Buffalo AKG announces 'Rockin' at the AKG' with DEVO

With special guests Soul Coughing & Shilpa Ray

Buffalo AKG Art Museum Press Release

The Buffalo AKG Art Museum announced “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 at noon Wednesday, Feb. 25; then to the public at noon Friday, Feb. 27.

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.

More about DEVO: In 1973, out of the remnants of late 1960s 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 its strikingly original fusion of electronics and punk made it 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 the 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.” its 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 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 its 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!”

More 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 and bass, trance, rock ’n’ roll and hip-hop to create a truly unique strain of music. Unlikely reemerging after a 25-year hiatus, the quartet sold-out reunion shows from coast to coast – each one drawing from a legendary catalog of “El Oso,” “Irresistible Bliss,” and the genre-defining debut “Ruby Vroom.”

More 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 ’n’ roll gloss.

More about Buffalo AKG Art Museum: Founded in 1862, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum is the sixth-oldest public art institution in the U.S. 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.