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Each DEVOtional event has offered something
special that the previous year's did not, and the DEVOtional
2009 was no exception.
We were extremely fortunate to have Bob "Bob 2"
Casale of DEVO as our Special Guest Chef - sharing his
culinary talents with 70+ spuds & spudesses. Guests
were also treated to a sneak peek at the DEVO Live
In London "Are We Not Men?" performance
DVD, a very entertaining 'Q & A' with Bob Casale,
a live video chat with Shay
Spitz Ober (the woman who has her clothing removed
in DEVO's Whip-It video) and much more.
As
usual, the DEVOtional weekend was more than just the
DEVOtional event itself.
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Friday,
Aug. 28th - KRK Ryden Art @ Asterisk
Asterisk
Gallery has added value to the DEVOtional weekend
for a few years now, sponsoring a DEVO-themed art show
on the Friday before the DEVOtional. It started with
Mark Mothersbaugh's limited edition prints in
2007, and has since hosted KRK
Ryden's Devolved artwork. This year Asterisk hosted
KRK's show titled "No Pinheads Allowed". KRK
has a long history with DEVO, illustrating their product
catalogs & Brainwasher fanzine in the early/mid
1980's.
KRK's
paintings, drawings and prints adorned the walls throughout
the entire lower level of Asterisk Gallery. Included
in the show was the original painting for the cover
of the "Not
Necessarily Beautiful But Mutated" Vol. 8
CD compilation.
The Spudboys had been rehearsing for the past day or
so, as usual, and showed up a little later in the evening.
I'm always amazed at how The Spudboys are able to rehearse
enough to put on such a great show.
Around 9:30pm, many spuds wrapped up their conversations
at Asterisk Gallery and headed out to see a nearby concert
at The Phantasy in Lakewood, Ohio.
I
arrived at The Phantasy during the end of Malcolm
Tent's set and was happy to see him wearing
his entirely red uniform, which I've seen at DEVOtionals
past. Then Chad Opitz took the stage as Nervous
Energy and performed amazing acrobatic feats
which delighted everyone. Dudical Radical
was next, dishing out a very athletic performance, and
was followed by A Friend Of Mabel's,
who took the crowd on a journey with the help of a very
pretty blue see-through guitar. Headliners BADITUDE
finished the night off with their nerd-bashing set of
work-out worshipping synth rock.
I think a few spuds met at the hotel and chatted throughout
the night, but I found myself exhausted and decided
to retire early to get some rest for the next day's
event.
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Sat.,
Aug. 29th - DEVOtional @ Beachland
My
day started early, around 9am, when I met other spuds
at The Beachland Ballroom to start setting everything
up. Thanks to everyone at The Beachland for working
with us given the gruelling DEVOtional event hours!
(Big Audio Mike & Cindy Barber!).
One
thing we had to figure out was placement and set up
of the huge plexi-glass "D-E-V-O" letters
that I brought from NC - which were expertly made by
a DEVOted mutant, Rick
Harris, from Atlanta, GA. Thanks, Rick! We opted
to put them across the front of the stage, and you'll
see numerous photos of them throughout the report.
I'm
always delighted to see so many familiar faces at the
DEVOtional gatherings, and over the last few years have
been very happy to see so many new spuds each year -
from such a wide range of ages, too.
So many great things happened at the event this year
- Fantastic live sets from performers like Nervous
Energy, FartBarf,
The Weird
Paul Rock Band, Burgee Boys,
Bottle, and others... including the
DEVOtional staples Mutant
Mountain Boys and The
Spudboys. The Bob Casale Q&A session
was fantastic, and I definitely think he should do more
interviews for DEVO. With help from Michael Proskin
of Catered
Productions, and a crew of devotees, Bob 2 was able
to put together a fantastic menu of delicious treats
for DEVOtional guests. Thank you Bob 2 and Michael Proskin
for making it all possible - and of course to Marc Friedman
for helping set it all up.
Over
the years, I've been noticing that more and more spuds
are showing up in full DEVO gear. Some even went through
several wardrobe changes throughout the day, representing
assorted fashions throughout DEVO's career.
As
you can see, there is a plethora of wonderful photos
documenting the DEVOtional 2009 gathering. This is because
so many spuds donated their time & energy to snap
these pics - and I send my thanks to all of you! Much
appreciated.
To see full size photos, scroll back to the top left
corner of the report and click on the thumbnail image.
Then click on the arrows from photo to photo for more
pics from the DEVOtional 2009.
Great
seeing all the DEVOted spuds and spudesses again! Thanks
to everyone who worked hard to make it happen again
(Alex Brunelle/Booji
Boy's Basement, Scott Orsi, Marc Friedman, Rev.
HV Monkey, Rev. Toth Wilder etc.)
Next year is the big 10th Anniversary, DEVOtional 2010,
a year which will bring the first new DEVO album in
nearly 2 decades. This event will be incredible and
chock-full of surprises...so plan ahead! More info coming
soon.
- Michael Pilmer /
for DEVO, Inc. & Devo-Obsesso.com
