Quality:
Variable
Notes:
A deep dive into the Basement collection and beyond, this collection aims to present a comprehensive set of uncommon (or not well documented) live performances by the band.
*Tracks marked with an asterisk are only available through the Basement on this collection.
Many tracks have been tweaked, edited, and/or EQ’d from their original recordings for this compilation. Please leave all metadata intact to prevent confusion with other distributed material.
Sources and Commentary:
Track 1: 1973-04-18 – Kent State University Creative Arts Festival, extracted from The Complete Truth About De-Evolution DVD
An excerpt of the very first DEVO performance.
Tracks 2-4: 1974-xx-xx – unknown venue – Akron, OH
The earliest 4-piece DEVO recording in circulation, presented here in full.
Track 5: 1977-02-xx – Akron, OH – The Crypt, xMMx revision, hiss reduced, fades
A live arrangement closer to the 2nd demo version.
Tracks 6-11: 1977-05-28 – Cleveland, OH – Eagle Street Saloon, xMMx revision, fades
A whole smattering of great songs that didn’t make it past 1977.
Track 12: 1977-xx-xx – unknown venue – unknown city, fades, hiss reduced, normalized
Not sure what show this recording is from.
Track 13: 1977-07-09 – New York City, NY – Max’s Kansas City, fades, hiss reduced, normalized
This song unfortunately didn’t stick around past 1977, so here’s a good recording of it.
Tracks 14-15: 1977-08-03 – San Francisco, CA – Mabuhay Gardens, fades, normalized
Only known recordings of Jocko Homo with these breakdowns in the middle.
Track 16: 1977-08-24 – Los Angeles, CA – Starwood, fades, hiss reduced, normalized
Only known live recording of this song.
Track 17: 1977-08-24 – Los Angeles, CA – Starwood, trimmed, fades, light EQ, normalized
Only known live recording of this song, unfortunately only present in this incomplete and inferior recording.
Track 18: 1977-11-15 – New York City, NY – Max’s Kansas City, fades, hiss reduced, normalized
Booji Boy needs love too!
Tracks 19, 21-22: 1979-08-03 – Dallas, TX – The Palladium, fades
An early version of Going Under, a cover of a song from Eraserhead, and a song that would eventually become the NuTra Theme.
Track 20: 1979-08-03 – Dallas, TX – The Palladium, opening patched from 8/4/79 recording, SIB outro patched in, fades
Written by Genral (Gary) Jackett, who originally wrote Sloppy and appears in the Secret Agent Man segment of The Truth About De-Evolution. The best recording of was unfortunately missing the very beginning, so that section was patched in from the band’s performance the next day.
Tracks 23 & 26: 1979-12-31 – Long Beach, CA – Long Beach Arena, alternate recording, light hiss reduction
Tracks 24 & 25: 1979-09-22 – Minneapolis, MN – M-80 Festival, extracted from Live 1980 DVD, fades
DEVO opened for themselves as DOVE, the Band of Love, on three occasions in 1979. Jesus is otherwise known as Beulah, heard on Live: The Mongoloid Years.
Tracks 27-29: 1979-12-29 – Santa Cruz, CA – Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, hiss reduction, light multiband compressor on 28, EQ, fades
Part of the three-show “Fountain of Filth Tour”. Early arrangements of FOC songs and seldom-performed classics.
Track 30: 1980-06-20 – Bologna, Italy – Palasport, hiss reduced using preset, gentle low cut EQ
Mark and Jerry having some fun (or releasing some aggression) with some improvised alternate lyrics.
Track 31: 1980-06-17 – Milan, Italy – Palalido, gentle EQ
This song was only performed on the European leg of the FOC tour.
Track 32: 1980-08-17 – Petaluma, CA – Phoenix Theatre, fade, extracted from Live 1980 DVD
Booji Boy’s showcase from the FOC tour.
Tracks 33 & 34: 1981-10-09 – Fridays – Hollywood, CA – ABC-TV Studios, xMMx revision
Only known public performance of I Saw Jesus, and a nice extended version of the 1981 tour theme.
Track 35: 1982-11-05 – Merrillville, IN – Holiday Star Theatre, gentle EQ, fades
From 1981 and onward, the typical end-of-show Booji Boy showcase became Beautiful World.
Track 36: 1982-11-11 – Boston, MA – The Orpheum, fades
Performed in this arrangement only on this tour.
Track 37: 1982-10-30 – Los Angeles, CA – Beverly Hills Theatre, normalize, fades
Only known live performance of this song.
Tracks 38 & 39: 1988-01-20 – Hollywood, CA – Roxy Theatre, normalize in MP3Gain
Only known 1980s performance of Bamboo Bimbo, debut performance of the “sad” version of Jocko Homo. David Kendrick’s first performance with DEVO. The band performed at a reading by poet Hubert Selby Jr., organized by Henry Rollins.
Track 40: 1990-09-23 – Uppsala, Sweden – Barowiak afterparty, edited end
At an afterparty for a show, during a performance by Swedish tribute band Smart Patrol, DEVO took over the stage for this one song.
Track 41: 1991-03-23 – Pasadena, CA – Raymond Theatre, extracted from YouTube video, some EQ, fades
Only live performance of this song ever.
Track 42: 2004-07-23 – New York City, NY – Central Park Summerstage, fades
This prerecorded bit of music played DEVO to the stage, starting with the Lollapalooza tour in 1997, up until the introduction of new songs in 2009.
Track 43: 1999-01-21 – Los Angeles, CA – Universal Amphitheatre, gentle EQ, fades
One-off performance of this Hardcore classic.
Track 44: 2006-10-31 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre, gentle EQ, fades
For the first time on a DEVO tour, Booji Boy didn’t sing Beautiful World. Instead, Jihad Jerry, whose album had recently come out, sang the song in 2006. Mark played keys and Bob 2 played bass.
Track 45: 2008-10-17 – Akron, OH – Akron Civic Theatre, normalize, fades
One-off performance of this song by The Pretenders, featuring Chrissie Hynde on vocals, Mark on keys, Bob 1 & Dan Auerbach on guitar, Ed Marshall (DEVO roadie) on bass, Rachel Roberts & Joe Golden on acoustic guitar, and Neil Taylor on drums.
Track 46: 2009-03-20 – Austin, TX – Austin Music Hall, extracted from YouTube video, EQ, fades
The second-ever performance of this song, feautring Bob 1’s original guitar solo, before Santigold suggested they recycle the Be Stiff solo during the production of the Something for Everybody album.
Track 47: 2013-06-09 – Los Angeles, CA – Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, extracted from YouTube video, fade
First performance of this song since the Sundance show in 1996. Bob 2’s final show.
Track 48: 2014-06-25 – Seattle, WA – Neptune – fade, reduce gain
On the Hardcore Live album release, a verse is (rather obviously) edited out of this song. Here’s a recording of the full song (even if the band self-censored one word).
Track 49: 2018-06-13 – Oakland, CA – Burger Boogaloo, extracted from YouTube video
Booji Boy will shed some light on this one.
Track 50: 1979-09-22 – Minneapolis, MN – M-80 Festival, extracted from The Complete Truth About De-Evolution DVD
Though this is only an excerpt of this performance, it’s still a soundboard excerpt.
Track 51: 1977-02-xx – Akron, OH – The Crypt, xMMx revision, fades
Possibly from a different show, but this recording appears on the 2/77 CD. An atypical arrangement of this song that doesn’t feature any keyboards. Goodnight, spuds.
Contributor:
Compiled from the Basement collection.
