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David Byrne�s American Utopia


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This may be the best movie of a musical performance in many, many years! Directed by Spike Lee, the band includes a dozen 'triple threats'! Excellent musicians, dancers, and singers. They are all playing wireless. There are no backing tracks. It is live and brilliant! The energy that the band and David perform with is amazing. The musical director is also the keyboard player, and he plays a portable keyboard attached in a harness. No f**king keytars here! Being a theatre designer, I love Rob Sinclair"s brilliant lighting design.

 

Turn up the volumeâ¦. Watch It! You will love it!

 

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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I saw the tour of this album in Boston . . . one of the best concerts I've seen. Amazing band. It looks like the Broadway show is a porting of the design from the tour.

 

My favorite part is how awesome the percussion sounded with no kit player- just 4 or 5 percussionists with one instrument each dancing across the stage sounding tight!

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[My favorite part is how awesome the percussion sounded with no kit player- just 4 or 5 percussionists with one instrument each dancing across the stage sounding tight!]

 

The percussion in this performance is off the charts! I would love to learn more about the incredible and creative arrangements. It"s an amazing collaboration between Karl Mansfield (musical director/keyboardist) and David.

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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The Bandâ¦

 

David Byrne â lead vocals, occasional guitar, percussion

Chris Giarmo â backing vocals, dancing, melodica, percussion

Tendayi Kuumba â backing vocals, dancing, percussion

Karl Mansfield â keyboards, backing vocals, musical director, percussion

Angie Swan â electric guitar, backing vocals, percussion

Bobby Wooten III â bass, backing vocals, percussion

Mauro Refosco â percussion, drums, backing vocals, musical director

Tim Keiper â drums, percussion, backing vocals

Gustavo Di Dalva â percussion, backing vocals

Jacquelene Acevedo â percussion, drums, backing vocals

Daniel Freedman â drums, percussion, backing vocals

Stephane San Juan â drums, percussion, backing vocals

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Spike interviews David about the musicians and the designâ¦

 

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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That, and the fact that during one of the monologues David specifically says that it is all played live by the 12 onstage musicians with no backup tracks. I would guess that the keyboard player has someone offstage changing programs for him, but since the show is the same every night, he could just switch to the next performance on his keyboardâ¦.

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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I saw it in person on the Friday night of the weekend Spike Lee filmed the show which was the end of the run. I don"t think Friday night was included in the film. They also filmed in an empty theater on Monday to do all the close-ups. The show is extraordinary and it"s about to start back up. Probably sold out.

 

That night was the first of a 3 performance binge weekend with my oldest daughter:

- American Utopia on Friday,

- the Metropolitan Opera performance of Porgy and Bess on Saturday afternoon (shown in movie theaters), and

- a Saturday night performance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis premiering a new work by saxophonist Ted Nash that included Glenn Close.

 

That was the first weekend of February 2020â¦and then the shut down hit weeks later.

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Wow! What a weekend of music! Your daughter is lucky to have a dad like you.

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Big, big Talking Heads fan here. Watched the following video of The Great Curve, one of my favorite Talking Heads songs, and felt like I was watching a group of fairly talented high schoolers doing a bad Vegas type performance. The biggest disappointment was the guitar leads which were nothing close to what Adrian Belew pulled off. But the bigger issue was it was all just soooo over choreographed.

 

[video:youtube]

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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That"s interesting RABid. Up until a couple of years ago, there was very little about the Talking Heads or Byrne that I ever appreciated. I suspect that had I seen them live I might have felt differently. On a last minute whim, I got to see this show on Broadway when I was in New York two years ago. I DID enjoy the choreography and actually came away with a much greater appreciation for Byrne. Of course, most of the music was new for me too. It was a very different experience than seeing a live band do it"s normal thing, but the execution of the music and movement on a bare stage was, for me, very effective. At times there is so much going on on stage that I could probably have come back the next day and enjoyed the show a second time. I have not yet watched the film, but I think that will be on my to do list.
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American Utopia IS highly choreographed (as was the Byrne & St Vincent tour with a brass band). It"s VERY impressive when combined with the lighting & set design. It"s not a concert, it"s a theatrical production. The band packs a sonic wallop on stage.

 

Here"s a bit of Adrian Belew and Jerry Harrison with the band Turkuaz doing 'The Great Curve' from a Remain In Light 40th anniversary tour:[video:youtube]

I"d take the American Utopia version any day (though not over having seen Talking Heads in 1983 on the Stop Making Sense tour).

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That"s interesting RABid. Up until a couple of years ago, there was very little about the Talking Heads or Byrne that I ever appreciated. I suspect that had I seen them live I might have felt differently. ....

 

I'm probably a bit jaded on this. I've followed The Talking Heads since the late 70's. Tina Weymouth (bass) and her husband Chris Frantz (drums) were founding members and integral to the development of the early sounds. They brought in the use of African rhythms that gave the band their special sound. As David Byrne got more and more power they were pushed aside. Not totally out of the band, but off of their instruments. I've watch concert footage with Tina having to play rhythm guitar because David hired a more "professional" bass player and her husband and also been replaced on drums and was stuck to the side trying to contribute something to the songs without his primary instrument. Poor Tina looks miserable in those videos and in one recording of The Great Curve she removes her guitar and is exiting the stage before the song ends. To have recorded on so many big selling records, then be told that you need to step aside and let someone "better" play in concert has to be a miserable experience.

This post edited for speling.

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I saw the American Utopia tour during 2019 and easily one of the best performances I've ever seen. I loved how David Byrne even calls out the doubters who were saying it wasn't all played live , by building a song up from one musician to the whole lot. Just amazing.
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It"s called 'theatre'⦠and choreography is a Huge part of the theatrical experience. These 12 excellent musicians are also singers and dancers. And what was wrong with that guitar solo? No, it"s not Adrian Belew⦠it"s also not Robert Fripp or Jimi Hendrix. But is was pretty damn good, nonetheless. And the audience seems to be into it.

 

Finally, I could only dream of doing what David is doing at 69. And he does 8 of these 1 hour 45 minute, high energy performances a week! And those 'fairly talented high schoolers' are doing pretty well for themselves. When was the last time any one of us performed on Broadway with one of the greatest songwriters of our time?

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Yeah RABid⦠It"s called 'theatre'⦠and choreography is a Huge part of the theatrical experience. These 12 excellent musicians are also singers and dancers. And what was wrong with that guitar solo? No, it"s not Adrian Belew⦠it"s also not Robert Fripp or Jimi Hendrix. But is was pretty damn good, nonetheless. And the audience seems to be into it.

 

Finally, I could only dream of doing what David is doing at 69. And he does it 8 shows a week! And those 'fairly talented high schoolers' are doing pretty well for themselves. When was the last time you performed on Broadway with one of the greatest songwriters of our time?

 

There aren't many (if any?) huge important bands that have all of the original members living, haven't toured in almost 40 years, and could absolutely CLEAN UP and make a FORTUNE reforming and touring to totally cash in. But the Talking Head is one of them. Yet David Byrne has (I assume) never considered going backwards and continues to reinvent what he does.

 

As a fan who didn't see them in the day, I admit to secretly wishing they would do such tour. And I would pay handsomely for such an opportunity. But as a musician and fan, I respect that he continues to move forward and create and innovate.

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