I read this morning that House of Love are back together and going on the road. thats the pixies, wedding present and now this all in 12 months (roughly). i was glad of the chance to see the pixies live but the outdoor venue and festival logistics ruined it. i am looking forward to seeing the weddoes in feb but am slightly worried about how they will sound compared to last time. but now i am getting a tad sceptical about bands coming out of the mists of time and trundling down memory lane. at least with the wedding present there's new material.

any thoughts?

I think I started a similar thread some time back but I've no time to look for it now.

There are loads of bands I loved who reformed and I refuse to go and see any of them.
Pixies, Stooges, Roxy Music, Velvet Underground, Television, no way. It's like a cabaret thing to me, I wouldn't go and see Gerry and the Pacemakers at a cabaret club with my scampi and lager. Examples of very good albums etc from reformed bands (if they bother) are very rare. It's nothing to do with the money is it?

Reunions are never the same, and inevitably disappoint.

here you go

Have just realised that this old thread got to be a bit tacky...lots of deletions...

not to worry, i've resurrected it anyway around the whole house of love thing. thanks peter

It's Martin, actually. But are you free or a ranger?

:ohdear: oops, sorry martin. i'm actually a vinnie, not free either got wed in sept.

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I agree with Harry here. When the Velvets played Glastonbury, Lou Reed wanted the audience to clap their hands in time with the music - how to ruin a great band!

I was going to vote for just let it lie, when I remembered how excited I was about seeing Wire a few years ago, when they did a greatest hits set at the Royal Festival Hall.
The Wedding Present's 'reformation' seems particurlarly cheeky, how many tickets would have been sold for their tour if they stuck to being called Cinerama.

In principle I’m with the ‘Let it Lie’ option, but in practise I’m a sucker for some of these reunions – I got my ticket for the Gang of Four in Birmingham later this month as soon as I saw it advertised…probably the best gig I’ve ever been to in my life was by the G of 4 back in 1980 so how could I resist? (even though I suspect it will be a deeply disappointing experience)

And don’t get me started on how excited I am about seeing Van der Graaf Generator in May!!!

Hadn’t heard about the House of Love reforming, I really liked some of their records but I saw them live two or three times…and they were always crap…so that’s one gig I won’t be rushing for tickets to…

I always used to favour 'let it lie', but when you consider what some of these bands might be doing without the reformation I can't say I begrudge them the money.

Eg - Moe Tucker was working as a secretary before VU reformed, so I can't really say I blame her for accepting $100,000 to get back on stage. Likewise I know of one (very gifted) guitarist in the list of reformed band mentioned in this thread who was making ends meet washing dishes, so I'd find it hard to say 'Stick to the dishes and save me the memory of how great your otherwise-forgotten band were'.

Besides, most bands have already blown it before they split - VU's 'Squeeze', The Clash's 'Cut The Crap'. Not seen as 'official' albums perhaps, but still released with the band's name proudly on the cover. Congratulations to Talk Talk for titling their final album 'Laughing Stock' - let's face it, more bands are by their last record...

I think they are usually pathetic, but I'd go for the "depends on who it is" option. Mission of Burma, for instance. They imploded before they had really gotten all their kinks and kicks out. I have not heard their "reunion" album, but it is supposed to be killer and their current live shows are heralded as being pretty good.

There has never been a creatively rewarding reunion. They only happen for money. Bands usually break up for good reaons:–

1. They've grown to hate each other
or
2. They've run out of ideas

Re-forming solves neither problem.

I completely agree with you, Stephen.

And before anyone protests, yes, I'm also - especially - including Wire.

You gotta work, gotta feed the kids, pay the bills, if all the time you could have spent building a career was spent in a rock & roll band, what else you gonna do at 40, with mild brain impairmanet, hearing damage and a potentiated liver?
Who are we to judge?
If they still excite & entertain, good on them.
I was impressed by recordings of recent Pixies shows, they gave the fans what they wanted, mixed it up & had a good time.
Why is this bad?

Who are we to judge?
Live & let live & if you don't approve, don't dig out you gold Amex Card.

Who do you prefer with your scampi & lager?

Wasn't it Ian Drury who said that if you release one classic album you should be allowed to milk it for the rest of your career?

Half Man Half Biscuit got ten times better when they reformed.

I was having a laugh mate, I hate lager, gerry and the pacemakers, and I'm a vegetarian. I have a very happy life sticking to these simple rules!

I can understand you hating the rubbish lager served in many British pubs, but to condemn it out of hand is a tad unfir.

And listening to Ferry Cross the Mersey when you are actually doing it is very romantic, I feel!

The exception that proves the rule.

i'm always intrigued by this statement.

how exactly does an exception 'prove' a rule? :confused:

All rules must be broken.

Therefore there are always those who will break the rules.

This proves that the rule is there.

:confused:

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I saw Happy Mondays when they reformed (at the G-Mex) and they were absolutely 100% totally brilliant. However - I never saw them in their heydey. But I find it hard to believe they could ever have been better. One of the best shows I've ever seen - it was all about getting you intoxicated enough to dance. Truly inspirational and great fun!

(Perhaps they are another exception that proves the rule?)

You're right, I was unfair.

There are some decent European lagers, but generally it is a crap drink in the UK.

Talking of Gerry and the Pacemakers, I saw Gerry himself on tv once, telling a story about one of their party pieces. They get someone from the audience to come and do guest vocal on that "Walk On" song, and they deliberately start it in a higher key so that the victim can't get anywhere near the right notes when the song goes higher. Brings the house down evidently.

Because another meaning of "prove" is "test", and this is the one used in this phrase.

thanks..... more education delivered courtesy of the forum... -_-

Did this phrase evolve because of the adage that "there's an exception to every rule?"

and i try to be it... :lol:

The key issue for me is whether or not they are doing anything creative now.

Whenever I've seen a band solely because on what they *used* to be, I've been disappointed. I saw Frank Black a few years ago, and it was dull dull dull. Buzzcocks don't move me.

Apart from Arthur Lee, he was great. And the Du-Tels (Peter Stampfel and Gary Lucas), they were fantastic. But not really reformations.

Arthur Brown and John Otway are basically cabaret and funny to see once but not ever again.

I love Pixies, for example, but there's no point me seeing them now. I can understand why people who never saw them the first time around want to see them now, but it's not for me.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Dan

Proabably comes from a Latin root...and must be cognate with, for example, the Spanish "probar" which means to try, check out., or "prueba", a test of some kind. Think of similar English words such as "probation" to get the idea of something being tested.

Seems to me we're talking about a phenomenon unique to rock/pop/commercial music: the "band" identity thing. Most rock artists, it seems, market themselves as a "band" and build an audience based on those expectations.

As a result (I'm theorizing here), perhaps there is more pressure to stick with the band concept, and/or to revive it periodically. No surprise then that it all tends to go stale-- musicians with (at best) one or two decent ideas parlay that into a career of retreads and nostalgia... people continue to work together long after the spark has gone. Eg: the Rolling Stones.

Contrast this (in my view) with many fine improvising musicians, who work in many different contexts over the course of their careers. Long-term creativity from the likes of Anthony Braxton, Joe McPhee, Evan Parker, Keith Rowe, Marilyn Crispell, Paul Bley, Cecil Taylor, Wilhelm Brueker, Otomo Yoshihide, John Zorn, etc etc. They're continually working with different people, with their own histories.

It's interesting to note the power of the "name." Take John Zorn, whose Naked City and Masada projects, which are by far the most straightforward and commercially viable of his career. These have turned out to be problematic for him: the pressure of audiences that want yet another NC or Masada tour/show is always felt.

A while ago when MES was doing his solo collage albums (Post Nearly Man, etc) I was a little excited: maybe the album/tour/album/tour/album/tour grind was going to be rethought a little bit? Apparently not?

Andy

The new Mission Of Burma album is ace indeed, G-bat! No idea what they're like live, but to announce a comeback with a new album (that's true here, no?) is a bit different to, say, the Pixies reunion, where it clearly is just about the cash (as frank black said a few years ago in an interview, that's the only reason he'd get the band back together).

I couldn't be bothered to get off my arse to see the Pixies, simply because I knew I'd be disappointed, I'm not as keen on them as I used to be, and reunions tend to scream 'money!' and so it would always be in back of my mind that they'd just be going through the motions (see first reason).

I've read in the paper today that Cream have reformed!!!! Oh lordy!!

the mission of burma "reunion" shows were excellent. the second one i saw had me a little worried as they played a lot of new material for the first time, but last year's was easily one of the best shows i've ever seen (in all of my, uh, 18 years). they tore the wipers' "youth of america" to shreds.