Devo Civic Center Lawn October 25, 2002 Review by Jake Thomas Holy fucking shit, I got to see Devo. I can't express the amount of joy I felt when I found out they would be playing on the lawn in front of City Hall. On top of that, it was free! And everyone that knows me, knows how much I like free shit. Well not actual shit, but you get what I'm saying. They were going to be playing at noon, so finally being unemployed was going to be useful for a change. Not that I would have missed it anyways, this had 'take the day off' worthiness written all over it. I got there a few minutes before they started playing, and weaseled my way pretty close to the front. I even brought my camera with me to take some pics, and I never take band pictures. Maybe one day I will even develop them, won't that be good times! There was a decent amount of people there, but there should have been a lot more. A whole shitload of people work downtown, and this is fuckin' Devo!!! One person who was there, standing near me, was The Surly Pineapple. Who is this you ask? Why, it's some stoner dude wearing a giant pineapple costume, of course! It was an especially funny sight when he was toking on his stash of kind bud, watching the smoke billow out of any opening in the outfit. Good times, and the show hadn't even started yet. I wasn't even remotely prepared for the musical onslaught to come. A big part of me sorta expected it to be a bunch of old geezers phoning it in, but that couldn't be any further from the truth. They rocked their asses off in those black outfits and red step hats (you know, the ones that they wore in the 'Whip It' video). The band was incredibly tight, the songs were great, and they seemed like they were having a really good time. They played plenty of the hits, including 'Freedom of Choice', 'Whip It', and my personal favorite, their cover of the Rolling Stone's '(Can't Get No) Satisfaction'. The crowd was very excitable, with much dancing and jubilation to be had. There were even some heads poking out of City Hall - maybe Willie Brown is a big fan. At least then he would have some sort of use. I even took a bunch of photos, until these two tall dudes came and stood right in front of me, which was bad enough, but that kept their hands raised in the air almost the entire time 'whooping' the show on like Arsenio Hall were on the stage or something. So I've now seen one of my 'top five shows of bands I never got to see' play, and it lived up to my every hope and dream of what it would be. Now if only The Replacements, The Pixies, The Clash, The Misfits would do the same...