Shure Brings ‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ Dream to Life as it Transitions from Broadway to HBO

Shure played a pivotal role in addressing the audio challenges presented by the upcoming HBO broadcast of David Byrne’s American Utopia.

It was all part of Byrne’s vision a few years ago – a concert performed where everyone on stage is mobile and untethered. There would be no wires on musical instruments to anchor performers in one spot, allowing Byrne and the ensemble the freedom to maneuver without any audio interference. Around the stage, 125 feet of steel chain mail draped from the ceiling acted as a suggested border, visually captivating the audience’s attention. However, from an audio standpoint, the metal curtain was a sound designer’s worst nightmare.

The congested, complex RF environment in New York’s Theater District, along with the high wireless channel count and chain curtain potentially causing interference, capturing quality sound could have been a monumental challenge.

During its run on Broadway, American Utopia relied heavily on Shure gear to guarantee exceptional sound. Engineers depended on Shure’s award-winning Axient Digital wireless system and new subminiature headset microphones, TwinPlex, to ensure premium audio quality even as performers moved around the stage and changed instruments throughout the show. Coordinating all moving pieces was made easier with the help of Shure’s Wireless Workbench software.

“People were saying, this sounds too good for you guys to be actually playing this,” noted Byrne. “You’ve got tracks. You’ve got playback happening, right? And so now, we do a thing where we start a song instrument by instrument and people hear how the whole thing fits together.”

“Shure products have always empowered customers to dream big,” said Jens Rothenburger, director of Global Marketing, Pro Audio at Shure. “Recent technological breakthroughs have unleashed a new wave of creativity that wasn’t possible before due to technical limitations. American Utopia is a prime example of this ingenuity.”