Cat. No. DVD 1441: DEVO ~ LIVE 1980. XELON XELDVD1002.

COLOUR                     RUNNING TIME: 75 MINS.

REVIEW: Although hard to fathom nowadays, there was a time when there was no “MTV”. In fact, rock music visuals on TV were usually delegated strictly to the weekend, when you had to burn the midnight oil to catch “Saturday Night Live”, “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert”, the “Midnight Special” or “Friday’s”. And mostly, it was either straight-ahead live performance footage. Or else blah lip-synched stuff, with the musicians playing to an empty arena on the afternoon of the show. This all changed with Devo. The five spuds from Ohio seemed to have an agenda (in no particular order), to make you think, laugh and build homemade “energy dome” hats – and this seemed to occur whenever a Devo TV appearance occurred. One of the first groups to film conceptual video clips (who could forget the classic striking shorts for “Whip It’, “Freedom Of Choice” and “Satisfaction”). Devo was also one of the new wave era’s great live bands, as evidenced by this very DVD.

PERFORMANCES: August 17, 1980. Phoenix Theatre, Petaluna – Whip It / Snowball / It’s Not Right / Girl U Want / Planet Earth / S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain) / Secret Agent Man / Pink Pussycat / Blockhead / (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction / Uncontrollable Urge / Mongoloid / Be Stiff / Gates Of Steel / Freedom Choice / Jocko Homo / (Smart Patrol / Mr. DNA) / (Gut Feeling / Slap Your Mammy) / Come Back Jonee / Tunnel Of Life / Devo Corporate Anthem. PLUS: Ultra Rare Live At The M-80 Concert, 1980 – Dove The Band Of Love Performing / Praying Hands / Shrivel Up.

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