All-Star Akron Jam

I was too tired when I got home last night and I have too much going on today to blog about it, so here's Malcolm X Abram's write up from the Akron Beacon Journal (along with with photos) on the DEVObama show last night at the historic Akron Civic Theatre.

Also, be sure to check out Dave Purcell's great comments on both the Devo and David Byrne shows at Radio Free Newport.

AKRON ROCK ICONS DO CIVIC DUTY
Devo's benefit concert whips up vote

Chrissie Hynde, Black Keys join other local acts in raising money for Summit County Democrats

By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer

Published on Saturday, Oct 18, 2008

It had been 30 years since Devo performed in Akron, and it took a cause important to the band to bring the group back home.

Friday night, the band returned to the same venue -- the Akron Civic Theatre -- where it had performed in 1978. Back then, it was a triumphant homecoming for a band that was about to move to California. Friday night, the reason was a benefit concert for the Summit County Democratic Party, which inadvertently became a celebration of some of Akron's most popular groups, with both the Black Keys and Chrissie Hynde performing.

Before the show, Richard Evans and Jeff Hancock of Pittsburgh, who were enjoying a beer across the street at the Lockview, were excited about the program and the cause.

Evans, 38, a Devo fan club member, said he found out about the show a few days before tickets were available and quickly snapped up a pair.

While the men were excited to see Devo and the Black Keys, they were also interested in the reason for the show.

"The music is the main reason, but I'm also for [Barack] Obama," said Evans, a confessed lifelong Democrat.

"I was really undecided until I saw the debate the other night. Obama pretty much blew [McCain] away," Hancock said. "That made the decision much easier for me."

Before the show, the crowd mingled at the Civic. In the lobby, concertgoers could purchase special Obama '08 Duty Now for the Future T-shirts and Devo's signature red energy domes, for $20 and $30, respectively, with all proceeds going to the Democratic Party.

The evening's hosts were Summit County Executive Russ Pry and City Council President Marco Sommerville, who between acts stumped not only for Obama but also for seemingly every Democratic candidate in the state. Other dignitaries included U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, and Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, the party's candidate for Ohio attorney general.

The show began with local singer-songwriter Chris Allen, who performed a few of his originals and a cover of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released. Next, Akron blues rock duo, the Black Keys, who performed a sold-out show last week at E.J. Thomas Hall, played a loud and wild eight-song, half-hour set.

"We don't feel special. We're honored to be here. We're just average Joe Plumbers," Black Keys guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach said, mocking John McCain's debate topic.

Another local singer, Rachel Roberts, performed a quick pair of songs. Then Akron's Chrissie Hynde played a quiet set of three new songs from the Pretenders' latest album Break Up the Concrete, which she described as "being written about Akron."

Hynde's voice was in fine form, though she did fling a few expletives when she couldn't recall the words to Almost Perfect.

Sommerville and Pry returned to the stage wearing energy domes, with Pry adding the band's yellow Devo lab coat, to introduce Devo.

Devo's Bob and Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald and Bob Casale and longtime drummer Josh Freese filled out their yellow jump suits more than they did 30 years ago, but they performed a taut, energetic 70-minute set of hits and fan favorites, including Girl U Want and Uncontrollable Urge. Before Whip It, Gerald Casale talked about the "eight-year nightmare" of the current administration and asked the crowd, "Are we gonna whip it on Nov. 4?" The answer was a resounding yes.

The show ended with all of the night's performers joining in a ramshackle and fun version of the Pretenders' Break Up the Concrete that had the crowd dancing in the aisles.

With Akron-ness

My friend David's new book, All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House, is living up to expectations. I picked up my copy at his reading and talk at the Akron Main Library auditorium this past Wednesday and have barely put it down since.

I have known David for about three years now. When my first review for PopMatters was published, I emailed it to him because I knew he had co-written the great book We Are Devo! with Jade Dellinger. He responded graciously and has always been generous with guidance and a kind word ever since.

Before our flight to the suburbs, we lived around the corner from David and Gina. Our house was nothing compared to what they have undertaken, both in the size of the house or in the scope of any sort of needed refurbishment (NYT slide show), but reading the new book now makes me wonder if I should have been asking David for home improvement advice as much as I have asked him for writing guidance! (I think David would modestly say I have been better off without his advice in the home repair arena.)

What's cool for me is that I have actually been inside the house that is really a main character in the new book on a couple of occasions when dropping off or picking up stuff that David and I were exchanging. I've only ever seen the foyer and center hall inside and the garage around back (to turn my car around because, as described in the book, backing out of that drive can be suicide). If I had known the story behind the house beforehand I would have paid more attention to what surrounded me, but it left an impression nonetheless.

We found out at the Library event that All the Way Home has been selected for Oprah's Summer Reading List, which is huge for the book. Combine that with the great profile in the New York Times a couple months ago and the fact that David is the kind of writer who connects with the reader almost immediately, and the book is bound for success and David for even greater heights. From the well-placed music references to the laid-bare emotional confusion of what it means to earn the title of husband/father/provider, there is an inherent urban, metrosexual, hip-ness to David's writing that is off-set perfectly by his ability to appreciate the wonder of the town he has grown up in.

After David's talk at the library, I stood in line with my old neighbors from Highland Square who had also come out to support David, along with my parents who had driven up to hear him speak. I introduced my parents to David, and we all had him autograph our copies of the book. He signed mine, "With Akron-ness," and it couldn't be more appropriate.

A House at the Edge of the City

So, my friend David, who wrote a great book on Devo with Jade Dellinger, has a new book coming on May 27 about the 12-year (and counting) journey of refurbishing a near-condemned house into a home. But it's also about family, community, and so much more. I am really looking forward to settling in with All the Way Home soon, but in the meantime there is a great (and I suspect somewhat surreal to him) write-up on his story in today's Home & Garden section of the New York Times to tide me over.