Watch first full trailer for David Byrne’s ‘American Utopia’

The first full trailer for Spike Lee’s concert film adaptation of David Byrne’s American Utopia has been released.

  • Read more: David Byrne live on Broadway, NYC: Still the best musical experience on the planet

Lee’s movie, which is set to premiere on HBO on October 17, was filmed during Byrne’s Broadway residency that ran from October 2019 to February 2020.

Byrne’s American Utopia featured the musician speaking with the audience about the state of America and also included performances of songs from throughout his career, going back to his first Talking Heads record through to his 2018 ‘American Utopia’ solo album.

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The new trailer, which you can watch in full below, follows a one-minute teaser that was shared last month.

In 2018, Byrne named a live EP of ‘American Utopia’ after a quote from an NME review of the show performed in Oxford.

“Our review caught the attention of Byrne himself,” wrote NME’s Dan Stubbs, “who was either so chuffed or so amused by its hyperbolic frothiness that he decided to name his new release… wait for it… ‘”…The Best Live Show of All Time” — NME’ EP.”

Now, as per Lee’s trailer, Byrne has included NME writer Thomas Smith’s gushing one-liner from his review of the Broadway show in January: “Still the best musical experience on the planet.”

Meanwhile, David Byrne has shared a new edition of his online magazine Reasons To Be Cheerful, which focuses on tackling division within society.

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The new series We Are Not Divided tells the stories of places and institutions that are succeeding in overcoming division. The multimedia series brings together dozens of written features, infographics, video content and powerful interactive storytelling “to infuse the public dialogue with a perspective that highlights the human capacity for finding ways to move toward each other”.

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