Fans of defunct bands generally fall into two camps: the ones who want to see a band reunite, and the ones who don’t want to have their memories of the band sullied by something that could prove to be subpar. In the case of Talking Heads fans, however, the tension existing between the members has always made it seem so unlikely that a reunion would ever happen that “what if...?” conversations rarely tend to happen because, well, what would be the point?
That situation has changed somewhat over the course of the past year, with all four members of the band – David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth – having reached a point in their relationship where they’re not just doing Q&As for film screenings and talk shows, they’re actually hanging out on occasion.
As such, when Frantz took to social media over the weekend and posted a photo of the Pantages Theater along with the words, “We shall return,” it caused a flurry of fan activity that was very heavy on people demanding to know if this meant what they thought it meant, ordering Frantz not to play with their emotions, and the like.
The marquee of the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles when Talking Heads filmed their classic concert film, 'Stop Making Sense'
Perhaps the biggest reason for the excitement was that the Pantages Theater was the location where Talking Heads filmed their classic concert film, Stop Making Sense, directed by the late, great Jonathan Demme, which of course immediately made fans latch onto the possibility – however remote it may have been – that the band would playing there again.
Regrettably, however, what it almost certainly was intended to mean was that the members of Talking Heads will be returning to the Pantages on June 4 for a screening of Stop Making Sense and a Q&A. There is, mind you, a live performance on the schedule for the event, but it’s one by Blondshell, not Talking Heads... as far as anyone knows.
(For real, though, there’s, like, zero reason to believe that the band is actually getting back together for a performance that night.)
In September 2023, when Byrne, Harrison, Frantz, and Weymouth reunited for the first time in 20 years for the screening of Stop Making Sense at the Toronto International Film Festival, Coachella organizer Paul Tollett traveled to Toronto to potentially discuss having Talking Heads perform at Coachella and even went to far as to meet with members of the band and their representatives. As he told Billboard, however, he "sensed there were no shows happening, so I didn’t make an offer.”
“We’re just savouring the moment," Weymouth told Pitchfork in 2023. "We’re so happy that it’s resulted in this wonderful thing that’s lasted 40 years. And we’re not really looking too far into the future. We might be standing on the corner and a bus will knock us down. We’re super glad we’re alive. We’re all four here to enjoy this moment.”
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