Devo Live 1980

At one time "rock music visuals on TV were usually delegated ... to ..."Saturday Night Live," "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert," the "Midnight Special" or "Friday's." And mostly, it was either straight-ahead live performance footage, or else blah lip-synched stuff, with the musicians playing to an empty arena on the afternoon of a show ... This all changed with Devo. The five spuds from O-hi-o seemed to have an agenda (in no particular order) - to make you think, laugh and build homemade 'energy dome' hats - ...Devo was also one of the new wave era's great live bands, as evidenced by this very DVD.

Even if you missed catching Devo live and 'in the flesh you had a decent chance to sample 'em on the tube, as they were one of the few acts to appear on all of the aforementioned programs. Only problem was that the bands were only given a handful of songs on these shows. That's where Live 1980 comes in handy ... a full length live set, just as "Whip It" was beginning to make Devo a household word. And while all the group's 'hits' up to this point are included, hardcore spuds will enjoy such run-throughs of the obscurities "It's Not Right," "Pink Pussycat" and "Swelling Itching Brain"." --Greg Prato, 2005

August 17, 1980 - Phoenix Theatre, Petaluma: 21 tracks including "Whip It," "Planet Earth," "(I Cant Get No) Satisfaction," "Freedom of Choice"and "Tunnel of Life."