The B-52s and Devo to Embark on Cosmic De-Evolution Co-Headline Tour with Lene Lovich

The B-52s and Devo with Fred Armisen, photo by Mary Ellen Matthews

Tomorrow, The B-52s and Devo will join forces for Cosmic De-Evolution, their first-ever co-headline tour. For the landmark shared bills, the two legendary offbeat New Wave outfits will take their shared sensibility and singular sounds to 11 venues across the country from Sept. 24 to Nov. 2. Every performance in the series, which extends both groups’ concurrent farewell tours, will feature support from special guest and fellow ‘80s synth-rock outsider Lene Lovich. 

The “Cosmic De-Evolution Tour” will begin with a kickoff staging at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage, then send the bands through their lone Midwest stop in Clarkston, Mich. on Sept. 25 before a Northeast leg including Mansfield, Mass.’s Xfinity Center on Oct. 2, Holmdel, N.J.’s PNC Bank Arts Center on Oct. 4 and Wantagh, N.Y.’s Jones Beach Theater on Oct. 5.

The caravan will jump to the West Coast for performances at Mountain View, Calif.’s Shoreline Amphitheatre and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 16 and 18, then take the Southeast with stops at Charlotte, N.C.’s PNC Music Pavilion and Alpharetta, Ga.’s Ameris Bank Amphitheatre on Oct. 24 and 25. The run will come to an end in the Lone Star State, where a Nov. 1 stand at Austin, Texas’ Germania Insurance Amphitheater will prime the groups for a grand finale at Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Nov. 12.

The B-52s began their long goodbye back in 2022, when a formal farewell tour launched a new chapter of rare and rewarding appearances as festival headliners–including North to Shore Festival, Mosswood Meltdown and Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song–and in their extended residency at Las Vegas’ Venetian Theatre. In 2023, Devo announced their bell lap with the 50 Years of De-Evolution tour, which, as of now, will come to a close with a Nov. 15 performance in Saint Paul, Minn. In a release, founding members of both groups praised their peers and voiced anticipation for the outing ahead.

“In 2022, I swore I’d never get on a tour bus again,” Fred Schneider 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.”

“When we first came from Athens to New York City to perform, punk was in full force,” Kate Pierson reflected, “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 on to 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.”

“The B-52s had one of the best sounds of any of the bands out there in the late 70’s early 80’s,” Mark Mothersbaugh said. “‘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!”

“Devo and The B-52s on tour together! That it took almost 50 years to happen is rather mind-blowing,” Gerry Casale echoed. “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!”

All dates on The B-52s and Devo’s Cosmic De-Evolution Tour will feature support from Lene Lovich. Tickets are available now at clubdevo.com and theb52s.com.