and I Am Absolutely Here for It
There are concert films, and then there is whatever David Byrne decides to do with a camera pointed at him.
Byrne has announced Who Is the Sky?, a new concert film capturing his ambitious current tour, and the project has a rather ridiculous amount of artistic horsepower behind it. The film was directed by Brady Corbet, the filmmaker behind The Brutalist, and was shot on 70mm film during Byrne’s performances at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, his hometown venue. The project is currently in post-production, with release and distribution details still to come.
And yes, I said 70mm. Apparently regular film was deemed insufficiently dramatic for David Byrne, which is probably exactly how this should work.
David Byrne, on the Big Screen Again
The new film continues a relationship between Byrne and concert cinema that stretches back more than four decades.
If you know Talking Heads, you already know where this story starts: Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme’s 1984 film documenting the band at the height of its powers. It remains one of the great concert films ever made, largely because it doesn’t feel like somebody simply put cameras in a concert hall and pressed record. The performance itself becomes the movie.
That philosophy has followed Byrne throughout his career.
In 2019, I had the chance to see David Byrne’s American Utopia on Broadway in New York City, and it was one of those experiences that reminds you why live music can be so much more than standing in front of a stage watching people play instruments.
The musicians moved. The choreography mattered. The staging mattered. The audience became part of the experience. Byrne somehow took the basic concept of a rock concert, threw it into a Broadway theater, removed much of the traditional stage machinery and turned the entire thing into this strange, beautiful, completely immersive celebration of music and humanity.
It was freaking amazing.
And now he’s doing it again.
Enter Brady Corbet and 70mm
For Who Is the Sky?, Byrne brought in Brady Corbet, whose The Brutalist earned major critical attention and multiple Academy Award nominations, including a Best Director win for Corbet.
Corbet photographed Byrne’s Baltimore performances using both 8-perforation and 15-perforation 70mm film, an enormous format designed to deliver a remarkably expansive image.
That choice makes considerably more sense when you understand the production Byrne has built for this tour.
The Who Is the Sky? show isn’t simply Byrne standing at center stage with a guitar while a backing band does its thing. The production features 13 musicians, singers and dancers, with the performers constantly moving through a deliberately choreographed environment. The result is closer to a piece of kinetic theater than a conventional arena concert.
Byrne said he initially wasn’t sure how much difference 70mm would make. Then Corbet showed him some frames.
That changed his mind.
The enormous format allows the film to capture the wide visual field of the performance in a way Byrne says he has never experienced before.
That’s particularly intriguing because American Utopia already demonstrated how well Byrne’s music and choreography translate to film.
This time, however, we’re talking about 70mm cinema.
That’s a pretty serious upgrade from somebody filming the encore on their iPhone from the 37th row.
Who Is the Sky? Is More Than a Concert Tour
The film takes its name from Byrne’s 2025 album Who Is the Sky?, which launched the current tour.
The tour has reportedly passed the 150-performance mark across four continents, making it one of the most ambitious live productions of Byrne’s later career.
The music draws from the new album while also reaching deep into Byrne’s catalog, meaning audiences get the unusual pleasure of hearing new material alongside songs that helped redefine alternative rock, new wave and art-rock.
And that catalog is ridiculous.
“Psycho Killer.”
“Once in a Lifetime.”
“Life During Wartime.”
“Burning Down the House.”
“This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).”
These aren’t simply songs from another era that occasionally get dragged out for nostalgia. They remain part of the vocabulary of modern music.
Talking Heads took funk, punk, art rock, African rhythms, minimalism and nervous New York energy, threw the entire mess into a blender and somehow created songs that still sound completely unlike anything else.
That is one reason Talking Heads remains one of my favorite bands of all time.
Talking Heads Never Needed to Play by the Rules
Talking Heads were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, recognition that was long overdue for a band that fundamentally changed what a rock group could sound and look like.
Interestingly, their Grammy history is less decorated than you might expect. The band received two Grammy nominations but did not win a competitive Grammy during its active career. They were nominated for Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “Burning Down the House” and later for Best Concept Music Video for “Storytelling Giants.”
The Recording Academy eventually corrected that historical omission by giving Talking Heads a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, recognizing their enormous contribution to recorded music.
And let’s be honest, awards are nice, but Talking Heads didn’t need a trophy cabinet to prove anything.
Remain in Light, Speaking in Tongues, Fear of Music and Stop Making Sense are the kind of work that permanently changes the musical landscape.
“Burning Down the House” remains the band’s biggest U.S. pop hit, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
But if you’re judging Talking Heads solely by chart position, you’re missing the entire point.
And Then There Was American Utopia
My experience seeing American Utopia on Broadway makes the announcement of this new film even more interesting.
That production received a Special Tony Award, an honor presented to productions and artists doing work that doesn’t fit neatly into the standard competitive categories.
The Broadway production was eventually adapted into a film directed by Spike Lee, giving Byrne another major entry into the concert-film canon.
And now we’re getting the next chapter.
The Who Is the Sky? tour was built with the same basic philosophy: music should move people physically, emotionally and visually. The musicians don’t just perform the songs. They become part of the choreography.
That is precisely the sort of thing that can either look incredible on a cinema screen or completely fall apart when translated from a live environment.
Which makes the decision to shoot it in 70mm particularly fascinating.
Baltimore Was the Right Place to Film It
The choice of Baltimore isn’t an incidental detail.
Byrne was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, but grew up in Baltimore, and the city has always been an important part of his story. Filming the production at the Hippodrome during his hometown performances gives the movie a sense of place that a generic arena recording simply wouldn’t have.
Corbet described the performances as an inclusive celebration of community and Baltimore, calling the city one of America’s underappreciated historic places.
That sounds like exactly the sort of thing Byrne would gravitate toward.
His career has never been particularly interested in separating music from the world around it. Architecture, cities, dance, politics, technology, culture and human behavior have all found their way into his work.
So a concert film centered on a hometown performance feels less like a marketing decision and more like another piece of the puzzle.
When Can We See It?
This is the frustrating part.
There is currently no announced release date or distributor for Who Is the Sky?. The film is still in post-production, and the filmmakers have indicated that more information about its release will come later.
The tour itself is scheduled to conclude September 19, 2026, at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York, after additional performances including dates at the Hollywood Bowl and in Mexico City.
So for now, we’re left with a few photographs, the knowledge that Corbet shot the thing on massive quantities of 70mm film, and the promise that eventually we’re going to get to see it.
Frankly, that’s enough to get me interested.
Why I’m Already Looking Forward to This
I’ve seen what David Byrne can do with a stage.
I’ve seen American Utopia live in New York, and I’ve watched Stop Making Sense enough times to know that Byrne understands something about performance that most musicians never quite figure out.
A concert doesn’t have to simply document the music.
It can become the music.
With Who Is the Sky?, Byrne has assembled another visually ambitious production, then handed it to a filmmaker willing to photograph it on one of the largest film formats available.
That combination has my attention.
And if Brady Corbet can capture even half of the strange, joyful, wonderfully uncomfortable energy that made American Utopia so compelling, we could be looking at another genuinely great concert film.
David Byrne is going back to the movies.
And apparently he’s bringing 70mm with him.
Humanity has survived another day without another superhero sequel. I’ll take the win.
And while you’re discovering what David Byrne and the rest of the music world are up to, don’t forget to keep an eye on what’s happening closer to home. The Static Live Music Calendar app brings live music listings straight to your phone, covering Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Flagler Beach and communities throughout Florida’s East Coast. Whether you’re looking for a local bar band, a touring act, an acoustic set or the next artist you’re going to pretend you discovered before everyone else, Static Live makes it easier to find the show. We’re also working toward expanding into new cities, because apparently keeping track of live music in one region wasn’t enough work. Download the Static Live app and start discovering who’s playing near you.
