Although practically no one seemed to realize it at the time, Talking Heads were one of the best bands of their generation by some distance. Their place in music history was cemented in Jonathan Demme’s classic 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, a beautifully shot chronicle of their innovative Speaking in Tongues tour. That film famously starts with David Byrne walking onto a bare stage to perform “Psycho Killer.” With each successive song, another band member or adjunct player joins in, until the stage is filled with a nine-piece funk-rock outfit in full flower. It’s an amazing performance and an all-around awesome film, and it’s rightfully considered one of the best concert flicks ever made. 
To catch Talking Heads at their true peak, though, I think you need to check out YouTube.
That’s where I happened across a blistering little nugget of polyrhythmic goodness whose on-screen Italian title simply reads Talking Heads In Concerto. It’s a professionally-shot look at the band performing in front of a raucously appreciative audience at the Palaeur Arena in Rome. The December, 1980 show was broadcast on Italian television and captures Talking Heads’ incredible ‘afro-funk orchestra’ line-up at their best, including P-Funkster Bernie Worrell on keyboards and Adrian Belew coaxing some insane sounds out of his guitar. The band was touring in support of their album Remain in Light, and for me, this era is the absolute sweet spot of their career.
Remain in Light was the album where the Heads finally put everything together, where all the disparate threads of African rhythms, avant-garde prog rock, and funky American weirdness all came together in exactly the right proportions. This concert finds the band reveling in their newfound groove, swaggering their way through a string of classic tunes. They don’t have any parlor tricks up their sleeve and don’t have time to slowly introduce the players. This band is ready to bring the house down and jumps right into the best version of “Psycho Killer” I’ve heard. They proceed to rip through ten more classic numbers, with Belew’s wild, unique guitar improvisations taking each one on a wild ride at some point.
It’s silly to keep going on about this. If you like the Talking Heads at all, you owe it to yourself to check out this amazing footage of a band at the peak of its powers. Enjoy.
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