Shortly before beginning the band’s set, Devo’s frontman Mark Mothersbaugh learned we have a closet full of stage props and costumes, everything from lab coats and wigs to a rubber chicken and fake blood. After quickly rummaging through the boxes and racks of clothes, he returned with a stack of hats that he eventually — and repeatedly — swapped out during a sometimes breathless performance.
The band’s set included songs members say they hadn’t performed in more than 40 years, opening with ‘It Takes a Worried Man’, a track Devo had originally recorded for the little-known 1982 comedy film ‘Human Highway’. The group also performed a skittering version of 1979’s ‘Blockhead’, and ‘Come Back Jonee’ from the band’s 1978 debut album ‘Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!’
Now 74, Mothersbaugh hasn’t slowed down or lost the playfully subversive style that’s defined his time with Devo, at one point working his way into the audience with a megaphone to ask people just inches away what they’re doing with their hands (for the song ‘Praying Hands’).
Devo’s set comes after releasing a career-spanning box set, ’50 Years of De-Evolution (1973-2023)’, late last year – check out the Tiny Desk performance below!