“Stop Making Sense” Still Burns Down the House 30 Years Later

Break out the hair gel and your brightest blue and pink eye shadow, we’re going back to the synth-heavy future of the ‘80s to take in a Talking Heads concert. You heard me.

Now available on iTunes and making its way around the country on a theater tour, Jonathan Demme’s film with Talking Heads’ frontman David Byrne looks deceptively simple as a standard concert movie. But Demme’s much more talented than that, and Stop Making Sense is no mere concert movie. He makes use of the spectacle, intercutting between on-stage and off-stage cameras to jump from long shots of the full band to individual portraits of musicians, before sidling up close to Byrne’s sweaty face in mid-solo. It’s an experience you won’t get in the cheap seats at the back of the arena.

When the concert begins, it looks like the crew is still putting the stage together. David Byrne takes center stage for a solo of “Psycho Killer.” Other band members join him piece by piece, their equipment hastily set up in time for the next number. A pair of dancing background singers joins the show. For all its sense of business-suits, monochromatic color scheme, and a tight professional band, the songs pop with a festive energy, as seen embodied by fans excitedly boogie-ing along.

The crowd itself plays a limited role in the movie. People’s faces are mostly obscured, unlit against the brightness of the stage. They are there to prove Byrne and his band are doing this live, despite its bare bones opening number with stage hands still setting up. Occasionally, the camera pans over the rocking crowd, but it isn’t until the final song, “I’m Still Waiting,” that the cameramen jump in to capture the dancing.

Most of the time, the camera is facing the stage head-on as if you were there, but it never feels static. Demme effortlessly cuts closer to Byrne singing into the mic. Another cut, and we can see the sweaty strands of hair clinging to his forehead. The man in the yuppie grey suit and slicked back hair rarely stands still to hold a note, let alone a chorus. He cribs the Mick Jagger chicken strut (minus pursed lips), marches for almost the entirety of “Swamp,” and in one of the most memorable moments of the concert, wiggles and gyrates in an oversized grey suit that looks like it might swallow its wearer whole in mid-performance.

Lighting deserves its own credit, as striking design and background changes emphasize Byrne’s erratic movement. Shifting from the opening song’s fluorescent loudness, to back-lit projection spelling out words behind the band, moving over to the downstage flood lights giving the performers a frightening vibe during the electric “What A Day That Was” number. Two members of the group, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Tom Tom Club, finally give Byrne a break with their popular tune, “Genius of Love.” Other than that, Byrne is front and center throughout the performance, leading the charge into the next part of the set list.

The band’s kinetic energy extends through the finale, and you almost can’t believe that’s the end. That can’t be all, right? There are more funky grey suits to be worn! But then the backstage crew comes out on stage, now in the standard backstage outfit of all black clothes, to take a bow while the band keeps jamming. Lights fade and we’re left with the audience’s echoed cheers.

On the DVD, there are three different audio mixes available and bonus songs that follow the show like “Cities” and “Big Business.” Even if you’re not the biggest fan of Talking Heads, there’s so much to appreciate in the showmanship and directorial touches that make Stop Making Sense ahead of the typical concert film of its day. It doesn’t try to pull a “Behind the Music” drama subplot, and the camera makes plenty use of its all-access badge to give the viewer a front-row seat. The show and the movie are all about the band and its music. So tune in, rock out, and be thankful video didn’t kill the radio stars. It put them on the big screen.