Skip to main content

Devo

Carling Academy, Glasgow
4 stars
As art-rock pranks go, Devo’s marriage of stylised sci-fi geek chic and turbo-charged new wave power pop was a cartoon riot of high-concept bubblegum satire that laughed at itself as well as the system that spawned them. 35 years on from the band’s initial grouping in Akron, Ohio and touring for the first time in 15 years, despite advancing years, Devo remain a thrilling mix of performance art as pop song that the likes of Chicks On Speed have appropriated wholesale but without any of the tunes.

Clad in trademark yellow boiler suits and Bill and Ben ‘energy dome’ hats (only £18 at the merchandise stall), Devo’s retrograde cod-philosophy of de-evolution, which acknowledged man’s ongoing backward slide during the Nixon and Reagan eras, has, in the Bush administration, unwittingly found its time. Musically, too, strip away the outfits and self-conscious quirks as the band themselves gradually disrobe to a shorts and t-shirts combo, and Devo’s analogue synth bleeps and taut, stop-start guitar anthems sound utterly, adolescently now.

The live routine itself has barely changed as, lined up in a row at the front of the stage, for 75 breathless minutes Devo power through their greatest hits with such none-stop twitchiness as to suggest they’re running on long life batteries. When the energy domes are removed, the band’s now visible grey hair only accentuates their oddness. They may not be that much younger than The Rolling Stones, but Devo’s version of Satisfaction remains a classic rock and roll deconstruction.

There’s something triumphal about Devo’s revenge of the nerds routine, and when vocalist Mark Mothersbaugh returns for the encore as overgrown infant Booji Boy to sing Beautiful World, Devo’s mission looks wonderfully complete.

The Herald, June 26th 2007

ends

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Losing Touch With My Mind - Psychedelia in Britain 1986-1990

DISC 1 1. THE STONE ROSES   -  Don’t Stop 2. SPACEMEN 3   -  Losing Touch With My Mind (Demo) 3. THE MODERN ART   -  Mind Train 4. 14 ICED BEARS   -  Mother Sleep 5. RED CHAIR FADEAWAY  -  Myra 6. BIFF BANG POW!   -  Five Minutes In The Life Of Greenwood Goulding 7. THE STAIRS  -  I Remember A Day 8. THE PRISONERS  -  In From The Cold 9. THE TELESCOPES   -  Everso 10. THE SEERS   -  Psych Out 11. MAGIC MUSHROOM BAND  -  You Can Be My L-S-D 12. THE HONEY SMUGGLERS  - Smokey Ice-Cream 13. THE MOONFLOWERS  -  We Dig Your Earth 14. THE SUGAR BATTLE   -  Colliding Minds 15. GOL GAPPAS   -  Albert Parker 16. PAUL ROLAND  -  In The Opium Den 17. THE THANES  -  Days Go Slowly By 18. THEE HYPNOTICS   -  Justice In Freedom (12" Version) ...

Myra Mcfadyen - An Obituary

Myra McFadyen – Actress   Born January 12th 1956; died October 18th 2024   Myra McFadyen, who has died aged 68, was an actress who brought a mercurial mix of lightness and depth to her work on stage and screen. Playwright and artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, David Greig, called McFadyen “an utterly transformative, shamanic actor who could change a room and command an audience with a blink”. Citizens’ Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill described McFadyen’s portrayal of Puck in his 2019 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London as “funny, mischievous and ultimately heartbreaking.”   For many, McFadyen will be most recognisable from Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based around ABBA songs. McFadyen spent two years on the West End in Phyllida Lloyd’s original 1999 stage production, and was in both film offshoots. Other big screen turns included Rob Roy (1995) and Our Ladies (2019), both directed by Mi...

Big Gold Dreams – A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989

Disc 1 1. THE REZILLOS (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures (12/77)  2. THE EXILE Hooked On You (8/77) 3. DRIVE Jerkin’ (8/77) 4. VALVES Robot Love (9/77) 5. P.V.C. 2 Put You In The Picture (10/77) 6. JOHNNY & THE SELF ABUSERS Dead Vandals (11/77) 7. BEE BEE CEE You Gotta Know Girl (11/77) 8. SUBS Gimme Your Heart (2/78) 9. SKIDS Reasons (No Bad NB 1, 4/78) 10. FINGERPRINTZ Dancing With Myself (1/79)  11. THE ZIPS Take Me Down (4/79) 12. ANOTHER PRETTY FACE All The Boys Love Carrie (5/79)  13. VISITORS Electric Heat (5/79) 14. JOLT See Saw (6/79) 15. SIMPLE MINDS Chelsea Girl (6/79) 16. SHAKE Culture Shock (7/79) 17. HEADBOYS The Shape Of Things To Come (7/79) 18. FIRE EXIT Time Wall (8/79) 19. FREEZE Paranoia (9/79) 20. FAKES Sylvia Clarke (9/79) 21. TPI She’s Too Clever For Me (10/79) 22. FUN 4 Singing In The Showers (11/79) 23. FLOWERS Confessions (12/79) 24. TV21 Playing With Fire (4/80) 25. ALEX FERGUSSON Stay With Me Tonight (1980) ...