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DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPHIA
New York 2019 [no label, 2CD]
Live at the Hudson Theatre, New York, NY; October 16, 2019. Fairly to very good audience recording.
Thanks to larryrulz for sharing the show at Dime.
larryrulz noted:
This Broadway run is basically a continuation of last year’s American Utopia tour. I went to the Forest Hills show which was great. But this is even better because it’s in a small theater (970 seats) with perfect acoustics and light. It runs through mid January and I highly recommend you experience it in person. Balcony seats are cheap by Broadway standards ($69), less than most arena concerts.
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Jerry Portwood, rollingstone.com (reviewing one of the Broadway shows):
[David] Byrne has been slyly subverting sloppy rock concert conventions since before the Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense tour that was captured by director Jonathan Demme for the 1984 film, redefining what we expected from our music idols. Here, he’s worked with choreographer Annie-B Parson to create something that’s slick and surreal, at times quirky and confusing, but ultimately playful, accessible, and full of joy. The bare stage is devoid of platforms or drum kits, so you won’t find any distracting cords as even keyboards are harnessed so that everyone is liberated to move. “We’re untethered,” Byrne explained later. “That’s what this show is about.” And damn, do they move.
At times, the dozen bodies on stage - nine musicians (six of them percussionists) and the two singer/dancers - feel like an ecstatic Mardi Gras marching band in neutral duds, at others they are transformed into a collective circle that’s discovered a primitive ritual that will unlock some hidden cosmic truths. It’s the kind of work that you might find in a church basement in New York’s East Village: wacky, weird, and slightly awkward - not typically on a Broadway stage.
That doesn’t mean all is perfect. Byrne’s interstitial banter can feel awkward and heavy-handed. At times, he tries to show connections between disparate parts of the audience, or compels people to register to vote and have optimism in our democracy. All worthy sentiments, but somehow they feel like timid speed-bumps working against the jubilant music-making.
I imagine that Byrne would enjoy even more interactivity and people connections in his American Utopia. Instead, our butts were stuck in seats, which meant that we followed the conventional rules of a theater and weren’t actually communing with one another as he continued to urge from the stage… On this night, when Bryne finally did give the crowd permission to get into the groove - before “Burning Down the House,” near the end of the show - it seemed to unleash a collective pent up need. The fans didn’t require much coaxing, as many rushed to fill the aisles and gather near the stage. No longer the dutiful flock witnessing the maestro conduct his pop sermon, it was time to join the party.
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Lineage:
CA-14 (cardioid) > Sony M10 (24/44) > Audacity (tracking, EQ, amplify) > TLH > FLAC 6 > foobar2000 (FLAC tags)
master audience recording
Dress Circle, first row
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (320 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
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Disc 1
Track 101. announcement 0:23
Track 102. Here 4:12
Track 103. intro 1:53
Track 104. I Know Sometimes a Man Is Wrong 1:20
Track 105. Don’t Worry About the Government 3:08
Track 106. Lazy 3:42
Track 107. intro 1:19
Track 108. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) 4:51
Track 109. intro 1:59
Track 110. I Zimbra 3:11
Track 111. Slippery People 4:49
Track 112. intro 1:05
Track 113. I Should Watch TV 3:28
Track 114. intro 1:26
Track 115. Everybody’s Coming to My House 3:44
Track 116. Once in a Lifetime 5:29
Track 117. Glass Concrete and Stone 3:18
Track 118. voter talk 2:42
Track 119. Toe Jam 3:40
56 mins
Disc 2
Track 201. intro 1:23
Track 202. Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) 5:48
Track 203. I Dance Like This 3:32
Track 204. Bullet 3:34
Track 205. intro to Every Day Is a Miracle 0:55
Track 206. Every Day Is a Miracle 3:45
Track 207. Blind 4:56
Track 208. intro 0:24
Track 209. Burning Down the House 4:19
Track 210. intro 0:54
Track 211. Hell You Talmbout 4:15
Track 212. intro 1:03
Track 213. One Fine Day 4:23
Track 214. Road to Nowhere 5:24
45 mins
Lineup:
David Byrne - lead vocals, guitar
Karl Mansfield - keyboards
Angie Swan - guitar
Bobby Wooten III - bass
Jacqueline Acevedo - percussion
Gustavo Di Dalva - percussion
Daniel Freedman - percussion
Mauro Refosco - percussion
Stephane San Juan - percussion
Tim Keiper - percussion
Chris Giarmo - vocals
Tendayi Kuumba - vocals
Click here to order American Utopia.