Had no idea Devo were still touring. No, didn’t go, but recently got an earful about a recent show at Oakland’s gorgeous Paramount theater. Saturday, sifting sand through back-stop-sized sieves at the preschool with some other dads (found two gold-painted rocks, a spent pacifier, numerous toy boats, rockets, plastic animals, and mercifully few cat dookies — the dues of belonging to a co-op), learned that one of the dads was a friend of Mark Mothersbaugh, and had been there with camera.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with a band staying together as long as the music holds up — Neil Young and Crazy Horse just keep getting better with years, e.g. — but there is always the risk of looking ridiculous if you hold too tightly to the past as years go by. Even if Devo did create the look to begin with, somehow the flower pot hats and hazmat suits don’t have quite the impact when wrapped around middle-aged paunches. Still, dude said the music sounded tight, and I’m as much a sucker as the next guy when it comes to living in the past.
The shots of bassist Jerry Casales show him apparently trapped in a very Devo-lved looking contraption; as it turns out, the apparatus is there to keep his very bad back aloft and in line.
Fascinating pix. I wish they had a soundtrack.
Just a day or two ago I was reminiscing with a friend about watching the Secret Agent Man video (the first music vid I can remember ever seeing) on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert (used to come on after SNL if my memory serves me…) back in the day. 1978?
Hmm, yes, those yellow jumpsuits don’t quite go with a paunch. In fact, the only one who looks really cool is the transformeroid bassist. Perhaps it’s time to pass the baton (and the flowerpots) on to Devo 2.0 – http://disney.go.com/disneyrecords/Song-Albums/devo20/
I used to love DEVO… still do… my brother has all my records…. I love their live tunes…. Scott.. speaking of old bands… have you heard the new Alarm cd? Its incredible… Mike Peters is still rocking. Having this new cd and finding my LP of Candy Apple Grey from Husker Du has really made my week….
Hey Steph, no haven’t heard it, but will look for it, thanks for the tip.
The link to the photos is stale….
I was there at the concert and Devo rocked! Middle-aged paunches don’t change their enthusiasm or their ability to rock’n’roll. The crowd was way into it – the floor was shaking from everyone dancing. With all the crappy music coming out these days, thank goodness Devo’s still puts on some shows so we can enjoy their timeless music – most of which was written over 20 years ago.
By the way…if you want to see them in concert they’re scheduled to play in SF on the 28th of October this year. For more info…check out http://www.clubdevo.com
Duty Now!