DEVO, VIOLENT FEMMES, WEEN
Thursday, Jan. 21, 1999
Universal Ampitheater, Universal City, CA
I have no clue why they book shows of this magnitude on weeknights.. but
it makes traveling thru traffic to make the show on time, nearly a feat
short of a miracle.. show time on the ticket was listed at 7:45pm.. i
picked my tickets up at Will Call AT 7:45..and proceeded thru the gates
toward the show.. i was stopped at the gates and told i couldnt bring my
WALLET into the show as it had a metal chain..after having the nice
overweight bald security guard use pliers to cut the chain on my wallet.. i
tore away pissed off only to find that WEEN was already on the stage.. i
found my seat and tried to enjoy the show.. but after my experience with
the venue security.. i found it really hard.. and I REALLY LIKE WEEN..
after a few songs i began to get into it.. as WEEN seemed to be having a
great time.. they played 10 songs that i got to see.. traveling the
spectrum of thier talents with country diddies like "Wavin' My Dick in the
Wind" or power rock anthems like "Dr Rock".. or the wicked boogie funk
blues of "VooDoo Lady" with Dean Ween tearing the mean Hendrix-esque
guitar licks into the room...WEEN ROCKS.. if you havent seem them.. DO
IT.. next there was this choir of little kids.. like 10 year olds.. no
really!.. and they sang "Whip It" (DEVO) and "Blister in the Sun"(Violent
Femmes).. i only caught brief glimpses of this though as i was headed
towards the drink line.. in the drink line i ran into MARK ADKINS from
GUTTERMOUTH.. and also i saw MIKE LOUHRMAN from THE STITCHES too.. by the
time i made it back to my seat the VIOLENT FEMMES were on the stage..
....yawn.. they really had a hard time finding ANY sort of energy level as
far as live performances go.. i was really not that impressed.. they gave
my girlfriend a really bad headache.. i think they might be better if it
was an outdoor show.. or if it was a tiny little smokey bar club.. but in a
room the size of the Universal Ampitheater.. they just could not make it
work.. at least for me anyways.,. during the next break there was a group
of guys in BIG HAIR WIGS. .they were called something like "Metalheadica"
.. and they danced around acted out a mock performance to Quiet Riot's
"Metal Health" (Bang your head!)..it was very funny.. they were poking fun
at Glam 80's metal right down to the one armed drummer joke.. finally the
lights came down, a large screen was lowered.. and a video introduction
into the world of DEVO began.. some guy in a chair giving documentry like
comments welcoming us all to the show.. and then a barrage of clips of
DEVO videos from the last 20 years rolled by on the screen .. and then the
screen was lifted and DEVO took the stage.. they came on in their
traditional yellow jump suit uniforms.. opened with "That's Good".. and
fell into an amazing set ..on fire with mostly tunes from thier first 2
albums.. only a few songs from thier legendary 3rd LP were played.. "Whip
it", "Girl U Want", and the end of thier set was "Gates of Steel" .. but
they churned out ALL the old stuff "Gut Feeling" "Mongiloid" "Blockhead"
"Satisfaction" "Mr DNA" "Are We Not Men" in the middle of "Are We Not Men"
they tore off thier jumpsuits and did the rest of the show in black
tshirts, black shorts and knee pads.. they were incredible.. a powerhouse
of a band.. DEVO are simply outstanding as musicians and command the stage
as performers.. the addition to thier line up of JOSH from the VANDALS on
drums made an already great band, sound wild and tight with freshness..
they encored with a new song that DEVO dedicated to LINDA TRIPP.. it was
called "Mountains of Filth" and thier final song for the night was
"Beautiful World" with Boogie Boy, the DEVO mascot, doing the lead
vocals.. it was show of brilliance.. DEVO are entertainment. After the
show, with some help from friends at Nitro Records, i made it backstage
and said hullo to most of DEVO.. and basiclly hung out and had free beer
with fun people like EXENE CERVENKA, ANDY SUMMERS, DAVE GROHL, members of
NO DOUBT, KROQ DJ's.. ect.. it was party..a good party.. lots of fun
people to frolic and play with..i met the "lead vocalist" for
Metalheadica... but i never got to say hullo to GENE WEEN and
congradulate him on his new baby girl.. way to go Gener!
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