Cover photo by Stephanie F. Black
It was a summery fall evening at Northwell at Jones Beach Theater for wonderfully strange popular music from the late ‘70s post-punk/new wave era, when avant-garde sound innovators could also breach the pop charts on their own (rather than having their style mined for “edgy” hits by more mainstream acts), as veterans DEVO & The B52s joined up for the Cosmic De-Evolution Tour, with equally quirky contemporary Lene Lovich opening.
Akron, OH-originated art-punk/synthpop conceptual band DEVO closed the East Coast leg of their 50th anniversary farewell tour, with the remaining three founding members, Mark Mothersbaugh (vocals, keyboards, guitar), his brother Bob Mothersbaugh (guitar, vocals), and bassist Gerald Casale (vocals, keyboards), joined by longtime members Josh Freese drums & Josh Hager (guitar, keyboards, vocals) to run through a tightly-choreographed 14-song set that focused mainly on their very active ‘70s/early ‘80s era.
Devo’s original thesis that mankind is devolving feels a bit too on the nose for our current spiralling political dysfunction; the finale was “Freedom of Choice” (“is what you want, but freedom from choice is what you got,” with a pointed “Fight the Power” projection to send the suburbanites home. Before that, it was a whipsaw 75 minutes of video shorts, snazzy post-modern animations, multiple costume changes (including their signature bizarro red pyramid “energy dome” caps and Mothersbaugh jumping into the crowd during “Jocko Homo” to rip off his HazMat-style suit), and stiffly-synched dance moves to match the buzzing riffs and robotic grooves that had the audience equally enthralled and two-stepping to the sheer weirdness.
Setlist
Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man)
Peek-A-Boo!
Going Under
That’s Good
Girl U Want
Whip It
Planet Earth
Carl Sagan Video
Uncontrollable Urge
Blockhead
Mongoloid
Jocko Homo
Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA
Gates of Steel
DEVO Corporate Anthem
Freedom of Choice
Athens, GA-originated art-pop The B52s are closing in on 50 years since founding members Fred Schneider (vocals/percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals), and Cindy Wilson (vocals/percussion) first merged a love of ‘50s sci-fi kitsch, ’60s surf/garage rock, ‘70s art rock into a zany party of Schneider’s baroque spoken poetry with the spooky harmonies of Pierson & Wilson, resulting in the underground hits “Rock Lobster”, “Planet Claire”, & “Private Idaho” before 1989 LP Cosmic Thing (produced by Nile Rodgers & Don Was) catapulted them into global Top 10 charts with the ubiquitous “Love Shack” and “Roam”.
All of these hits were extended in an eagerly accepted dance party invitation to the aisle-hopping audience with their longtime backing band of Tracy Wormworth (bass), Sterling Campbell (drums), Ken Maiuri (keyboards, guitar), with hot riffing from guest guitarist Johnny Andrews. While the 12-song set was too short (I missed faves “Song to a Future Generation” & “Deadbeat Club”), the singing and grooves were in good vintage as The B-52s too approach the end of touring (which was previously announced as 2023, but apparently a joint tour with DEVO was too good to pass up).
Setlist
Cosmic Thing
Mesopotamia
Give Me Back My Man
Strobe Light
52 Girls
Roam
Party Out of Bounds
Dance This Mess Around
Private Idaho
Love Shack
Planet Claire
Rock Lobster
Detroit-born, London-originated avant-garde legend Lene Lovich started the evening off with her band’s post-punky riffing and her theatrical singing & veiled gesticulating during a short set that included her 1979 global (but not in the U.S.) Top 5 hit “Lucky Number” and single “Home”.
