Oh, No! It's the DEVOtional! Time Out for Fun - 2005
Well, another DEVOtional has come and gone. If you weren't there, this is what you missed. (Written by Alex)
- Doors opened a little after 12pm, and there were a few DEVOtees waiting outside to be let in. We weren't even finished decorating yet.
- Around 1:15, we began to officially kick everything off with some random video screenings on our big screen (aka a bed sheet I borrowed from the Radisson). These included an interview with Mark by Weird Magazine, some backstage footage from Atlanta and footage of Mark composing a rather painful song.
- Around 2pm, David Kendrick gave a most excellent talk and Q&A session. Many questions were asked, and almost all were answered very thoroughly. David was very well recieved and shed some light on some of the band's more mysterious years.
- Almost immediately following David, the No-Counts played their one song, a rendition of Whip It featuring ghost vocals by an actual Transylvanian Count.
- There was a bit of a break for food and mingling at this point. During this time, Chuck Statler, General Boy, Jim Mothersbaugh and Bob1 all showed up. Bob1 was a completely unexpected occurence, and very welcome! He loved the Moxie soda that Prof. Von Marko threw at him. Also (I didn't see this, he apparently gave David a big hug when he came into the venue. And as if they weren't enough, Bobbie Watson and Susan DEVO showed up with an insane collection of very vintage photos. Bobbie was selling some mightily excellent prints and Susan displayed her amazing DEVO scrapbook with photos ranging from 1975-1977.
- Around 4pm, we held the door prize giveaway. Numbers corresponding to the tickets handed out at the door were called and spuds won stuff. Pilmer gave away stuff he picked up on tour, a few flyers, and a few of the new DVD. He also gave away some of Bob1's broken guitar strings from the "Mr. DNA" solo. Bob1 came up to collect his prize! Bobbie Watson and Susan were also nice enough to donate a print to the lot. Additionally, we gave away completely collections of the Booji Boy's Basement audio and video sections.
- After that, Chuck Statler gave an audiovisual presentation and Q&A. The stuff he screened, in order, was this: A music video by a band called Svelt, which perfectly replicated the classic video for "Satisfaction", shot for shot. Dead-on. Next up was a commercial he directed for a Minneapolis mall at Christmastime, scored by Mark and starring the same little person from the next bit, which happened to be the music video for "Twist 'N' Launch" by the Wipeouters. Lastly, and most significantly, was never-before-seen film footage of DOVE, the Band of Love, from the M80 Festival in 1979. There was a snippet of this on the Complete Truth DVD/laserdisc, but Chuck didn't edit it and in fact, has never seen the edit. He went back to his footage and assembled it as best he could, and came out with two full songs, "Worried Man" and "Praying Hands". All together, it was about 10mins long, and amazing in every way. Very good looking footage, and very hilarious! Hopefully, this will surface and be readily available someday. The band themselves haven't even ever seen this.
- After Chuck was done giving a great little Q&A, we screened perhaps the best video of the night. Michael Pilmer uncovered the COMPLETE Kent State University Sextet DEVO show from 1973 on video. That's right, the first show that DEVO ever performed. Though it was almost hard to watch, and kind of hard to listen to, it was an AMAZING glimpse into the band's origins and we got to see just how much they have changed over the years. Mark flipping off Jerry while wearing a monkey mask... priceless. I really hope this gets out there someday.
- At some point during the time between Chuck and Team DEVO, the one and only Gary Jackett came through the doors, wearing what was probably the same jacket he wore in the "Secret Agent Man" video.
- A short while after this, the Paul Green School of Rock's band, Team DEVO performed their set. It was much tighter and more calculated than the night before at the ECC. Very good performances on their part.
- Almost as soon as they were done, us Spudboys began to get our stuff on stage and get dressed. Look for some mightily amusing promo pictures very soon. We took the stage and rocked, I would say.
- It came time for another short break, while the Spudboys regained their energy to perform the DEV-O-ke set. At was during this break that Tom and I were interviewed for Akron Life & Leisure Magazine. After we regained our energy, we took the stage again.
- The DEV-O-ke set went very very well. David Kendrick played drums with us on Happy Guy, and he let Tom wear his actual Total DEVO World Service uniform from the album's promo pictures. All of the singers delivered seriously top-notch performances, and I decided (at random) to do jumping jacks all through "Clockout", which nearly killed me. I hope that made for a good show.
- And that was pretty much the end of it. We packed up, things wound down, and we were out of there by 12:30. It was a completely amazing day through and through.
- One other thing I forgot to mention was SaMaNtHa's completely amazing DEVO Magnetic Poetry sets, which she is probably still selling, so you should talk to her about that.
- If you shot video, took pictures, or recorded audio, THE BASEMENT NEEDS YOUR STUFF! Send me an email and we'll work something out.
Now let's all gear up for DEVOtional 2006!