The B-52’s and Devo Announce Co-Headlining Cosmic De-Evolution Tour

Two titans of New Wave, the B-52’s and Devo, will team up this fall for the co-headlining Cosmic De-Evolution Tour.

Although the B-52’s embarked on a farewell tour three years ago — they’ve since confined themselves to a Las Vegas residency — the idea of joining the “Whip It” troupe on the road proved too enticing to ignore. The two bands recently linked up (alongside Fred Armisen) at the all-star SNL 50 concert and discussed the venture.

“In 2022, I swore I’d never get on a tour bus again, 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,” the B-52’s Fred Schneider said in a statement. “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.”

The B-52’s Cindy Wilson added, “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-52s to share these stages with Devo!”

The 11-date Cosmic De-Evolution Tour kicks off September 24 in Toronto and runs through November 2 in Houston. Fellow New Waver Lene Lovich will serve as the trek’s opening act before the two headliners take the stage. Tickets for the tour go on sale to the public on June 20 at Live Nation, with pre-sales beginning June 16.

As both bands said in statements, the two acts have long shared a mutual admiration for each other’s music.

“The B-52s had one of the best sounds of any of the bands out there in the late seventies and early eighties – ‘Rock Lobster’ is one of my favorite songs – Devo used to sing it to Booji Boy after Devo shows,” Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh said in a statement. “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!”

The B-52’s Kate Pierson added, “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.”

The B-52’s and Devo’s Cosmic De-Evolution Tour Dates

September 24 – Toronto, ONT @ Budweiser Stage
September 25 – Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
October 2 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
October 4 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
October 5 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
October 16 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
October 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
October 24 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
October 25 – Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
November 1 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater
November 2 – Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion