reunited.
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Wow, ‘tis the year of reunions, at least for
some of my favorite bands from the eighties and nineties. First
the Police got back together to play the Grammies and finally do the
tour that Stewart Copland has been saying they should do for
years. Then Van Halen announced they were getting back together
with David Lee Roth, and Billy Corgan announced he was taking the
Smashing Pumpkins back out on the road. Even Phil Collins is
finally enough of a has-been to drag Genesis back out on the road again
(wait,
didn't Tony and Mike find another singer to fill that slot a few years
ago..?).
But then, let’s look a little closer. As great as the Police were in the studio, where they could layer and overdub all day, I don’t think they were ever all that fantastic live. And now that Sting can’t quite hit all those crazy-high notes in Roxanne, and given that they’re going out without any backup musicians, I have to wonder just how great they will be in concert. Certainly not great enough to justify the $200+ per seat that tickets are fetching. And hmmm…the Smashing Pumpkins are getting together, but without James Iha and D’Arcy? Yeah, I know Billy wrote and sang all the songs and Jimmy’s jazzy drumming was the glue that held it all together, but doesn’t this sound more like Billy’s Swan debacle than a real reunion? And then (sigh...) Van Halen. Guys, guys…when Sammy Hagar comes off looking like a class act by comparison, you know you’re screwing up. The reunion collapsed before it even got off the ground, and it’s probably a good thing. I mean, these guys are old. I want to remember Van Halen like they were in the Jump video, goofing around and jumping all over the stage like a bunch of kids…you know, before every band in LA tried to copy them and the whole scene devolved into the sleazy late-eighties hair metal thing. And what the hell are they doing kicking Michael Anthony out of the band so that Eddie’s kid can play bass? They could have called the tour Van Halen III, but oops, that name was already taken. Then again, this will also be the spring of bands that never broke up, but faded away…Rush and Nine Inch Nails have new albums coming out that I already know will suck. And yet I’ll buy them anyway... |