Dressed from head to foot in blue, Byrne and his 12-piece backing band play for two hours at the first of four sold out Hammersmith shows. In a fraught, dark, world this is hope writ out in 20ft high technicolor letters. Building on his American Utopia tour in 2018, it’s part gig, part art piece; a spectacular reimagining of what a live music show can be. The musicians wear their instruments as they move around the stage and the huge screens behind them create backdrops of fields, sunsets, seas and grocery stores. It gives the whole thing a kinetic, fluid feeling – a show of finely-tuned choreography and perpetual motion.
