Devo Live - Freedom of Choice and Q

[DonGately]

Devo's doing a series of two night sets - First night is Q Are We Not Men played in its entirety, 2nd night is Freedom of Choice.

Tickets for some of the venues just went on internet presale. More info at clubdevo.com.

I'm there for the Freedom of Choice show in SF.

This is a good season for gigs.

[DonGately]

Here're the dates. First Nights are QAWNMAWAD, second nights are FoC:

11.03 Los Angeles, CA: Henry Fonda Theater
11.04 Los Angeles, CA: Henry Fonda Theater
11.06 San Francisco, CA: The Regency Ballroom
11.07 San Francisco, CA: The Regency Ballroom
11.08 Seattle, WA: The Moore
11.09 Seattle, WA: The Moore
11.12 Chicago, IL: The Vic Theatre
11.13 Chicago, IL: The Vic Theatre
11.15 Washington, DC: 9:30 Club
11.16 Washington, DC: 9:30 Club
11.20 New York, NY: The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
11.21 New York, NY: The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
11.23 Toronto, Ontario: Phoenix Concert Theatre
11.24 Toronto, Ontario: Phoenix Concert Theatre

[davew]

Cool ! DEVO was a blast back in the day,ill be there for FOC in NYC.

[Wilf]

Got my tix for Toronto the day I read this, but I have a question. Are they only playing the album each night, or is that merely the backdrop? Could only be a 30 minute concert, ig that's all they're playing. Also, is there an opener?

[davew]

Noooooo, theyll play the album and then go into a greatest hits type set.

[Wilf]

Let's hear some reviews. I'm looking forward to the meet/greet in Toronto. Anyone have any stories yet?

[DonGately]

I went to the Freedom of Choice show last night. First, the bad news: the set is extremely short: Freedom of Choice and a two song encore.

Well, that's it for bad news. What an awesome gig. The band was so tight -- the sound was terrific -- and hearing Freedom of Choice from start to end was something I will remember for a long time. The place was packed - no room on the floor, but a few empty seats up in the balcony. Devo-tees dressed up in all sorts of different eras of Devo ware. The massive male pattern baldness fest properly covered in energy domes (very few people under 40 there, but there were some). The crowd was way into the show. And some people even brought their kids.

I regret not getting up there for the first night's gig. If I could do it all over, I would have gone to both nights. Even though the set is short, the material is so strong and sounds so good that it was worth it.

Before the show starts, the house played a bunch of tunes from the Devo E-Z Listening discs. Right before Devo takes the stage, they play music videos from the Freedom of Choice era (I guess so you can compare and contrast how they look now).

If you're going, get there in time for the opening act. It's one guy who loops and modifies his voice and does a comedy/music set that has to be seen. Very funny and entertaining -- the kind of thing that baffles the crowd at first but wins them over (at least, that's what happened last night). One guy near me compared the guy to Andy Kaufman -- it's that kind of thing.

[bigwavedave]

Thanks for the review. I missed this evening's Seattle show, but wish I could've been there. These guys are a great live band! Mark M. stated in a local interview that he was hesitant to perform the Freedom Of Choice album until he heard how good the entire presentation sounds live!

[DonGately]

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GLcgWPbyo0E&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GLcgWPbyo0E&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

Found someone who uploaded some video from the show. Devo above. Reggie Watts (the opener) below:

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[Wilf]

Anyone here do the meet/greet? I wonder how long or personal it was, or if they hussle you through. I'm bringing my vinyl to be signed and didn't know what merchandise they were selling there or prices...

[DonGately]

They were selling vinyl and cds at the sf shows. Also, a number of different shirts and a windbreaker. There is a "Freedom of Choice shows" only shirt as well as a "Q: shows" only shirt. These shirts are only available on their corresponding nights.

[Berserker]

Caught the Chicago Freedom Of Choice show Saturday. Awesome show, and I made a DEVO fan out of my 23 year-old girlfriend (I'm 42).

Reggie Watts was not the opening act. It was some guy dressed as the CEO of a fictional TV station that sang his channel's theme songs and commercials. JP Incorporated, I believe it was. Very DEVO, but was met with half applause, half boos.

[GloriousWrath]

Some photos from the first night in Chicago are here:

http://www.musicpix.net/home/concertphotos/v/devo/

[:D]