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Spike Lee’s David Byrne Concert Film American Utopia Is Coming Back to Cinemas in 4K for One Night Only
David Byrne and Spike Lee’s American Utopia returns to cinemas August 5 in 4K, with tickets on sale June 18.
David Byrne and Spike Lee’s American Utopia is heading back to cinemas for a one-night-only 4K screening on August 5.
The concert film captured Byrne’s Broadway-era reinvention of the project that began life as a tour behind his 2018 solo album American Utopia, before it was expanded into a full stage production. Onstage, Byrne moved through songs from both his Talking Heads and solo catalog with an 11-person ensemble that danced, shifted around the set and carried their instruments as part of the show’s choreography.
That touring version had already picked up a serious amount of buzz. NME called it “the most ambitious and impressive live show of all time,” a line Byrne later used as the title of a live EP from the run. The Broadway production followed, playing the Hudson Theatre in New York City from October 2019 to February 2020, after the UK city tour from October to November 2018.
The film version, released in 2020, will screen across independent and multiplex cinemas in 4K. Tickets go on sale June 18 and can be purchased here. The trailer is below.
NME gave the film five stars, describing it as “New York’s finest teaming up for a greatest hits extravaganza that doubles as one of 2020’s best films”.
In its review, the publication noted the familiar comparison to Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme’s 1984 Talking Heads concert film, while pointing out that Spike Lee’s version takes a different route. “Naturally, any filmed gig that includes David Byrne will always be compared to Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme’s masterful 1984 concert movie that featured Talking Heads in their prime. Sadly, Lee’s feature doesn’t include a triumphant version of ‘Girlfriend Is Better’, but there’s plenty else to enjoy,” it read.
It continued: “Minimal production design – the set is free of amps and microphones – allows us to fully focus on the 12 barefoot musicians, who are immaculately attired in sharp grey suits, their efforts illuminated in striking purple and green.”
Lee filmed the production with 11 camera operators in order to capture the scale and detail of the performance. Byrne later told NME that the director was far more invested than he first expected. “I didn’t know how much of a fan Spike was! He’d even go, ‘Why don’t you do this song? Why don’t you add this song in’. We knew one another casually so I could text him and say, ‘I want you to come and see our show; I think that you might be interested in making a film of it’,” Byrne said.
Elsewhere, Byrne recently brought the same kind of movement and theatricality to Coachella, where his set leaned heavily on Talking Heads classics including ‘Psycho Killer’, ‘Once In A Lifetime’, ‘This Must Be The Place’ and ‘Burning Down The House’.
