DEVOtional 2026 wraps up today — Saturday, Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. — at Cleveland’s Beachland Ballroom, and this year’s finale comes with a very special guest: original DEVO member Jerry Casale. Yes, an actual DEVO is in the room. If you’ve ever shouted “Whip It” at a wedding, a bar, or your car stereo, this is your church.

DEVO onstage in Boston in 2008 (photo: Wikimedia Commons).

DEVOtional is the (almost) annual two-day tribute to Akron new-wave band DEVO, and it draws fans — known as “Spuds” — from across the country. This year’s gathering was rescheduled from September 2026, and it kicked off Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Beachland Tavern, before moving to the Ballroom today at 15711 Waterloo Rd. in Cleveland.

Friday night at the Tavern was all about bands influenced by, or in the spirit of, DEVO — rather than straight tribute acts — plus a chance to meet and hang out with fellow fans. Today at the Ballroom, the program is typically filled with speakers, presentations and video, plus more bands in the evening.

Alongside Casale, this year’s special guests include David Kendrick, who toured with Sparks and Gleaming Spires and drummed for DEVO from 1987 through 1991, replacing original drummer Alan Myers, who left in 1986 and died in 2013. Kendrick’s band Quintophrenia is scheduled to play.

It’s a fitting salute to Akron’s weirdest export. DEVO formed in the early 1970s in Akron as an art project and grew into one of Ohio’s most famous musical exports, best known for “Whip It.” A Cleveland weekend celebrating an Akron band, with an original member on hand? That’s about as Ohio as it gets.

And for Toledoans: this is a very drivable Saturday day-trip — about two hours to Cleveland — for an afternoon and evening with the Spuds. For tickets and the schedule, visit beachlandballroom.com.

Sources: CoolCleveland, Cleveland Magazine’s weekend guide, and Cleveland Scene’s weekend guide.