Less Than Devastating
I had never heard of Devastations before seeing this gig. They don't suck, and they're Australian. The 21st is Queen Elizabeth II's birthday, so it seems apt that two of the three bands playing Shepherds Bush Empire are from the Commonwealth (Canada and Australia) and mildly ironic that the headliner is from the rebel colony known as the USA.
Devastations dress like The Doors and play weird but danceable rock. It's kind of ambient, like Blonde Redhead, but quite trippy, too, as if some 70s band was making new dance music. However, from what people complained of during the gig, Devastations plays covers. They were covers of songs I'd never heard before, though, so I had a pretty good time dancing to the heavy bass and beat-tastic drums.
I found myself laughing at how Led Zeppelin/Pink Floyd/The Doors-ey it all sounded, and then when they ambled into the meat of each piece, I'd find myself dancing. So, they alternated between humorous and charmingly danceable. I have little to complain about.
Nevertheless, Devastations should have opened for Holy Fuck, and Holy Fuck should have opened for Blonde Redhead, but, c'est la vie. I wasn't devastated.