Devo

By the mid- to late '90s, Devo had not played a string of live dates in years, resulting in a whole generation of rock fans never having the opportunity to catch these lovable spuds on-stage. But if you were living on the West Coast of the U.S. back in the summer of 1996, you got your chance. Devo was invited to take part in the rotating "mystery slot" at that year's Lollapalooza (with journeyman drummer Josh Freese in tow), and one of the performances, at Irvine Meadows, CA, serves as the basis for the Devo Live DVD. While this is not your average full-on Devo show (since they obviously weren't headlining, their set list is comprised of only 11 songs, and they had no use of their accompanying "video visuals"), Live shows that the group remains one of best live bands from the late-'70s/early-'80s new wave era -- with or without the added extras. Besides the first two songs, "Whip It" and "Girl U Want," no other songs post-Duty Now for the Future are featured, which was a pretty bold move by the band, since plenty of their best-known tracks came after this period. Still, Devo gets a good response from the largely metalhead audience (most of whom were there to see that year's Lolla headliners, Metallica) as they churn out fine versions of "Satisfaction," "Smart Patrol," "Gut Feeling," and especially "Jocko Homo," during which singer Mark Mothersbaugh runs through the audience, urging fans to complete the phrase "Are we not men?" (of course, the answer being "We are Devo!"). One small complaint about Live is that the camera work is akin to your average MTV video from this time -- rapid-fire multi-camera shots may leave you dizzy at certain points. Also included as a special feature is a "multiple camera angle" feature on several songs. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide