DEVO RULES!!!

Twice before, I've held Devo concert tickets in my hands, and twice before, the show was cancelled, leaving a gaping hole in my musical existence. To add insult to injury, one of the times a show was cancelled, they rescheduled a few months later, at a 21+ venue, but I was only 18 or 19 at the time. Never had I longed for a Fake I.D. other than that time...

So, having established that I'm a long time Devo fan, and had yet to see them in concert, you can imagine my excitement - even giddyness - at music rehearsal for church a few weeks ago, when Randy (our bass player) showed me his Devo tickets for their September 9th show in Seattle... He said he was going with Matt (our wicked-awesome lead guitarist), and it was general admission standing room only seating, and that if I wanted to get a ticket, I'd be welcomed to join them. Needless to say, I happily paid the seemingly ridiculous ticket price, including the roughly $18 ticketmaster service charges, and anxiously awaited showtime.

It's been 33 years since the first-ever Devo performance, and the guys have to be well into their 50s. Weight has been gained, hair has grayed and receeded, and the band is on its third drummer. But W-O-W do they still put on an AMAZING SHOW!!!

We were probably about 20-25 feet from the stage, and saw all the gory details of aging before our eyes. And yet, in their portly (and in the case of Bob Casale - aka Bob 2 - downright FAT) condition, they rocked. Hard. Mark Mothersbaugh ran around the stage, even using Pom Poms to accent the rhythms of the songs... He threw out 10 or so Energy Domes (the "flower pot hats") into the crowd - one landed a few feet behind us, and nearly induced a brawl/riot. All in all, the crowd remained peaceful, and the show was one of, if not THE most impressive concerts I've ever seen. The three of us agreed that the next time (pray for a next time!) they come to town, we're going again.

The surprise of the night was the opening act, The Punk Group. When we saw the sign at the Paramount, pictured above, we thought they were specifying that the Devo we were seeing was "Devo, The Punk Group". We were all VERY disgusted that someone would call Devo a punk group, and were relieved to find that it was actually the opening act. They were a very pleasant surprise! Totally punk!! Not punk as in burning down buildings and screaming for anarchy, but punk as in low budget, do-it-yourself, simple rock'n'roll. Two guys on stage, one on guitar, one on bass... Both playing entry-level Squire instruments... The guitar had the two high strings removed... They played to programmed drum and keyboard backing tracks, and were absolutely brilliant!! With simple lyrics like "Fat Girls On Bicycles, Trying To Lose Some Weight" and completely singable melodies, they won us over! By the time we went back out to buy their CD, it was sold out. Luckily we found 'em on the web...

Bottom line, Amazing Show. There is SO much more to Devo than "Whip It", which is sadly what most people think of. If you ever get the chance, I can't recommend it strongly enough! Oh, and if your kids look at you like you're crazy for loving Devo, the band has set up Devo 2.0 to hook in the young'uns.

VIVA LA DEVO!!!