Stop Making Sense Sunday, July 3, 2011
Talking Heads' 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense opens with lead singer David Byrne's white-sneakered footsteps as he walks onstage, strumming an acoustic guitar to "Psycho Killer," the band's seminal 1977 hit. The sounds thicken once he's joined by bassist Tina Weymouth on "Heaven," a bucolic ode from 1979's Fear of Music, and then get rollicking with drummer Chris Frantz on "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" (from 1978's More Songs About Buildings and Food). That's when keyboardist Jerry Harrison slides in to complete the lineup, along with assorted percussionists and backup vocalists, for "Found a Job," "Slippery People" and "Burning Down the House." Byrne herks and jerks and runs in place for "Life During Wartime," makes way for an interlude by Frantz and Weymouth's Tom Tom Club ("Genius of Love"), and ultimately dons his now-iconic oversized suit for "Girlfriend Is Better," the 1983 song from which the movie takes its name. Director Jonathan Demme's you-are-there conceit, letting the concert unfold without cutaway or interruption, captures a new wave band on the verge of now as if it were yesterday, or even today. Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd.; Sun., July 3, 7:30 p.m.; $11. (Double-feature with 1986's Byrne-directed True Stories.) (323) 466-3456, americancinematheque.com. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, July 1, 2011.)
posted by Derek Thomas @ 12:59 AM,
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