Start Making Sense – Talking Heads Tribute @ The Gov, Adelaide 18/1/2024

As a bit of a latecomer to Talking Heads, I never got to see them back in the day, not hugely surprising given their final Aussie gigs were back in 1984. So catching a tribute to them is as good as it’s gonna get live and there’s really no better place to start, than Start Making Sense.

Start Making Sense hit the stage running with the brilliant Psycho Killer, an all-time classic, channelling the magic of Talking Heads perfectly from the first note of a blistering twenty three song set. Lead singer Jon Braun delivered a convincing David Byrne performance, both visually and with his impressive vocals. Braun chatted with the crowd only sparsely throughout the show, stating there won’t be much talking throughout the evening as they’ll be playing for over two hours and will let the music do the talking. Which is exactly what they did and what incredible talking it was.

They tore through an impressive set list, featuring the Speaking In Tongues album in its entirety, with tracks such as Burning Down The House and Girlfriend, book-ended with a slew of hits and deep cuts, including Wild Wild Life, And She Was, Road To Nowhere, Once In A Lifetime and one of many set highlights for me, Thanks For Sending Me An Angel.

Much like the original band, bringing the songs to life in a live setting requires a few helping hands, something Start Making Sense isn’t short on. Alongside Braun, Brian Davis on lead guitar was generating all kinds of heat, with incredible fretwork throughout the show along with perhaps the greatest synth solo I’ve ever witnessed (I’ve seen one or two over the years!), courtesy of keyboardist Alex Ayala. Jenny Founds on bass, is a pure embodiment of Head’s bassist Tina Weymouth. Founds just pummelled her bass throughout the show, mesmerising the crowd with her playing and plenty of crazed expressions and stage antics backing up her grooves, brilliant.

Rounding out the band were Colin Miller on Percussion, keeping rhythms tight and also at times necessarily off kilter against Jesse Braun on drums and last but not least, Tia Petra having a blast on backing vocals and go-go dancing.

Talking heads may not be reuniting or touring anytime soon, but if you get a chance to catch Start Making Sense, then make sure you do as they put on a killer show.

Live Review By Peter Lanyon