DEVO and The B-52s will mount a co-headlining 2025 run called the "Cosmic De-Evolution Tour," the bands announced after a chance backstage conversation at the “SNL50” benefit concert earlier this year. The 11-date summer and fall trek will feature new wave veteran Lene Lovich as a special guest at all billed shows and pairs DEVO’s anxious, conceptual material with The B-52s’ party-ready catalog.
The idea, DEVO frontman Mark Mothersbaugh said in an interview, grew out of a dressing-room chat following the star-studded Radio City Music Hall event. "My wife, who works with us, got into a conversation with their manager about doing shows together and everybody seemed to like that idea," Mothersbaugh said. "I like the idea." Mothersbaugh, 75, added that the groups complement one another: "They're this great party dance band and DEVO's wringing their hands, worried about what's happening on the planet."
Promoters said the duo will play festival appearances and standalone amphitheater dates across North America. DEVO will appear at the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta Sept. 19–21 and Oceans Calling in Ocean City, Md., Sept. 26–28, and the co-headlining schedule with The B-52s includes stops at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto on Sept. 24, Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich., on Sept. 25, Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Mass., on Oct. 2, PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J., on Oct. 4, and Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, N.Y., on Oct. 5. The run also includes a Hollywood Bowl date Oct. 18 and additional fall performances extending into November at venues that include the Germania Insurance Amphitheater in Austin and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas, with final scheduled shows in Denver and St. Paul.
Mothersbaugh said longtime DEVO staples such as "Gut Feeling," "Satisfaction," "Gates of Steel," "Girl U Want" and "Whip It" will make up part of the set lists, and the band plans to revive material it has not performed in decades. "We'll have some things in there that we haven't done for 20, 30 years," he said, noting the group had reviewed a 1978 Paris concert and selected older tracks to reintroduce.
The tour announcement follows high-profile joint appearances in February at the SNL50: Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall, where DEVO performed "Uncontrollable Urge" with an assist from Fred Armisen and The B-52s played "Love Shack" alongside Armisen, The Roots and cast members. The full SNL50 special is available to stream on Peacock.
DEVO has also been the subject of a new documentary, DEVO, directed by Chris Smith and now streaming on Netflix. The 93-minute film traces the Akron band’s anti-authoritarian themes, artistic influences and unconventional career, and Mothersbaugh said the project's retrospective approach has prompted the group to re-examine material and stagecraft for live performance.
Mothersbaugh discussed the tour and the band’s evolving public profile in a wide-ranging interview. He described the current itinerary as part of what the band half-jokingly calls the "welfare tour" or the ever-elongating farewell tour, while acknowledging uncertainty about how long they will continue to take the stage. "This could be the last year," he said, adding that the band hopes to direct younger audiences toward adaptation rather than stagnation. He has said that one of the live show's recurring pieces, "Jocko Homo," now incorporates archival film clips and staged costume changes that reinforce DEVO's long-running themes, including imagery tied to the band's origin and its phrase "are we not men?"
Details from recent shows indicate a mix of classics and covers. A May 6 DEVO headlining performance at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theatre included tracks such as "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)," "Peek-A-Boo!," "Girl U Want," "Whip It," a cover of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," and the sequence of early cuts that concludes with "Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy)" and "Beautiful World." The B-52s’ recent set in Las Vegas featured the band's dance favorites including "Planet Claire," "Roam," "Private Idaho," "Love Shack" and closers "Cosmic Thing" and "Rock Lobster."
Lene Lovich, known for the 1979 hit "Lucky Number," will open the co-billed concerts and join the pairing of two acts that both emerged from late-1970s and early-1980s new wave scenes. Promoters said Lovich will appear at each listed co-headlining engagement.
Mothersbaugh also spoke about his composing career, which has included film and television scores as well as work with director Wes Anderson. He noted that children’s television series The Rugrats provided an early orchestral-scoring opportunity and that he continues to work on projects while on the road, including an untitled Pixar feature. He described his approach to scoring as informed by experimentation with early samplers and by varied international projects dating to the 1980s.
Anecdotes from Mothersbaugh’s interview recalled early-career brushes with figures such as John Lennon at a Max's Kansas City appearance and a brief, uncredited studio session with members of the Rolling Stones. He said DEVO's audience has broadened over the decades, encompassing aging fans who saw the band early on and younger listeners who discover the catalog through streaming and pop-culture references.
Tickets for the co-headlining dates will be available through the venues' official outlets and typical ticketing platforms, with individual shows selling separately from festival passes. The bands' managers and promoters have encouraged fans to check venue sites for updated on-sale times and seating maps. The interview with Mothersbaugh was edited and condensed for clarity.