Ryan McNeil
I’m trying to decide what it was about last night’s free showing of STOP MAKING SENSE that has turned it into one of the best nights out at the movies I’ve ever taken part in.
It could be the way the “Psycho Killer” opening was momentarily drowned out by a passing Porter Airlines Q400. I always get a smile when my concentration is broken in such manner during free screenings, since it puts the usual pet peeves like ringing cellphones into perspective.
It could be the way that the blinking LED’s of The CN Tower seemed to be following the rhythm of “Burning Down the House” perfectly. Usually the bright lights of the city skyline can provide for a slightly distracting backdrop (slow parts in some screenings cause one’s attention to wander). But when blinking reds, greens, and blues suddenly find themselves echoing great arthouse rock, it can actually enhance the whole mood.
It could be the way the concert itself was echoed in the audience it brought in. The movie, if you’ve never seen it, begins rather unassumingly. David Byrne walks out to centre stage with just an acoustic guitar and a boombox to play “Psycho Killer”. No bandmates, no special lighting, no set. Slowly, with each passing song, the set and bandmates begin to fill in. It’s an awesome trick, and part of what makes the concert film so very cool. In a way it was parallelled by the audience for the show, which was about half-full when the lights went out, but had grown much closer to capacity by the end of the movie.
Or, quite simply, it could be the way that everybody there seemed to be so into it, that having a ball was an inevitability. People sang, people clapped, people laughed, and people danced…a lot. Some tried and true Heads fans in the back, some kids who wouldn’t know the Talking Heads from the Screaming Trees, a slightly “off” lookin’ guy who was a little too into it, even the popcorn girl at the concessions stand! All of them let loose to “Burnin’ Down the House”, “Life During Wartime” and others as if there was no screen up there, and they were in the audience at The Pantages.
Of course, it never hurts to be taking in such festivities with old friends, so I was in quite a good mood for starters…but it just felt like all of these elements came together in such a simple way, that turned just another free screening into something so truly fun.
Just thought I’d share.