One of my favourite sites on the Internet is Wolfgang’s Vault. “What is that?” you ask? It is one of the most incredible music sites on the web. It streams live concert audio archives going back 40 or more years. There are concerts by David Bowie, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Blondie, Devo, Allman Brothers Band, Joe Cocker and on and on. There are over 1740 concerts. Check out this listing…

Many of these shows were broadcast live on American radio networks. Some of you may remember the King Biscuit Flower Hour or the Superstar Concert Series? Quite often these radio broadcasts were recorded by fans on to tape and then bootlegged. One of my favourite bootlegs was Resurrection on 84th Street which featured a live performance by David Bowie that was recorded at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale on the 23rd March, 1976. I bought my copy from Toad Hall’s Rare Records in Victoria via the post. The double album set cost me $11.00AUD.

Anyway, portions of this show are now available at Wolfgang’s Vault. The band for the tour were tight. The shows were powerful. Bowie was really enjoying himself.

Every now and then I surf over to the vault and listen to a gig or two. It is incredible. The two Led Zeppelin shows from 1969 are brilliant.

Tonight I thought I would set up Airfoil on the Mac and play the streamed audio through my stereo via the wireless network. I have been playing my iTunes playlists over the wireless network for a while now. I should have set up Airfoil to broadcast the other audio on my Mac as well a long time ago.

This software is neat. You can select the different nodes on your network and adjust the volume and equalisation of the audio. Works on Windows too.

Photograph of Devo by AfterGlow76. Some Rights Reserved.

I was a little surprised when they came out on stage. A couple of the band members looked rather portly in their trademark yellow boiler suits. I have seen David Bowie as well as the Rolling Stones perform live recently and they are holding their own somewhat. Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo had put on a little weight, yet his energy levels were enormous. They all performed at a frantic pace. It was such a great show.

Photograph of Mark Mothersbaugh by Nathan Wind as Cochese. Some rights reserved.

I first saw Devo perfom live back in 1982. I had read about the band in a copy of New Musical Express in 1978 and imported their album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! It was simultaneously an immensely enjoyable and challenging album. You hade to be a little eccentric or willing to step outside of your musical comfort zone to get into Devo.

Photograph of Devo by AfterGlow76. Some Rights Reserved.

I bought some of their early singles, some live bootleg albums plus their first few official albums after that. I have since sold the bootleg albums on eBay.

You can catch their seminal track, Jocko Homo, live here on YouTube if you wish to sample a live experience from 2007. There is a live audio recording of Jocko Homo dating bac to 1978 on the Devo MySpace page as well. Here are the lyrics for you to digest. What can they teach you in the 21st Century you web 2.0 devotees?

Jocko Homo by Devo

They tell us that
We lost our tails
Evolving up
From little snails
I say it’s all
Just wind in sails
Are we not men?
We are DEVO!
We’re pinheads now
We are not whole
We’re pinheads all
Jocko homo
Are we not men?
D-E-V-O
Monkey men all
In business suit
Teachers and critics
All dance the poot
Are we not men?
We are DEVO!
Are we not men?
D-E-V-O
god made man
but he used the monkey to do it
apes in the plan
we’re all here to prove it
i can walk like an ape
talk like an ape
do what a monkey do
god made man
but a monkey supplied the glue
We must repeat
O.k. let’s go!

Well, is there a lesson for teachers and administrators in there, somewhere?

Addendum 7th August, 2008. Dion, over on The WhimWham has written a great review of the gig with a setlist, photographs, video and an acount of a meeting with the band! Simply brilliant!

This is an aboriginal interpretation of Zorba The Greek. This performance always lifts my spirits. I am always happy to see anyone enjoying life and not taking themsleves too seriously. As the description on the YouTube page explains…

Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy from Milingimbi has been in the Indigenous Media Industry for many years and has been a long-standing member and supporter of the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association, TEABBA Radio. He has worked Independently in Music and Film for many years also. As the man behind the camera and release of the video, Frank is also representing the dance group who call themselves “The Chooky Dancers”.

Frank has said that he filmed the footage at this years Ramingining Festival on the 30th September 2007 and knew it would be “something special” as soon as he saw the boys rehearsing. “The crowd went wild as you can see in the video, and the classic song Zorba the Greek has now become a hit overnight in the communities and now it seems, everywhere else too.”