a promo photo thread for '80s/'90s bands oozing sobriety and wisdom in the present day

reconstituted (or just long running) boybands and metal bands seem to be particularly prone to this?

the crocodile looks like the happiest one there xp

so much charcoal grey.

yeah, i suspect the intended message of so many of these is "weather-beaten. wiser. thoughtful and earnest. but still ready to rock!... in kind of a soulful, MTV unplugged, roots-rock kinda way. just like you, there in the audience. you're grown up but the music still matters. we've all been through some hard times. it's not just about the money."

omg, hadn't even noticed crocodile, I was trying to remember if one of spandau was nicknamed 'the crocodile' for a moment xp

http://uptownmagazine.com/files/2013/12/uptown-swv-new-reality-series-2014.jpeg

SWV

we're just as boring now as your life turned out to be. won't you join us this weekend at the casino. all you can eat buffet and opening act mr. mister.

so sad! what's wrong with color? old people can be colorful.

https://blitzrockgyn.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/alpha.jpg

"we are weather-beaten warriors in the populist-but-dark 2000s sci-fi action film of your choice, and we continue to fight for our mission with hard-won strength and clarity"

lol, yes

so sad! what's wrong with color? old people can be colorful.

always nice to see bands who don't succumb to this aesthetic; often, counterintuitively, they project more dignity

I was pleased that Kajagoogoo didn't start presenting themselves this way when they made a comeback, not sure I'd go so far as to describe the result as dignified

http://discordrhyme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/kadgagoogoo-pic-tim-anderson-dm-613355759.jpg

the warped tour presents: kajagoogoo!

second from right has seen the writing on the wall

80s new wave haircut bands reinventing themselves as bad-ass industrial cyberpunks is different progression that some bands go through, I guess?

but yeah, i've searched a few bands where it'd be particularly pathetic if they'd "gone gray" in this sense, but who have turned out, imo to their credit, to say "ehh, we were a comedy novelty act to begin with, and if anybody's going to come out and see us in 2015, it's to see a comedy novelty act. that's who's paying our checks so let's be good entertainers ffs."

<3 kajagoogoo forever, just to be clear

xp Have Bentley Rhythm Ace reformed then?

haha no, was thinking of POTUS and me first and the gimme gimmes.

http://content.hollywire.com/sites/default/files/2015/04/06/Fall-Out-Boy-‘American-Beauty-American-Psycho’-Album-Review-Thumb-FDRMX.jpg

Fall Out Boy's thug gravitas.

http://www.reloadfestival.co.uk/img/slideshows/image/slideshow/boomtown-rats-16.png

Bob Geldof IS Marianne Faithful AS Oliver Twist

hahahaha i was looking for the best way to phrase something on that order but you nailed it

i was debating dru hill, as the ed hardy-ness of their current look undermines any evidence of "wisdom," but they're definitely darker, grittier, etc

http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2014/05/22/1226926/485487-de510036-e074-11e3-9839-f536ebd0cf5e.jpg

http://www.dublinconcerts.ie/content/uploads/2013/11/ub-40.jpg

UB40

http://www.tickethub.co/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Mike-+-The-Mechanics-Tickets-Optimized.jpg

Mike & The Mechanics

http://assets.silverstone.co.uk/media/filer_public_thumbnails/filer_public/35/14/3514837a-362c-4ee2-bcbe-f48f04bdb9e6/madness_digital_presale_silverstone_webpage_image.jpg__707x398_q85_crop_subsampling-2_upscale.jpg

Madness showing a better alternative.

http://www.allaccess.com/assets/img/editorial/raw/th/TheFixxpic.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/7193/magazine_1318945436.jpg

Magazine

dying at the Fixx -- three men each heard that old-timey hats were a must for classing up your look these days, but failed to coordinate on exactly which look that implied

where's the colour??

http://cdn.ticketfly.com/i/00/00/71/18/03-og.jpg

a nontrivial number of these signal "the gravitas of the matrix without the camp value"

When did Ray Winstone (second from right) join the Boomtown Rats, and where the fuck did he get that wig?

I've been second guessing that mike + mechanics one for not being earnest enough, but man it really says something about the dourness of the norm when MIKE + THE MECHANICS might be looking too vibrant in 2015 for this thread.

thumbs up! taking 2015 in stride.

http://www.drunkenwerewolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Simple-Minds.jpg

See, a lot of these I passed on because I thought, "oh they haven't sobered up at all."

Like these guys.

http://i.imgur.com/fcaRoJn.jpg

http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/images/localworld/ugc-images/276271/Article/images/22248198/6616282-large.jpg

Big Country

anton corbjiuoinjknkjngrgrdn

Status Quo

http://fondosdeestrellasdelrock.com/wp-content/uploads/images/71/status-quo-0.jpg

second dude from the left - omg!

i don't know where i was going with this

http://i.imgur.com/wNCOcas.jpg

"the gravitas of the matrix without the camp value"

http://i500.listal.com/image/2961731/500full.jpg

lol pplains

http://renownedforsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hanson1.jpg

On the way there: Hanson.

middle hanson has a real "luke in ROTJ" vibe

Band photos where one member refuses to play along

http://hansonguy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/promopic.jpg

The Rubinoos

http://i.imgur.com/pfPj1pl.jpg

Trying to think of bands that will be forever impervious to this route, Primus maybe?

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/35/590x/del1-455816.jpg

del amitri

http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Hue-and-Cry-Press-Shot-4.jpg

hue & cry

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46836000/jpg/_46836983_deacon_blue-1.jpg

deacon blue

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/35/590x/wetwetwet-446872.jpg

wet wet wet

Bands are so stupid sometimes

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/news/48809/3afd3183.jpg