{"id":373967,"date":"2026-08-17T20:30:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/373967\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T20:30:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:30:48","slug":"interview-devos-gerald-casale-talks-tampa-fronton-gig-farewell-tours-before-clearwater-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/373967\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Devo\u2019s Gerald Casale talks Tampa fronton gig, farewell tours, before Clearwater debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A(L-R) Gerald Casale, Josh Hager, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Bob Mothersbaugh of Devo play Eventim Apollo in London, England on Aug. 19, 2023. Credit: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 , via \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n

If you would have asked me what my favorite band was when I was 13 years old, I would have unequivocally answered immediately by saying it was a tie between Blondie and Devo<\/a>. Several (and I mean several) decades later, that answer hasn\u2019t changed a whole lot. On a personal level, Devo was like nothing else I\u2019d ever heard or seen before. I had the great fortune of seeing them at Tampa\u2019s old Jai Alai Fronton in November 1981, and it\u2019s safe to say it was a pivotal, life changing experience for me. Not that I had many other live concert performances under my belt to compare it to, but, damn, did that experience scramble my teenage brain and set me on the course of loving live music as much as I still do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, luckily, the Akron, Ohio based groundbreaking band which released its brilliant debut album Q. Are We Not Men? A. We Are Devo in 1978 is still at it. Fresh off a terrifically-crafted and wildly successful co-headlining tour with new wave giants The B-52s, Devo is hitting the road for a stretch of headline shows that includes their debut at Clearwater\u2019s comfy BayCare Sound<\/a> outdoor music venue. I had the chance to speak to Devo co-founder Gerald Casale prior to the band\u2019s visit to our area, and, although it was difficult to contain the gushing fanboy inside of me who has worshipped Devo since the day I bought my \u201cWhip It\u201d 45 after scraping up enough allowance money, I think I was able to keep my composure and maintain myself long enough to have an interesting chat with Casale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tickets to see Devo play the BayCare Sound in Clearwater on Thursday, Aug. 27 are still available and start at $102.<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019re getting ready to come to perform at the BayCare Sound in Clearwater which is a really cool, fairly new, amphitheater right on the water, but I understand that prior to that, you\u2019re touring with Billy Idol. Is that right?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, yeah, we have a number of dates with Billy. Like eight or 10 dates with Billy and then six of them afterwards with The B-52s.<\/p>\n

I wanted to ask you about the touring you\u2019ve been doing with The B-52s,\u00a0 because that\u2019s such a cool package tour lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yeah, well it went so well when we did it in the past, you know, the double bill really resonated with people and they wanted to keep it going because the crowds love the whole deal.<\/p>\n

Well, I gotta say, that\u2019s a perfect match up. I have to imagine a lot of the audiences are made up of fans of both bands, so that\u2019s like a perfect matchup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good crossover crowd.<\/p>\n

As far as opening for Billy Idol and then switching over to headlining shows, what\u2019s the major difference, besides the fact you\u2019ll likely play a shorter set as an opening act?\u00a0<\/p>\n

That is true.\u00a0 I think what\u2019s exciting, in a way, is playing for a crowd that isn\u2019t your typical crowd. In other words, you\u2019re playing for people that may have never seen you, and rather than be put off or, afraid of that, we enjoy it. We\u2019re inspired.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s really cool that you still get inspired by that after so long\u2026knowing that you\u2019re giving people the chance to see you for the first time ever, maybe ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0We feel like we can make some converts!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure! I have to say, and I just have to mention this: the first time I saw Devo was in 1981 here in Tampa, at the old Jai Alai Fronton, and I was very young. It was one of my first concerts, and it just blew my mind, and it changed my entire outlook for what live performance should be about, and just how exciting it could be. I still recall that vividly.<\/p>\n

That was at the height of our game, so I\u2019m glad you caught us there because I remember that venue, which was very strange. That stage and the hall itself \u2026just the space!\u00a0 But we were at the height of what we did because we had full production. We had those treadmills, we had rear projection slides, we had films. It was, it was incredible. I mean, I loved what we were doing.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t been to that many concerts at that time, but that one just forever changed my view of what good, stunning live performance should be. I\u2019ll never forget that one.<\/p>\n

Yeah, we weren\u2019t boring.<\/p>\n

No, not at all! One thing I\u2019ve noticed too in more current years of seeing Devo live is that I\u2019ve seen a lot of younger people in the audiences, and it seems like there\u2019s a lot of younger people who are going back and discovering your music, and the music of the B-52s, as well as the music of so many great bands that we grew up with. What do you think it is about the music, or what do you think the appeal is for people who were not even born when some of those records came out?<\/p>\n

Well, because of a certain kernel of validity to what we did withstands the test of time. And what\u2019s interesting is what you just said, which is we go out and when we do our festivals or headline gigs, we look out in an audience and, OK, some of them are there because they were there in the beginning and they\u2019re still alive and with their kids, and then their kids\u2019 kids and we\u2019re seeing three generations of people, getting off on Devo, and it\u2019s very interesting because those kids discovered us via YouTube and Vimeo, and whatever, and they\u2019re mouthing the words and they\u2019re dancing because I think, in their time, they\u2019ve never seen or, heard, anything like Devo so it\u2019s almost like an exciting novelty. They can\u2019t believe these old guys are doing this.<\/p>\n

I have to imagine that\u2019s a big part of it because, really, there\u2019s still nothing else like a Devo experience to me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad that younger kids get to experience it, because Devo wasn\u2019t just about some linear style like The Knack, like, \u2018Here we are, white shirts, black ties.\u2019 It was conceptual, and it was never hip. It was art driven, and that\u2019s why it doesn\u2019t age the same way as stuff that relied on style aged.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a great point. Another thing I hear a lot, too, is a lot of younger bands citing Devo as an influence and talking about how Devo impacted them. What does that feel like for you all when you hear these bands mentioning you as an influence?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re really honored and heartened by that, because it\u2019s like, our favorite bands were always bands that inspired other bands and other creative artists. We were an artists\u2019 band; other artists cite us because we inspired them to do what they did.<\/p>\n

Right. So now you\u2019re just passing it forward to all these other bands, which is really cool. I\u2019d heard that you\u2019re recording some new stuff. Can we expect any new Devo music anytime soon?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m recording a lot of stuff right now and I\u2019m trying to finish an album\u2019s worth of songs. I did release my protest against our fearless leader. It\u2019s called \u201cJust Do It,\u201d and it\u2019s out there. And there\u2019s a video for it. And, you know, I\u2019m just so appalled at what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

\"Youtube<\/p>\n

I think a lot of people are. So, I\u2019ll be looking forward to your upcoming full-length album, as I\u2019m sure many Devo fans will too. And, speaking of Devo fans, I know earlier you referenced the people who were there from the beginning and who have stuck by you. Devo still has a very, very voracious, diehard following. Does that surprise you?<\/p>\n

No, not at all. I think, because Devo was about something that was new and polarizing and thought provoking, that you had to invest something to be a Devo fan, and you got beat up if you were a Devo fan. So, way before Lady Gaga had her Little Monsters or ICP had Juggalos, or their crowd, [we had] The Beautiful Mutants, The Spuds. It was a cult, and it still is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just a true testament to the music, to the presentation, to what you\u2019ve done throughout the years. It\u2019s so great. Speaking of getting beat up, I will say that\u2019s true because, when I wore my Devo t-shirt to junior high school the day after I attended my first concert of yours, I get tons of threats from people I didn\u2019t even know. They said, \u201cI\u2019m gonna kick your ass for wearing that shirt!,\u201d but, at that point, I didn\u2019t care. I was like I\u2019ve just seen the greatest show of my young life, so you can say what you want to me, and I\u2019m totally fine with it.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always this thing about mainstream society, and being intolerant of anybody else who\u2019s got any other kind of point of view. We were appealing to the disenfranchised kids, and the marginalized kids way back when, when there was nobody representing them.<\/p>\n

I can tell you straight up that I felt that because, once I saw that show and while I listened to all my Devo records, I felt like I belonged. I felt like I had found something that I could be part of that was different from everybody else and it made me feel so comfortable and so at home. So, thank you.<\/p>\n

Well, we were those kids at one point, and we knew exactly who we were appealing to.<\/p>\n

Well, you did a good job of making people like me feel welcomed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To me that\u2019s what the real America is about. See, I thought it was about individual liberty and tolerance. I didn\u2019t think it was about fascism and dictatorial demands and tyrants, and so for Devo, we were raising the flag for all of those who were being persecuted.<\/p>\n

And you still are, and I\u2019m so grateful for that, as are so many other people I\u2019m sure. I wanted to ask you about this current tour\u2026 I\u2019ve heard rumors that this is going to be it; that this is a farewell tour. Is that so?<\/p>\n

Well, yes and no. You know, to be fair and to be honest, a farewell tour takes two or three years to go to all the markets who are interested in you, around the world to complete it. And we haven\u2019t done that. We will continue, probably in the next year. We haven\u2019t gone to South America. We haven\u2019t gone to Spain, we haven\u2019t gone to France. We haven\u2019t gone to Italy. We haven\u2019t gone to Austria. We haven\u2019t gone to New Zealand. We haven\u2019t gone to Australia or Japan. You know, there\u2019s a lot of places to go.<\/p>\n

Well, good, I\u2019m glad that you\u2019ll continue to do that so that everybody around the world can get that chance to see you. Lastly, with all the music and the catalog you have, how difficult is it for you all to pick out which songs you want to play for any given set list? or any given tour?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I mean it\u2019s hard to switch them out. It is hard because everything involves designed lighting and video backdrops, and the 14-man crew has to know what you\u2019re doing. And the front of house mixers have to know what\u2019s coming. And so it all requires preparation and rehearsal. It can\u2019t be like Bob Dylan, where you go, \u201cOK, call out a song, and I\u2019ll start it on my acoustic guitar\u201d. You know, it\u2019s not plug and play.<\/p>\n

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This article appears in August 13 \u2013 19, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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