by Zach Raffio. @zachraffio.
NEW YORK, NY - Legendary art rock pioneer David Byrne’s “American Utopia” was forced to cancel last evening’s performance after Byrne neglected to plug in and charge his ten wireless band members the night before, sources have confirmed.
“I usually plug them in right before bed, but I fell asleep early,” noted Byrne, who opened “American Utopia” at Broadway’s Hudson theater last week after an acclaimed world tour and Boston run. “One night of charging usually gets us through sound check and a show - I have to be careful not to overcharge them though, as I hear that’s bad in the long run,” he added.
The show famously features Byrne and his ten band members completely wireless and untethered, free to move and dance across the stage with limitations. Fans at the previous night’s performance foresaw a possible disturbance brewing.
“The bass player’s red, low battery light went on during ‘Burning Down The House’,” noted Byrne superfan Jennifer Lockett. “Both he and one of the percussionists’ eyes turned red and their sound was skipping - plus we kept hearing that weird Bluetooth connection ‘bloop bloop’ noise. He really needs to make sure these human people are charged before the show,” she added.
The Broadway Beat caught up with the band’s guitarist, Annie Bell, for her take on the technical malfunction.
“It’s live theatre, things ha-ha-happen SEARCHING FOR BLUETOOTH CONNECTIVITY,” she said, clearly running on low battery herself. Byrne soon walked over and pressed firmly behind the musician’s ear in what appeared to force restart the living, breathing human.
At press time, Byrne was in line at a local Best Buy purchasing ten wireless, solar-powered chargers for the band, hoping to avoid any future disturbances. He then returned to his Volvo, where the band sat crammed, all fighting for plug space in the car’s cigarette lighter.