David Byrne’s American Utopia – Blu-ray, DVD and streaming

David Byrne’s American Utopia, available on Blu-ray, DVD and streaming platforms now.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

It is a truth universally acknowledged that at least one third of every live music gig audience will be there unwillingly. They will be the friends, partners, or co-workers of a superfan, dragged along with vague promises of a “changed life”. The very worst nightmare of this disinterested third of an audience is the sorry sight of a bare stage and a band simply going through the motions.

David Byrne has never been a boring artist. As well as a long musical career solo and with his band Talking Heads, Byrne has worked extensively on left field film and theatre projects. For his Broadway show American Utopia – now released as a live recording directed by Spike Lee – he has complete control of his stage and has set about making something far more magical than a standard concert.

Like his music, Byrne is an eccentric figure. He doesn’t exude comfort on the Broadway stage, but then you wouldn’t expect him to be particularly comfortable anywhere on planet Earth. The show opens with Byrne singing directly to a rubber brain and doesn’t get any less bizarre from there. However, his fans are along for the ride, and even those dragged along are caught up by his theatrical imagination.

The philosophy of American Utopia’s stagecraft is to strip the experience of anything that detracts from the human connection between performers and audience. The stage is free from props, and though the lighting is undeniably beautiful, it augments rather than distracts from the show. All of the musicians’ instruments are amplified wirelessly and are carried around the stage while they execute impressively ambitious choreography. The band are so incredible in their performance that Byrne even goes to the trouble of breaking an arrangement down piece by piece to prove they are playing live.

Lee’s cinematography goes far beyond a mere competent document of the performance. The cameras pan and sway in time with the choreography, and excitement is built into all of his directorial choices. The 105-minute running time flies by in a flurry of musical exuberance.

Byrne himself is on fantastic form. His idiosyncratic but well-controlled voice is as compelling as it has always been. He is a somewhat other-worldly but very likeable and funny stage presence, introducing his extensive catalogue with charm. Talking Heads classics like ‘Once in a Lifetime’ and ‘Born Under Punches’ are dutifully rolled out to the audience’s delight, but it is the newer material that is the most interesting. In particular, ‘I Should Watch TV’ – his 2012 collaboration with our premiere contemporary guitar hero, Annie Clark from St. Vincent – pushes the sonics near industrial metal territory with primal distortion and intense percussion.

The majority of the show’s material is taken from his most recent solo album, also titled American Utopia. The stagecraft and arrangements for these pieces are honed to perfection. Here, the opening number, has a Peter Gabriel-esque ethereality that confidently sets the evening’s tone. ‘Everybody’s Coming to my House’ feels like a true invitation that the audience is more than happy to accept. ‘I Dance Like This’ dips into theatrical narrative and is a brilliant, spirit-rousing piece. In all, this is the perfect setting for Byrne’s forward-thinking, off-kilter, shockingly imaginative catalogue.

The show’s focus on human nature necessarily takes political turns that more commercially minded performers might have shied away from. Byrne’s message is a hopeful one, despite his tangible anger at the state of USA democracy, the global climate emergency, and still-prevalent civil rights atrocities. Towards the end of the night, he performs – with her blessing – Janelle Monae’s ‘Hell You Talmbout’, a deeply affecting remembrance of victims of racist violence.

These darker moments make the hopeful shine even more brightly. The penultimate a cappella rendition of ‘One Fine Day’ is prayer-like, both in its message and in the healing effect it has upon the audience. It is the perfect set up for the jubilant finale. To brazenly misquote Chekhov: if you introduce a band with marching band instruments in Act I, they must parade around the auditorium performing Talking Heads’ infamous 1985 hit ‘Road to Nowhere’ by the end. This final number is a great act of communion with the smiling, dancing and grateful audience.

If you know for a fact that you don’t like Byrne’s oeuvre, this show may not be enough to fully convert you. He can be quite the acquired taste, after all. However, American Utopia will work wonders with agnostics, and nobody could watch unimpressed with the imagination and talent on display. This excellent document of a thoughtful and jubilant concert sets a convincing template as live entertainment adapts to the age of affordable filmography and digital streaming.

Ian Bowkett