Stop Making Sense Retrospective

Izzy Astuto ‘25 / Entertainment Monthly Staff Writer

On September 22nd, A24 re-released Talking Heads’ cult classic Stop Making Sense to IMAX theaters across the nation. A beloved documentation of the band’s exuberant concerts, this showing allowed new and old fans alike to experience the magic of David Byrne’s dancing and remastered vocals in immersive quality. 

Filming originally happened over four separate nights of Talking Heads’ 1983 tour for their album Speaking in Tongues. The film is meant to serve as a retrospective for the band, documenting different periods of their history, as well as some of the individual member’s solo careers. 

The concert opens on a close-up of the partially lit stage as the opening credits finish rolling. As soon as they finish, frontman David Byrne yells out, and we watch his tennis shoes stride to the front of the stage. He sits a boombox down next to him, to the delight of the audience, as the camera pans up and he begins to perform Psycho Killer. 

For those who aren’t familiar, Talking Heads is an American rock band that pioneered new wave music in the late 1970s and 80s. David Byrne is a particularly interesting figure, and some of his most intriguing work was created once he moved away from the band. In recent years he experienced a resurgence in popularity due to American Utopia, an album accompanied by a staged performance on Broadway in 2019. 

David Byrne is known for his expressive performances, and this concert is perhaps his most enthusiastic example. Right out the gate of this show, he’s giving it his all. We get a glimpse of his unique choreography, marked by convulsions of the human body one wouldn’t normally equate with dancing. Psycho Killer includes a long instrumental break, during which Byrne staggers around the stage, strumming out the tune. 

Next to enter the stage is Tina Weymouth, arguably the second most famous member of the band after Byrne himself. Weymouth was the bassist for Talking Heads, although she gained more notoriety for her role in Tom Tom Club. Tom Tom Club is a side project of Talking Heads, started by Weymouth and her husband Chris Frantz, the drummer for Talking Heads. The creation of this band caused some strife between the original bandmates, as Byrne criticized their sound for turning more commercial. However, one of their songs is still performed in Stop Making Sense. 

To anyone who isn’t familiar with the lore behind this band, the switch to this performance is startling, as Frantz yells out in his classic, nasally voice to announce it. A Tom Tom Club performance on the Talking Heads’ stage is virtually the same, except for Byrne, who leaves for the number. Nonetheless, the others have fun with the funkier beat. At one point, the lights begin to flash, and Weymouth and her two backup singers begin to dance erratically, captured in snapshots of an image.

Who are these two backup singers? Their names are Lynn Mabry and Ednah Holt, two of the people who round out the group that takes on this show. Besides them, there’s Jerry Harrison, the final founding member of Talking Heads and their guitarist/keyboardist. Alex Weir and Bernie Worrell join as an extra guitar and keyboard, respectively. A definite standout from the performance was the last member of the supporting band, percussionist Steve Scales. Throughout the concert, Scales was always on his feet, running around and singing in the other member’s faces, a clear source of energy for the rest of the group with his enthusiasm.

By the end of the show, all of the members are sweaty and tired, but that doesn’t stop them from giving it their all for the closing song, Crosseyed and Painless. The band runs around the stage, none more alive than Byrne himself. While nothing can equate to seeing a concert in real life, it’s refreshing to watch Stop Making Sense and see the sheer vibrance of the performances. Watching David Byrne, larger than life, dancing as if he had just been electrocuted, suddenly transforms dusty, popcorn-encrusted seats into the pit of a grand concert venue, and audiences have no choice but to join in.