What Is Start Making Sense?

Updated

Start Making Sense is a band dedicated to performing the music of Talking Heads. It is a tribute act, not the original group — so if you are looking for a live show that recreates Talking Heads' catalog, this is the kind of act the name refers to. The band's own site carries an endorsement from Bernie Worrell, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member and keyboardist for both Talking Heads and Parliament/Funkadelic, who called the name appropriate and described the band as "a great representation of Talking Heads' music."

The name comes from a Talking Heads song

"Stop Making Sense" is the title of Talking Heads' landmark 1984 concert film and live album, directed by Jonathan Demme. The band name flips "Stop" to "Start" — a small change that signals the same source material while distinguishing the tribute act from the original film and record.

That wordplay matters for two reasons:

  • Recognition. Anyone familiar with Talking Heads will connect the name to the concert film immediately.
  • Clarity. The altered word keeps the tribute act from presenting itself as the original band or its official release.

What kind of act it is

A tribute or live-performance act performs the songs of another artist rather than its own original material. For Start Making Sense, that means the setlist draws on Talking Heads' body of work, and the appeal is hearing that catalog performed live.

This is different from:

Type of act What it does
Original band Writes and performs its own music
Tribute band Performs another artist's catalog, often with close attention to the original arrangements
Cover band Performs songs by many different artists

Start Making Sense falls into the tribute category, with a single band as its focus.

Why the Bernie Worrell endorsement carries weight

Bernie Worrell was not a casual observer of Talking Heads. As a keyboardist, he played with the group and was a member of Parliament/Funkadelic, and he is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. His quote on the band's site — that the band "makes plenty of sense to me" and is "a great representation of Talking Heads' music" — is a credential from someone inside the original music's orbit, not a generic promotional line.

For a listener deciding whether a tribute act is worth seeing, that kind of endorsement is one of the few concrete signals available before a show.

How to decide if it's for you

  • You'll likely enjoy it if you want to hear Talking Heads' songs performed live and value a connection to the original group's world.
  • It may not be for you if you are looking for new original music, or if you specifically want to see surviving members of Talking Heads themselves.

The practical next step is to check the band's site for current show information and confirm the details that matter to you — date, venue, and setlist expectations — before buying a ticket.