The Talking Heads are one of a very few number of the all-time great bands who will almost certainly never reunite (along with The Smiths). So it's always exciting to come across vintage archival footage of the band performing in their prime. Everyone knows seminal rock documentary Stop Making Sense, but the band also had a concert recorded at Palaeur Arena in Rome in 1980 that was filmed for broadcast on Italian TV. It came two months after their masterpiece Remain In Light was released, and features the group’s full “Afro-Funk Orchestra” lineup. You can watch the whole concert below.
Among the highlights: a full band version of "Psycho Killer" (including backup vocals and weird outro); the polyrhythms on "Cities" and "I Zimbra;" Adrian Belew tearing it up on "Crosseyed and Painless;" and a trifecta of Remain In Light classics not on Stop Making Sense: “Houses in Motion,” “Born Under Punches,” and “The Great Curve." Check out the full setlist below.
Live In Rome1. Psycho Killer 2. Stay Hungry 3. Cities 4. I Zimbra 5. Drugs 6. Take Me To The River 7. Crosseyed & Painless 8. Life During Wartime 9. Houses In Motion 10. Born Under Punches 11. The Great Curve
[h/t to Open Culture]
