{"id":8144,"date":"2024-06-27T11:35:24","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T16:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=8144"},"modified":"2024-06-27T11:35:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T16:35:26","slug":"devos-gerald-casale-to-receive-ernie-kovacs-award-at-dallas-videofest-in-person-sept-29-devo-doc-screening-sept-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=8144","title":{"rendered":"Devo\u2019s Gerald Casale to Receive Ernie Kovacs Award at Dallas VideoFest in Person, Sept 29 + Devo Doc. Screening Sept 28"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit: Gerald Casale<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Weekend Festivities Include a Screening of Chris Smith\u2019s Documentary Film\u00a0<\/em>DEVO\u00a0and \u201cErnie in Kovacsland\u201d Book Signing<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DALLAS, TX (THURSDAY JUNE 27, 2024)<\/strong> \u2013 Dallas VideoFest<\/a> is proud to present the covetedErnie Kovacs<\/strong><\/a> Award to musician, artist, and music video director Gerald Casale<\/strong><\/a>, best known for his work in DEVO<\/a>, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Texas Theatre (231 W. Jefferson Blvd. \u2013 Oak Cliff\/Dallas). A VIP meet-and-greet reception with Gerald Casale will take place upstairs at the Texas Theatre before the Award ceremony, while the event and film will be downstairs at the Texas. The brand new DEVO documentary<\/a> (2024), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, will play the night before, Saturday, September 28. To purchase tickets, go to https:\/\/kovacs.eventive.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, a Q&A and book signing of the new \u201c<\/a>Ernie in Kovacsland\u201d<\/em><\/a> book with author Joshua Mills<\/a>, son of Edie Adams and keeper of the Kovacs flame, at a Dallas bookstore is currently being locked down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ernie Kovacs has been a key component of the Dallas VideoFest since the Festival began in 1987. Casale will receive the award from Dallas VideoFest’s Founder and Artistic Director, Bart Weiss. Mills will also attend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a primary force behind DEVO’s creative vision, Jerry Casale is also responsible for designing the band’s visually striking concert stage shows, and Dadaist costumes, including their signature red ‘Energy Dome’ hats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casale’s innovative approach to music videos and short films (starting in 1973<\/a>) led him to direct nearly 100 music videos for notable bands such as Rush, Silverchair, and The Cars. Gerald also has the distinction of directing both the very first Foo Fighters video and the final video for Soundgarden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It became clear that Gerald Casale specifically deserved the Ernie Kovacs Award when Mills found this Tumblr<\/a> link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The link contains this quote: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGerald Casale from DEVO has said, \u2018I don\u2019t think DEVO exists without the Nairobi Trio<\/em>,\u2019 referring to the recurring Ernie Kovacs sketch that featured a trio of (quite famous) performers in gorilla masks, trench coats and white gloves, attempting to play music as the sketch goes off the rails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt completely blew my mind learning that Gerald Casale and DEVO were not only fans of Ernie Kovacs but were influenced by him as well,\u201d said Mills. \u201cClearly, we are all DEVO.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember a stern nun telling me I had reached \u2018the age of reason’ when I turned 7, said Gerald Casale upon learning he would be the recipient of the 2024 Ernie Kovacs Award.\u201cLuckily, it was also the year I first watched the Ernie Kovacs Show with my parents huddled close to our black and white TV. That was the best antidote to \u2018reason\u2019 a boy could hope for. I was hooked. I watched, smiling and laughing, as Kovacs and his cohorts executed a Smorgasbord of absurdist comedy, combining high and low culture seamlessly to innovative, comedic ends. I can honestly say it inspired my visual aesthetic and set me on a satiric creative path sustained for a lifetime.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dThe very first program of our festival in 1987 showcased Edie Adams (Ernie\u2019s widow) expounding on the work of Ernie Kovacs,\u201d saidBart Weiss, founder\/artistic director of Dallas VideoFest, on the importance of Ernie Kovacs. \u201cErnie\u2019s innovative spirit has been with us these 37 years. The Kovacs Award became the perfect way to honor those who changed how we look at TV\/Video much like Kovacs did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust as Ernie Kovacs set the aesthetic and for the template for late night and most TV comedy, Jerry Casale\u2019s iconic music videos set the paradigm for how a band could define their image and tell their story through music video.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brand new DEVO documentary<\/a> currently on the Festival Circuit will play on Saturday, Sept 28, at the Texas Theatre (231 W. Jefferson Blvd. \u2013 Oak Cliff\/Dallas).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1980, new wave band DEVO scored a hit with “Whip It” and gained mainstream success with their message of societal “de-evolution,” formed in response to the 1970 Kent State shootings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review in Variety<\/em> magazine: \u2018DEVO\u2019 Review: Chris Smith\u2019s Documentary About the Jump-Suited Robo-Rock Avatars of De-Evolution Is as Much Fun as Its Subject<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film traces the band’s music, its videos, its roots in the embers of the counterculture, its freak success, and its big message, which remains prophetic and often misunderstood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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