On paper, this didn’t look very promising. A bunch of 70-year-old guys running around in their silly “energy domes” and plastic raincoats, (still) telling us how society has devolved. And yet it worked. It worked better than it ever has! First of all, the band sounded amazing. Secondly, it turns out they were right all along!
Understand, this wasn’t your typical ‘80s show. No opener (thank you), and lots of old folks (like me) with a few (very) young people scattered about. No millennials, no Gen Z; not hardly.
The setlist was solid, covering a wide range of the bands’ career while simultaneously focusing on the core years. “Whip It” turned up early in the set, likely to satisfy friends and significant others who may have tagged along to see what all this De-evolution stuff was about.
“That’s Good” was amazing. The middle of the set was mostly a suite of songs from the group’s debut album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO! To that end, it would have been nice to hear the acoustic version of “Jocko Homo.” They used to do it that way back in the late ‘80s. It’s a totally different song done that way. Sadly, that version is out of print and isn’t even streamable. The original version, as performed, was great, to be sure, with lots of cool visuals and plenty of audience participation.
The encore, appropriately, was “Beautiful World.” This is probably their second-most recognized track, thanks to its deeply ironic use by Target in a TV advert back in the late ‘90s and early aughts. At first, it seems odd the band would have signed off on that, but just imagine the convo.
Target: Hey, DEVO, we’d like to use your song “Beautiful World” in a TV spot.
DEVO: Uh… why?
Target: Because Target is a beautiful world of housewares, clothing, and electronics.
DEVO: Did you listen to the whole song?
Target: Ummmm. Yeah! A couple of times, didn’t we Pete?
DEVO: (all side-eye each other). Sure. Why not?
On the bright side, it introduced that song to a new audience, and it is a BANGER. But the encore was a bit of a letdown. The first verse was sung amazingly by Gerald Casale. Then, the band’s mascot, Booji Boy rolled out. For those not familiar, he’s the “baby” that sticks the fork in the toaster in the “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” video and turns up elsewhere in the band’s video shorts and visual materials. In any case, it was clearly Mark Mothersbaugh in the Booji Boy mask doing the vocals in a horrific baby voice/falsetto, obstructed by the mask. We got a cool 12-inch remix version, which was fun, but otherwise, it was just awful.
Not only did they ruin their best song, they ruined one of the best new wave songs ever. As our highly de-evolved leader would say, “sad.”
Booji Boy
This was one of the final dates of their tour, but it was announced shortly before this appearance that the band would be hitting the road for an 11-date, co-headlining tour with the B-52s. Oddly, that only took 50 years to get sorted. Both bands still have it, so if you have a notion, get your tickets ASAP.
PF Wilson has been writing about music, TV, radio, and movies for over 20 years. He has also written about sports, business, and politics with his work appearing in Cincinnati CityBeat, The Houston Press, Cleveland Scene, Cincinnati Magazine, Cincy Magazine, Atomic Ranch, and many more. Check out his podcast PF’s Tape Recorder available from Podbean or in iTunes.