David Byrne’s genius for live performance on display in American Utopia tour that’s heading to Hong Kong festival
Hong Kong can expect some star quality to judge by the way the former Talking Heads frontman energised a Los Angeles crowd with a breathtaking performance of imagination and ambition
Most pop concerts live or die on the strength of the artist’s songs plus the energy and commitment that artist invests in putting them across. Some rely heavily on technological production elements, eye-popping special effects or pure spectacle.
And then there’s David Byrne.
From the start, the mercurial former Talking Heads singer, songwriter, guitarist and Renaissance man has approached the concert experience as more than a way to bring his music to audiences in person. Instead, he sees the totality of possibilities available to him and his musical cohorts whenever they set foot on stage.
Among the highlights over the years was the Talking Heads’ 1983 Stop Making Sense tour that the late director Jonathan Demme captured so brilliantly in the concert film of the same name.
His latest American Utopia shows – which takes in this year’s Clockenflap festival in Hong Kong from November 9-11 – is a wonder of imagination, ambition and execution, a frequently breathtaking celebration of the miracle of life, even with all of humanity’s trials and tribulations. It’s also a perfectly timed tonic for the toxicity in our current political environment.
