Just a quick recap of last night’s DEVO shot at the Rooftop at Pier 17.
This was my first time at this venue and, for the most part, I was pretty impressed. Essentially situated on top of what once was the “South Street Seaport” mall (that sort of red, barn-like building, back in the day), the views from the rooftop of Pier 17 are indeed pretty iconic; the looming spires of Manhattan’s financial district behind you, the promenade of Brooklyn Heights just over the water, and the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges behind the stage, etc. It was a warm, beautiful night, so in that respect, it was perfectly idyllic. That all said, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a couple of grievances (who? ME??). So, let’s take care of those now, shall we?
Not unlike the restrictions mandated back at that McCarren Pool show I re-invoked yesterday, the Rooftop warns all and sundry well in advance that the event will end and remain very much over at 10pm sharp. Now, as a 54-year-old dad coming off a long, busy day at the office, that news didn’t really upset me, knowing that I’d still be back at home at a decent hour. But, honestly, it did serve to irk me a little bit when the opening act -- actor Creed Bratton from “The Office” …er….fame -- went a little long. I should preface this by saying I’ve never been a big fan of “The Office” to begin with, but Bratton’s acoustic singer/songwriter/raconteur schtick was really ill-considered for this event. Moreover, the man’s meandering set dribbled on past 8:00 pm. Devo didn’t hit the stage until 8:30 pm, so we got an hour and a half set, but one can’t help feeling that Bratton ate up extra time and did absolutely nothing to benefit proceedings beyond pissing off the Devo faithful.
Beyond that, I thought the merch stand was a little spartan, considering that, under usual circumstances, Devo practically rivals KISS in the needlessy gratuitous merchandising deparment. There was one (1) variety of t-shirt, one (1) variety of sweatshirt, some Devo socks, some stickers and the inevitable energy domes. That’s it.
Most upsettingly, beers at this venue -- and we’re only talking about tallboys of friggin’ Heineken or Dos Equis -- cost $17.00 a can. You read that right: SEVENTEEN dollars. Sip it slowly, spuds.
But all such bellyaching aside, the show was pretty great. This was my son Oliver’s first show, so that was kind of special, especially since Devo had been my first show, back in 1981 (as I’m keen to laboriously point out). The set wasn’t exactly rife with surprises -- most of the favorites were duly dusted off and given robust run-throughs (although I was a little disappointed not to hear “Praying Hands” and “Wiggly World,” but you can only cover so much ground in an hour and a half). For Mark Mothersbaugh’s 72 years (it was his birthday, yesterday), he’s in fine, fighting fettle (especially considering a severe bout of COVID, last year). This late in the day, Devo shows lack a bit of the energized chaos that marked their heyday, but hey -- these guys are kind of in their (late) autumn years. I hate to suggest it, but I can easily imagine the band curtailing their touring schedule a bit, following these dates.
Below are some of my pics, ….which brings me to another rant (sorry).
Look, I realize it’s 2022, and we’re all slavishly devoted (pardon the pun) to our multifaceted smart phones. Hell, I can barely walk one city block without whippin’ it out, taking a picture, filtering the shit out of it and posting it on Instagram. And yes, I took a handful of shots last night. But there was a guy right in front of me -- not unlike the girls I lamented at that Spoon show on this ancient post -- who somehow COULD NOT STOP HIMSELF from constantly taking out his iPhone to shoot video of portions of songs (and when he wasn’t doing that, he insisted on doing a wavy-arm/grindy-hip dance as if at a fuckin' Mariah Carey concert). But song after song, he evidently felt compelled to document (and edit, and zoom, etc.). I finally fucking snapped and tapped him on the shoulder, imploring him to “PUT THE FUCKING PHONE DOWN AND JUST ENJOY THE GODDAMN SHOW!” Amazingly, he complied (that never happens) and there was no confrontation or fallout (that usually happens). But, seriously – I know we all CAN capture live video at any time, but the resultant footage of those endeavors are never really that good, are they? They’re shaky and the sound is shit and you can hear people talking, etc. etc. Don’t believe me? Click over to YouTube -- there are clips from last night’s show up already.
Whatever happened to just savoring the moment?
The Mariah Carey/videographer can be seen below with his arms up, in a rare moment of not trying to video every nanosecond of the show...
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