ebh@hou4b.UUCP (Ed Horch) (11/10/84)
I saw the Talking Heads' movie "Stop Making Sense" at the 59th Street
Playhouse in NYC about two weeks ago. It was the best concert movie
I've seen, rivaled (in my opinion) only by Wings' "Rockshow". It was
well worth the hour's drive from Monmouth County.
Some reviewers have called this a Rock-umentary, but this is definitely
not the case. No interviews, no backstage scenes, none of that. This
is a concert film and nothing else.
The sound was recorded digitally, from six places in what looked
like about a 3000 seat auditorium, so where you sit in the theatre
sounds like the same place at the concert. That is, the music is
loudest near the front, and you get more crowd noise toward the back.
Needless to say, sit where you normally like to sit in concerts.
I don't know how much of the sound quality is due to the theatre itself,
and how much is due to the excellent recording. The 59th Street Play-
house was chosen because its existing sound system could meet the
demands of the film without modification. The system, along with the
good acoustics of the 500-odd seat theatre, met the demands well.
Audience response was a very good addition to the experience, with a lot
of clapping and cheering. At times it was *very* easy to forget this
was a film.
By now you're probably thinking "but what about the performance?" That
I won't discuss (but I'm sure somebody will/has), since I can't do it
justice. Just go see it if it's anywhere near you.
BTW, in NYC the 59th Street Playhouse is on (you guessed it) 59th Street,
between Seventh Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas. You should be
able to find on-street parking near there. Go at least 30 minutes
early; the lines aren't too bad, but the good seats go fast.
-Ed Horch {ihnp4,akgua,houxm}!hou4b!ebh