"David Byrnes's American Utopia"

Seeing "American Utopia" for the second time (I did this because of rumors that Byrne was doing more Talking Heads songs), i was both pleased and displeased with the show.

David Byrne still has a good voice, and he can still dance; no question, Byrne has talent, and his band Talking Heads were great at their peak. "American Utopia" has some of the best choreography that you will witness and under Annie-B Parson, the show really moves for the full one hour and forty-five minutes. While the set was basic, it was interesting as was the sound by Peter Keppler and the lighting by Rob Sinclair.

The musicians like Byrne were fantastic; for the most part they could all dance well. The backing singers were first rate. All of the people involved in "American Utopia" made the performance a memorable one. The choice of songs for the most part was well selected: opening with "Here" gave us the feeling that it was just us for the next almost two hours. Byrne showed off his familiar farcical dance style with "I Should Watch TV". The shows ninth number "Once in A Lifetime" brought the crowd to a frenzy but it was "Burning Down the House" that had the crowd singing, dancing and yelling.

So, what was bad then? Like the Kathleen Turner show I attended last month, Byrne too weighed in with the politics. Thank God this time he didn't tell us we are all immigrants. I guess Byrne realized that statement was false; that being born here and loving loved ones to war was different then coming here from Scotland like he did.

Like the rest of the audience, I was there to see the show and hear Byrne sing. I could care less about him going to Philadelphia to register voters to vote for a man who not only has dementia but has been the problem in Washington DC for over 47 years. I care even less that he went to the women's march in DC and his rendition of "Bullet" talks of blacks killed and he never mentions anything about whites being killed or discriminated over vaccine distribution. I do think David Byrne is smart, I do, however, think I could bust him up if I ever had a historical discussion with him, guaranteed!

Mr. Byrne, like John Lennon, Bono, Kathleen Turner and I could go on and on listing elite liberals who think they know better than us do not get the fact that people want to be entertained. Yes, last night you had some lefties who were digging what he was saying, most, however, were not clapping at his liberal rantings. People who like the entertainers that they are going to see should never be subjected to the verbal abuse that a David Byrne or Kathleen Turner spew.

It should be made clear as well that I do not like hearing from the other side in a setting like "American Utopia" either (not that there are too many on the right in entertainment). Again, I want entertainment; not lectures. This is why I had a lot of respect for David Bowie; Bowie was politically conservative but never talked politics. Mick Jagger only once talked climate change and in an interview in 1980 said that he wanted the leaders of the U.S. and the USSR to come to an agreement over nukes. The two were clearly smart enough to steer clear of politics. Do I care if Spike Lee (he directed the movie) likes Donald Trump? No! I could care less about Spike Lee other than maybe a movie or two of his.

Nothing infuriates me more than when a John Lennon, Bono, David Byrne or a Pierce Brosnan come to my country and tell me what is wrong with it. I do not even care that some of them are naturalized citizens now; to me they are still guests in my country- yes, my country as I have hundreds of years history here with my families' roots. Maybe Mr. Byrne should look at how some white Europeans coming through Ellis Island were treated before he sings so proudly about Trevon Martin and George Floyd. Many of his Scottish brethren were treated a whole lot worse than the criminals who had arrest warrants on them at the time they were shot.