Vocal Coach reacts to Talking Heads - Burning Down The House (David Byrne Live) 

Stop Making Sense is one of the best concert movies of all times, hands down.

He is having fun with his voice. Everyone on the stage and in the audience is having fun. That is what makes it so bloody brilliant.

One of the best concerts ever recorded! Talking Heads changed my life.

You may ask yourself, how did I get here? Same as it ever was. By being a fan of Beth Roars and Talking Heads. Great video!

I think this is extracted from the "Stop Making Sense" concert in 1984. Best concert of the Talking Heads, ever. And thanks God, you don't expect David Byrne to sing like a diva...

When I saw "Stop Making Sense" for the first (of six times) I was enthralled from the first few notes. As a young dancer/choreographer I was so impressed by the sheer stamina of the musicians and singers on that stage! One of my most treasured possessions is a DVD of this movie, a gift from my late husband. Thank you for showing this.

Went to a Talking heads concert back in the day (yeah I'm old) and they both opened and closed with this number, and "high energy" doesn't even begin to describe them live. Thank you so much for this. Good times!

1:50 And they actually recruited P-Funk keyboard legend Bernie Worrell ('the wizard of vwoo')for this tour. You mention the spaceship noises and the funky ghost house sound later on... that's Bernie doing his magic! He really brought the funk to this new wave band.

“It sounded Scottish” the man was born in Dumbarton would you believe 😂

This is probably my fav talking heads concert.

Bernie Worrell on the synthesizer, literally one of the greatest musicians in history

Best concert film ever

Was about 12 or 13 when I first discovered Talking Heads (early 80's). Compared to what came before, Talking Heads sounded like they came from another planet (in retrospect, most probably Planet Claire). I certainly had a "WTF was that" moment when I first heard them, quickly followed by a "I want to hear more".

It's a completely different experience watching a video where Beth is rocking out first and foremost. Those headphones are barely staying on at one point.

Leading singer David Byrne was diagnosed late in his life with Autism. He had many difficulties with social interactions even with his band mates. Which ultimately led to the band breaking up. It is kinda of sad fascinating story. If you watch the rock and roll hall of fame induction you can really see it. Or many of his interviews.

This is probably my all time favorite concert to be ever recorded, that or the Elvis Comeback Special. Both are just exceptional, a bunch of musicians having fun and making us have fun in the process.

Wish I could upvote this more than once. The Heads are amazing. I saw David Byrne perform solo once - he opened for another act I went to see. So much energy.

Beth smiling and dancing is my happy place.

The first thing that shines through on this concert is how much fun they are all having on stage

I’ve seen them twice & they burned down the house! Incredible concerts.

You need to watch the full concert! One of the greatest!!

Talking Heads and Beth Roars? I've never clicked a link so fast.

Everyone hit the dance floor at a school dance when this song came on. We all let loose.

Very funny that you say his "baby" sounds like Scottish at 4:25 because Bryne is actually from Scotland! He had an accent growing up but developed an American accent so he wouldn't get picked on in school.

I was born in 1957 and growing up in the 60s, 70s, and 80s we had thee very best music on the planet. If you are not grooving to this, there is something wrong with you. They zoomed in when they should have panned out because he is bent over and running in place!! They definitely brought their A game!

One of, if not the best live concerts by them. Love this whole show.

As the singer in a rapidly ascending alternative rock band, I can't tell you just how much advice like what you give here has helped me become the singer that I am! A great mix between great technique and embracing who you are. You helped me stop hurting myself while embracing my own idiosyncrasies. Hearts to you!

I don't think I have ever had as much fun in my life as that band is having playing this song!

Talking Heads are one of my favorite bands! I saw Byrne play live about a decade ago and it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. So fun!

It is interesting to see his progression as a singer. Watch the early videos of them playing in CBGB, and he seems pretty subdued in his delivery. By the time their first album came out a couple years later, he seemed more bombastic and confident in his singing.

The GOAT live performance

This concert had the best once in a lifetime performance

Also the keyboardist that says 'who's got a match?' at the start of the song, is Bernie Worrell, who played with parliament/funkadelic!

This is one of the songs I play very loudly while I'm shooting off fireworks on independence day!

You pointed out this song was inspired by Chris Frantz going to a Parliament-Funkadelic concert, the bad ass on the synth is the one and only Bernie Worrell who was a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic.

It makes me smile so much too! I’ve had the absolute privilege of seeing David Bryce live three times and he’s been amazing every single time 😍

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"Dissonance" is sometimes a strong way to create "the hook" so the fact that he doesn't sweat over "pitch perfect" is a plus for him and us hearing him!

You mention the Parliament Funkadelic inspiration for the song. At least two members of this lineup are former members of P-Funk: Bernie Worrel (a founding member) and Lynn Mabry (the backup singer on the right).

I saw this tour and it was awesome. Byrne came out onto an empty stage with just a guitar and a boombox and started the first song (I don't recall which song), then another band member came out, and then another, and another, until the whole band was on stage. Oh, and the opening act before that was the Tom Tom Club, which was an offshoot of Talking Heads lead by Tina Waymuth the TH bass player. They were awesome too.

David Byrne is Scottish, he was born in Dumbarton before his family moved to Canada then America. In the song Life During Wartime he sings about having 3 passports.

I saw David Byrne in a three quarters empty sports hall in Rome twenty years ago. I thought it would be flat but he was amazing.

This is a phenomenal song. Don’t dare underrate how good this is

Should do St Vincent, Never see any one react to her, She's worked with David Byrne on an album few years ago

Seeying you dancing in your chair to some of my favorite music and enjoying David Byrne makes me wanna dance with you....

@aretelivingarts 0 seconds ago I saw the restored 4K movie last night at a big theater in Brooklyn. Then the band came out and did a Q&A with Questlove. It was such a fun night. The whole way through the movie the audience was dancing and clapping and singing along.

I love their song life during wartime and any early 80s live video of them you see how much energy is the band has. And David Byrne and just the way they choreograph their mother is pretty cool.

I love the Talking Heads! They're from my era. They always had great videos in MTV's hay day. I'm recently re-discovered them and listen to them quit a bit. Not only there hits but a lot of stuff I'd never heard previously.

The singing is style was probably never considered too much beforehand, it is such an unconscious decision on this. Those two girls are brilliant vocally but, more importantly, visually as they absolutely convey every facet of this song in dance. I was in bed listening to this. I still danced......

I love the song “and the days go by “ by them, David Byrne reminds me of a Norman bates lol, like the talking heads

I saw them on this tour in Berkeley, CA, under the stars... crazy fun! They did this song during their set and again for the encore... everyone was dancing through everything

Beth seeing you express your true pure enjoyment of this song makes this your best video I've seen to date!!! Phenomenal!!

I love that this movie was directed by Johnathan Demme, the director of Philadelphia and Silence of the Lambs!

I love to watch you Beth. You have such a beautiful expressive face, full of joy! Keep em coming! Thanks.

David Byrne is the coolest human alive idgaf

I love your vibrant reaction to the music. That’s how we feel. And you’re right I had your video playing while shaving in the shower and was dancing (safely) while shaving!

This is easily my favorite of your videos. Talking Heads is all about joy. Analyzing it just seems foolish.

well that was a blast from my youthful past. Thanks for this! :-)

Scrolling down the list of reaction videos I see Burning Down the House. The song immediately starts playing in my head as if it had just come on the radio of the beat up Camaro I drove in high school. I could not click on the video fast enough. For a few minutes I was young again. Thanks!

This was the first album I bought back in the early eighties, on a tape cassette. I was ten years old and I had been given a WH Smith’s voucher. I just loved the big jacket and trousers. Never stopped loving David Byrne.

PERFECT CHOICE!!!! I roar with pleasure!

Stop making sense is my favorite concert video of all time!

While watching this, I began to wonder if Dave Matthews' scat isn't at least slightly influenced by the style that David Byrne uses throughout this song. And now I'm wondering why I hadn't heard the parallels before. Also, I cannot recommend enough David Byrne's monthly playlist (in the Radio section of his website). It is a fantastically eclectic mix of music from all over the map (old, new, mainstream, obscure, all sorts of genres and themes) that usually runs 2-3 hours.

I love that you are geeking out to the Talking Heads. Awesome!

Wow! What a performance!

Just one last comment... This concert video, "Stop Making Sense," is lauded as one of the great concert videos, and certainly one of the best of the 1980s. Interestingly enough, the strength of this movie helped get him to direct the Jodie Foster movie, "Silence of the Lambs," for which he won "Best Director."

Life during wartime from the same concert is worth a review!

one key element Byrne's "relaxed" vocal approach is that he is a showman; he considers the whole stage, the whole presentation, and in concert needs to do more than microphone-focus. his writing and recording is clearly more precise as he explores the ideas and assembles the song, but performance is a different beast that he is comfortable with. as a kid in the seventies i was expecting polished reproduction of concerts, but recordings were often awful. then came Paris Live by Supertramp, which was almost audio-perfect by standards of the day. after that you only pursued messy live recording with glitches etc if you were a punk band (later grunge did it). But Talking Heads were unique in that they clearly could do perfect repro, but chose to be fun... a lesson to be learned, and yes, Byrne was right about "perfect voices" lying- hence the uncanny valley of auto-tune.

I saw this concert live. Dave Byrne taught me how to stop being nervous and dance to music.

Their most famous concert,Beth..with heavyweights like Jonathan Demme putting their name on it. The earlier live double album version "The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads" will always remain my favourite. Always overlooked,partly to this, partly to Talking Heads' new-found popularity by the time Stop Making Sense was released.

He was born in Scotland funnily enough, although I think he calls himself a New Yorker 😁 Awesome film

Your dancing made my day better. 😀

How Music Works is an incredible read, and a great look into how genres of music developed, down to vocal and percussion styles based on whether the sound originated in caves, plains, buildings...

When you mentioned the "Synthe Sounds," that was the late, great Bernie Warrell on keyboards. Besides synths, he was just a monster on the Hammond organ and Clavinet. You also mentioned the Parliment/Funkadelic, and Bernie was a very long time member of those bands.

I will subscribe to your "Dancing to the Oldies" channel. :-D Seriously, it is so good seeing someone who knows as much about music as you do just plain having fun listening to live music! As much as I am in love with the vocal control of Dimash, or the amazing acapella of Pentatonix, I also like some songs that really just out there for fun. What good is a life of nothing but seriousness? Some songs are just a blast even without technical pyrotechnics.

I'm not sure if you have reacted to it yet, but you should have a look at The Talking Heads' live performance of "Life During Wartime."

Beth, I LOVE your reviews. You tackle singers that other people won't touch, and I think that is great. Which is pretty much the only reason why I think that you would be the perfect person to try to tackle The Cure. Seems like nobody wants to even go near Robert Smith. It would be up to you as far as what to play, but I personally think an older performance would be better, unless you want to show how he has kept his skills over the years.

Cute redhead jamming to some classic 80's ... count me in!

I remember when this song came out (I was about 12) it was such a big hit! I’m more of a Rocker but I was some how pushed to look into this band. A few years later when I started playing in my own band (with Rock guy’s) we all agreed to add one or two Talking Heads song to the set list. Lots of more Rock type tunes came and went but “Stay up Late” was one of the songs that our audience’s wanted to hear so it was never taken out!

I am new to you. I like you already. This was one of my favorite songs my senior year in high school ('85). And I think you really get it. Good job! New subscriber

Bernie on keyboards for this concert was from Parliament Funkadelic aka P Funk

Nice that you made the connection to Parliament-Funkadelic. The keyboardist, stage right, on this song is Bernie Worrell a founding member of that band.

Yes so 80s

There's a local (Oregon, USA) tribute band (well, they've started adding originals to some sets). that sometimes plays this whole concert. Good fun. Also, the Reed College alumni weekend always features a dance party to this movie. And finally (I think), one of the descriptions of the Talking Heads back in the day was "the thinking man's dance band." (yeah, I know--"person's". We've come a ways since then...).

Such a severely underrated band. I was hooked from Psycho Killer, and they still get played on my Spotify mixes every week.

That's fufking amazing, there is so much fun in this video. How she is enjoying that live and music ;P

David Byrne was born in Dumbarton and although there are various interviews where he states the family moved to Canada when he was 2 he's also stated that they lived in Dunoon until he was12 when his family emigrated to the U.S. Whatever it is he can definitely bring out the Scot's accent when required.

So happy you chose to comment on TH.

Life during wartime is a must

Great video, Beth :) Just placing another vote for a St Vincent reaction (I commented elsewhere about her collaboration with DB & their brass band gigs, which were just incredible). Always love watching the build up in the Stop Making Sense film. Cheers!

One of the great things David did and the Talking Heads did, was take performance art, which was going on at that time, and mix it with more actual music/songs. Also, this movie, showed that songs you wouldn't normally think of that way, could be songs that you could groove and dance to. If you don't know much about the Talking Heads, I would suggest watching this movie first, Stop Making Sense. IMHO it's one of the two best concert movies of all time, including Simon & Garfunkel's Concert In The Park.

Byrne is an absolute genius.

David Byrne: if Bill Nye was a singer.

Talking heads is what happens when you give art students rock instruments

He is Scottish. Born in Dumbarton

they're so joyous. Rusted Root reminded me of them.

David Byrne IS Scottish. It's true, check it out (although he does generally sound thoroughly American)

This was my favorite movie when I was 8 and none of the other kids knew what I was talking about.

Whenever I hear this song my mind immediately goes to the scene in "Revenge of the Nerds " where the jocks burn their house down.

"Wizard of Woo" on the keys! R.I.P.