Hey friends! Hope you’ve enjoyed your weekend.
Staying in my lane like
Here’s a sobering statistic for your Sunday. Per multiple studies cited in The New York Times, more than 8 million more people have crossed below the poverty line during the pandemic.
Worth a read before (or after) watching today’s recommendation: Spike Lee and David Byrne in conversation for the cover of this month’s Esquire!
Also, giving the charitable shoutout here to the organization Byrne partnered with during the Broadway run of American Utopia — HeadCount! The show had people on-site during every performance to register theatergoers, and the work continues still with the “American Utopia action center” on their website.
Now, what you came for…
DAY 220: David Byrne’s American Utopia (available on HBO Max)
Nothing has made me feel the euphoric feeling of live performance quite like David Byrne’s American Utopia, a version of his concert/show from Broadway last year directed by the great Spike Lee. Though the through-line of the experience is the music of David Byrne and Talking Heads, this is not just a concert or musical revue. It’s a theatrical experience with subjects, themes and forward narrative motion.
Lee, along with frequent cinematographer Ellen Kuras, capture the joy and creativity of movement in American Utopia from just about every angle you can imagine — including from above. There’s a dynamism to the way they splice together each number that feels entirely fitting for the show, which itself frequently deconstructs and dissects how music comes together. (Fans of Stop Making Sense, another Byrne-fronted concert film, will not be surprised to see this at all.) They capture something whimsical, quirky but altogether strategic about what Byrne has accomplished on the stage.
David Byrne’s American Utopia is, above all else, a call to care about the people and world around us. It’s not a naive call for civility or conversation. Rather, it’s an ecstatic recognition of the humanity that unites all framed through curiosity and exploration. The show is a charge for welcoming and inclusion that takes the form a jubilation celebration inviting others inside. It’s got all the potency of a religious revival, and it even got me out of bed dancing around my room — just as it motivated people in the house to get up out of their seats and dance along during the show!
Seriously, few things have filled me with more hope and happiness over the last few months than David Byrne’s American Utopia. I invite you to share in this cinematic communion with me.
Be good to yourselves and to each other,
Marshall