Photos and a video are after the review!
Devo
About two
years ago I became obsessed with the music of Devo. I was amazed and somewhat
annoyed at how I let this band completely fly under my radar for at least two
decades. When I first read about this show, I started to worry that maybe this
would be their last trip east since the band tours very little anymore. Combine
that with the fact that the band members (with the exception of drummer Josh
Freese) are all in their mid-50’s and I knew I had to make this show at one of
NY’s oddest venues; McCarren Park Pool. Yes, Devo - punk, post-punk, new wave
pioneers - played in a pool. Albeit an old, deserted, public pool that could
probably fit at least 10,000 standing concert goers!
It was
oddly quiet at the venue when I arrived despite the fact that the entire
audience was already there awaiting the show. The sun was setting, dusk was upon
us and there was a gentle, warm breeze in the air - which is not how you would
describe an area of Brooklyn which 10 years
ago was a crime-infested, war zone but hey, it was a nice night!
Thank to our
wonderful gentrification system, old crack houses are now multi-million dollar
condos. I don’t know anyone who can afford to live in properties such as these but
the alarming rate in which these dwellings crop up makes me wish I was better
at math and had become an investment banker. Damn creative mind of mine!
Another
huge bonus to our esteemed gentrification system is that it enables more of
these pesky music venues to close so that my first show at McCarren Park Pool has
ended up being my last! You must think of the big picture here – what good is
high-end real estate without a pool? Well, I’m happy to report that after
almost 50 years, half of McCarren Pool is going to be re-filled. You heard
correctly, half of it. What will they do with the other half? I say Trader
Joe’s because it’s such an upwardly mobile place to shop but that’s just me.
Oh real
estate developers – are we not men?
While the
show was going on I couldn’t help but think of the good times these millionaires
must have been having as they sashayed on their extra-large balconies to the
sounds of Whip It. But then, once the requisite hit was out of the way
(it was the 4th song of the night) and the show really got
underway, I guarantee all of the hipsters quickly retired from the lanai,
suddenly afraid of how the band “like, suddenly got weird on us!” This was the perfect
venue for a Devo show!
The night
began with the infamous show-starting movie that Devo has used for years played
on a large video screen. I believe it was originally used for the New
Traditionalists Tour of 1981. Spudheads, please correct me if I’m wrong. We
were then treated to a retrospective montage of every Devo video while the
mechanical, driving synth riff of That’s Good gurgled underneath leaving
no surprise as to what the opening number was going to be.
They played
everything you would have expected including the one-two punch of songs three
& four (Girl U Want & Whip It). After that, the group did
hit upon some unexpected album cuts such as Going Under and Blockhead.
It is surprising how many songs of theirs are not commercial hits but received
the most enthusiastic crowd response. Brooklyn
became unglued for tracks such as Mongoloid, Freedom of Choice
and Uncontrollable Urge.
The show
was exactly what you would expect from a band with the stature and history as
Devo – they took the stage like they owned it and did not relent until they
left the stage 65 minutes later. Yes, they left the stage after only 65
minutes! Maybe they were not aware of the 10
pm curfew but whatever it was, the show was an hour long! It was a
great hour; they were fantastic, but $53 for what is essentially one set? That’s
rough.
But let’s
end this on a positive note: the developer who lives in that new condo
overlooking McCarren
Park
‘Whip it
good’ indeed.
Here is a quick clip of Blockhead live from this show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXvKzzTlDPU
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