American Utopia 2020
I remember reading about this show in the local newspaper when it came to town in 2018. This movie, released in 2020, was filmed in late 2019 or early 2020, during a run in New York City and is directed by Spike Lee. It is basically a concert film, though the stage presentation has all of the musicians and two dancers wandering all over the stage in gray suits, so it is also a stage show. It is certainly an interesting presentation, with more Talking Heads songs than I hoped for, but also a lot of David Byrne solo work and some other songs thrown in. A big fan of Talking Heads, those are my favorites and of the audience. It seems like at least half of the band is percussion. I’m not sure if this is because they had to deconstruct a sit-down drum kit so they could walk around with the parts or if some of that would have been necessary regardless. Probably somewhere in between since Talking Heads had multiple people playing drums and percussion when they toured. Critics are saying it is one of the best movies of 2020, and it does have its moments, but not everything works and it can sometimes be a little too odd or too preachy. It has a lot of energy and creativity, but the production is fairly sparse (for a movie, probably great in person, especially as close as the audience sits at this show) even with Spike Lee throwing in all kinds of odd camera angles and close ups. Honestly, most concerts by legends are filled with stuff from their “new album” that most don’t care that much, and there are advantages to having some unfamiliar music thrown in, rather than just being Stop Making Sense without the real band. It is a unique show and the mobile band members make for a more personal approach.
Written: 02 Jan 2021