On stage, musician Laurie Anderson appears in shadow and dances to percussive music. A spotlight reveals she is wearing a white suit and a matching white mask. Laurie picks up an electronic Synclavier violin sitting on stage and plays several notes that sound like coyotes howling. Behind her, a line drawing of a mountain is projected on-screen. In front of the mountain, televisions, umbrellas, and airplanes fly through the air. Several anonymous models and other musicians wearing masks join Laurie on stage. She undulates between their bodies. The audience claps. In an electronically disguised voice, Laurie tells the crowd that the numbers “zero” and “one” bother her. In our culture, zero means you are a nobody and a loser, whereas number one means you are a winner. However, the numbers are so close together that there is very little room for everyone else. Laurie would like to do away with the cultural associations attached to these numbers because they represent the building blocks of the computer age. She gives examples of how the binary system can be used to represent the first few words of the Gettysburg Address, to show a portion of her personal telephone number and to demonstrate a few words from her song “Sharkey’s Day.” She sings “Excellent Birds.” Behind her, phrases like “Hello,” “Please wait,” and “We are experiencing technical difficulties,” flash by on-screen. Next, Laurie performs “Drum Dance” in a custom-designed jumpsuit and becomes a walking drum kit. She taps her body in various places to produce a variety of sounds. Soon, she plays “Smoke Rings” on an electronic keyboard. She picks up the Synclavier violin and out comes a series of industrial machine-sounding notes. The stage fades to black. Soon, a huge television screen is positioned on stage. In shadow, a couple dances, a man juggles balls, two men converse as one smokes a cigarette and the other drinks a beer, a director shouts into a megaphone, a man flips playing cards, two men compare arm muscles, two cowboys have a fistfight, and three gangsters tip their hats within the screen. Upstage, Laurie plays her electronic violin and out comes garbled human speech instead of notes. Laurie dances with William S. Burroughs. She again plays the violin and it says, “Listen to my heartbeat.” After the song’s end, Laurie returns to the stage with a portable keyboard. She sings “Sharkey’s Day.” Korean musician Sang Won Park appears and shares a story about a writer who cannot concentrate because a bug is flying around the house. A huge pair of lips is projected on the screen. A flute player introduces the song “Kokoku.” Falling snow on a mountain is projected on the screen behind the musicians. Several captions appear: “Mountain with clouds. A Cry. My Voice. Home of the brave. I’m here now. And lost. I am here in this place. Losing. My eyes are closed. Closed. Birds are there. Hearing something. Shouting. My voice. Time is stopped. ” Laurie plays her violin and the notes sound like an Asian string instrument. Sang Won Park plays the kayageum, a Korean stringed instrument. As the song ends, the light dims and only Laurie’s white teeth can be seen. Soon, Laurie revolves onstage on a platform in front of a screen with a rotating satellite, performing “Radar.” Laurie plays the electric double bass and sings “Gravity’s Angel.” She changes into a silver lame gown with long, black gloves, throws her white jacket on top of her dress, and sings “Langue D’Amour.” Musicians grab oversized white shirts, repelling down from the ceiling. Laurie emerges from a trapdoor in the floor of the stage. When she sings into the microphone, she sounds like Minnie Mouse. Musician Adrian Belew plays a rubbernecked guitar that sounds like an elephant roaring. Laurie sings and dances, holding a round lens up to her face, which magnifies her features several times. Musician Joy Askew appears in a ballet tutu playing an accordion. Behind her, written journal entries and “to do” lists flash across the screen. Laurie makes a telephone call onstage to Joy. After asking about Joy, Laurie says there is someone in the balcony wearing a Viking hat. Joy says she does not know him and neither does Laurie, who ends the call. Laurie returns in her white suit, black shirt, and a tie that is actually a miniature keyboard. When she speaks, her voice is distorted to sound like a man. She tells the audience to get set for some difficult music. She performs “Language Is A Virus.” She plays her tie and then taps her head to make drum sounds. Laurie segues into “Sharkey’s Night.” The faces of other musicians and backup singers are obscured by cloth masks. Laurie dances in the aisles of the theater to the delight of her audience. One musician hides behind his guitar, which has a primitive face drawn on the back. Laurie dances with William S. Burroughs. In a deep voice, Laurie exclaims, “America, home of the brave.” She picks up her violin, saying, “Listen to my heart beat.” Each note she plays sounds like an electronic buzzer. On-screen, a zero or numeral one punctuates every note she plays. Laurie stops and the screen goes dark.