Photo: Susan Le May
Eliminate the ninnies and the twits! Devo are here to deconstruct this fucked up world and ain't nobody gonna stop them. The Spudourgeoisie are out in force to catch Ohio's finest musical spawn. It's been more than 15 years since the band's last European tour, and tonight London hosts one of the late 70s/early 80s most inconspicuously influential acts.
Amongst the founding fathers of new wave art punk pop rock, Devo took satire, sarcasm and social commentary to the extreme, with many totally missing the point around the group's peak between 1978 and 1982. In more recent years their stripped back eccentricity has enjoyed somewhat of a cult revival, and despite the obvious passing of time, it's a complete privilege to be in the presence of such royalty.
Chanting spuds, lights, video! WE ARE DEVO. Flash flash – the five principles of Devolution. Ladies and gentlemen, this is' Your last chance'. Wear gaudy colours or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The littlest may survive and the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!
The Casale’s and the Mothersbaugh’s (plus drummer Josh Freese) emerge from the wings in regulation yellow boiler suits and red energy domes, to rapturous applause. Early track ’That’s Good’ is more beefed up than its original naked synth and driving bass incarnation, before the militaristic robot manoeuvres and sinister HA HA HA HAAA of ‘Peek-A-Boo’.
Bob 1’s brilliant opening riff of ‘Girl U Want’ sends the spuds into a spin before the tremendous Minimoog intro of ‘Whip It’, with Mothersbaugh mock whipping the air ala the vid. The song that cemented their place in music history and began the film clip revolution is fabulously kitsch and as infectious as it was 27 years ago.
Despite some suckling on the teat of corporate America as bigwigs in the vacuous advertising industry, founding pair Casale and Mothersbaugh are still frickin cool. An increasingly enthralled crowd grapples for energy domes as they fly out like alien Frisbees, whilst the destruktion of the Stones’ ‘Satisfaction (I Can’t Get Me No)’ is as innovative as it was all those years ago.
Forget your Jaggers and your Daltreys, Mothersbaugh is the most inspiring frontman with a bus pass. He rips at the crepe paper costumes during ‘Uncontrollable Urge’ to reveal the alternate outfit of black T-shirt and shorts with long socks and kneepads, before the Krautrock motorik beat of ‘Mongoloid’.
Who believes Devolution is real? No people no, it’s a trick. YEAH!!! Hahahahaha fools! Baaa baaa baaaa. Devo break into what is essentially their theme tune, ‘Jocko Homo’, which in the past they would carry on for 30 minutes or more to deliberately piss off and provoke. The frenetic ‘Freedom Of Choice’ rings ever more true in the ears of the Bush/Blair generation on the night prior to Big Tone’s exit stage left, before the nightmarish puff-plastic (bloated) Booji Boy returns from suspended animation for a sublime and squeaky ‘Beautiful World’ finale.
Devo are fucking ace, and tonight they are magic. Their songs rule and they are still mega cool. Listen to them spuds! Listen to them!
