am i really the only person who doesn't care about reunions/reunitings/new music by old bands, like, at all? is there something wrong with me?

I wonder if Reunion ever reunited. They could just update the lyrics to their one song every decade or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16kh-AP4OCU

Bailterspace coming back was a treat, I have to say.

i love ned's pictures of old 4AD stalwarts playing live on his FB. i loved all those people too.

Yeah Miki Berenyi's show last night was quite lovely. It was interesting hearing how the trio did various old Lush songs -- no drummer, all preprogrammed, and enough different in the overall arrangements (as opposed to basic pacing) to engage my interest, while the many new songs were very good.

Meantime perhaps relatedly I finally saw David J solo a month back and that was a really lovely show. The Jane's/Love and Rockets tour isn't coming to SF but honestly I couldn't care less about that.

Stooges reunion live was sick tho

It really was. I was lucky enough to see one of the earliest shows, in NYC with both Asheton brothers and Steve MacKay, plus Watt on bass of course. It helped that Iggy had never stopped touring (and never stopped playing a lot of those songs), but they really did sound amazing.

i saw one of the original stooges' last gigs (academy of music 12/31/73) and several of their reunion gigs and by just about any reasonable measure the reunion shows were better. i remember the older one better though. i was an impressionable kid.

good reunion shows i've seen: the stone roses, neutral milk hotel, pavement, slowdive

i've never been to a bad one but i also haven't been to any where the band is mostly playing terrible new material

reunion albums are pretty hit & miss and probably tend more towards misses. off the top of my head slowdive, hum, actq and the afghan whigs (though that wasn't really a full reunion) have all produced good-to-great new material but there's been plenty of others that are mediocre-to-terrible like mbv and blur

i expect if pavement recorded a reunion album it would probably be excellent since malkmus never really fell off that much but he's got no interest in that

Stooges reunion live was sick tho

Mm I did only see them once at a festival, and was non-plussed. Primavera 2005 iirc. Wish I’d seen them another time!

oh yeah, reunion Crowded House doesn't do it for me either.

nb there is now a second, slightly better reunion Crowded House with a different lineup

Seefeel’s 2010 album destroys their 90s output for me. I keep waiting for them to follow up.

i admire a project like Cindytalk. which starts out as one thing and then the guiding spirit of the thing just takes it into multiple directions over the years. there must be other examples of that. of course its easier if you are cult-y and nobody really knows your music in the first place.

in a way, seefeel is like this. 2010 seefeel could have sounded like anything really. i don't think i even heard 2010 seefeel. i definitely liked 90s seefeel.

Let us now praise famous bands that never went away even if they were done long before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9n_eOKqSsU

(He don’t care!)

i'll bet those bands like weezer sure are glad they didn't break up years ago because now they are basically touring jukebox musicals who make millions. rolling nostalgia parties for 90s kids. doesn't even matter what their new records sound like. and no offense to them but the same is true of dinosaur too. or neil young. they keep cranking the records out though.

When Skot Cared About Reunions: Little Feat Fuckin' Rocked Tonight!!!!

The Jane's/Love and Rockets tour isn't coming to SF but honestly I couldn't care less about that.

I honestly really wish this were coming here!

Miki show last night was good, not a patch on the Lush reunion show obviously but I thought her attitude made up for it. Bonus: I stood right next to her through all of the Lol/Budgie set. She was getting mighty high. I had to restrain myself from asking for a selfie.

"When Skot Cared About Reunions"

they never really stopped though did they? or maybe they did for a bit after lowell died. in any case, when i saw them that night it was every original member other than lowell and it certainly didn't feel like some greatest hits rehash. though they did play every song that everyone loves.

The only quasi-reunion I'm sad I missed was FLAG even though they also had the dork from All playing guitar.

i know i just told my sad story about seeing the re-formed 1986 adolescents and being the only one who seemed into them but i saw black flag in 1986 and they were fine but they already seemed...old. it didn't help that we had to sit through gone and painted willie before being able to hear the 4000th rendition of "gimme gimme gimme". but i was way into thrash at that point and they were not Slayer.

(to give the kids their due, Verbal Assault played after Adolescents and kicked Adolescents ass all the way out of the state of Connecticut. they fucking ruled. youth and fury beat experience and superior pop hooks that night.)

band reformation acceptability index is really complex equation imo - factors include, was band inherently about being young & beautiful, how many OG members participating, is there new music, is new music good? was there something they did live that was hard to replicate on record?

I have been pretty undiscriminating re this and seen lots of terrible old boomer bands reformed, and also gone through intolerant phases where I have refused to see bands I quite like (particularly post-punk bands for some reason)

as a poster above noted, at the best (or even in the midst of a terrible gig) you might get a little glimpse into why a band was great

when Laughing Clowns reformed I went to heaps of those shows and it was a really interesting experience - even if it clearly was different from seeing the band in their heyday I still learned loads about their dynamic that vastly enriched my appreciation of their recorded work

lukewarm new records from bands like mazzy star

WRONG

“I never saw the point of Steely Dan live, period. Steely Dan were a studio project.”

This is exactly what my dad said before he saw them live in 73, they completely fucking smoked apparently.

When Skot Cared About Reunions: Little Feat Fuckin' Rocked Tonight!!!!🕸

I definitely got some goosebumps last week clicking through videos of Jane's kicking off their tour. Definitely probably a heavy % of nostalgia for where and when and with whom I heard those songs first. Doesn't hurt that they are great songs, written and anchored by the one member who usually isn't there...

I'm getting older, they are getting older, the songs are getting older. I'm just glad that they are willing to bring out the photo album so I can flip through it one more time.

(Not sure I will be able to pay to see it live but who knows!)

I would go see the Janes/L&R tour — I love both of them and have never seen either — but the only places close to me don't work with other commitments. Ah well. Let's just marvel that it's still possible for Jane's Addiction to have an OG member reunion.

my lifelong obsession with live music is partly fuelled by not seeing Jane's in 1991 when I had the opportunity

I gotta say the two times I saw the reformed band (2003 without E.Avery and 2010 with him) - I went in with zero expectations other than ticking a box - and both times were really exciting and moving and satisfying on a level that I can't really explain

actually I saw them last year too with Josh Klinghoffer - and it was really cool too (although perhaps it didn't have that spiritual dimension - I think partly because they were supporting Smashing Pumpkins and playing in a barn)

i never thought about age when i was young. when i first heard all the classic rock bands they were still in their 20s and 30s and they all just seemed like "adults" to me. i had no idea how old anyone was. when i bought Hell Bent For Leather rob halford was, like, 27 or 28 years old. but he SEEMED ancient to me because he had a beard. so, i just figured people in metal bands and classic rock bands were old and would keep doing what they were doing because some of them had beards and that was their job as an adult. with punk and new wave it really seemed like kids/young people were making the music. especially with hardcore. and i just never thought in a million years they would still be doing it in their 50s and 60s! i mean, if you told me in 1980 that adam ant was going to be singing "ant music" onstage when he was 70 it would have blown my mind! whereas by 1980 the rolling stones already looked like they had been playing for a thousand years. charlie watts looked like he was 100 to me back then. so, maybe that is the difference to me for some weird reason. it just doesn't make sense to go see Love & Rockets even though i still worship Bauahus and L&R and ToT to this day. they feel stuck in time to me. of their moment. or i am stuck in that time when i hear them. too much cognitive dissonance for me to hear them sing those songs in 2024. Madonna yes. she makes sense. Bauhaus no. i dunno. it really makes no sense. its my own weird brain. but, like i said, i'm happy for all the cure fans and duran duran fans and depeche mode fans. i guess i just can't see them as classic rock.

I did buy a ticket to see Sisters of Mercy this fall, but Eldritch is technically undead so ...

yeah, makes sense.

i did love that chameleons reunion show i saw in philly. oh god they were so fucking good. it used to be on youtube but i don't see it now. but that was like 25 years ago! and they are playing there this summer. i will still never forgive them for not playing "swamp thing" though. so perverse.

speaking of hardcore, i did take my kid to see Negative Approach here in town. they were okay but i was mostly afraid that john brannon was going to have a stroke. he's also kinda undead like andrew eldritch though. the most memorable thing about that show was lou barlow saying to me "how can you let your beautiful boy slam dance like that?" and i was like eh its not boston in 1982, lou, its greenfield mass in 2018. despite being an influential pioneer of american hardcore lou is not a fan of mosh pits.

(Don't) Smash Your Head On The Old Punk Rock

I’m kicking myself for not seeing the chams here last year, it was like 20 bucks at a smallish venue, never seen em

Man, I loved Jane’s so much in high school but I guess I didn’t work up the motivation to drive three hours to Miami to see the 1997 reunion.

I did finally see them live in 2001 at Madison Square Garden and they just were kind of a bummer from the goofy steampunk aesthetics to the little acoustic stage. I think there was some burlesque elements in their live show at one point, I don’t remember if it was at the show I was at.

They burned through so much goodwill from me in the next decade. Perry basically becoming like this hippie-dippie EDM burning man Vegas carnival barker and Navarro really leaning into goth-metal Vegas douchebag. The whole kind of shaggy, underground version of Led Zep basically just became Led Zep. Strays was awful. I can’t even remember The Great Escape Artist or whatever the fuck it was called but it was probably awful. Kind of shocked to see ppl psyched for this reunion because the last reunion left such a terrible aftertaste with me.

Perk, obviously, can no wrong with me and I saw his Hellride project with Watt not too long ago at a small club and it absolutely ripped, no Chaki

The Zombies reunion was amazing, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen

Oh hey should I see them at the Barbican?

Is it a fear of being disappointed, or true indifference Scott ? Or maybe your attention just shifting away from old acts - a sense that it is not their time anymore.

For the album, I rarely see them as the big event / return that they're marketed to be, but I cannot lie and pretend I don't have some level of curiosity. I tend to set my expectations low though.

For a live show, I am generally not in favor of seeing acts years after their sell-by date.

I did go and see Wire in 2011.

Reunion shows, hmmm.

I think I only went to two, Buzzcocks and Velvet Underground.

I probably should have gone to see Television, but I was a bit disappointed in their third album. However, last week I listened to that live album and it was great.

I'm picky, I guess. I have nothing against bands reforming for the 'money' tour, or picking up with new albums, artists gotta eat, etc ..

"a sense that it is not their time anymore."

i think its this. i am more of an album listener than a live music person. and old albums i love are like old books or old movies i love. though i feel like music definitely remains more inspiring to me year in and year out than if i were to read a fave book or re-watch a fave movie. i still get power from old music. they keep my lights on! and a new album or tour by an old entity just doesn't compute for me. i can't imagine it being inspiring. but i'm all for being proven wrong. there is some indifference as well. "did you hear who is going on tour???" is a sentence that rarely excites me. but some people are live music fanatics. makes sense that they would get excited.

i also feel bad that people feel pressure to duplicate something that they did in the past. for whatever reason. i don't begrudge them the money reason. everyone needs money. but putting on the old hat and making music similar to music you made when you were a completely different person (and it kinda has to be similar if you want anyone to buy it) for one more rodeo feels wearying to me. it must be so much easier to just be buddy guy or carcass to name two supremely entertaining performers with a set formula mentioned on this thread who are really good at what they do and just do that because that's what they do. and who should definitely tour together at some point.

There's a couple of bands where I like the new/late-era output better than the old stuff (Slowdive, Motörhead) but it's very rare. But I don't mind reunions so much - I don't expect mind-blowing greatness but I figure it's more constructive to support these people today than to give them props on the internet for making a good album 25 years ago.

i have never been compelled to see carcass or buddy guy but i would see them if they played together.

that mott the hoople reunion i travelled for was so heartwarming. i think back to that all the time. just seeing the marquee out front that said "mott the hoople."

there weren't mobs of kids ripping the seats up but we are all at different stages of our lives.

I went to a reunion show for one of my favourite groups last year, and yeah it was wonderful, but I went to see them several times when they were originally together and it was better then because there would always be some new music in the set. when I go to a gig I want to hear musicians playing music that's fresh to them, not the same songs they've been playing for decades. but I guess most of the audience just want the hits, so that doesn't make sense financially.

also feel like reunion gigs are kind of like fan conventions now. and fan conventions can be fun! but not the same as a great gig.

yeah this is why I've really dug some recent shows I've been to - Sparks, Todd Rundgren, They Might be Giants, all over whom are known primarily for that one era like 3-5 years in but have been writing and performing for way longer than that. they'll play a few hits of course but otherwise can bounce all over from like 4-5 decades of work, including some new stuff that's generally well-received, it gives you a level of appreciation for them that you don't get from bands that are just permanently trying to relive a certain era

I think in general, a lot of Gen X bands figured out a playbook to age/reunite gracefully. The Pavement reunion show I went to in DC last year was an absolute blast. Also, as cited above, Mission of Burma, Slowdive, Dinosaur Jr. have all done it.

I guess we'll see about acts that had their heyday in the 2000s/2010s. Aside from the White Stripes I don't think there's many in that crop for whom reunions would even be a big deal. The Knife?

it depends I mean - I don't think it diminishes a band to stick around/reunite and not release any new material. the constant release of new material is a capitalist pressure that bands often have to do but if they're well-off financially and don't feel the need or desire to put out new material, more power to them.

If they do put out new material and it's good to great, that does usually make me happier, but not a requirement, and I definitely don't want them to put out anything outright embarrassing.

i love it when a band with a relatively small discog reunites years later and puts out new music that's equal to or even better than their old stuff, it's like oh man i finally have more of this sound... thinkin about quicksand here

in general if there's an artist or group of artists i connected with at any point, i love getting to hear what their art is like later in their lives, bc there's always like a subtle perceptual shift, even when they're picking up where they left off

the only band i can think of that completely fucked this up was smashing pumpkins

just spitballing on bands who have released albums I think are incredible or at least pretty great in their 'second life':

Angel Witch
Satan
A Tribe Called Quest (RIP Phife)
Carcass
Black Sabbath (fuck u 13 rules)
Suffocation
Convulse
Diamond Head
Descendents (I'm talking Everything Sucks here and I know half this board will disagree)
At the Gates
Celtic Frost (yeah I've finally warmed up to Monotheist)
Skinny Puppy