David Byrne Adds Talking Heads Songs To Modified ‘American Utopia’ Show

David Byrne’s American Utopia Broadway production debuted a modified production on Tuesday night featuring a setlist comprising many Talking Heads songs not normally part of the show. The altered performance was due to several members of the band testing positive for COVID-19.

The production had been shut down since December 22 after members of the cast came down with COVID-19. Byrne announced the revamped American Utopia: Unchained production on Monday, the day before returning to the stage at St. James Theatre in New York City. The revamped show saw Byrne backed by a stripped-down cast of supporting musicians, which was made up of original band members and understudies.

The setlist presented several songs that are regularly part of the American Utopia show. Those were played alongside several rarely played Talking Heads songs, along with songs from Byrne’s solo releases and selections from his collaborations with Brian Eno.

As noted by Rolling Stone, among the Talking Heads songs added to the setlist were favorites such as “Heaven,” “And She Was,” “(Nothing but) Flowers” and “Life During Wartime.” Solo cuts included “Everyone’s in Love With You,” “Like Humans Do,” “Marching Through the Wilderness” and “The Revolution.” Eno/Byrne collabs “Life Is Long,” “My Big Nurse” and “Strange Overtones” were also added.

American Utopia: Unchained will continue through the January 2 performance. View behind-the-scenes preparation and video footage from Tuesday’s concert below: