David Byrne’s Sky Was Limitless at Dallas’ Music Hall at Fair Park [Film Forward]

Poet-philosopher David Byrne brought his “Who Is The Sky” tour to Dallas’ Music Hall at Fair Park on November 28th and 29th.

Byrne’s first song was the gentle “Heaven” set against a slowly rising Earth on the giant concave screen. The band looked like it was performing from the moon’s surface. At the end of “Heaven,” Byrne gestured at our home planet and stated, “There it is.” V13 captured the performance in unique analog photos for its Film Forward series.

The production was a natural level-up from Byrne’s previous theatrical staging for his American Utopia show on Broadway.

The singer’s spare set allowed space for complex, choreographed movement with bold onscreen visuals. Band members interacted and danced together throughout the performance, and there were many. Each carried entirely portable versions of their instruments, and they took turns shining as the centrepiece in the show.

Byrne performed most of the 2025 album Who Is The Sky? The new songs describe Byrne’s New York (as well as his own mind) to be a place of whimsical wonder and playfulness. Beloved Talking Heads classics like “And She Was” and “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” were interwoven with the new material. There was even a cover of sometime David Byrne collaborator Paramore’s “Hard Times.”

Talking Heads’ hits had renewed impact against the backdrop of recent USA news headlines.

Audience energy surged for Talking Heads’ classics like “Psycho Killer” and “Life During Wartime.” David Byrne’s intention and warning-laden lyrics in these two songs came into focus when the huge screen filled with dozens of viral cell phone videos depicting people in the USA running from and clashing with federal ICE agents. Pulses raced from those high-energy songs married with the overwhelming visuals, and the audience’s emotional swell was channelled into a passionate performance of the best-loved song “Once In a Lifetime.” The final encore was the ’80s uber-anthem “Burning Down the House.”

David Byrne’s spoken message in a much quieter moment between songs resonated with me long after the performance. He quoted another homegrown New York provocateur. Hedwig and the Angry Inch creator John Cameron Mitchell recently said, “kindness and empathy are the new punk.”

I smiled as the sentiment took root in my consciousness. If I spiked a liberty mohawk high enough, would I reach the answer to the question, “Who Is The Sky?”