The Conical Glass: Nostalgiarama

Monday, November 09, 2009

Nostalgiarama

This past weekend, I had a choice of two concerts that would bring back the 1980s in all their glory: the Pixies performing Doolittle in its entirety at the Fox Theater in Oakland, or Devo's two-night stand in San Francisco (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! on Friday, Freedom of Choice on Saturday). I opted for Devo, mainly because I saw the Pixies live about a zillion times during their wonder years, in venues large (opening for U2 at the Spectrum in Philly) and small (opening for Throwing Muses at the old 9:30 Club in D.C.). But I was too young to witness the spuds on their seminal tours, though I did finally manage to see them twice. My dad drove me and my brother to see them in East Lansing in late 1982, and I also caught their 2005 reunion gig at the Paramount in Oakland. That was a kick-ass show, so I knew they still had the chops.

Q: Are We Not Men? is one of my favorite albums -- I think it still holds up brilliantly today, and there's really only one song on it that I don't care for ("Too Much Paranoia," mercifully short). Hearing it live was a dream come true, and the band put on an incredibly high-energy performance from start to finish. Here's a surprisingly decent YouTube video of Devo's Friday performance of "Gut Feeling," which is probably one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time. The guys perform with such intensity that it's hard to believe they're all in their late 50s and early 60s (with the exception of drummer Josh Freese, the only non-original member). It's kind of like watching a bunch of suburban dads rock out. Here's another video worth watching: opening track "Uncontrollable Urge," featuring four of the members jumping in unison. I can't imagine that they had any more energy back in 1978.

There were only two encores, "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA" and "Gates of Steel," so the show was just about an hour long. I kind of wish they'd played some more songs from Duty Now For the Future, the bridge between Q: Are We Not Men? and Freedom of Choice, but it was a thoroughly satisfying experience nonetheless.

Despite the fact that the album contains the band's biggest hit, "Whip It," I got the feeling (a gut feeling?) that Devo wasn't quite as into playing Freedom of Choice. The disc is much more synth-based, and it's harder to get crazy when you're behind a keyboard. Plus, it's just not as strong an album as their debut; most of side two (yes, even though I now have it on CD, I will always think of it as a vinyl record) is inconsequential. I could have sworn I saw Mothersbaugh reading lyrics (taped to the stage, perhaps?) at one point.

For the Saturday night encore, "Beautiful World," Mothersbaugh broke out his Booji Boy garb as a treat for the fans (the plastic-masked Booji character was a fixture in the band's first few videos). Booji delivered a monologue about meeting Michael Jackson in L.A., and for a moment, you could almost feel the crowd holding its collective breath. Even among aging punk rockers, it seemed inappropriate to joke about Jackson. But the story turned out to be a little sweet, in its own weird way. Moments like that one ensure that I'll always be a proud member of the Devo faithful.

posted by 125records @ 6:35 PM

2 Comments:

At 9:43 AM, Miles said…

Devo remains one of those bands that I just don't have much by. I know I owned Duty Now for the Future at one point, maybe something else. I always think of my '77-'89 music knowledge as being pretty thorough, but for whatever reason, I've never attempted Devo. Haven't disliked anything I've heard; there's always something else I end up buying instead.
At 12:53 PM, 125records said…

Miles, you might enjoy "Q: Are We Not Men" -- I can see it appealing to the same set of people who liked late 70s Wire, and it was produced by Brian Eno, so there's a Roxy Music connection as well!