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The New Restored Talking Heads “Stop Making Sense” Concert


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Just returned from seeing the new video and sound remixed and mastered 1984 epic concert documentary, “Stop Making Sense”. It is just amazing!  The video and sound could fool you into thinking that it was filmed yesterday. This awesome restoration just makes this phenomenal performance even more exceptional.  Not only is David Byrne at the top of his genius career, the synthesizer playing and sound is off the charts. See and hear it!

 

 

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15 hours ago, Dr Nursers said:

Can't wait to see this - was it in a cinema Dave?

Yes. I saw it at the AMC in Burbank. 56 super comfortable reclining barcaloungers with an awesome sound system. 

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'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Saw it a couple weeks ago.  Looked and sounded great.  So much joy on stage!  An interesting article here about the challenge finding the original negatives:

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/stop-making-sense-talking-heads-restoration-david-byrne-a24-40th-anniversary-1234828312/

 

Only downside:  40 years....sheeesh I'm old.  Saw it in the theatre (Coolidge Corner in Brookline, MA) when it came out and I was in grad school. 

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Epic show.  One of my fav LPs.  Bernie is dialed in.  His work on the Prophet is perfect for this show, especially on songs like Burning Down the house.  He adds a layer that really punches through the mix.

I don't hit the theater often, but I will certainly keep an eye out when this (hopefully) hits streaming services.  

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Here is a good shot of the keyboard rigs. What is below the Prophets?

 

IMG_0262.png

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Well during lockdown me mates gathered at mine and with various forms of lubricants and worked through my live concert DVDs with surround sound turned up to 11. Stop making sense was everyone's fav. With lockdown a thing of the past they are still pestering me about when are we gonna gather and watch this again.

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31 minutes ago, Markay said:

Well during lockdown me mates gathered at mine and with various forms of lubricants and worked through my live concert DVDs with surround sound turned up to 11. Stop making sense was everyone's fav. With lockdown a thing of the past they are still pestering me about when are we gonna gather and watch this again.

After I got out of grad school in the 80s and was working at Bell Labs, there was a group of young engineers that would gather to watch off-kilter movies from that era (Repo Man, Stranger Than Paradise, etc) and about every third party we would watch Stop Making Sense.  Nerds watching nerds..good times.

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10 hours ago, HammondDave said:

Here is a good shot of the keyboard rigs. What is below the Prophets?

 

IMG_0262.png

The interesting thing about this pic, I only remember 1 rig with Bernie.  I just went back and watched a couple vids from the original movie and that seems the case.  Was the second rig added later in the show?

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I saw this in a theater in Greenwich Village NYC when it came out. It was one of the most riveting experiences I ever had in watching and listening to music. I was somewhat interested in Talking Heads before seeing the movie, but afterwards I wanted to be David Byrne.

When the DVD came out a few years later I bought that too. The LP audio album that first came out had only 8 or 9 songs on it, so I found that a disappointment.

 

I would love for our 7-piece covers band to cover "Life During Wartime". But we have a non-autocratic song selection method, and I don't think it's gonna get support from others in the band.

 

The wikipedia article about this movie said it was shot over 4 different nights, so it's possible there might have been differences in the keyboard rig used by Bernie for one or more nights.

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7 hours ago, Doerfler said:

 

 

Emulator is Jerry's bottom leyboard.  

 

Hohner Clavinet E7 is Bernie's bottom keyboard. :cool:

 

 

Yeah. I knew it was a clavinet but did not recognize the E7. The Emu threw me off.  The synths sound awesome in the new mix!  

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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4 hours ago, ABECK said:

The interesting thing about this pic, I only remember 1 rig with Bernie.  I just went back and watched a couple vids from the original movie and that seems the case.  Was the second rig added later in the show?


hmmm. I think they roll it in later. I was so mesmerized with the performance that i did very little analysis.  It was an amazing experience seeing and hearing this again in now pristine condition. I was also marveling at two of my colleagues’ work, projection designer Wendall Harrington and Lighting designer Beverly Emmons.  Brilliant conceptual choices by David Byrne and his artistic collaborators!

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'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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  • 7 months later...

I have to confess I’d never watched this before tonight. 
 

Not enough keyboards shown even while they’re soloing. 
 

Does it appear that very little or nothing is plugged into some of the backs of some of the boards? 

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On 5/25/2024 at 11:40 PM, Chris Link said:

 

Does it appear that very little or nothing is plugged into some of the backs of some of the boards? 

I just watched the release on HBO and noticed the same.  Very minimal keys setups - power chord and mono audio only on the Prophet 5s.  No sustain, no expression pedals.  The lower boards are different for each rig - there's an E-Mu Emulator I and a Roland Space Chorus under one and Clavinet, with some stomp pedals.  Either way, the keys sound great - the whole show sounds great.  I suspect there was some overdubbing/fixing in the studio after, but it's hard to tell.  They did record over 4 nights, so what you are seeing might not always align perfectly with what you are hearing.  Plus - it almost sounds TOO good. 

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14 minutes ago, ABECK said:

I just watched the release on HBO and noticed the same.  Very minimal keys setups - power chord and mono audio only on the Prophet 5s.  No sustain, no expression pedals.  The lower boards are different for each rig - there's an E-Mu Emulator I and a Roland Space Chorus under one and Clavinet, with some stomp pedals.  Either way, the keys sound great - the whole show sounds great.  I suspect there was some overdubbing/fixing in the studio after, but it's hard to tell.  They did record over 4 nights, so what you are seeing might not always align perfectly with what you are hearing.  Plus - it almost sounds TOO good. 


That is because it was that good.  I have two friends who designed the lighting and projections for that concert (and filming) and they can vouch that it’s all live.  If you have not seen it in 4K with a good sound system, do yourself a favor and check it out.  

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'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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I'm not sure if the version on HBO is the new 4k version.  But  I loved the entire thing.  Very unique band that could NEVER be confused for anyone else.  Deeply embedded in the soundtrack of my life.

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The A24 website is selling the restored version on 4k and bluray, both of which include the new Atmos mix.  The bluray is $50+, 4k is more.  The fancy book in a slip case that holds the bluray is… okay. The disc looks and sounds great, has some odd bonuses like the old laser-disc edit and mix plus some silent vhs footage of Byrne trying dance moves. If you missed it in the theater you still have options.

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10 hours ago, Dave Weiser said:

Can't wait to see this! This concert had a huge impact on me as a teenager, saw it just as I was first starting to explore synths in the 80s. Some of those synth and clav riffs remain my favorites to this day.

I'm guessing you're responsible for the 'Stop Making Sense' clav patch on the Kurzweil Classic Keys rom?

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