By Kaylee Johnson
Campus News
With the COVID-19 positivity rates back at alarming and deathly rates, it is no surprise that New York City, like most United States cities, is taking precautionary measures. Though Broadway just returned in September, it is ready to fully shut down again, as most shows are rescheduling or cancelling shows indefinitely due to cast outbreaks. David Byrne of “David Bryne’s American Utopia,” refuses to leave his warm nest at St. James Theater, though. Instead of cancelling his tour, Byrne has decided to do a revised version of “American Utopia” with many more songs from his American cult classic band, The Talking Heads. The show will be more like an exclusive concert than a Broadway performance for now, but all ticket holders who attend will get 20% off of future “American Utopia” performances. Personally, I would much rather see a “Talking Heads”concert than the dancers and band. Byrne himself is the show, and he does not need the bells and whistles to prove his place in the New York theatre scene.
Interestingly, Byrne began a recent show by coming out and admitting that the audience may not be getting the show they expected. Then, he went on to storytell and perform some of his most iconic masterpieces for an hour and a half. The show was honest, raw, and rich with nostalgia. Though Byrne tells many media outlets he has a certain disassociation toward the other members of The Talking Heads he spoke of his time in the band with pride and homage. In one of his monologues he lectured on living in a shoebox sized apartment with his bandmates in downtown New York City when the The Talking Heads were fresh to the world of music. He reminisced about how awful their living conditions were as young, hopeful artists, and how the song “Don’t Worry About the Government” is more literal than one of poetic thinking would guess. It is about fantasizing about the luxury apartment buildings with hot water and spacious rooms in the city.
Byrne must possess the self-awareness to know that his fans love hearing him perform Talking Heads hits, and since he seems to speak of his time in the band so meaningfully and lovingly.
Byrne’s monlogues were similar to the unhinged, somber, high tide workings of Spalding Gray, the late northeastern monologuist and poet. In another he told the story behind the song “And She Was.” In his retelling, he said there was a girl he knew in high school who fancied taking LSD tabs next to the Yoo-hoo drink factory, and he found her compelling and authentic. His mind is technicolor and stoic. He is both anti-bohemian and the king of the New York bohemian movement. Nothing can compare to seeing sixty-nine-year-old David Byrne sing “Nothing But Flowers” with the same intensity and artfulness that he did when the song was new and my father was listening to it on cassette in high school.
Byrne created an intimate scene as he laughed at himself, escaped the script of his Broadway show, and focused on his own relationship with music and New York City. The show was built on the pillars of remembrance, organic talent, and improvisation. Byrne seemed to gleam with pride while playing songs he has not in so long, a youthful glow washed over his face as he thanked the audience at the end and stepped out of the spotlight. Byrne, like many New York City residents, rides a bike instead of relying on the subway systems or cabs. I wonder what he thought about on his bike ride home that night, after playing “Don’t Worry About the Government,” en route to the apartment he dreamed about as a young musician.
One of the last remaining open shows on Broadway, get tickets while you can at https://americanutopiabroadway.com/tickets.
Kaylee Johnson is a frequent writer for Campus News, a teacher and a graduate student studying educational psychology in Albany, NY.
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