. What songs did they take out from the tour? 

What songs did they take out from the tour? 

Off the top of my head I know that The Great Curve was part of the tour but not the Broadway show. 

Lazy

I saw 2 shows on 2 separate legs. The second show I saw had both Great Curve and Road to Nowhere(the first night it was played) I don’t know how long they kept both in the lineup 

Looks like it's returning for another engagement starting 9/21/21. I think I'll go again.

From a seating standpoint, I'd recommend the top balcony at the Hudson. The tickets are far more reasonably priced and the sight-lines fantastic for this type of visual performance.

I need to watch it again but, my first first viewing impression is that it's not that strong of a substitute for the live experience.
 

As many have mentioned, there were a fair amount of changes to the original tour. There were a few cool song additions, a couple mediocre ones, and the omission of 'the great curve' was a bold one cause it was by far one of the biggest highlights of the shows I saw.  The talking portions in between each song were mostly new and gave it a feel of half concert/half TED talk.  While I appreciated The surprises of seeing a slightly different show, I felt The addition of the talking portions and new songs affected the momentum a bit and it's a little herky-jerky' at times. The majority of the musical performances were pretty spot on. Thematically, the production had really evolved into more overtly "woke” messaging with the newer immigrant and voting subject matter talking segments, as well as the capernick kneeling addition to ‘I should watch tv’. All that stuff gave that janelle monae protest song more context at end, where as initially it was a real stand alone non sequitur, faux encore in the original tour. While a little preachy, It would seem ‘American utopia’ slowly evolved to b a narrative about a man who, at the beginning, is literally trapped in his own head gradually coming to realize the whole point of life is connecting, celebrating and loving all people and cultures while trying to b an ally of those he feels have been wrongfully persecuted in hopes of building a more inclusive, peaceful and all around better society.

The film quality is great but I think spike lee over did it with the close ups. The camera work feels more crowded and tight than I think it should for a lot of the show, I felt he captures the intimacy and mobility created by the lack of amps, wires, and gear but not as often the unique amount of space and openess this novel concept creates.  I'd argue that it falls short of Johnathan Demme’s masterful direction of stop making sense. Attend the actual concert if u can!

Here

Lazy

I Zimbra

(Talking Heads song)

Slippery People

(Talking Heads song)

I Should Watch TV

(David Byrne & St. Vincent cover)

Dog's Mind

Everybody's Coming to My House

This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)

(Talking Heads song)

Once in a Lifetime

(Talking Heads song)

Doing the Right Thing

Toe Jam

(Brighton Port Authority cover)

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)

(Talking Heads song)

I Dance Like This

Bullet

Every Day Is a Miracle

Like Humans Do

Blind

(Talking Heads song)

Burning Down the House

(Talking Heads song)

Encore:

Road to Nowhere

(Talking Heads song)

The Great Curve

(Talking Heads song)

Encore 2:

Hell You Talmbout

we got both in the first encore Disney Theater in Orlando 

After watching it again I'll correct myself as far as best concert films. 1-Last Waltz 2-Stop Making Sense 3- American Utopia

I felt like I had to clearify that.

Incredible show. Really incredible.

If you had to label, what genre would you call that?

I dunno, Art rock? Post-pop? Next phase, new wave, dance craze, it's still Rock n' roll to Lance?

Byrne is one of those uniquely stylized artists that's practically become his own genre by this point.

I think I liked the film more the second time around.

i think my expectations might have been a little unreasonably high the first.

i appreciated spike lee's direction more, I still think he over does it a bit and the editing is a little more frantic and claustrophobic at times than necessary, but with a show like that where literally practically every angle has something slightly interesting offer, my impression may b a result of him grappling with an embarrassment of riches, so to speak

>>>it's still Rock n' roll to Lance?<<<

I don't have HBO so I haven't seen this, but I did see the show on tour.

I came away impressed and thought it was a creative concept done well (as usual with a David Byrne project) but it all came off just a bit to choreographed for my taste.

I went back and read my personal review and that's pretty much what I told myself immediately after the show, along with comments that the THeads songs were all nailed and were the highlights of the show.

Was it "rock 'n roll"? It got rockin at times so I guess it was, but in the room it felt more like a rockin' stage show than a live rock show. I guess that's just personal perception.

Overall I enjoyed the live show but I wasn't quite as impressed with it as most others were, and I skipped going again the next night. Still, at some point I'd like to see this video presentation, if just to hear those THeads songs again.

Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's woke junk
It's just a rockin' stage show to lance?

nice review E

would love to see it.

Good to see you posting E.

I hope all is well for you & yours up there in the hinterlands.

And don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a rockin' stage show, especially when the show is killing songs like I Zimbra, The Great Curve, Slippery People & Born Under Punches.

How long is HBO showing this deal? Maybe I'll buy in for a short time. I do miss Bill Maher's show, and if the Trumpster Fire wins next week Maher's show will also definitely be a rockin' stage show.

I'm thinking of doing the week-long HBO free trial to see this.

>>>How long is HBO showing this deal?
 

i think for the foreseeable future, but I'd buy a hard copy if it was available.

do they make dvds anymore? 
i think the residents r releasing one of the last time they played SF so they must still exist for collectors.

just did a third viewing of spike lee presents David byrne's American utopia, this time with friends family and on all kinds of substances and it's not getting any worse

And then what?!