40 years ago, David Byrne walked onto a bare stage carrying an acoustic guitar and a tape player. Against a backdrop of rigging, theatre equipment, and the concrete back wall of the stage, he strummed the opening chords of “Psycho Killer,” kicking off what’s generally considered one of the greatest concert movies of all time. Now, A24’s remastered edition of Stop Making Sense is playing on IMAX screens across the country, and it’s just as transcendent as it was when it first premiered.
Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme, captures three performances by Talking Heads at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles in December 1983. The concert included many of the band’s greatest hits, like “Burning Down the House” and “Once in a Lifetime.” Tom Tom Club, the Talking Heads side project formed by bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz, performs the beloved (and endlessly sampled) “Genius of Love.” To say Talking Heads is better live is a gross understatement. The studio version of “Once in a Lifetime” is fun; watching the band perform it gives me chills.
It’s not just the music that makes the film great. The concept of Stop Making Sense is unforgettable, the kind of thing you suspect modern producers would never allow. After Byrne finishes his acoustic “Psycho Killer,” the rest of the band takes the stage one by one. Weymouth joins Byrne for “Heaven,” followed by Chris Frantz for “Thank You for Sending Me an Angel,” and Jerry Harrison for “Found a Job.” Crew members bring out instruments and platforms as more and more performers take the stage. Eventually, a curtain lowers behind the band, with images projected onto it. The show gradually transforms from one guy behind a microphone into a full-blown rock concert, and its metamorphosis feels like sorcery.
The best part of Stop Making Sense, though, is the energy of the performers. The band members and backup singers throw themselves into weird and wonderful choreography. Byrne himself commands the stage, performing a touching pas de deux with a lamp and debuting his iconic giant suit—a look inspired, he later explained, by the costumes in some Japanese theatre traditions.
Of course, there’s a bittersweet tinge to Stop Making Sense, considering the controversies that followed. Byrne left Talking Heads in the ’90s, later suing his former bandmates over their attempts to call themselves “The Heads.” Weymouth once described Byrne as “a man incapable of returning friendship.” However, the band has since reconciled, reuniting for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, and most recently for a Q and A at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival.
My screening of Stop Making Sense was preceded by a trailer for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, coming to theaters later this month. It was strange to catch a glimpse of Swift’s glitz and spectacle before the relatively simple production of Stop Making Sense. I’m sure the Eras Tour is fantastic, but Talking Heads’ achievement is a reminder that it doesn’t take complicated visual effects or a thousand costume changes to create an amazing concert. That stuff can be great, but sometimes all you need is a passionate musician having the time of their life—even if their only accompaniment is a tape recorder.
(featured image: A24)
