Here’s a chance to bliss out on David Byrne’s provocative, sequin-free Broadway musical. As filmed by Spike Lee, the concert comes at us from every angle, including overhead.
Byrne, joining forces with 11 musicians, reworks a few tracks from his 2018 album, American Utopia, as well as a ton of Talking Heads hits. The singer, who’s been diagnosed as mildly autistic, was known at college as “Mad Dave”. His idiosyncrasies have never felt more welcome.
It makes perfect sense when the team perform Janelle Monáe’s protest song about police brutality, Hell You Talmbout, with Lee squeezing devastating drama out of 2D photos.
Annie-B Parson’s choreography finds the sweet spot between avant-garde and primitive, while the musicians skip around with infectious joie de vivre in the occasional strobe lighting.
Near the end, the troupe weave through the bopping crowd and an exuberant audience member high-fives Byrne who, for a split second, looks appalled. The movie captures the singer’s love-hate relationship with humanity. This is Byrne’s show, but it’s also Lee’s tale of the unexpected. Enjoy.
Cert 15, 105 mins. On digital from Dec 14
