Colour guard dance troupes are frequently seen alongside marching bands at football games, but Talking Heads leader David Byrne plans to breathe new life into the flag-flipping tradition this summer with a couple of shows dubbed Contemporary Color. These will take place in Brooklyn and Toronto in June, and will feature colour guard teams backed by some A-list music stars.
The Toronto shows will take place at the Air Canada Centre on June 22 and 23 as part of Luminato. After that, the Brooklyn shows will be at the Barclays Center on June 27 and 28 in association with BAM.
In addition to Byrne himself, performers at these events will include St. Vincent, Devonté Hynes (Blood Orange), tUnE-yArDs, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, How to Dress Well, Kelis and Nelly Furtado, with more to be announced. These musicians will be backed by what a press release calls "an all-star band" with brass and string sections.
In an announcement, Byrne wrote that colour guard teams have "created a vibrant, innovative and original vernacular artform that is wildly popular across the whole North American continent, but is all but unknown in many of the big urban centres — like New York, where I live. Contemporary Color aims to remedy that situation."
A press release adds: "Each superstar artist works one-on-one with a student colour guard team to produce a mind-blowing meld of brand new, original music, performed live on a 100 by 70 foot stage at the Air Canada Centre. "
Below, watch a high school-style newscast about the event. Byrne himself appears in the video, and it includes some footage of colour guard performances for those unfamiliar with the concept.
Pre-sale tickets will be on sale starting Monday (January 26). You can get more info about the Toronto event here.
The Toronto shows will take place at the Air Canada Centre on June 22 and 23 as part of Luminato. After that, the Brooklyn shows will be at the Barclays Center on June 27 and 28 in association with BAM.
In addition to Byrne himself, performers at these events will include St. Vincent, Devonté Hynes (Blood Orange), tUnE-yArDs, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, How to Dress Well, Kelis and Nelly Furtado, with more to be announced. These musicians will be backed by what a press release calls "an all-star band" with brass and string sections.
In an announcement, Byrne wrote that colour guard teams have "created a vibrant, innovative and original vernacular artform that is wildly popular across the whole North American continent, but is all but unknown in many of the big urban centres — like New York, where I live. Contemporary Color aims to remedy that situation."
A press release adds: "Each superstar artist works one-on-one with a student colour guard team to produce a mind-blowing meld of brand new, original music, performed live on a 100 by 70 foot stage at the Air Canada Centre. "
Below, watch a high school-style newscast about the event. Byrne himself appears in the video, and it includes some footage of colour guard performances for those unfamiliar with the concept.
Pre-sale tickets will be on sale starting Monday (January 26). You can get more info about the Toronto event here.
CONTEMPORARY COLOR! from Bob Weisz Sucks on Vimeo.
