With an abundance of energy domes, black-framed glasses and fake New Traditionalists hair, the second night of Devo’s classic-albums-live tour at the Phoenix is clearly a celebration of nerdity. Overheard in the bathroom beforehand is an exchange that goes something like:
Dude #1: “This is great. It’s so special that we’re all here.”
Dude #2: “We’re all devo.”
And if you’re wondering how a postmodern new wave band that hasn’t made a new record in almost 20 years has maintained such a following, take a look around you. Chances are that bandleader Mark Mothersbaugh, his guitar playing brother Bob, bassist/singer Gerry Casale or his brother Bob have their fingerprints all over the soundtrack to your favourite children’s show (Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Rugrats), commercial (Swiffer, Honda Scooters) or feature film. But what’s amazing is that these guys actually got more subversive when they went corporate.
While the fake-bearded hucksterism of opening act JP Inc. is a perfect conceptual fit for MTV’s first video sensation, JP’s brand of live YouTube comedy gets pretty stale after the first couple segments (though the opening Jazzbot Xtreme bit is gold). Only a creepy bit entitled “Strangers Have the Best Candy” recoups the initial merriment. Incidentally, the word “De-vo!” is great for heckling mediocre comedians.
Leave it to Devo — pioneers of the art of selling out — to preface their full rendition of 1980's Freedom of Choice album by playing all the of the album’s hit videos (“Girl U Want,” “Whip It” and the title track) on a screen before they take the stage. The MTV-generation visual reminder hardly diminishes the real deal when Devo appear — sporting energy domes and album-appropriate uniforms — and rip into lead-off track "Girl U Want." It doesn’t hurt either that self-promoting super-drummer Josh Freese is powering the song along like you won’t hear on Live 1980.
“Whip It” is equally crushing, but nowhere near the guitar-heavy take on “Freedom of Choice” and “Gates of Steel,” a song that finds lead devolutionist Mark Mothersbaugh in peak form. What’s amazing is that this record really has only one throwaway track — “Don’t You Know,” which I know is number nine on the album because there’s a boxing-ring card girl calling out track numbers before each song just to make clear what we’re witnessing.
After the last few songs from the album — obviously — and a brief interlude about how infinitesimally small we are compared to the rest of the universe, Devo hit us up with a two-song encore of “Be Stiff” and “Beautiful World” complete with a lengthy Booji Boy bit about Michael Jackson and handfuls of bouncy rubber balls lobbed into the crowd. Devo’s set clocks in at just over an hour, which is both slightly disappointing, but also a testament to their own self-conscious disposability. Thirty years on, the devolution is going strong.