Ongoing History Daily: The show that ended Talking Heads

Talking Heads never really formally broke up. They just kind of…evaporated after the release of the Naked album in 1988. However, the seeds of the group’s dissolution were sown in Christchurch, New Zealand, on February 6, 1984.

The group played the Sweetwaters South Festival, and it did not go well. The audience wasn’t into their set, something that was made worse by David Byrne’s attempt to celebrate Waitangi Day, an important event for the indigenous Māori people. The crowd grew surlier and started throwing things at the band. Byrne was so upset that he left the stage for a while and had to be coaxed back to finish the set.

The event left such a bad impression with the band that this was the last-ever proper Talking Heads concert.