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Written by JACKIE LEE KING / Photos by LYLE A. WAISMAN
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Friday, 26 August 2005 |
At a Devo show you needn't worry about trying to fit in or to conform to a perceived norm. So let your true self flag fly. The audience was a myriad display of old, new, punk, prep, techno and analog people; enough to satisfy any diversity requirement by federal mandate.
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Devo
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 Entertainment
Art
House of Blues
Chicago, Ill.
August 26, 2005
Setlist
1. “That’s Good”
2. “Going Under”
3. “Girl U Want”
4. “Whip It”
5. “Satisfaction”
6. “Uncontrollable Urge”
7. “Mongoloid”
8. “Blockhead”
9. “Jocko Homo”
10. “Smart Patrol / Mr. DNA”
11. “Gates of Steel”
Encore
12. “Freedom of Choice”
13 “Wiggly World”
14. “Gut Feeling / Slap Your Mammy”
15. “Comeback Johnny” |
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The band wore their trademark hazz mat yellow suits and inverted flower pots at the beginning of the show, but devolutionized themselves during the song, “MR. DNA” by tearing off the external shell of their uniforms to reveal black t-shirts, shorts and kneepads. Are they not men? They are Devo!Now more than ever, Devo is vital and relevant to the time in which we live. Though no new material was unveiled, the arsenal of songs exhibited rose above any notion that this was a nostalgia tour or in it for the money. Though I’m sure there were some in the audience still contemplating these very questions. Devo’s music goes far beyond the poppy songs of “Whip it” and “The Girl You Want”; they proclaim the end of civilization by commenting on the sheer stupidity of us humans. Devo allows your inner ape to be present in the moment while enjoying the crumbling of your world and all that you perceive to be true. They even devolutionized “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. The song is somewhat of a Jagger little pill to swallow, but though the wondrous effects of beer I was even able to appreciate the irony of it all. Make no mistake, Devo is on a mission, and one that many contemporary punk bands, yes I said PUNK, do not realize. Punk is not just loud music to pump your fists to while channeling your teen angst bullshit into a mosh pit (though that is fun as well). These mechanized men of mayhem create a sound (switching between keyboard and rock guitar sounds) that punches though your “Mongoloid” like existence until you start to identify with Michael Douglas in the movie “Falling Down.” What Devo’s conveys then and now is this, "Freedom of choice is what you got; Freedom from choice is what you want." They’re still the edgy spuds looking for a good tomato. I now return you to your regularly scheduled life. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
