Rightly hailed as an influential band themselves, Talking Heads was also a band that absorbed influences. Their 1980 album Remain In Light incorporated rhythms, arrangements, vocal structures and melodic touches that were distinctly African, and many mainstream ears and eyes were opened to musical fusions that may have felt odd initially but quickly became embraceable. Subsequent albums continued the band’s forays into global sounds, and the recent restoration and re-release of the Heads’ concert film Stop Making Sense, marking 40 years since their landmark 1983 tour (which I, old geezer that I am, had the pleasure of experiencing in person), serves as a reminder of their enduring legacy.
Further proof is provided by the current (and ongoing) Remain in Light tour. Talking Heads keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison and guitar wizard Adrian Belew, who played a sizable role in the namesake album and live performances that immediately followed, are now co-frontmen of a big band playing songs that celebrate Talking Heads at their expanded best.
The tour stop I attended took place at Southern California’s City National Grove of Anaheim, a very fine concert venue with great acoustics and a midsize seating capacity that allows for a comparative degree of intimacy. Such a setting was one of several factors that made this concert truly epic. Another was Harrison and Belew’s backing band, composed largely of members of Cool Cool Cool, a funky ensemble plenty noteworthy on their own and very much up to the task of reprising Talking Heads’ wall-of-sound glory days. But let’s be clear: even though the Remain In Light album was the main focus, other songs from when Talking Heads were both a four-piece and a larger touring outfit got dazzlingly revisited.
Once all the players took the stage and the familiar bassline of “Psycho Killer” (played by the amazing Julie Slick) kicked in, greatness ensued and never let up. Tunes like “Houses in Motion,” “I Zimbra,” “Life During Wartime,” “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On),” “Slippery People,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” “Once in a Lifetime” and “The Great Curve” crackled forth like the monster jams they’ve always been, and then some.
Belew’s certifiably insane guitar work brought things to many a new level, and no matter how many twists and turns the songs took, the groove was unfailingly tight throughout. Lead vocals were shared by Harrison, Belew and key CCC members, and none were mere copies of David Byrne’s trademark eccentricities.
Outside the box, the crowd was also treated to Harrison’s perfectly fitting solo track “Rev It Up” and the intricate “Thela Hun Ginjeet” from Belew’s time with King Crimson.
“Take Me to the River” naturally got a key slot near the end, and when the song burst into a roof-raising conclusion after being taken down to almost a whisper, the symbiotic ecstasy of both band and audience left no corner of the place untouched.
I could easily write another thousand words on how satisfying an experience this was, but I think you all get the point. The good news is that more tour dates are planned for the summer of 2024. If it comes your way, do not miss it.
(Special thanks to Lisa White from Nederlander Concerts.)
Author: Tom Orr
Tom Orr is a California-based writer whose talent and mental stability are of an equally questionable nature. His hobbies include ignoring trends, striking dramatic poses in front of his ever-tolerant wife and watching helplessly as his kids surpass him in all desirable traits.