Devo announced that it would end its life on stage after the 2023 tour this year. To talk about the decision, band members Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh recently joined a chat with The Guardian. During the interview, Casale expressed his sadness by saying:
“I’m in denial. Because I love performing, and I’ll hate to see it go. It was part of Devo’s DNA. But we did as well as we could, for as long as we could.”
Mothersbaugh showed a different stance as he joked:
“I’m looking forward to 2073. We’ll play 100th anniversary Devo shows and then maybe retire.”
Devo will continue its farewell shows in North America in September. Along with the tour, the band plans to release a compilation album named ‘Art Devo 1973-1977.’ In addition, a documentary directed by Chris Smith will come out soon.
In the documentary, we will see Devo’s history and the backlash it received for its music and style, which Casale recalled as follows:
“We were either laughed at, people felt sorry for us, or they wanted to kill us. It would really piss people off. We were physically attacked on stage, forced to stop playing, promoters would unplug us. One of our biggest triumphs in the early days was being paid $50 to quit.”
You can read the Devo members’ chat with The Guardian here.