29 November 2023 – QPAC, Brisbane – words by Joe Harbour – pictures to come by Bec Harbour
Q. Are we not men?
A. We are Devo!
Wednesday is hump day but this week it’s Devo day, I have been excited all day to go see this iconic music outfit from Ohio on their 50 Years of DEVO-lution shows.
One of the things I’ve thought of all day is what merch do they have? Upon arrival I head straight to the merch and lo and behold, my Devo dream is made reality – Energy Domes!
What are Energy Domes you ask? If you’re a fan you know these are the signature red hats worn in various clips by the band and on this night I finally get to have one of my own! Not only do I have a solid red hat that looks akin to a reverse jelly mould, the band them selves have signed it.
So after this purchase I sit awaiting the doors to open and I look around at the colourful characters attending and I feel like art teachers, their students, nerds and weirdos, and IT staff have all converged in one place to attend the mass that is Devo’s final Brisbane show ever. Some are sporting red Energy Domes, yellow boiler suits and other coloured Energy Domes and shirts with the bands namesake. One thing I do really enjoy about live gigs is seeing what shirts get wheeled out by fans.
8PM comes and we all get ushered into our seats at the very nice QPAC, I was really digging the seats here, and the spacing was also adequate that you were not feeling you were sitting in a bucket like other venues.
So after some intro music and a very cool video featuring Roddy Rooter we get the band onstage and they start off with ‘Don’t shoot ( I’m a man)’ and then we get some classics like ‘Peek a Boo’ ,and ‘That’s Good’, which is a song I like a lot.
Next we get ‘Girl U Want’ and then ‘Whip it’ ,we’re all feeling it by this stage and the crowd are grooving in their seats.
What sort of music is Devo? Well… it’s hard to say they are one type because lyrically they have social commentary like punk does but then musically they have this weird quirkiness like They might be Giants or The Dead Milkmen mixed with electronic and regular rock band components that allows them to be virtually anything else whilst retaining a signature sound we all know and love. It’s art and satire above all else.
More songs follow and we get ‘Jock o Homo’, ’Planet Earth’ ‘(I can’t get no) Satisfaction’ and ‘Gates of Steel’. I was really hoping they would play ‘Through being Cool’ but alas it didn’t make it into the set.
After some costume changes we get ‘Freedom of Choice’ and the final song is ‘Beautiful World’ where Mark Mothersbaugh came out dressed as Booji Boy ( pronounced Boogie boy).
So over all I enjoyed this gig and the message of DEVO-lution is something very much alive and kicking and to see music in this day and age poking fun at the hubris of mankind is something that seems rarer the older I get.
Farewell Spuds and thank you for 50 years of amazing music!
