Living in the past

I used to be pretty hard-line about reunion shows. There’s a whole punk ethos to living in the moment , right?. The biggest criticism of hippies, beyond their insipid music, was that they refused to see reality. It’s 1977! Stop living in the past!

Another common refrain was that if (band x) was still singing the same things in 20 years, someone should put them out of their misery. Now that all the punks are older, of course, that’s out the window . Punk for a long time has been a subculture with established rules and order including, on some level, respect for punk elders. A lot of punks would have resented the implication that they would reform their old bands and be playing the same old songs when the hit their 40s but a couple things happened for a lot of them. 1. They wrote their best music before they hit 25 and 2. They realized that there best/easiest way to make money was to hop on the nostalgia train.

Not that I think it’s purely cynical. Old punks come out of the woodwork for these shows. At the Mutants reunion I watched people reconnect that hadn’t seen each other in decades . It was incredibly sweet. Seeing Gang of Four for the first time last year was awesome for me. I literally had been wanting to see them for 20 years. I know a few of you who I like were just at that Touch and Go reunion and while the Chicago bands don’t do it for me, I understand.

Punks, more than most genres of music that came before them, actually did do a fairly good job of living fast and dying young. Sure, hip hop kind of eclipsed the punks over the years in that regard, and the late ‘80s metal bands tried their best, but where would punk have gotten without the martyr Sid Vicious? Still dead punks can make a reunion more difficult.

There’s a lot more processing amongst punks about which reunion shows they feel are valid and which are cynical. It’s a useless exercise really, but hey, so was a lot of punk and that didn’t make it any less fun. Not useless exactly I guess, but certainly nothing people will ever come to consensus over. It kind of boils down to the fact that one person’s Clash is another person’s Sham 69. And as the Clash once said, "He who fucks nuns… will later join the church"

So without further ado, here is my deeply felt and completely subjective list of what punk reunion shows are work going to and which are a scam.


Bands I would see in a second:
Au Pairs
The Proletariat
Beatnigs
Tragic Mulatto
Bikini Kill
Feelings on a Grid

Bands I would probably see:
Big Black -- Though when I saw them back in the day, they weren’t that great. They blew out the speaker in the first song and everything was tinny. That 4-song reunion they just did seemed to get mixed reviews.
Poison Girls -- I’m a sucker for anti-imperialist songs
Code of Honor -- I hear they’re featured in that new hardcore movie coming out so you never know…


Bands I would see under no circumstances despite liking on some level:
Sex Pistols --They joke would so obviously be on me
Stiff Little Fingers --This may be unfair because they were one of the early reunion bands. But a friend went to see them and said "Man, they were total wanna be rockstars. They even did the two guitar players back-to-back thing"
Buzzcocks --I have no reason for not seeing them. They made no political pretense of their modernity. I like the homo punks. I just never liked ‘em that much. Sorry

Bands I wouldn’t see because I always thought they kind of sucked:
The Exploited
Anti-Nowhere League
Sham 69

Bands I would have gone to see if an important member hadn’t died:
The Clash -- Do you think when they get desperate for money they’ll pull in Shane McGowan to sing?
Big Boys

Bands I have seen on reunion tours:
X
Mutants
Dicks
Team Dresch
Avengers
Gang of Four
Nina Hagen
Mission of Burma

Bands I have seen but wish I hadn’t seen on reunion tours:
The Specials --Terrible and I ran into a bunch of assholes from high school
Social Unrest -- I loved this bands and I set up a show for them at Epicenter. It wasn’t that it was bad, it’s that no one cared and it made me sad.
Frightwig -- Same as Social Unrest

Bands I would see if…:
X Ray Spex -- if it isn’t a Krishna recruiting drive or fundraising tour

Bands I’ll probably see because it seems unavoidable:
The Contractions -- Playing the Castro Street Fair! I’ll hear them from my apartment even if I can’t see them.

Bands I will see I the next couple of months :
The Slits
ESG --Never played the West Coast!

Bands that no one should see:
Dead Kennedys without Jello

I’m sure I’m forgetting a million bands so if there's someone you feel strongly about, post a comment and I’ll tell you how you should feel about them. Also, no promises I’ll keep my word on any of this. Except for the Dead Kennedys/Jello thing.



* bands in italics I never got to see before they broke up.

My new girlfriend

I just wish she wasn't dead



Thanks 19_crows!