----DEVOtional 2021...a triumphant return to our face-to-face physical event at Beachland Ballroom! In planning all this stuff each year, my partner, Nick Ciasullo, and I were VERY happy with how the weekend turned out. Attendance records were once again shattered, and we noticed MANY new faces in addition to all our friends who have returned year after year. You'll definitely see some of those new faces next year as return visitors. THANK YOU ALL for making this year such a success.
----It’s been a long year and a half since we’ve been able to have our beloved DEVOtional, and we have dearly missed Cleveland, o-hi-o (and the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern). The 2020 DEVOtional 20th Anniversary Tribute event was relegated to an online livestream, which was fun but, DAMN, it was great to see everyone in person this year!
----Our special guests this year included Gerald V. Casale (of DEVO), David Kendrick (of DEVO, Sparks, Gleaming Spires...etc.), and our pal, Fred Armisen (Actor, Comedian, DEVOtee)! We greatly appreciate all of you.
----Of course a DEVOtional event wouldn't be complete without a gaggle of highly De-VOlved performers. Artists in order of appearance: Eric Nassau (OH), Poopy Necroponde & The Fudge Patch Kids (OH), The Fantastic Plastics (NY), The Jimmy Psycho Experiment (CA), Fight Milk (WA), Detention (OH), Massive Hotdog Recall (feat. Al Mothersbaugh) (OH), DEVOmatix (GA), and DEVOtees supergroup, The Super Thing (from all over the USA).
----Our annual 5K DEVO event happened in the late morning in Akron. The sun was shining and the air was crisp. Members of the Akron Symphony Orchestra put together an amazing set of DEVO songs beautifully mutated as classical pieces. It was great to see them perform after the race, and Gerald V. Casale of DEVO joined them on vocals for "Whip It". Check out the racer’s times and winner’s names at the 5KDEVO site.
----BTW: If you've ever wanted to see David Kendrick take a thrill ride on a hotel luggage cart, be sure to scroll down to the videos listed below! (First one!)
----Now, I present this collection of photos, videos, and stories from our DEVOtional 2021 weekend.
THERE ARE VIDEOS EMBEDDED ON THIS PAGE (scroll down), but also BE SURE TO CLICK ON THUMBNAIL IMAGES BELOW for a chronological journey through the event.
---- Printed Materials, etc:
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imagery for larger view, more info, and to view in chronological order.
----Those of you who are DEVOtional veterans may know that we typically have a Pre-DEVOtional hotel room party on the Thursday before the event kicks off. This year was no different, except that instead of having the party in the room that *I actually have to sleep in,* we rented the largest room in the hotel, specifically for this party. Oh, and we rented the room for THU, FRI and SAT! On top of that, we rented rooms on either side of the party room as a noise buffer, to ensure we don't get our annual noise complaints. LOL. Anyway, a fun time was had by all...and we were all able to recover by the time Friday night's events started.
----And WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS! The Beachland Tavern venue was PACKED FULL! There were easily 100+ people there at the peak of the night. The "Pay What You Want At The Door" admission tally for that night surprised us all--THANK YOU for your generosity, spuds. It all goes to making 2022's DEVOtional a super fun event for all. See descriptions of photos below for details on the three bands who played on Friday!
Be sure to check out the videos embedded on this main page after you navigate thru the pics!
Click imagery for larger view, more info, and to view in chronological order.
Video: Snippets of Devolved Action at DEVOtional 2021 Thu. Nov. 4th - Sat. Nov. 6th Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso & Tim Nolan
Video: Eric Nassau Fri. Nov. 5th/Beachland Tavern Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: Poopy Necroponde & the Louisiana Fudge Patch Kids Fri. Nov. 5th/Beachland Tavern Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: Fantastic Plastics Fri. Nov. 5th/Beachland Tavern Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
----The main event of our DEVOtional 2021 weekend! We really had no idea what to expect as far as attendance goes, even though we sold 200 tickets in advance. Because of the lingering pandemic, we had no idea who would actually show up in person. We were pleasantly surprised when we broke attendance records AGAIN for the 3rd year in a row!!
----When doors opened at 2pm, DEVOtees immediately started perusing the merchandise & raffle prize tables as they waited for the first band to take the stage. First up was The Jimmy Psycho Experiment, their 2nd time performing at the event, and they didn't disappoint as they dished up some spectacular, lounge-heavy versions of DEVO classics. Such a fitting start to the live music for the day! Up next was our friend, David Kendrick, of DEVO, Sparks, Gleaming Spires, and more. The entertaining stories flowed as DEVOtee, Chaim O’Brien Blumenthal, helped host a Q&A onstage with David.
----Our other special guests on this day included Gerald Casale (of DEVO) and Fred Armisen (Actor, Musician, and lifelong DEVOtee!) Both took the stage for a Q&A with the audience, which was greatly appreciated by the room of beautiful mutants. All of our guests dutifully posed for photos and signed autographs during their visit, and we GREATLY appreciate that.
----Then, our pal, Jackson, took the stage for a ONE MAN SHOW as Fight Milk! His band performed as a three-person act back in 2019, and totally blew everyone away. His mates couldn't make it this time, but he went ABOVE & BEYOND doing it ALL himself this time. Be sure to check out the video in this report!! Next up was Detention from Akron, OH--a group of teens who have performed at our 5KDEVO Race for two years in a row--now graduating to playing the main event on Saturday at The Beachland Ballroom. Jerry Casale of DEVO joined them onstage for "Girl U Want," and special guest, Fred Armisen, joined them onstage for "Fist Fight." Needless to say, DEVOtees loved their set. Another favorite DEVOtional band to return to the stage, Al Mothersbaugh's MASSIVE HOTDOG RECALL,performed a predictably AWESOME set of DEVO songs, with the glory of live horns, as usual. See Al's spectacular face plant in the video link listed further down this page! It was INCREDIBLE! DEVOMATIX from Atlanta, who have performed a few times at our DEVOtional events, came prepared again with costuming and pep to put on the energetic show they are known for. Andrew Doss' vocals are SO Mothersbaugh, and the rest of the band look like they're having a great time. The finale of the night was DEVOtee supergroup, The Super Thing, a mishmash of band members that performed throughout the weekend. They cranked out a bunch of DEVO covers that the crowd soaked up with glee. See video links below!
----This year's prize raffle was definitely the biggest yet, featuring two items made by Eastwood Customs: not one but TWO Bob 1 Cloud Guitars! (One of which was legitimately won by Tim Nolan, who has assisted with running our DEVOtionals for years--congrats, Tim!) Also raffled off were numerous rare DEVO vinyl releases, CDs, T-shirts, limited edition toys, and much more. Thanks a ton to FUNKO who sponsored the event by donating 70+ DEVO Funko Pops for us to give to the performing bands, special guests, and folks who helped the event behind the scenes. And we mustn’t forget Deadhead Rum who did a great job with the very limited DEVO Monkey Head Mugs for the first 100 ticket buyers. Unfortunately, pandemic supply chain delays meant that the mugs didn't arrive in Ohio on time for the event, but they will be mailed out to each of the 100 ticket buyers ASAP.
Click
imagery below for larger view, more info, and to view in chronological order.
Be sure to check out the videos embedded on this main page after you navigate thru the pics!
Video: Jimmy Psycho Experiment Sat. Nov. 6th Beachland Ballroom Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: Fight Milk (Entire Set!) Sat. Nov. 6th Beachland Ballroom Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: Detention w/ Jerry Casale of DEVO Sat. Nov. 6th Beachland Ballroom Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: Detention Play MORE Devo! Sat. Nov. 6th Beachland Ballroom Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: Detention w/ Fred Armisen "Fist Fight" Sat. Nov. 6th Beachland Ballroom Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: Massive Hotdog Recall (w/ Al Mothersbaugh) Sat. Nov. 6th Beachland Ballroom Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso & Janice Junge
Video: DEVOmatix Perform "Pity You" & "Going Under" Sat. Nov. 6th Beachland Ballroom Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: The Super Thing w/ Elliott of Detention Sat. Nov. 6th Beachland Ballroom Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: Snippets of Devolved Action at DEVOtional 2021 Pt. 2 Thu. Nov. 4th - Fri. Nov. 6th Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Sunday Nov. 7th Akron - 5K DEVO Race
----Thanks to the seasonal time change, we all gained an extra hour of sleep before the 10am start of this year's 5KDEVO Race in Akron. Gerald V. Casale of DEVO was there to start the race, and even performed a song with members of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, who did a great job performing classical renditions of well-known DEVO tunes. Everyone loved it!! Thanks to ALL involved for making it happen. We're going to try to get them to record studio versions for later release. FINGERS CROSSED!
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imagery for larger view, more info, and to view in chronological order.
Video: 5K DEVO Rehearsals w/ Gerald Casale
& Members of Akron Symphony Orchestra Sun. Nov. 7th Downtown Akron, OH Video by Jeff Winner & Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
Video: 5K DEVO w/ Jerry of DEVO & Akron Symphony Members
FULL SET! Sun. Nov. 7th Downtown Akron, OH Video by Michael Pilmer/Devo-Obsesso
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HUGE Thanks to our sponsors this year: Eastwood Guitars, Funko and Deadhead Rum! Also to all photographers & others who donated photos & other content, to Nikki Spudnikk for helping me by proofreading this report...and of course to all the DEVOtees, spuds and beautiful mutants who made this year so amazing. It was one for the books!
DEVOtional 2022 will be here soon! SEE YOU THERE! If you were here this year, you KNOW you DON'T WANT TO MISS 2022!
