Henry Rollins once said, ‘there are two kinds of people: those who get Devo, and those who don’t.’ An art project that just seemed to have a knack for a killer tune, it is perhaps not surprising that some people can be left in the dark. Nevertheless, those who get it, really do get it. They were championed by Bowie and Neil Young, covered by Nirvana, and had an influence that can be heard in everyone from LCD Soundsystem to Parquet Courts.  

Conceptual as ever, the band’s arrival for this farewell-tour gig is preceded by several whacky and irreverent videos highlighting their strained relation to fame. It sends the hype through the roof, which is only slightly deflated when they arrive onstage to ‘Don’t Shoot (I’m A Man)’ from their lesser known 2010 album Something For Everybody. Several songs in however, the band fire up all-timers ‘Girl U Want’ and ‘Whip It’, the latter amusingly introduced as ‘something we have been working on’. From then on, the gig does not let up. 

At some point, they change into their iconic boiler suits, which are then ripped off piece by piece. There are pom poms and strange visuals, while dome hats are thrown into the audience; there’s even an appearance by eerie man-child Booji Boy. Their commitment to ‘the bit’ of being Devo could be cold or even gimmicky, but the warmth and energy these septuagenarians exude gives the show a celebratory feel, as though we’ve all been in on the joke for 50 years. Maybe it’s the dome hats we’re wearing, but when we sing along to the ‘Jocko Homo’ refrain of ‘we are Devo!’, we all really mean it. 

Devo reviewed at O2 Academy Edinburgh.