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DEVO on Tour
Often misunderstood, but nevertheless iconic, new-wave synth band DEVO is back for their 2022 tour, marking their first tour across the United States in eight years. Known best for the smash hit "Whip It" (1980), the Akron, Ohio, band is slated to hit four cities across the country. The band has released 11 studio albums, with their debut, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO! coming from Warner Bros label in 1978. They would go on to release five albums in the next five years; however, none were able to capture a mainstream audience like their debut. "Whip It" reached as high as No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the accompanying music video was received as a culture shock to the system, sending waves through the MTV generation, which elevated the band's fame. DEVO is heralded by their fans for concert performances that deliver high energy, alluring visual effects and innovative music from decades ago that still feels fresh.
DEVO in Concert
Musicians Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh were friends at Kent State University in the 1970s. The art majors, and another acquaintance, Bob Lewis, who was band-member-turned-manager became friends through a similar dark social humor that was often unconventional and offbeat. They agreed on a philosophy that society had actually been undergoing a "de-evolution" that rejected individuality or quirkiness. Thus, the robo-rhythmic group DEVO was born in the late 1970s, and with it a genre of new wave techno-pop. The group had their breakthrough with the film score for the local short, The Truth About De-Evolution, winning First Prize at the 1976 Ann Arbor Film Festival. In attendance at the festival were David Bowie and Iggy Pop, who helped DEVO secure a label contract with Warner Bros. Although their debut album caught on as an underground success, the group was also met with pushback. Some saw the band's non-conformist style as threatening. Rolling Stone magazine even labeled the group as fascists in an initial review of the album. Despite this, their third album, Freedom of Choice, and its premier single "Whip It" catapulted the group into the forefront of pop music as it was one of the most successful singles of 1980.
I've been into DEVO since grade school but never had the chance 2 C them live. Wow, they really were awesome & the show was sold out! They sound great live & have so much energy.
I had sooo much fun. The show was great. The opening act was a bit odd and went on for a bit too long, but DEVO was fabulous. The venue was awesome, too.
I have seen the future of rock and roll and it is THE PAST! 1978! We are Devo! Devo's Nov. 3 show (they played their first album) was fantastic. This is honest to god their best material, rooted snugly in rock and roll as a foundation--guitar, bass and drums, with a dollop of keyboard/synthesizer, but not electronica like their later stuff. Their show started with a couple of their 70's-era videos, familiar to most hardcore fans, "Jocko Homo" and "Secret Agent Man" The the concert started with the Akron Spud Boys in their bright yellow biohazard suits and the familiar Devo glasses. A semicircle of stand-up, multi-bulbed lighting instruments ringed the upstage area, flashing throughout the show in bright greens and reds Mark Mothersbaugh playfully tore at the costumes of his bandmates, shredding the material in bits here and there til they all the shed the suits and glasses to reveal black Devo t-shirts underneath. They sounded fantastic--pretty much sums it up. The band was energetic, fun, and sounded great. This was one of the best concerts I've ever seen and makes me want to go to more live shows!
Devo is looking pretty old and dorky (as was the crowd), but they rocked hard and sounded great. Most of the bands on the road today could learn a great deal from Devo. They are so tight and in sync, they are like the white robot version of James Brown. Keep it up Devo!!
DEVO was awesome. They put on one great show! They know how to pump up the crowd. I'm 40 and I think most people there were older then me. Everyone was jumping around dancing. Opening act sucked! It took me 15 min. to realize he was the opening act, because I thought there was a joke here somewhere!
Few bands play all of the songs on their album in their exact order and do as well as DEVO does. Very ultra rare to see these days. So don't miss them and live to regret it. Get the meet & greet package you won't regret it.
Devo put on a simply amazing show, so much fun....
I highly enjoyed Friday nights show, but this past Saturday's, " Freedom Of Choice" show, was the one I was really looking forward too,and it delivered!! .I superly duperly highly enoyed it more. I missed the early shows in the late 1970's because I was to young and my first DEVO concert was the New Tradionalists Tour in 1981, so I missed out on the " Freedom Of Choice" tour and their early shows for "Are We Not Men" as well. This almost completes the circle for me with DEVO live shows. Now all I need to see is a tour where they are performing their "The Duty Now For The Future" album and maybe Shout(they never toured to support that album). The FOC show started out with the first song on the Album "Girl U Want" and followed the albums order exactly with the rest of the set, except for the encores. This is the show to see!!!!!!! Some people just love the early material( that's OK), I love all of it and the FOC material I little more I think. They played songs they have never ever performed live before. The stage set up was almost an exact replica of the 1980 stage up and Bob 1 is playing his Potato/Cloud blue guitar. I was in Heaven on Saturday with my DEVO family. All my Spud Talk friends were there too , Jane, Marc,Vannesa,Emerald,Matt and Michael. A friend of mine flew out from Minnesota for these two shows. I spoke with one of the members of the band, Bob Casale (a.k.a. Bob2) after the show and he told a bit of the equipment they needed for these songs were very special. They had to rent a prophet-5 , one of the early polyphonic analog synths to replicate some of the material on the FOC album. The crowd for this show were very different than the night before. There was one crazy lady up front though, other than that it was very ,very brillant. Everything about this show was in a word FANTASTIC!!!!. Go see this show, you will love it. And buy an energy Dome(a.k.a Flower Pot Hat.), the ones they make now are like the ones worn on stage. The are very well made of thick hard plastic. Have fun.
Was not sure what to expect when panning this blast from the 80's past. Devo exceeded my expectations. The group put on a very entertaining set consisting of all tracks from the Freedom of Choice album and a few bonus songs. Suprisingly, Devo is very well preserved and played very tight. There was one bizaare moment with the lead singer dressed with a rubber mask as "boofie boy" singing falsetto that didn't help the band, but overall a fun and upbeat experience.
An absolutely great show performed by one of the finest early '80's synth bands ever! Lots of fun & got my pogo on. Saw folks with their kids who seemed to have a fun time as well. Loved Reggie Watts as the opener for the show. He was brilliant!
Well I know they were doing an album tour, playing one album a night in original track order. But what I did not get was that the show opens with a video screen that played three of their old music videos from the 80's, and two of the videos were songs that were going to be played later that night. Why not show videos of songs you will not be performing tonight!!??!!. So I thought for sure they would do an encore and play some popular songs from other albums..Nope! I think the show was over in 56 minutes...
I can't tell if it was the sedate crowd that couldn't inspire Mothersbaugh, or if Mark's sluggishness (with moments of greatness) couldn't get the crowd on its feet. If you bought the album when it was released in 1980, and grew up listening to the whole thing ad nauseaum, then the show was a fantastic and emotional trip through your youth, with words to the most obscure songs coming back to you with amazing accuracy. "Snowball" and "Gates of Steel" were standouts, and the album's closing tunes ("Planet Earth" and "Mr. B's Ballroom) seemed to work as great closers. They blew through "Freedom of Choice" in almost no time, so everyone was wondering what the Spudboys would throw at us. "Satisfaction"? "Uncontrollable Urge"? Turns out is was a pretty uninspiring version of "Be Stiff". But...the exit of Mark at that song's close could only mean one thing: Booji Boy! His bizarre appearance, laughably high voice, and strange wish that Micahael Jackson could claw himself out of the ground like he did in the "Thriller" video, made his warble through "Beautiful World" to close the show a surreal and mesmerizing sight. My clock showed the show lasted just an hour, and perhaps they were a bit spent after performing "Are We Not Men" the night before. I would have liked a bit more, though. I sang the songs all night, and still couldn't get them out of my head Sunday morning! If you bought a ticket, you know Devo is a unique band that defies explanation a lot of the time. But as Saturday proved, they're also a hell of a lot of fun.
I saw DEVO a the Warfield Theatre in SF in 1980 thereabouts on their Freedom of Choice tour. One of the most memorable concerts ever. Thus, it was inevitable that this year's show would not live up to that standard. The stage mimicked the 1980 show except that the lighting rig was kinda homemade looking but still fun. Couldn't see the show that well b/c the Regency was packed and the stage is low. I would recommend seeing the Are We Not Men Show over this one. The FOC album is more synth, so a lot of the show is the band behind their keyboard except for Mark, of course. Could have don't without the Boogie Boy diatribe during It's a Beautiful World about Michael Jackson. Leave the guy alone. The show was very short. 10 mins of videos, 30 of FOC and 2 song encore. However, I don't think I've ever seen a long DEVO show.
Devo's performance was great....this band has weathered very nicely over the years and still has great energy and puts on a fantastic show. The Regency Ballroom was, however, not the best venue for this band. In fact, the Regency is just not that great of a venue. The floor gets really crowded and the clientele here always seems to be rude and pushy. My favorite venues in SF are still the Fillmore and the Warfield. My favorite Bay Area venue is still the Fox Theatre in Oakland.
the spud boys still have it. Mark kind of forgot some of the words to Cold War...but no biggie. i never got all the words to that song either. be stiff on the encore was great, as was the boogie boy appearance.
Mark will be 60 next May. Gerald is 61, and Bob 1 and 2 have only a couple years until they hit the big 6-0. I saw them last year, and again last night, and they showed no signs of slowing down. Just the opposite. They were energized and EPIC. Only one song fell flat, literally, when Mark seemed to be having problem with his monitor (he was tapping his earpiece and shaking his head).
Amazing show. The Potatoes were better than ever. Fear not, DEVO was solid. Solid state. The way of today. They will save this world.
What an exhilerating adventure back in time. They still have got IT. The venue was a beautiful little theatre and the meet and greet was fun and devoliscious as we attended the meet and greet having our t-shirts signed by every member of the band. I think some of their songs are truly timeless and could be hits even today. They were gracious and a bit eccentric - they are DEVO. What FUN. Worth the 4 hour drive each way and then some.
The last time i saw DEVO was in the early eighties but i couldn't resist seeing them perform Q: Are we not men. A: We are DEVO in it's entirety and they really delivered. While they look a lot older, and a little heavier, they really rocked the album with a ton of energy and a great sense of fun. My only complaint was that after they performed the album (which isn't that long), DEVO only performed two more songs (as an encore??) and the show ended at the one hour mark. In any economy, $50 is a lot to pay for a one hour show. They should have given us more. Also, the Regency Ballroom is a mess. The staff is unorganized, the beer lines are long and it's hot and smelly. Not a great venue.
The band was great! The show was way too short!!!! they played for 1 HOUR!! come on guys the tickets were expensive. It felt like they had just started and it was over. What a rip off.