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Author: MrFab
Date: 06-20-12 12:17
Yep, that's the name of the Blondie/Devo tour. Mrs Fab was thrilled to hear about it, got the tickets, then told me "Don't ask me how much they cost." So I didn't.
It'll be her third Blondie show (my second) but her first time seeing the spuds. I saw 'em twice back in the '80s - what are they like now? Do they still stand shoulder-to-shoulder and skip when doing "Uncontrollable urge"? Can I expect an appearance from Boojie Boy, treadmills, or Dove (the Band of Love)?
Post Edited (06-20-12 12:55)
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Author: Heff
Date: 06-20-12 12:48
Saw Devo last December (third time for me). They were definitely better than the second time (2005?) but nowhere near as good as back in 1989. To answer your question - yes they do jump for 'Uncontrollable Urge', Booji Boy shows up for the encore (curiously enough I don't remember Booji appearing back in 89). The costume changes are the same, though it's weird seeing the boys jumping around in shorts and kneepads.
But, hey - it's Devo! They are having fun now and Bob M (1 or 2?) is more involved and he's a funny guy.
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Author: rhettlawrence
Date: 06-20-12 16:53
I'll concur with what Heff says, though the one and only time I've ever seen them was last fall, so I have no basis for comparison.
That same tour is coming through here too, but they're playing at basically a fairground amphitheater 45 minutes up the interstate, so I haven't quite mustered up the enthusiasm to buy tickets. Similar to your situation, it may well depend on my wife's desire to see Ms. Harry in action.
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Author: erikalbany
Date: 06-20-12 17:28
The first half of the Devo set is loud, slamming electronica (leaning heavily into more recent material). The second half is the more conventional guitar band stuff (uncontrollable, mongoloid, etc.)
I saw them last summer. They were outstanding (and a lot louder than i expected). Josh Freese has been drumming for them a lot on tour.
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Author: MrFab
Date: 06-20-12 17:45
Quote:
they do jump for 'Uncontrollable Urge'
Awright!
Quote:
The first half of the Devo set is loud, slamming electronica (leaning heavily into more recent material). The second half is the more conventional guitar band stuff (uncontrollable, mongoloid, etc.)
That's funny - that's how they did it when I first saw them in the early '80s ("Oh No" had just come out). And it only cost me $13. Tho at the time, that was a lot of after-school chores allowance money.
Post Edited (06-20-12 17:45)
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Author: Aitch
Date: 06-20-12 22:43
Yes, I was just going to comment. Those winery shows are getting huge here. They're usually pretty horrible line-ups although The Leonard Cohen one had support from The Triffids and Friends line-up who did the McComb tribute shows some years back that you guys hated me for attending.
Might have to consider getting out the old picnic rug.
Post Edited (06-21-12 20:07)
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Author: Delvin
Date: 06-21-12 13:18
I'm definitely going to the show in Woodinville, WA.
If it's a good one, I may drive south to Ridgefield the next night for an extra dose.
Ohhh man, I'm really going to like living here!
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Author: rhettlawrence
Date: 06-21-12 14:20
Delvin - I've never gone up to a show at the Clark County Amphitheater in Ridgefield, but it's where, say, Toby Keith would probably play if he came through the area. I believe Def Leppard is playing up there sometime soon as well.
It's also where I had a very sad moment of driving by it on the interstate and seeing the board flash up a huge ad for the upcoming Journey/Heart double bill, and then "Cheap Trick" in much smaller letters below that as the opening band.
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Author: zoo
Date: 06-21-12 14:43
>breno wrote:
>If it's Simple Minds in pre-1985 form, then it would be even more killer.
Simple Minds will never be in pre-'85 form unless the following happens:
1. Derek Forbes and Michael McNeil return; they've been trying to replace those guys for a long time and haven't done it
2. Convince Mel Gaynor that pre-'82 material is not made for arenas; if he can't deal with it, get Brian McGee or someone that can play like him. That guy was awesome.
3. Kerr needs to stop elongating words that were once curtly spit forth. Example from today: "Thiiiiirty frames a secooooooooond." That's not how it was done back in the day.
4. Get Charlie Burchill to go on a diet. Otherwise, the guy's playing is brilliant.
Really, just #3 would solve a major problem with their live act for me...not that I've had any chance to see them in the last two decades, but I've watched many a clip on the Internet and know how they sound these days.
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Author: nosepail
Date: 06-21-12 14:49
3. Kerr needs to stop elongating words that were once curtly spit forth. Example from today: "Thiiiiirty frames a secooooooooond." That's not how it was done back in the day.
Why do older singers feel the need to change the phrasing used in their original classic songs? Do they get bored with singing the songs the old way? or are they simply unable to sing the old way? Mick Jagger comes to mind here.
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Author: Delvin
Date: 06-21-12 14:56
The venue in Woodinville, WA is a relatively small amphitheatre. Its calendar for 2012 does not include any other TP-related acts. In fact, at least half the acts on the schedule are ones that I wouldn't cross the street to see for free. But it should be a good place to see this show.
Yeah, Rhett, I agree: it hurts to see Cheap Trick at the bottom of the bill, summer after summer, under less deserving acts. What's worse, IMO, is that a lot of people who call themselves fans seem to accept this fate for the band. Last month, Cheap Trick headlined at a casino near Olympia. When I asked the rock & roll fans in my new social circle if they'd like to come with me, they all said the same thing: "They're opening for Aerosmith this summer. I'll see 'em then."
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Author: Michael Toland
Date: 06-21-12 15:13
According to an article on Simple Minds I just read in Prog, the band is working with Steve Hillage in an attempt to go back to their pre-"Don't You Forget About Me' state of creative mind.
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Author: breno
Date: 06-21-12 16:24
Quote:
Why do older singers feel the need to change the phrasing used in their original classic songs? Do they get bored with singing the songs the old way? or are they simply unable to sing the old way? Mick Jagger comes to mind here.
Michael Stipe made live performances of "Man on the Moon" virtually unlistenable during R.E.M.'s latter days by insisting on shrieking "KEWWELLLL" at the end of every chorus. I always wanted to punch him in the throat right before he would let out that bellow.
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Author: Delvin
Date: 08-03-12 16:02
Jeez, the concert scene in the Seattle area can be an embarrassment of riches. The same night I'm seeing Blondie and Devo, I have to pass up seeing The Hives and Sloan, at two different gigs.
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Author: STEVE
Date: 08-03-12 22:40
that's it, i gotta get the fuck outta fla. maybe this vacation that me and the fan club prez have been planning to nova scotia will pay off. at least we gotta good chance to see sloan. and after that, who knows? i may never come back.
you hear me zoo?
Post Edited (08-03-12 22:46)
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Author: Delvin
Date: 09-08-12 12:51
The show last night was tremendous fun. Both bands sounded great, and their singers were in fine voice. The newest material from both groups sounded excellent too.
Devo started the show wearing the grey outfits and weird grey mask-hats from the Something for Everybody cover. The first half of the set was devoted to more electronic material, with both the Casale brothers playing keyboards the whole time. After "Whip It," the group left the stage while a portentous space video played on screen: "The Milky Way ... one hundred billion billion stars ... an insignificant speck at the edge of its spiral arm ..." You get the idea.
The spuds came back out in the yellow coveralls, the Casale brothers strapped on the guitar and bass, and they threw themselves into a stretch of songs that IMO couldn't have been improved upon. (They played six songs in a row, from "Girl U Want" through "Mongoloid," that my old band used to play in its sets! Boy, that blew my mind.) I enjoyed that first half, but man, I couldn't have sat down during the second half of Devo's set if I'd tried. The band still is unbelievably tight, and Josh Freese is a powerhouse on the drums.
Blondie sounded great, although Debbie doesn't sing with quite the sustain on the high notes that she once had. She had her hair all poofed up, and wore a gold lamé coat onstage. (My wife and I argued about her look; I thought it played up her icon status, while she said, "She looks like one of the Golden Girls!") She certainly was a lot more into it than she was when I saw Blondie about three years ago.
The group played the songs from Panic of Girls with surprising sparkle, but did seem a bit tired of the older material. (When the band played "Rapture," the woman to our left -- who had not stopped talking for five seconds all night, up till this point -- suddenly told her companions, "Okay, all you guys shut up, it's 'Rapture'!") The Frankie Goes to Hollywood cover was a surprise, too; it was pretty faithful to the original, yet the band really took ownership of it.
DEVO SETLIST:
Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)
Peekaboo
What We Do
Going Under
So Fresh
That's Good
Girl U Want
Whip It
(video interlude while the band changed outfits)
Satisfaction
Secret Agent Man
Uncontrollable Urge
Mongoloid
Jocko Homo
Smart Patrol/Mr DNA
Gates of Steel
Devo Corporate Anthem (on tape, or whatever, as the band exited stage right)
BLONDIE SETLIST:
Dreaming
Hanging on the Telephone
Love Doesn't Frighten Me
D-Day
Call Me
What I Heard
Wipe Off My Sweat
Horizontal Twist
Atomic
Rapture (ended with a bit of "No Sleep Till Brooklyn")
Mother
One Way or Another
ENCORE:
Relax
Heart of Glass
It was rather surreal to drive my Volvo to a winery to see two of my most cherished musical acts from my high-school/college days. Quite a few fans there were wearing the energy-dome hats. I had planned to wear my Devo outfit, but it's still in a box somewhere in my basement. Oh well.
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Author: MrFab
Date: 09-13-12 12:32
Saw 'em last night, and it was pretty much the same playlist, tho we got lucky - Devo came out again after the Corporate Anthem and gave us a bit more: "Freedom of Choice." Those guys have more constume changes then Cher. "Uncontrollable Urge" is still a highlight.
Blondie was...okay. "Dreaming"and "Hanging on the Telephone" was a great one-two punch but wasn't familiar with all those new songs, and none of 'em did much for me. I agree with ya, D-man, that they "did seem a bit tired of the older material" but Debbie was in good spirits.
The crowd I was with was knocked out seeing the Spuds for the first time, tho Mrs Fab admitted that when we saw Blondie at the Key Club on the Sunset Strip back around '05 or so it was a better show. We thought Devo should have been the headliner - you just couldn't follow their energy. I appreciated the (supposed) MCA tribute by throwing in "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", but "Relax" was a puzzle. Their version was fine, but of all songs to cover, why that one?
Wasn't at a winery ('twas The Greek Theater) but we had wine! And, yes, there were the non-stop yackin' housewives, tho fortunately they were a couple rows behind, not next to us.
Any youngsters at your show, Delvin? I'd say the mix was 10% young 'uns (if even that much), 90% pot-bellied greying/balding folks in energy domes.
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Author: Heff
Date: 09-14-12 13:35
MrFab wrote:
> Any youngsters at your show, Delvin? I'd say the mix was 10%
> young 'uns (if even that much), 90% pot-bellied greying/balding
> folks in energy domes.
When I saw Devo last December, I'd say the crowd was more evenly split. There were even several parents and their children, though I wonder what they thought (the parents) when their preteens were subjected to the opening band Tripple Nipple
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Author: zoo
Date: 09-14-12 13:55
Tripple Nipple?
There was a girl in high school we used to refer to as "Triple Nipple" because she had a mole on her chest that seemed perfectly centered. If she wore a shirt that was a little low cut, you could see it. It looked like...well, a third nipple.
This man, of course, was the original triple nipple:
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Author: Delvin
Date: 09-15-12 23:57
I knew it'd be impossible for either band to measure up to my first experiences with them (the Parallel Lines tour -- from the front row! -- and the New Traditionalists tour). But Devo still was tremendous fun, and sounded great. And Blondie, as I said, was better than the last time I'd seen the group (when Debbie seemed downright tired and out of it).
> Any youngsters at your show, Delvin? I'd say the mix was 10% young 'uns (if even that much),
> 90% pot-bellied greying/balding folks in energy domes.
The Seattle gig had about the same ratio ... with the emphasis on young. The family in front of me brought their elementary-school-age daughter, who was in her PJs by the time the show started.
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