In 1978 I dressed up like a member of DEVO for “Star Day” at Casa Roble High School in Orangevale, CA. Boys threw rocks at me and called me a f@ggot. That, of course, was nothing new for kids like me and in 1978 it wasn’t even an option to report stuff like that. I would have literally been laughed out of the principal’s office. 2 years later, these same idiot jocks decided the song “Whip It” was cool and suddenly embraced DEVO as their own. (The same exact thing later happened with Nirvana) Tonight’s concert was surprisingly emotional for me. A lot of people think DEVO’s music is just campy and surface-level and devoid of emotion, but DEVO literally changed my life. They are geniuses who recognized that we are indeed devolving and accurately predicted the America we live in today... A country proudly lacking in intelligence, happily eschewing Science (I ALWAYS capitalize it) and gleefully mocking empathy. The fearful, boring idiots are still throwing rocks at the smarter, more interesting people (almost always LGBTQ+ & BIPOC folks, have you noticed?) who make them uncomfortable by merely existing - let alone having the audacity to dare try and change the world. Stupid people embracing amazing things for all the wrong reasons is nothing new. Janis Joplin’s song “Mercedes Benz” - a scathing indictment of materialism - was actually later used by the car company in their commercials. Conservative assholes have completely misinterpreted Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The USA” and often blast it at their racist rallies. And hateful homophobes never seem to get tired of The Village People’s “YMCA” - all about anonymous Gay sex - and Queen’s “We Are The Champions” - the musical equivalent of a peacock in full bloom - written & performed by a supremely talented and flamboyant Gay man, Freddie Mercury. And despite the lyrics “But not for me,” there are no-doubt people who think DEVO’s “Beautiful World” is actually about how truly lovely this planet and its inhabitants are. 🤣 But by all means, dude... “Whip it good!”