"A David Byrne concert is not like most concerts - it is a show, in every sense of the word. The artist has been crafting his unique brand of spectacle for decades, from the greatest concert film of all time with Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense, to the tour-turned-Broadway-smash-turned- HBO-movie American Utopia. At 73 years young, the kooky genius is proving he hasn't lost his touch with his latest world tour supporting his new album, Who Is the Sky?"
"Byrne brought the tour home on Tuesday, September 30th for the first of two nights at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. There might not be a better venue for such a production. For one, the Utopia concept of a mobile band (I will never not be fascinatingly amused by the keyboard harness) returns, along with a quintet of backup dancer-singers. Every song is choreographed like a marching band conducted by a theatrical goof, as performers weave in and out of each other,"
"But as tightly arranged as it all is, this conductor - Byrne - is no Martha Graham. It seems he invites a looseness, such that you could imagine his conversations with choreographer Steven Hoggett being, "Okay, and here let's wiggle around a bit. Just have fun with it." The lack of rigidity allows the joy of being in the moment to move through the troupe's limbs and out over the audience."
David Byrne stages concerts as theatrical spectacles that blend tightly arranged choreography with playful looseness. The tour included Radio City Music Hall dates and revived the mobile-band concept with a keyboard harness and five backup dancer-singers. Every song featured marching-band-like choreography, dynamic blocking, and moments of performers lifted and interwoven. Byrne encourages spontaneity within precise staging, giving ensemble members individual spotlight moments while moving among them. The set used three staggered floor-to-ceiling screens that shifted scenes, from fuzzy cartoon characters on "Like Humans Do" to other visual backdrops, reinforcing the show's visual inventiveness and communal energy.
Read at Consequence
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