After 50 years of hitting the road, Devo is officially retiring from touring in 2023, following the conclusion of their Celebrating 50 Years of De-Evolution farewell tour. Devo co-founders, Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale said that several factors have led to the band’s decision to end their touring days.
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“Are you married?” asked Mothersbaugh to the interviewer. “Imagine you had four wives and you worked together. It’s tricky being in a band.”
Casale added, “You’ve got a body of work informed by a whole manifesto and philosophy. Do you let go and move on to the next thing? You want change, otherwise, you’re stale, but you don’t want to be contrived.”
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Still, Casale said that he’s in “denial” about the band’s retirement. “I love performing and I’ll hate to see it go,” said Casale. “It was part of Devo’s DNA, but we did as well as we could, for as long as we could.”
Formed in 1973 by Casale and Mothersbaugh in the wake of the 1970 Kent State shootings at their school, the band took its name from the concept of “De-evolution.” Brothers, Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale (1952-2014) would later join the group. The band fostered their own satirical, experimental sound by the early 1970s, releasing their first single “Jocko Homo” in 1977, which later appeared on the band’s Brian Eno-produced debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! a year later.
Devo’s third album, Freedom of Choice, produced their mega-hit “Whip It,” which captured the video-consuming and MTV-obsessed of the era. The band continued releasing albums through their 1988 release, Total Devo, and Smooth Noodle Maps in 1990, before taking a 20-year hiatus in the 1990s and ’00s.
Casale went on to direct videos for Rush, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, and more, while Mark Mothersbaugh has written music for film and television, including work with MTV, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, and more along with creating silk screen art. Devo regrouped for reunions over the years and again for their ninth album, Something for Everybody, in 2010.
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The Celebrating 50 Years of De-Evolution Farewell Tour is currently set to conclude at the Good Things Festival in Melbourne, Australia in December, but an official, final Devo concert may be revealed at a later date.
On September 8, the band is also releasing a vinyl box set, Art Devo 1973-1977, featuring original demos, basement recordings, and rare live audio from the band’s archive, along with personal artwork and photographs, and words by Casale and Mothersbaugh.
A Devo documentary is also in production. Directed by Chris Smith, who previously helmed the documentaries on the Fyre Festival and a film on the making of the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic, Man on the Moon, the Devo film will trace the early beginnings of the group through archival footage and interviews, from the band’s beginnings through their 1980 breakout hit “Whip It,” on through the present.
“I’m looking forward to 2073,” joked Mothersbaugh. “We’ll play 100th anniversary Devo shows and then maybe retire.”
Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage
