David Byrne and David Binder on Breaking Into the Mainstream

DB is that rare artist who can both present a compelling performance, and can write hit songs.

I was lucky enough to catch American Utopia last summer outside in Boston. We danced like crazy people the entire show! It was unexpectedly fantastic and weird.

I've been a HUGE David Byrne fan since I knew him in college @ RISD, his music, the "Heads", post Heads, his Book(s).... but to hang the moniker around his neck "Mainstream" in any way or form, or that he influenced the path of mainstream? NOPE!

The Talking Heads were a 70's rock band, who survived into the 80's. I saw them live in 1978, touring for their second album.

David Binder and David Byrne are both seriously handsome men. The Style Magazine, irony or ironies, has managed a dual portrait that is deeply unflattering. If either had mug shots I'm sure they would've preferred you ran those instead of this dreary photo. It's not the first time the Times has deployed gray-toned, dreary-lighting and dead-expression photography under the guise of artiness. It's not just unappealing, it's trendy. Your dutiful subjects deserve better.

Saw American Utopia in Hong Kong, a fantastic show.

I'm sorry, but Binder is not "like" Byrne. Producers are administrators and fund-raisers, not artists. Sometimes producers are a help and sometimes they're not. It really depends on whether they have the good sense to know that they're not artists, but administrators and fund-raisers.

My husband and I have loved the T-Heads and David Byrne for many years. Their music was the soundtrack to our honeymoon! We have been fortunate enough to see him several times, here locally. We will not miss his live performances. Two years ago, the American Utopia show, though it wasn’t called that yet, rolled into town, and we went. We had great seats and were able to see the whole thing unfold. I really enjoyed, the husband, thinking it was going to be a straightforward show, not so much. Both of us agreed that it seemed much more “Broadway” than a straight-up concert, though he did play all the goodies. I felt the staging was amazing and the technicalities in doing a show like that seemed very difficult. I think my husband was hoping for the DB show we saw a few years earlier at a close-up, small nightclub that moved everyone there that night into a wonderful togetherness that was incomparable. And probably not to be repeated. If you get an opportunity to see it, I would say go. You won’t be disappointed. We will go see him again, when he rolls through town, no matter who he plays with, or how it’s staged. David Byrne is a maestro.

My husband and I have been T-Heads and David Byrne fans for a long time. We played their music on our honeymoon, 25 years ago. We have had the great good fortune of seeing David Byrne live several times and have resolved that we will never miss him, when he comes to town. Two years ago, we had tickets to see American Utopia, though I don’t remember it being called that then, at our local theatre that we have seen The Nutcracker and Phantom of the Opera and so forth. We had terrific seats, and were able to view the whole thing perfectly. I thought it was an amazingly staged show, with incredible choreography and even better musicians, who carried the whole thing off effortlessly and somewhat miraculously. My husband felt that it was better suited to Broadway (ha! Guess he was right!) than being a “David Byrne show”. They played all the goodies, though, and it was very cool. I highly recommend catching this if you can. We had had the wonderful experience of seeing him play at a local club a few years back, and the experience was totally transformative: the entire audience were singing, dancing, had “the feels”, and it was a magical experience that we, at least, will never forget, and a high bar for other acts to follow. We have often mused if DB recollects it (he seemed actually surprised and excited by San Diego’s love for him). We love DB in any incarnation, and will be in line to get tickets to the next show.

David Byrne broke into the mainstream with the Talking Heads, no respect.

Certainly has been a series of interesting and compelling projects since RISD and CBGBs. Here's to ongoing curiosity and inventiveness, D.B.s!