Devo was dead nuts on in their performance of The New Traditionalists in it's entirety. Instrumentally and vocally they still have it just as well as they did back in the beginning. I saw Devo in their heyday back in the early 80's, I can say with certainty that they are as good now as they were then. Lights and sound were perfect for the venue as well.
The veteran members executed their guitar, vocal, and synth parts precisely, but it should be noted that the new drummer, Josh, has his licks down pat. He has learned the material well, and executed the songs flawlessly. He has a certain fluid playing syle that allows him to trade off his dominant arm from right to left and back again which suits this style of music well. He sounded like he had been playing with Devo for years. Energy domes off to him for really filling the hole.
As I see it there were only two problems with the show. One being the opening act. The crowd at the Vic was indeed very rude to him, although there were moments when his talent was recognized by a few. It was always recognized by me, however, he just wasn't the right choice to open a Devo show. It would more apporopriate for him to open a Heywood Banks or a Weird Al show. The other problem was the length of the Devo set. A lot of us would have liked to see them play just a little longer. However if we must trade quality for quantity, we certainly did so and still got a great show for the money. I and many others would do it again this friday if we could.
Overall a great show. For those of you who are saying to yourselves "I should have gone" you are indeed correct.
Vic Theatre @
- Chicago @
,IL @
- Fri, Nov 13, 2009 @
Favorite moment: Meet and greet after the show. Thanks for haning out with us Mark, Bob 1, Bob 2, Gerry, and Josh. @
Setlist: See inside sleeve of The New Traditionalists, add two videos in the beginning and an extended play version of Beautiful World at the end. That about covers it. @
Opening act(s): Not a Terrible act, just a terrible choice for a Devo show. @
