Devo – Minneapolis – 1978 – Past Daily Morning Soundbooth

– Devo – In Concert at The Walker Center, Minneapolis – November 3, 1978 –

Devo to end a fractious week – in concert at The Walker Center in Minneapolis on November 3, 1978

Probably one of the more visible and influential bands of the 70s, Devo rode the crest of an enormous wave of popularity becoming synonymous with the often loopy, wildly creative period that came to symbolize the Post-Punk period in music.

**Devo formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single “Whip It”, the song that gave the band mainstream popularity.

The first form of Devo was the “Sextet Devo” which performed at the 1973 Kent State performing arts festival in Ohio. It included Casale, Lewis and Mothersbaugh, as well as Gerald’s brother Bob Casale on guitar, and friends Rod Reisman and Fred Weber on drums and vocals, respectively. This performance was filmed and an excerpt was later included on the home video release The Complete Truth About De-Evolution. This lineup performed only once. Devo returned to perform in the Student Governance Center (featured prominently in the film) at the 1974 Creative Arts Festival with a lineup including the Casale brothers, Bob Lewis, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Jim Mothersbaugh on drums.

Recommendations from David Bowie and Iggy Pop enabled Devo to secure a recording contract with Warner Bros. in 1978. After Bowie backed out of the business deal due to previous commitments, their first album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, was produced by Brian Eno and featured re-recordings of their previous singles “Mongoloid” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. On October 14, 1978, Devo gained national exposure with an appearance on the late-night show Saturday Night Live, a week after the Rolling Stones, performing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Jocko Homo”.

In a February 20, 2023, article by the Akron Beacon Journal promoting the film Cocaine Bear, Mothersbaugh announced that the group would celebrate the year as their 50th anniversary, and that he had plans for Devo to remain active for 50 more years. He also stated that he, Gerald Casale and Bob Mothersbaugh were all interested in touring. This was followed by the announcement of a European tour, taking place between August 8th and 19th of 2023, with shows at London’s Eventim Apollo, Øyafestivalen in Norway, Way Out West festival in Sweden, Flow Festival in Finland, Green Man Festival in Wales, and Luna Fest in Portugal. This was followed in November and December by a string of shows in the USA and Australia.**

**Thanks Wikipedia.

As a reminder of the earlier (and original) lineup of Devo – dive into this November 1978 gig from Minneapolis and get ready for an insane weekend.