In the world of professional sports, the saying is, no one ever beats Father Time. It’s an adage that extends to entertainers, making the idea of farewell tours ever more ubiquitous as performers age.
And while the Cosmic De-Evolution Tour finds New Wave legends Devo and The B-52s co-headlining an 11-date run that purports to be a farewell tour of sorts, the subhead on the tour name reads, “One Last Orbit (Maybe?),” casting the idea that, at least in the case of The B-52s, fans might not be seeing the last of them.
It’s more about cutting down on the wear and tear of being on the road, according to The B-52s founding member Fred Schneider. When asked if it was a matter of the band just not hopping on a bus again, Schneider scoffed at that ever having been a reality for the band.
“In 2022, I swore I’d never get on a tour bus again,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m not getting on a bus to go from one date to another for more than six hours. That’s just not my kind of life, and it wasn’t any of our kinds of lives. We were careful to say to our fans that we would do more shows after our final tour and still perform in special situations that don’t require all of the awful tour travel.
“This came up, and we’ve also done the residency in Las Vegas twice a year. This isn’t really a tour because we have time off between each show, which you don’t really get in a tour.”
While both Devo and The B-52s are contemporaries founded roughly around the same time (1973 for the former and 1976 for the latter), the two bands are only first hitting the road together nearly half a century later. And while Schneider’s Devo fandom dates back to the late ‘70s early independent singles the band released on Stiff and Elevator Records, it wasn’t until 1998 that he first connected with the Devo camp.
“I hadn’t met them really until I worked with Mark Mothersbaugh on The Rugrats Movie singing ‘This World is Something New to Me,’” he recalled. “I’m the baby that stands up and farts. My nieces and nephews loved that. I got more respect for that than being in a band.”
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Given The B-52s’ penchant for a unique sound fusing pop-culture camp, kitsch, and weird guitar tunings that have the Athens Georgia outfit coming off like the house band for a John Waters movie, Schneider shares that fans will still experience the usual shenanigans they’ve come to expect at a B-52s show.
Adding some additional bang to this bill is the inclusion of special guest, post-punk vocalist Lene Lovich. Schneider is delighted to have her on the road as the duo’s friendship dates back to them first meeting at an early People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) event.
“What fans can expect is what they always get, which is a real kick-ass rock show, not a funny pop show,” he explained. “They can sing and dance along and have a great time. We’re the best excuse to let off steam. And I really love Lene Lovich and her music. It’s great to have her.”
While The B-52s have no plans to record new material but still play selected dates, Schneider says fellow band members Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson and Keith Strickland are working on their own projects. For Schneider, it’s having “Vampire Vamp,” his Halloween song with Ursula 1000, get rereleased along with his Christmas album Destination Christmas. (“To sum it up, The New York Times did a capsule review where they said, ‘Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse at the North Pole, it does.’ That is the best review a person who doesn’t like typical Christmas music could get.”)
As for his band’s longevity, he chalks it up to the equanimity practiced by all The B-52s band members.
“We have a shared sensibility in addition to having shared everything equally,” he said. “We shared writing credits, except for one or two albums, which we changed. If I’m not on a song, I would go promote whatever single was out — stuff like that. We shared royalties equally. We didn’t really have a leader. I wasn’t about to be told what to do by anybody and I don’t think anybody else was. We had some really great ups and some really bad downs, but we stuck together. And now Kate, Cindy and I connect more than we’ve ever done on stage and it shows.”
The B-52s and Devo will be appearing on Oct. 5 at Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, 1000 Ocean Pkwy., Wantagh. For more information, visit jonesbeach.com or call 800-745-3000.
