Buffalo, NY – Today the Buffalo AKG
announced that Rockin’ at the AKG, one of the museum’s most
important annual fundraising events, will take place on Saturday, June
6 with DEVO and special guests Soul Coughing and Shilpa Ray. Tickets
will go on sale exclusively for AKG members beginning Wednesday,
February 25, at 12 pm, and to the public on Friday, February 27, at 12 pm.
The museum plans to unveil a new ticket offering for this year’s event
called GA Premium. Details of the new ticket offering will be available
when tickets are on sale.
Buffalo Toronto Public Media is the exclusive media sponsor of Rockin’
at the AKG.
About DEVO
In 1973, out of the remnants of late ’60s political activism and the rising
post-punk music climate, the seminal band DEVO was born. The
formative lineup consisted of two sets of brothers—Mark and Bob
Mothersbaugh, and Gerald and Bob Casale—along with drummer Alan
Myers, all hailing from Akron, Ohio.
The band’s prophetic message of “Devolution” and their strikingly
original fusion of electronics and punk made them a singular influence
throughout the ’80s and into the ’90s. DEVO began when Mark
Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale met as students at Kent State
University and began exchanging ideas about art and music.
Deeply influenced by the Vietnam War, campus protests, and the tragic
Kent State shootings of May 1970, the duo started making films and
writing songs that would evolve into a wholly unique performance style.
Their art-meets-music ethos quickly propelled them into the spotlight
as one of the most high-profile acts in the New Wave movement,
earning them a fervent cult following that included David Bowie, Iggy
Pop, and Neil Young.
In 1978, after an impromptu endorsement at Max’s Kansas City where
David Bowie declared them “the band of the future,” DEVO was whisked
off to Germany. There, Brian Eno—along with Bowie’s collaboration—
produced their debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!. The
record caught the attention of both critics and the industry, helping the
band build a devoted following. It wasn’t until their third album,
Freedom of Choice—produced by Bob Margouleff and featuring the
double-platinum single Whip It—that DEVO became a worldwide
phenomenon.
The band continued to evolve, releasing influential albums such as New
Traditionalists,, Oh No! It’s DEVO, and Shout. Their visual and sonic
innovations helped define the aesthetic of the early MTV era. In 1990,
DEVO went on hiatus to pursue other creative paths. Mark
Mothersbaugh received a call from friend Paul Reubens and went on to
compose the theme and music for Pee-wee’s Playhouse. This
unexpected opportunity launched him into a prolific career in film and
television composition.
He founded Mutato Muzika—a full-service music production house and
a nod to his DEVO roots (“mutant” + “potato”)—and brought in Bob
Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale. Based in the iconic Oscar Niemeyer
building on Sunset Boulevard, Mutato became one of the most
successful music houses in Hollywood.
Mark has since become one of the most in-demand and highest-
grossing composers in the industry. In addition to hundreds of
commercials, games, and television projects, his film scores include
The Rugrats Movie, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Lego Movie,
Thor: Ragnarok, Cocaine Bear, and most recently, A Minecraft movie.
Gerald Casale, director of most of DEVO’s music videos, became a
notable figure in the MTV revolution, directing videos for bands like
Rush, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, and Silverchair. He also built a
successful commercial career, directing for brands including Miller
Lite, Diet Coke, Mrs. Butterworth’s and Tang.
In 1996, DEVO reunited for the first time in six years at the Sundance
Film Festival to an exuberant crowd—DEVO was back. With the original
lineup intact (except for Alan Myers, who was replaced by drummer
Josh Freese), the band reignited their live performance legacy. Freese
remained with DEVO for nearly two decades.
Since then, DEVO has continued to perform at festivals and venues
around the globe. Their message feels more relevant than ever, and
their influence can be heard in bands ranging from Rage Against the
Machine and Nirvana to LCD Soundsystem and Santigold. Kurt Cobain
once said, “Of all the bands who came from the underground and made
it in the mainstream, DEVO were the most challenging and subversive
of all.” (Nirvana covered DEVO’s Turnaround, featured on their 1992
compilation Incesticide.)
In 2023, DEVO embarked on their 50th Anniversary Tour, featuring
three original members—Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, and Gerald
Casale. Jeff Friedl now holds the drumsticks, and Josh Hager has taken
over for the late Bob Casale on rhythm guitar and synths. Their high-
energy performances blend punk, rock, and synth-pop in a way that
continues to astonish and delight audiences.
As music critic Bob Lefsetz recently wrote about DEVO’s set at Cruel
World:
“It occurs to me that this music is anything but dated… make no
mistake, live DEVO ROCKS!”
***
About Soul Coughing
Mark degli Antoni, Mike Doughty, Yuval Gabay, and Sebastian Steinberg
formed Soul Coughing in 1992 after meeting at New York’s Knitting
Factory. An eclectic collection of musicians, the band merges drum &
bass, trance, rock & roll, and hip-hop to create a truly unique strain of
music. Unlikely reemerging after a twenty-five-year hiatus, the quartet
have sold out reunion shows from coast to coast- each one drawing
from their legendary catalogue of El Oso, Irresistible Bliss, and their
genre-defining debut Ruby Vroom.
***
About Shilpa Ray
New York punk rock/art pop songwriter Shilpa Ray has released her
new album Portrait of a Lady via Northern Spy. Listed as an “album of
note” for release week by Stereogum, the raging Portrait of a Lady is
Ray’s most searing and personal album to date. Written in the wake of
the #metoo movement and the weathering years of the Trump
Administration, the record finds Ray processing her own experiences
with abuse, layering autobiographical detail with ferocious bon mots
and surrealistic rock & roll gloss.
***
About the Buffalo AKG Art Museum
Founded in 1862, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum is the sixth-oldest public
art institution in the United States. For more than 160 years, the Buffalo
AKG has collected, conserved, and exhibited the art of its time, often
working directly with living artists. This tradition has given rise to one
of the world’s most extraordinary collections of modern and
contemporary art.
In June 2023, following the completion of the most significant campus
development and expansion project in its history, the Buffalo AKG
opened anew to the public. The project was funded by a $230 million
capital campaign, the largest such campaign for a cultural institution in
the history of Western New York, including $195 million raised for
construction and $35 million in additional operating endowment funds.