Fifty years of de-evolution already? Well, one glance at a newspaper headline would reinforce that premise and also question its pace; at this rate, I’d reckon the human race has at tops a handful of decades left before we topple from the top of the evolutionary pinnacle. Devo has been observing from the sidelines for five decades, and finally made a stop in Boston for the first time since 2008 and only second time since 1998. People dusted off their red energy domes, braved the torrential rain, and filled the club to near capacity.
After a video montage showing a record exec back in the day, scheming how to get them popular and then cutting to the same day actor, much older and scoffing at band’s meager mainstream success, the band took the stage and kicked off with “Don’t Shoot (I’m A Man),” from their last studio record Something For Everyone, released all the way back in 2010.
Even though it had been quite some time since they played Boston, the set lists were surprisingly similar in content if not sequence. I guess that really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as the people wanted the hits and the band served ‘em up, piping hot. Mark Mothersbaugh looked in top shape, despite dodging death and losing stereo vision during the pandemic, and his quivery voice was as strong and fitting as ever. His brother Bob 1 flanked him on his left, and Gerard Casale manned keys and bass on his right, the trio the last of the remaining original quintet. Josh Hager of Boston band The Elevator Drops has been a member in the band since Bob 2 passed away, and while Josh Freese isn’t in the touring lineup, the other drummer for A Perfect Circle and Devo was in his place, Jeff Friedl.
Of course the big hits like their disassembled and bolted back together backwards version of “Satisfaction” got a big response, as did the driving “Uncontrollable Urge” and “Jocko Homo”; yes, we are all Devo. The non-PC “Mongoloid” also was played, the driving chords powering Casale’s bass playing (on a headless Steinberger, talk about the ’80s) and his lead vocals. Devo were an improbable band to land in the mainstream, and the fact they had a bunch of videos already recorded when MTV started up certainly helped their cause; it’s encouraging to think that even the nerds win sometimes.
