Talking Heads Film Screening Shows Band’s Growing Appeal to New Generation

At the Alex Theater in Glendale, music fans watched a fresh take on an old classic. The restored 1984 concert film, Stop Making Sense, opened on October 8, with guitarist and keyboardist Jerry Harrison in attendance. Young viewers keep finding new reasons to watch the Talking Heads perform.

"We have a sort of resurgent younger audience right now," Harrison said, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. "I actually think it's larger than it was 10 years ago, interestingly, or 15 years ago."

The band experienced a special moment at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023. The four original members, David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Harrison, came together for the film's premiere. A lucky find in an MGM vault in Kansas fixed old sound problems with the final mix.

Music apps changed how fans find new sounds, Harrison notes. "With streaming, people are often introduced to music because they decide to get a stream that is curated, sometimes by a computer, but sometimes by a person," he told The Daily News. "And Talking Heads have found themselves in contemporary streams, but we're not date-stamped." 

The film captures the raw energy of four nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre in December 1983. Director Jonathan Demme used moving cameras on tracks, keeping the wild spirit of live shows while getting perfect shots.

This wasn't just a simple cleanup job. "We went back to the very beginning and remixed the whole thing," Harrison added. They worked in the same studio where the original 1984 version came to life.

Harrison started the night with stories about the film. After the screening, he took questions from the crowd. Many wanted to know about the stage setup and how the band got ready for such big shows. The band's artistic innovation, relentless touring, and distinctive sound continue to influence and resonate with audiences.