Devo and the B-52’s are hitting the road for a co-headline tour this autumn. Billed as a continuation of the farewell tours both bands announced earlier in the decade, the Cosmic De-Evolution Tour will take the bands from Toronto to Houston between late September and early November. Lene Lovich supports. Check out the itinerary below.
In a press release, several band members had something to say, starting with the B-52’s’ Fred Schneider: “In 2022, I swore I’d never get on a tour bus again,” he said. “But we were careful to say to our fans that we would still perform in special situations that don’t require all of the awful tour travel. Our Vegas residency is going great, and when we were offered the chance to do a small run of shows with Devo, we all said this is an extraordinary opportunity we couldn’t say no to.”
Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh said, “The B-52’s had one of the best sounds of any of the bands out there in the late ’70s early ’80s—‘Rock Lobster’ is one of my favorite songs—Devo used to sing it to Booji Boy after Devo shows. It was either fate or luck or the SNL anniversary that brought us all together to create this amazing chance to go out on tour. All I can say is Cosmic Devolution is REAL!”
Added the B-52’s’ Kate Pierson, “When we first came from Athens to New York City to perform, punk was in full force… and new wave was right on its tail! We loved all the new wave groups, including Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Blondie and the Ramones. We also really dug the far-out weirdness of Devo, which seemed very in tuned to our sensibilities. We remember one of our first shows—amazed that David Bowie, Brian Eno, Frank Zappa, Allen Ginsberg, Talking Heads, and Blondie all came to see us! When we opened the Mudd Club, we partied with Devo and really hit it off on the dance floor. Later, Brian Eno went onto to produce Devo’s incredible first album… and now we will align again! So put on your wig hats and Devo bonnets and get ready to party! This is going to be wild.”
Said Cindy Wilson, “When both of our bands performed at the recent SNL 50 concert at Radio City, we started talking and agreed we had to do these shows. Believe or not, we’ve never done more than a festival or two together in all this time. This will be amazing and I can’t wait for the B-52’s to share these stages with Devo!”
And Devo’s Gerry Casale added, “Devo and the B-52’s on tour together! That it took almost 50 years to happen is rather mind-blowing. But better late than never. We each did something right in different ways that withstood the test of time. Now we’re here to prove we can still ‘bring it’ as they say!’
Read Pitchfork’s Sunday Reviews of Devo’s Duty Now for the Future and the B-52’s’ self-titled debut.
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The B-52’s & Devo:
09-24 Toronto, Ontario – Budweiser Stage ^
09-25 Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre ^
10-02 Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center ^
10-04 Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center ^
10-05 Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater ^
10-16 Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre ^
10-18 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl ^
10-24 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion ^
10-25 Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre ^
11-01 Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater ^
11-02 Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion ^
^ with Lene Lovich