Although I expect the madness to be a lot more controlled than Iggy's heyday of slashing his chest with beer bottles and hurtling himself into the crowd, at 45 bucks a ticket, and the inherrent unpredictablity factor of anything involving Iggy you just can't go wrong here.
The Rumors
Squeeze: Well it turns out the rumors of a British reunion tour for Squeeze are at least true. Whether or not this translates to American dates remains to be seen. Personally, I always loved the combination of Difford and Tillbrook and would love to see great songs like "Black Coffee In Bed" and "Tempted" performed live. If it does happen in America, it's probably a theatre deal and at reasonable prices will do great business. One can only hope.
Led Zeppelin: If the rumors swirling about are indeed true, this is the one ten thousand pound gorilla that stands to derail the Sting show as the tour of the year. The "talk" basically goes like this. Page and Plant have made peace with John Paul Jones for something that goes out this fall with Jason Bonham on drums. Personally as an official "old guy," I've seen Zeppelin something like half a dozen times. But there is an entire generation schooled on this shit that never has, and still holds them in awe. If this really is for real, move over Police. This is the tour of the year.
The Ridiculous:
The Archies: Archie Andrews is, of course, ruler of the free world these days with the empire he has built with his stranglehold on the cardigan sweaters preferred by Microsoft executives. But his desire to reunite with former best friend Jughead Jones for another round of "Sugar Sugar" is no secret to those in the corporate community. Efforts to locate Mt. Jones, rumored to be a heroin addict still beating his bongo drums somewhere in a coffee house in Seattle remain ongoing.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: By all accounts, Mitch Mitchell is available.
Article comments
1 - JC Mosquito
Sublime, Mr. B!
I suppose it was too, too, easy to slip in some comment about the G'n'R tour this summer.... or was that next summer? Hmm..... when's hell s'posed to freeze over next?
2 - Perry/Chicago
I think you should hedge your bet on the Genesis Tour. Although I for one was hoping for the five piece, the bulk of the fans are indeed into the pop trio version. Even saw a poll somewhere that had the preference as high as 76%.
In an article from The Bob Lefsetz Music Industry Newsletter, he states the numbers were run by promoter Michael Cohl and again they were favoring the pop trio. "Rumor has it that Gabriel just won't commit. He's not ready yet. And that might be true, but the real story is Michael Cohl ran the numbers and he found out NOBODY WANTED TO SEE THE OLD GENESIS!" Read the entire story "Reunions" here.
And with the Fan Club and American Express presales underway, and judging by the fact that nothing but nose bleeders are being offered at this point, I think come the General Public sale on Monday, you will see the act adding second shows in some of the bigger cities.
Perry/Chicago
The Best Radio You Have Never Heard
3 - lono
I can't possibly see the Zep thing happening. As happy as that would make me, I just don't see it. Also, it is too late for this summer. Something THAT massive (I am talking about the most important and massive tour in the history of rock and roll) would not sneak up in a few months. If they started today it would be 2008 at the earliest.
Holy shit that would be amazing. They would have to play only football stadiums, which would also be cool... because these basketball arenas just totally suck.
Also, I have to mention my beloved Pumpkins. It isn't really even a re-union, just Billy and the drummer. However, that is all the studio pumpkins ever were - Billy and Jimmy. The other two were just there to fill the band out live.
Viva Led Zep!
4 - lono
Oh, and we must put somewhere between the rumors and ridiculous a full Guns $ Roses reunion.
By the way, not a typo. I shall be referring to Guns & Roses as Guns $ Roses going forward. As Gonzo Marx would say > your results may vary
5 - Glen Boyd
I dunno man. I'm still holding out hope for either a Raspberries or a Blind Faith reunion tour this year. Anybody with me on this?
-Glen
6 - Mark Saleski
i'd be curious to see Zep but...i dunno. Page isn't exactly known for being a tight live player. every live recording i've heard (barring the very early Led Zep stuff) has been a kind of sloppy mess.
7 - Glen Boyd
I've seen Zep about half a dozen times, and Page has been a shadow of his formerly great self for years now. I saw the Page/Plant reunion thing ten years ago, and outside of a certain nostalgia factor (there was more pot smoke in the air that night than I've seen at a show since the seventies), it was no big deal. Still, Zeppelin's legendary status pretty much guarantees that a tour would do huge business. Especialy since there is now an entire generation who have never senn them, that still hold them in very high regard. Would I go though. Nope.
-Glen
8 - JC Mosquito
Pagey - sloppy? Excpet early Zep? Nawww... sloppy all the time! But that's his style - I was just listening to the break in Heartbreaker yesterday - go ahead - try to hum or scat along with that solo. Near impossible, but impossibly beautiful at the same time.
9 - John Bianco
Genesis is a toss up, I think either version will sell. Saw them 22 time, 4 with Gabriel and 16 with Collins. I would take Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway hands down. But either way, Tony Banks is why I would go, he is Genesis, regardless to what Peter or Phil did, Progressive or Pop, Mr Banks is the best keyboard player around.
10 - jay
Genesis did a smart thing in terms of selecting only the US cities that they know they will be a draw. They sold out in Philly in no time and added a second show. Sure a Gabriel led Genesis would be amazing, but there are plenty of us that still "give a shit" and know that the music that Genesis did with Phil is significantly better than the corporate rock crap output of a band like REO Speedwagon.
11 - Perry/Chicago
What is the difference between crap output and corporate crap output?
Crap is crap
Bands have all the ability in the world to turn out crap all by themselves.
It's not always "the Man" who is behind crap output.
One must look at each other.
Give people a choice, and they pick crap every time.
Isn't the man just filling our plates with more fast food hell?
And much has been made about bands being sellouts to corporate sponsors and should be ashamed of themselves for not being true to the art.
But then the cries for high ticket prices ($227 top price) for an un-sponsored tour (Genesis) and the bedwetters are crying foul that the show is priced out of their pocket.
Pay your money make your choice.
Look at a few silly banners or commercials and have them whack the top end off that ticket for you.
Corporate scum suddenly doesn't sound so bad . . .
Perry/Chicago
The Best Radio You Have Never Heard
12 - Max
Well, tickets for the Genesis show in Toronto went on sale at 10:00am today. I logged onto ticketmaster at 1:00pm. and did a search for two tickets. I was presented with two floors in the 20th row for $227.00 if I wanted them (I didn't). I think it's pretty safe to say if these tickets are avaialable three hours after they were released, this isn't shaping up to rival The Police reunion.
13 - Lono
regarding the Blind Faith comment, that would be nice. However, Clapton is playing for 'Police' like prices ($200 for a good seat) for the last twenty years. Let's just say that we could somehow get the AMAZING Stevie Winwood and the terrific Eric Clapton together... who the hell could afford those seats? using my current rate inflation calculator, tickets would be approximate $800 each.
This would only be eclipsed by a full Pink Floyd reunion, which would sell tix at a flat rate $1000 per ticket.
Sorry y'all, I just can't get excited about rock anymore. Tickmaster and the touring business have sucked all the joy out. Last weekend, Police tickets went on sale. When I logged on around 2 pm to see if tickets were left, I was told by Ticketbastard that I could begin bidding on tickets at $500 each.
really? go fuck yourself Sting. Sorry, a loaded rant as I was just commenting over at my piece on Eddie Van Halen. That news, coupled with Chinese Democracy being not released again as promised after 15 years makes me wonder what we are doing this for?