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DEVO started their 2005 live performance tour on June 12th at Atlanta's Midtown Music Festival, and then continued their string of live dates in August starting at The House Of Blues in Anaheim, CA.
SEE SOME EARLY PRESS ON LIVEDAILY.COM
When DEVO played a hand full of shows in 2004, I thought it was important for me to document the whole thing, since DEVO rarely plays as many shows in a year. I paid for my own flights, hotels, etc., which wasn't easy for me, and went to every show, filming, photographing, etc. In 2005, I made a proposal to Mark and Jerry - Cover my expenses, and I'll handle some responsibilities on the tour in exchange (press liaison, guest list coordinator, props assistant, etc.) They agreed, and I was very relieved.
As you might expect, I was *very* excited about this tour. Ever since I was a very young DEVO fan, I'd always wished that I could experience a live tour with them. Imaging what it was like to tour with DEVO, a well-known, professional, smart, and interesting band, completely intrigued me. And now it was going to happen!
Oh...I forgot to mention: Another of my favorite bands decided to tour for the first time in 15+ years - THOR. (www.thorcentral.com). Like DEVO, I also run his web site & fan club. Not only were my two favorite bands touring the same year, but they were touring at *exactly* the same weeks in 2005! I spent 10 days on tour with THOR before I headed off to tour with DEVO in early August. It was frustrating as hell that I couldn't be in two places at once...and I completely expected my head to explode sometime in August/September.
Who needs a head, anyway?! Bring on the tour!
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AUGUST 4th & 5th, 2005
ANAHEIM, CA - HOUSE OF BLUES
I flew into Los Angeles on August 2nd, then caught DEVO's dress rehearsal at SIR Studios in Hollywood on the same night. I gave Bob2 some Energy Dome stickers, and he promptly applied one to his head.
CLICK HERE to see the set list planned for the 2005.
Going Under and Wiggly World are two songs that DEVO hasn't performed live in many years, and many fans were very happy to hear that they'd been added to the 2005 set list.
Mark and I talked about having him wear a cowboy hat and moustache during the Come Back Jonee encore, and bouncing rubber balls into the audience. He already had a stock of tiny solid rubber balls (some of which were glow-in-the-dark), but we still needed a hat & 'stache. Since it was so last minute, I could only use what I could find at Mutato for the first 2 shows in Anaheim - a small, straw cowboy hat, and a tiny black moustache (which both just happen to be lying around in the Mutato offices).
I was eventually able to find two huge foam-rubber cowboy hats, and a bunch of big black moustaches for the Come Back Jonee encore (Thanks to Vahe of Nu-Tra for driving me to the costume shop in Hollywood!). It was at this shop that Vahe and I discovered the new costume-version of DEVO's Energy Domes. I bought some for Mark & Jerry, and although they were aware of the licensing on them, they were surprised to see them in retail shops so soon.
The next day, JB and I were at Mutato Muzika finishing up some work when one of the DEVO crew members asked if anyone could drive one of the band's vans to Anaheim. JB volunteered, so we were able to hang out for a couple days together at the Anaheim shows, which was a great surprise.
When we arrived on August 4th for the first Anaheim show, we had several hours to kill before DEVO took the stage. As the band and crew perused the sterile Downtown Disney stores, Jerry purchased 5 pieces of headgear for the band to wear during Jocko Homo. I then altered each one with an Energy Dome sticker, completing the aesthetic. The band wore these at both Anaheim shows.
It was great to see so many familiar hanging around before the shows in Anaheim: Vahe, Tom K., Pete-vo, Professor Von Marko, Chris & Margaret, James A., Tom H., Jason, Chad, and other dedicated spuds who showed up to bask in Devolution.
CLICK IMAGES BELOW FOR LARGER VIEW & MORE INFO:
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