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Teh kewlness

So, this week an old friend and fellow Devo fanatic and I concocted a plot. We’ll be flying to San Diego to go to a racetrack where Devo will be doing their only U.S. tour stop this year. I’ve never seen Devo live, so this is extremely exciting. Better yet is that frequent flier miles are covering the plane ticket, so it won’t even be financially devastating to live the dream.

I’ve never really traveled to see a band, especially like this, where I’m the one geeking out. (Along with my friend, who I really befriended in college by mentioning MST3K at a happy hour. Oh yes, we are those people.) I’ve gone to Houston to see Radiohead, and that was more Marc’s thing than mine. And I think that’s it. Living in Austin means never having to leave home to see great music. This is a brand new experience for me.

In honor of my new level of geeky fandom, a Devo video.

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Posted by Amanda Marcotte on 10:04 PM • (18) Comments

Heh. The Del Mar Fair. I saw Berlin there in ‘93 I think.

Comment #1: Roxanne on 07/25 at 10:24 PM

Also, we ended seeing Siouxsie in Rome two weeks ago. She was awesome.

http://www.siouxsiemantaray.com/siouxsie.htm

Comment #2: Roxanne on 07/25 at 10:39 PM

you may be devo, but we are kraftwerk.

Comment #3: skippy on 07/26 at 12:28 AM

Sweet - I just saw that performance for my own jollies no less than a week ago.

I’ve been a huge fan of the spudboys since ‘81. Have a grand ol’time, Amanda.

Comment #4: Paul T. on 07/26 at 01:22 AM

only one this year? were in philly in june though I couldn’t go

Comment #5: Atrios on 07/26 at 01:43 AM

I’m green with jealousy… And I grew up in Minnesota, so I remember seeing the old original MST3K on the Fox29 station there (on UHF). Joel Hodgson is the best space castaway, sorry Mike.

Comment #6: Mireille on 07/26 at 02:09 AM

Awesome that you get to see them! But that’s not their only US date this summer—they played in Brooklyn a month ago.

Comment #7: DJA on 07/26 at 02:09 AM

1) Minnesotan - knew one of the MST3K makeup guys

2) Saw Devo in Chicago two-three years ago

3) Have a Power Dome, caught at above concert, from Mark Mothersbaugh’s hand to mine,

and

4) Just saw Kraftwerk live. As live as they get, anyway

(It’s such a narrow band of geekcred.)

Comment #8: nihilix on 07/26 at 02:42 AM

Well, I have you all beat. I saw them at the Armadillo, must have been 78 or 79. I was on the front row, and after a break, they came out with their cheeks all puffed out. Turns out that they had filled up their mouths with water and sprayed it on the audience at the beginning of the song.

I got wet with water that was in Mark Mothersbaugh’s mouth! OK, sounds kinda gross now, but it was cool at the time. That was one of the best shows that I have ever seen. ‘Jocko Homo’ changed my life, and is somewhat responsible for the kind of person I am today. Ha ha!!

Comment #9: Mark B. from Austin TX on 07/26 at 02:52 AM

Maybe last date in the U.S., then? I’m sure there was a real reason to see them there.

Comment #10: Amanda Marcotte on 07/26 at 10:02 AM

The real reason is access to <a >pizza on a stick</a>.

Comment #11: Roxanne on 07/26 at 10:45 AM

We’re all Devo!

I went to see them a few years back when they played a free show in front of SF City Hall. About half of the crowd was our fellow hipsters, who knew what we were getting into. The rest of the crowd, though, were all corporate and government office workers from the surrounding area. Some of them remembered Devo, but a good number of them were just really confused.

I seem to remember Mark Mothersbaugh dedicating Blockhead and Mongoloid to President Bush.

Comment #12: rufustfyrfly on 07/26 at 11:16 AM

Enjoy. I saw them in Asbury Park back in 1979. (I think it was Asbury Park… It was somewhere on the New Jersey coast.) Quite the experience. Damn, now you’ve made me feel old.

Comment #13: James on 07/26 at 12:54 PM

I happened on this link this morning also, and I happen to have this song on video:

Plastic Bertrand: Ca Plane por Moi (1978)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbHJnzgyv7E

According to a helpful soul on You Tube, this is a translation of the first verse:

Wham bam, my cat Splash
is rolling around on my bed. He swallowed
his tongue as he drank all my whisky
As for me, I’ve hardly slept, I feel empty and reprimanded
I had to sleep in the gutter,
where I had a flash of inspiration
In four colours (thus a multi-coloured flash of inspiration)

Man, early punk was so AWESOME!

Comment #14: Mark B. from Austin TX on 07/26 at 02:44 PM

on video? On vinyl. D’oh.

Comment #15: Mark B. from Austin TX on 07/26 at 02:48 PM

Devo kicks fucking ass! This will date me, but I saw Devo twice, once on their “flowerpot hat” tour and once on their “JFK hair hat” tour.

Comment #16: PhysioProf on 07/26 at 07:02 PM

Teh

Don’t. Please.

Comment #17: Notorious P.A.T. on 07/26 at 07:54 PM

Not that it will matter that much, but Amanda, you will also enjoy the racetrack. It’s Del Mar, one of the most beautiful tracks in the country, situated right next to a breathtaking California beach, with cliffs overlooking the sand, and great summer California weather.

Comment #18: Dilan Esper on 07/28 at 06:38 PM

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