Devo addicts will have a field day with the quintet’s new concert film “Devo: Live in the Land of the Rising Sun.” Shot during the group’s 2003 tour of Japan, the film is a boisterous, bouncy celebration of Devo’s distinct sound and style.
For those who feel Devo can do no wrong, there is plenty to enjoy here. The song line-up offers the band’s best, including the landmark “Whip It,” “Jocko Homo,” “Come Back Jonee” and “Mongoloid.” The Japanese fans, many sporting the trademark red bucket helmets, can’t get enough of the group and happily bounce in time to the music.
Of course, when the camera gets a little close to the action, we see that time has taken its toll on the performers’ bodies. Their chins are a little jowly and their stomachs call out for Pritkin discipline, and it is fairly obvious that most of the overwhelmingly youthful Japanese audience were in diapers when Devo enjoyed its first peak so many years ago.
But even in the midst of middle age, Devo still knows how to belt out a tune. And quite frankly, how many middle aged guys have the voice and the balls to get out on a concert stage and execute “Whip It” with a punk pizzazz that never goes out of style?
