Reunions - The Good , the Bad, and the Petty
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:11 pm
What's a promoter to do?
With the big acts sitting out this summer, many -- too many -- old faves are coming back
Richmond Times-Dispatch Mar 1, 2007
The Police and Genesis are definite. Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses are about as likely as getting fed on a (non-Jet Blue) airplane. And Van Halen? I'm starting to wonder if whatever miracle medicine Eddie Van Halen concocted to supposedly cure his mouth cancer hasn't nibbled at his brain.
What do all of these acts have in common? Some form of the word "reunion," as in: happening, happening, likely not gonna happen, most definitely not gonna happen and, as of 1:54 a.m. Wednesday, not happening but could have changed 12 times by the time you read this.
It used to be that reunion tours were reserved for special occasions, kind of like that bottle of Krug champagne still in the back of the fridge from some wedding or anniversary celebration.
Most things are only extraordinary when, along with being great, they're rare. And not that anyone was expecting Sting to wake up one day and decide he needed another $30 million or $40 million for that fifth villa in Italy, but there's something a little desperate about the rash of reunion tours being staged or in discussion.
As per usual in this suffocating industry, with the number of big names getting grayer and many of them -- U2, Madonna, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones sitting out road life this year, what is a promoter to do when his great savior is, uh, Fall Out Boy?
Simply hope that some old fan faves can pretend to like one another for 90 minutes onstage each night if a hefty paycheck is ready to be deposited into their hands. Hey, the Eagles keep doing it, and fans don't seem bothered by their calculated motives, so why not Sting and Phil Collins, too?
"What we're seeing now is the end of the rest of what's barely left," said Deborah Wilker, a longtime music scribe and current contributor to The Hollywood Reporter.
"The touring industry must have major headliners each season to satisfy Wall Street -- and to offset the costs of what little nurturing of young artists actually still goes on. But with the music business in such disarray in recent years, concert executives have had no choice but to keep dipping into the pre-MTV vault."
According to Wilker, the two certainties so far -- The Police, whose initial spate of dates has moved almost half a million tickets with only a portion of its itinerary up for sale (a D.C.-area date is expected soon), and Genesis, which will announce its North American tour plans at a New York news conference Wednesday -- have generated obvious interest but lack the momentous feel that a Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd reunion would produce.
With classic rock a fascination for many teenagers just now discovering their parents' CD collections, a Led Zep return with John Bonham's son, Jason, on drums (or, possibly, Ringo's impressive kid, Zak Starkey, current skinsman for The Who) would be a cross-generational gold mine.
But rumors that bassist John Paul Jones recently whispered reunion plans to a Toronto radio station were quashed so quickly, it's either such a ludicrous thought that the band shudders at talk of the possibility . . . or it's planning the itinerary right now.
With Led Zeppelin, any reunion would never be a true one, but for reasons different from the aborted-for-now Van Halen train wreck. It's one thing to have to replace a deceased band member. It's another to allow pride, ego and infantile pettiness to ruin something for dedicated fans.
I have no doubt that Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang, is a phenomenal musician. The teen came out to share some licks with his dad during the band's 2004 "reunion" show with Sammy Hagar at D.C.'s Verizon Center and left the audience open-mouthed about his abilities.
But it's not really a reunion when you enlist your kid to sub for the beloved bass player you're miffed at and then spout to Rolling Stone about how the band is moving forward.
Here's an idea: Save the revolution for after the tour, but in the meantime get onstage at Nissan Pavilion, hand Michael Anthony a Jack Daniels-shaped bass and rip into "So This Is Love."
(By the way, www.melodicrock.com has some audio snippets of Eddie and Alex Van Halen's recent interview with Rolling Stone. See if you think this sounds like a band that would be happy with David Lee Roth at the helm for a couple of months.)
And as for that rumor about Guns N' Roses, which began after original drummer Steven Adler stated in a recent interview that he'd made amends with Axl Rose and that other Gunners Slash, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan have discussed getting back together, well, here's a suggestion:
Wait until Rose finally releases "Chinese Democracy" -- delayed again, despite March 6 being inked as the absolute release date months ago -- and then discuss. This guy can't make a commitment any more than Britney can stay in rehab. And some things just aren't worth waiting for.
With the big acts sitting out this summer, many -- too many -- old faves are coming back
Richmond Times-Dispatch Mar 1, 2007
The Police and Genesis are definite. Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses are about as likely as getting fed on a (non-Jet Blue) airplane. And Van Halen? I'm starting to wonder if whatever miracle medicine Eddie Van Halen concocted to supposedly cure his mouth cancer hasn't nibbled at his brain.
What do all of these acts have in common? Some form of the word "reunion," as in: happening, happening, likely not gonna happen, most definitely not gonna happen and, as of 1:54 a.m. Wednesday, not happening but could have changed 12 times by the time you read this.
It used to be that reunion tours were reserved for special occasions, kind of like that bottle of Krug champagne still in the back of the fridge from some wedding or anniversary celebration.
Most things are only extraordinary when, along with being great, they're rare. And not that anyone was expecting Sting to wake up one day and decide he needed another $30 million or $40 million for that fifth villa in Italy, but there's something a little desperate about the rash of reunion tours being staged or in discussion.
As per usual in this suffocating industry, with the number of big names getting grayer and many of them -- U2, Madonna, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones sitting out road life this year, what is a promoter to do when his great savior is, uh, Fall Out Boy?
Simply hope that some old fan faves can pretend to like one another for 90 minutes onstage each night if a hefty paycheck is ready to be deposited into their hands. Hey, the Eagles keep doing it, and fans don't seem bothered by their calculated motives, so why not Sting and Phil Collins, too?
"What we're seeing now is the end of the rest of what's barely left," said Deborah Wilker, a longtime music scribe and current contributor to The Hollywood Reporter.
"The touring industry must have major headliners each season to satisfy Wall Street -- and to offset the costs of what little nurturing of young artists actually still goes on. But with the music business in such disarray in recent years, concert executives have had no choice but to keep dipping into the pre-MTV vault."
According to Wilker, the two certainties so far -- The Police, whose initial spate of dates has moved almost half a million tickets with only a portion of its itinerary up for sale (a D.C.-area date is expected soon), and Genesis, which will announce its North American tour plans at a New York news conference Wednesday -- have generated obvious interest but lack the momentous feel that a Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd reunion would produce.
With classic rock a fascination for many teenagers just now discovering their parents' CD collections, a Led Zep return with John Bonham's son, Jason, on drums (or, possibly, Ringo's impressive kid, Zak Starkey, current skinsman for The Who) would be a cross-generational gold mine.
But rumors that bassist John Paul Jones recently whispered reunion plans to a Toronto radio station were quashed so quickly, it's either such a ludicrous thought that the band shudders at talk of the possibility . . . or it's planning the itinerary right now.
With Led Zeppelin, any reunion would never be a true one, but for reasons different from the aborted-for-now Van Halen train wreck. It's one thing to have to replace a deceased band member. It's another to allow pride, ego and infantile pettiness to ruin something for dedicated fans.
I have no doubt that Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang, is a phenomenal musician. The teen came out to share some licks with his dad during the band's 2004 "reunion" show with Sammy Hagar at D.C.'s Verizon Center and left the audience open-mouthed about his abilities.
But it's not really a reunion when you enlist your kid to sub for the beloved bass player you're miffed at and then spout to Rolling Stone about how the band is moving forward.
Here's an idea: Save the revolution for after the tour, but in the meantime get onstage at Nissan Pavilion, hand Michael Anthony a Jack Daniels-shaped bass and rip into "So This Is Love."
(By the way, www.melodicrock.com has some audio snippets of Eddie and Alex Van Halen's recent interview with Rolling Stone. See if you think this sounds like a band that would be happy with David Lee Roth at the helm for a couple of months.)
And as for that rumor about Guns N' Roses, which began after original drummer Steven Adler stated in a recent interview that he'd made amends with Axl Rose and that other Gunners Slash, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan have discussed getting back together, well, here's a suggestion:
Wait until Rose finally releases "Chinese Democracy" -- delayed again, despite March 6 being inked as the absolute release date months ago -- and then discuss. This guy can't make a commitment any more than Britney can stay in rehab. And some things just aren't worth waiting for.