JERRY HARRISON AND ADRIAN BELEW

VENUE THE VIC THEATER, CHICAGO, IL, USA DATE 25/02/2023

In 1980, art-rockers Talking Heads released what is arguably one of their best studio albums, Remain In Light. Produced by Brian Eno, this was the album that took the New York Citybased quartet – which included vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jerry Harrison – out of the clubs and into the arenas.

To obtain the fleshed-out, funkier sound they sought for the record, Talking Heads added several additional musicians both in the studio and on the road. One of these musicians was guitarist and vocalist Adrian Belew, fresh off the Eno-produced David Bowie album, Lodger.

More than 40 years later, Harrison and Belew are reunited to celebrate Remain In Light’s legacy. Their tour brings them to the Vic Theater in Chicago, where they’re performing in front of a sold-out crowd. Backing the duo are Cool Cool Cool, a pop-funk band who also serve as the show’s openers. They provide an injection of youthful enthusiasm, to say nothing of adding a three-piece horn section that gives the arrangements a new layer of freshness.

The band waste no time upon taking the stage, as the bass line provided by Belew-band veteran Julie Slick kicks into Psycho Killer, providing an unexpected twist. While Remain In Light is the focus, just five of its eight songs are sprinkled throughout the band’s set, creating a more unpredictable experience. The audience is completely engaged. Belew takes the vocal for the opener, but singing duties are passed between the 11-member group. The first tune played from Remain… is Crosseyed And Painless, a tune that dares the audience to remain still. That’s not possible.

Save for Rev It Up, a Harrison solo tune, and King Crimson’s classic Thela Hun Ginjeet, the band’s set plays out a lot like it did on the Stop Making Sense tour from 1984. Harrison is his usual stoic, locked-in self: music may be fun, but Harrison is working hard. His rhythm guitar work is steady, and he brings otherworldly sounds out of his synthesisers. Belew is also himself, the consummate frontman having a ball putting his custom-made Stratocaster through paces very similar to those he played with the Heads on tour in ’80. Clearly, the man did his homework.

Kids bounce up and down next to their parents and grandparents to I Zimbra, Life During Wartime, and

Once In A Lifetime. The band’s performance of Take Me To The River is enough to make Al Green proud.

The group bring things to a close with The Great Curve, giving the appreciative crowd something to hum as they head for the exit or – rather more likely – the merchandise table.

The same as it ever was? No. This feels even better.