Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Reunion Tours: Quantifying Age via Concert Preferences

I'm the kind of guy who likes to keep track of things. I catalog my record collection, organize my hockey jerseys, kept a log of which players I scored the most goals with in NHL 94 on Super Nintendo and of course a color coded excel spreadsheet of every concert I've ever been to (216 and counting). And checking back on it now I've noticed a few trends that indicate my young yet advancing age...

1) I don't go to as many shows as I used to, Eleven in 2012 down from Thirty-Two in 2006.

2) Once a year over the past three years I've seen a "Reunion" show
Pictured above: Band stuck in infinite Reunion loop














Reunions? Only 50 year olds go to those. Right after they go see Jimmy Buffett.

But you know what? I've been able to see bands I never thought I'd be able to see. It's a growing trend right now in my favorite genres. Pavement, Quicksand, At The Drive In, The Postal Service, Rage Against the Machine, countless ska bands and many others have all called it quits on calling it quits. And thanks to this trend I've gone to see Sunny Day Real Estate, The Specials, Big Audio Dynamite and most recently Refused.

It was that last show that has been stuck in my head for a while. Not the band's music but the night of the show itself has been imprinted on the back of my skull. In 1998 Refused did what every punk band says they're going to do if they became too popular; they broke up. After releasing their greatest album, an album that consisted of the track "New Noise" an anthem that redefined a genre for the next 15 years, they packed up their guitars and said 'no more of this' having never supported their latest release. In 2012 we (being their fans) got the show we've been waiting over a decade for.

Now picture it. A bunch of twenty-something ex-emo kids in a crowded House of Blues. All of them with these grins on their faces that I've never really seen anywhere else. You're excited to be there, you're excited for the dude next to you because you know they're just as excited. It's very much a reunion without knowing personally anyone around you. It yielded one of the best crowds, one of the best pits and one of the best shows I've ever been to.

Next month I may very well pass up seeing Willy Moon, an up and coming artists from New Zealand artist, to go see Texas is the Reason a band I care minimally about anymore but if this show is anything like the other Reunions I've been to it'll be well worth it.

Check your local listings... Go see Fishbone, or Fu Manchu, or They Might Be Giants, or the Gin Blossoms if you're so inclined. Pick any decade old band and go. Watch the faces of those around you and of the band in front. I guarantee you'll be glad you did.

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