Gary Graff
 |  MediaNews Group

David Byrne is not a guy who’s frightened by a high bar.

Over a 48-year recording career he’s responsible for two touring shows that are regularly in the discussion of greatest concerts of all-time — Talking Heads’ 1983 “Stop Making Sense” outing, documented in a hit film, and 2018’s “American Utopia,” whose Broadway edition became an HBO special. And on Friday night, Oct. 24, he attended Jon Batiste’s stirring performance at the Fox Theatre, letting it throw down a gauntlet for Byrne to live up to the following night.

And, boy, did he.

Saturday’s hour-and-45-minute production, supporting his latest album “Who Is the Sky?,” was another aural and visual extravaganza that, like “American Utopia,” was more theater piece than standard issue rock concert.

Wholly original in its conception and jaw-droppingly brilliant in its execution, it built off of “American Utopia’s” idea of no stationary performers, with even the keyboardist and four percussionists carrying their instruments and joining the other blue-clad performers (12 in all, including six backing vocalists/dancers) in moving around the stage in tightly choreographed formations. But while “American Utopia” leaned more into precision, marching band-style movements, Saturday’s took a more fluid, dance approach — swirling at times, calisthenic at others, all complemented by videos appropriate to the 21 songs and their themes on high-definition screens at the rear of the stage.

The musical presentation was just as splendid, with a pristine sound mix and a set list that well-fed the Talking Heads heads — 10 songs in total, and only four repeats from “American Utopia” — and brought out five from “Who Is the Sky?” Like Batiste and his band, Byrne and company delivered joy and ebullience to the Fox, keeping fans up and dancing throughout the night — which he recommended they do in a pre-show recording.

It went beyond happy and into the euphoric, and provided a balm for the “Hard Times” he sang about in cover of the Paramore song.

Byrne had a little to say on that note, too. Noting that “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” creator John Cameron Mitchell, currently a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, was in the house, Byrne quoted the actor/playwright’s message that “love and kindness are the most punk things you can do right now” before his troupe performed “What is the Reason For It?”

Prior to “Like Humans Do” Byrne discussed how, during the pandemic, how some Italians opened their windows and sang for each other — especially on Liberation Day, when they celebrated the fall of Mussolini and fascism there. He also recounted his own experiences during that time to provide context for the warmly expressed. “My Apartment is My Friend.”

“T-Shirt,” meanwhile, was accompanied by a series of well-received slogans, including those supporting women and the LGBTQ+ community and, of course, one that declared “Detroit Kicks Ass.” (Byrne was seen biking around the city on Saturday and showed a slide from his visit to the Heidelberg Project.)

His most overtly political sentiment, however, was saved for Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime,” which closed with images of ICE personnel — roundly booed by the Fox crowd — and violence at protest demonstrations, a reminder that these are indeed hard times to endure.

Yet Byrne and company were mostly happy to provide a respite from that and help remind us of our humanity. Just about every song was a highlight in itself, from the healing tone set at the start with Talking Heads’ “Heaven,” on which Byrne was accompanied by a just a handful of the troupe as an image of Earth rose above a moonscape on the video screens. “And there she is — our heaven. The only one we have.” Byrne noted afterwards, before the full band came on stage to tear through the new “Everybody Laughs” and a blast of Talking Head’s “And She Was” and “Houses in Motion,” which sandwiched a funky, polyrhythmic “Strange Overtones” one of his collaborations with Brian Eno.

The Eastern European-flavored “Independence Day” provided an opportunity for clever band “introductions,” with each member’s first name projected onto the stage and following them as they moved around it. One percussionist was carried aloft during “Like Humans Do,” as was Byrne for the playful “I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party.” The Heads’ “Slippery People” emphasized its gospel underpinnings, while Heads favorites “Psycho Killer,” “Life During Wartime” and “Once in a Lifetime,” deployed as a triple-play to end the main set, were bona fide roof-raisers.

For the encore of “Everybody’s Coming to My House,” performed around a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling, Byrne paid tribute to the arrangement created by Cheryl Valentine for the Detroit School of Arts’ Vocal Jazz Ensemble, which he shared on his web site back in 2018. And Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House” did just that, capping a night that raised Byrne’s bar yet another notch for whenever we see him again.