During the last four decades, Devo has gone from out-there rock act to something a little more familiar. “We were a polarizing force and pissing off a lot of people by how we looked, how we sounded, what we said,” said Devo founding member Gerald Casale during a phone interview last week. “We seemed outrageous to people and shocking, and suddenly we weren’t outrageous or shocking. We were oddly familiar and soothing, like the house band on the Titanic.”
Devo performs at the State Theatre on Thursday.
| Onstage |
| Devo |
| » Where: State Theatre, 220 North Washington St., Falls Church |
| » When: Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Thursday |
| » Info: $57 general admission, $120 meet and greet; thestatetheatre.com |
Formed in 1973, Devo includes brothers Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Josh Freese and Gerald’s brother Bob Casale. The group is known for the hits “Whip It,” “Girl U Want” and the band’s eclectic cover of the Rolling Stones “Satisfaction.” Devo drew attention for its New Wave/Post Punk synthesized rock sound, unpredictable song structure and bizarre outfits that included the iconic red Energy Dome hat made famous in the “Whip It” video.
“The truth is, you’re compelled to act upon your ideas,” Gerald Casale said. “Because if you don’t, somebody else is going to. As soon as you have these ideas, you do something about them. I guess we were just a little ahead of others. That wasn’t always a great thing. You become the proverbial pioneers that get scalped.”
In 2010, Devo released its ninth studio album “Something For Everybody,” the band’s first full-length in 20 years.
While touring, Devo discovered it has two audiences. Those who grew up with the band, and younger people who have discovered the act.
“They come out and find us contemporary,” said Casale, 63. “That was actually the most exciting aspect of putting out new material and coming out again, raising the Devo flag again.”
Devo is currently contributing a song to an Occupy Wall Street compilation album, and hopes to get a long talked-about musical and a documentary off the ground in 2012.
“We did something right,” Casale said of the group’s legacy. “Stuff we did had substance. We weren’t just style. We weren’t just guys with white shirts and skinny black ties like some of the other, quote, New Wave acts. We did something that is really, on one level, timeless. As time went on, more people actually found us to be relevant.”
