Classic Devo.
Devo back in the day.
Devo today.
Well, I intended to write this post yesterday when the DEVO concert was very fresh in my mind. I got side-tracked by a good book and then we spent the majority of the day out at the farm. Which was fabulous -- beautiful weather, delicious food (thanks Mom!) and the pool was open all day. Fun, relaxing and a true summer day.
Anyway, back to the main event of the weekend -- Shawn, Mazy and me at Saturday night's Devo concert (here's footage of their opening song, Don't shoot. We were standing very close to the guy taking this video). Can I just say, "It was awesome!!!!!" Really, it will be a top 3 Most Memorable Event of Summer 2010.
A lot of people don't know Devo (here's Wikipedia's take on them). That's understandable. They're not quite mainstream, but instead have a kind of cult following. Devo's first single came out in 1976, the year Shawn and I were born, but they're best know for"Whip It" (if you've never seen this video, believe me, take a couple minutes and watch. A very good look into the minds of Devo...) And then you'll question our parenting and think, "hhmm, is this what constitutes educational TV in your household?" And then answer is: Yes, it does. It's part of Shawn's School of Rock lessons with the boys.
So let me boil down the concert and why I enjoyed it so much:
1. Weather was beautiful. Cool, breezy, no rain. Just perfect. And no humidity!!! Talk about rare this summer.
2. Being married to the Devo Stud. I'm not joking, Shawn was clearly Devo Alpha Male that night. There were lots of fanatics there in old Devo concert shirts and their red or blue flower pot hats, but Shawn came in a t-shirt he had designed for the concert. And people thought it was very, very cool. He had lots of people take his picture. He had lots of people talking to him, telling him Devo stories and asking him about the band. He was in his element. It was really fun to watch.
3. Being mother to one cool kid. I know I shouldn't say this about my own offspring, but Mazy is awesome!! He designed his own Devo shirt as well and stayed true to his personality by adding a megalodon shark to it, but incorporated some key Devo visuals, like the their red hat. He was a trooper all night. We were 10 feet from the stage and it was loud -- chest-thumping loud for over two hours. There were a few kids there, but none of them were up in the rowdy dancing area where we had Mazy. He loved it. I ended up holding him on my hip for most of the concert so he could see the stage and the big videos playing behind it. (Trust me, that was a workout...) Mazy, like Shawn, is too cool to show a lot of excitement in public. But he was singing along to songs, and every once in awhile he'd throw his fist into the air or start rocking to the music. People were smiling at him all night. I was so proud!
4. Meeting the band after the concert. How many concerts do you go to where you get to talk to the band and have them sign autographs for you?! At 11:15 p.m., we're on the bridge waiting in line and there walking down the bridge toward us comes all the members of Devo wearing all-black outfits. It was pretty cool. They sat at a table and every one of them was so personable and fun. Shawn had them sign his still-in-the-box Devo action figures (I kid you not) and Mazy gave them the original artwork design for his t-shirt. One of the guys said, "I see a future album cover here." And the band members really liked Shawn's shirt too. I didn't get great pictures because I was trying to talk to them and explain why Mazy was handing them a crayon drawing of a shark wearing a red Devo hat, but they were patient and very nice to him.
5. Being a part of good music and good people. Devo, like its fans, is genuine, unapologetic of its nerdy side, sarcastic, but confident and fun. I may not have known all the songs, but I could sing along to many of them and "try" to dance. Their music is not very dance-friendly, but we all tried anyway. The 60-something white guys bouncing up and down were totally cracking me up. You go ol' white boys!
And that is why Saturday night was awesome. I'll get pics up soon.
Two-day countdown to Chicago!!
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