Tuesday 26/06/07 Devo @ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Eliminate the ninnies and the twits! Devo are here to deconstruct this ****ed up world and ain't nobody gonna stop them. The Spudourgeoisie are out in force to catch Ohio's finest musical spawn. It's been more than 15 years since the band's last European tour, and tonight London hosts one of the late 70s/early 80s most inconspicuously influential acts.

Amongst the founding fathers of new wave art punk pop rock, Devo took satire, sarcasm and social commentary to the extreme, with many totally missing the point around the group's peak between 1978 and 1982. In more recent years their stripped back eccentricity has enjoyed somewhat of a cult revival, and despite the obvious passing of time, it's a complete privilege to be in the presence of such royalty.

Chanting spuds, lights, video! WE ARE DEVO. Flash flash – the five principles of Devolution. Ladies and gentlemen, this is' Your last chance'. Wear gaudy colours or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The littlest may survive and the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!

The Casale’s and the Mothersbaugh’s (plus drummer Josh Freese) emerge from the wings in regulation yellow boiler suits and red energy domes, to rapturous applause. Early track ’That’s Good’ is more beefed up than its original naked synth and driving bass incarnation, before the militaristic robot manoeuvres and sinister HA HA HA HAAA of ‘Peek-A-Boo’.

Bob 1’s brilliant opening riff of ‘Girl U Want’ sends the spuds into a spin before the tremendous Minimoog intro of ‘Whip It’, with Mothersbaugh mock whipping the air ala the vid. The song that cemented their place in music history and began the film clip revolution is fabulously kitsch and as infectious as it was 27 years ago.