at Moore Theater

I’ve always been wary of this whole “bands reliving their former glory by hitting the stage again 20 years later” fad, because I feel like I saw all the people I wanted to then, and I don’t need to see them again now, when they could potentially destroy my fond, nostalgic memories of some awesome show I saw when I was 16 and totally in the moment.

However, when Devo’s Freedom of Choice album came out in 1980, I was only 9 – just a wee bit too young to have seen them live, and since TIG was lucky enough to be able to attend both shows (ChrisB was at Sunday night’s Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo!)  I thought it would be fun to see them play FoC in its entirety now. Thankfully, I was right.

Look, there’s no denying that the original members of Devo ARE old. But god bless ‘em, those guys still put on one hellova rockin’ show, full of spectacularly defining 80s synth-pop “new wave” sound, lots of signature choreography, and of course, some amazing keys and guitars.

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at Moore Theater

The question of the night was obvious: Are we not men?

Of course the answer was: We are Devo.

Sunday night at the Moore Theater was packed for Devo, the remarkably-influential new wave band from Akron, Ohio who was playing their debut album from 1978: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo from beginning to end. The following night they are playing their album Freedom of Choice in its entirety.

When my friend and I had gotten to the Moore, the place was packed and full of people anxious to see the band. A very large number of people were wearing the trademark “energy dome” hats (which were sold at the merch table for $30 and I bet they sold a ton, including one to my friend; $17.99 on Amazon). Strangers were approaching one another and asking “are we not men?” and I (over)heard more than a few people boast of dressing as Devo for Halloween the previous weekend. This was a crowd very excited to see this band.

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We love it when bands play their biggest, most influential or most popular album from beginning to end, of course, but what about the bands that have recorded more than one? If you're Devo, maybe you'd play one influential album, say Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo on one night (maybe November 8) and the other, say, Freedom of Choice (maybe November 9), with both at the Moore. Sounds reasonable enough to me.

We have pairs of tickets to each show to give away to lucky TIG readers. All you need to do is mail us at tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Tuesday, October 27 with "AreWeNotMen?" or "FreedomOfChoice" in the subject line (you can enter for both shows but please send separate e-mails and no spaces, either, please) and include your mailing address in the body of the e-mail so we know where to mail the tickets. Optional (but it won't improve your odds): include alternate answers to the question "are we not men?" in the body of the e-mail. The winners (one pair per show) will be notified shortly thereafter and have the tickets mailed to them.

See what's in the stars -- and the record stores -- for you for September 2005, featuring reviews from Bang! Bang!, The Greenhornes, The Western States, Devo, and more.

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