DEVO – Live In The Land Of The Rising Sun
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Concert: B
One of the greatest of all New Wave bands is DEVO, a band
ahead of just about everyone else in the world of Music Video. Despite the absence of their remake of Jimi
Hendrix’s Are U Experienced?, Rhino released their great Music Video
compilation The Complete Truth About De-Evolution on DVD and followed
that with the release of a vintage concert DVD simply called DEVO - Live. Now, Music Video Distributors offers a new,
more recent concert in the new Live In The Land Of The Rising Sun DVD
and their return could never be soon enough.
Taped in front of a wildly enthusiastic crowd in Tokyo,
Japan, the band goes quickly into high gear, delivering great performances of
the following all-time classics:
1) That’s
Good
2) Girl U
Want
3) Whip It
4) Satisfaction
5) Uncontrollable
Urge
6) Mongoloid
7) Blockhead
8) Jocko
Homo
9) Smart
Patrol/Mr. DNA
10) Gut Feeling/Slap Yer Mammy
11) Gates Of Steel
12) Freedom Of Choice (aka freedomofchoice)
13) Come Back Jonee
They may be a few decades older, but unlike most bands of
their age, they have not lost their touch; their talent and skills have not
faded one bit. Their vision of the
future, once laughed at by many, has become all too true. Time is catching up with DEVO’s vision and
not enough people are listening. No
band since has articulated things quite as well as they have and they are one
of the only true survivors left of New Wave, embodying all it stands for. Even with more commercial outside projects in
music, film and video as solo artists, they have not given up one inch of
integrity and are one of the last survivors of the original Rock genre to
boot. Their music was always about the
ways people have allowed technology and civilization to push people backwards
and the onslaught of technology since their debut has more than vindicated
their vision. They have so much to say
and luckily, they keep saying it.
To top it off, this is a fun concert with much energy and
the back and fourth between the audience and the band is the kind of interplay
not seen enough. That this was so
recent added an extra excitement to it that great live music is far from
dead. Another great thing is that this
is a band that does not have to be in a Music Video to be interesting to
watch. When these guys become DEVO,
they ARE DEVO and few bands (especially most new ones) cannot even come
close. Live In The Land Of The
Rising Sun is one of the best concert DVDs to date, with a 75 minutes
running time that could not go on long enough for me.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 video image is adequate, but one
might have hoped for something in anamorphic 16 X 9, though this still seems
DEVO is in comfortable territory with this old-styled analog footage. The Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3 mix is not great,
playing like slightly better Pro Logic, but it also tries to spread out the
sound that was obviously not thought out for 5.1 in the first place. The extras include Japanese Press footage,
the band shopping in Japan, another great Gerald V. Casale/Mark Mothersbaugh
interview, and a rare 1980 video clip fans will particularly welcome. That makes this one at least a must-see, but
I would say it is a must-own.
- Nicholas Sheffo
