I normally dig festival shows, but this year I'm just not feeling it. I didn't go to Coachella or Street Scene and I don't plan to go anywhere else. Oh, it's not the heat and the subpar restrooms. It's line-ups that look like a County Fair for aging indie rockers that keep me at bay.
"Hey, honey, grab the kids from the spin art tent and let's get a funnel cake. Gang of Four goes on in ten."
I love Gang of Four, but I would rather listen to my albums than catch a reunion show. Try as everyone might, we can't relive eras we barely remember and the onslaught of bands inspired by post-punkers is not enough to spark my interest. It is sort of like going to see a bill of mid-1960s British rockers reforming in 1985 simply because the Smiths, the Jam and a host more harked back to that era.
If bands must insist upon shattering any sort of mystique surrounding their dives into obscurity and the subsequent rescue of their now-hip catalogues, can't they at least release new material first? I don't mean re-recording the hits either. My first post-college job involved writing ad copy for re-recorded "Best Of..." style records for washed up Sunset Strip bands and listening to those discs caused the sort of horrendous pain that made me wish I was deaf. I mean brand new songs and brand new sounds, something that reflects where the band was and where it intends to go. Soft Cell did it and, as a diehard fan of the band, I really appreciated hearing new tracks like "Monoculture" at the show.
At this point, I have grown adamantly opposed to the reunion show. However, given the fact that there is a bit of a hypocrite inside each of us, I must admit that if the Smiths reform just in time for Coachella 2006, I will be there, if for no other reason than to keep myself warm while hell freezes over.