C/D Seeing bands you saw 20 years ago

So it's natural that the new gigs won't mean the same thing as the old gigs did. The band changes and the fanbase changes. But "different" != "inferior" ... when DM tour again, of course I will see them again because they're one of my favourite bands ever and that's much more important to me than worrying about whether their fans have grown to be old and boring.

It was X. Apparently, time and age have no effect on that group.

(That said, John Doe, God love him, was pretty shitty on Conan O'Brien not too long ago.)

I saw DEVO last summer. The last time I'd seen them was probably 1988. I had quasi-low expectations, being that they're all older and fatter now, but damn if they didn't put on full-on, hyperkinetic and tight-as-ever show.

BUT for any true X fan, here is the clencher--they played the entire Los Angeles album, so it WAS the same show I saw in 1980.

How did it compare? I was older, they were older. But they were still cool. Exene was wearing satin instead of cotton. DJ didn't have any hair. But they rocked just as hard as they did 25 years ago and I loved them just as much.

I'm glad I went to the show. It was also kind of cool to see Brian Wilson get an award, and to hear Flea's amazing introduction of X's lifetime achievement award.

Glad I went--apologies to Betsy & Jill, who I lost in the afterparty.

I saw Brian Wilson, Tom Waits, The Mingus Big Band and The Magic Band last year (no, not all on the same stage, except maybe in my imagination!) and they were all fantastic - but I would love / have loved to have seen any or all of them 20; 30; in the cases of The Beach Boys and Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band, 40; and in the case pf Charles Mingus even 50 years ago; if this could be arranged in such a manner that I could not only be / have been born, but old enough to understand and appreciate what was going on.

I also saw The Damned; who I've been going to see regularly for 28 years (or 2/3 of my life) so far (so much for "It's just a phase he's going through, he'll grow out of it soon"); and (amongst others) Alternative TV, Buzzcocks, The Fall, Penetration and The Vibrators; all of whom I first saw around '77 / '78 / '79; and all of them were great too. Maybe not as great they were 25+ years ago, but then , who and what is?

I would love to see Bob Dylan, Pere Ubu and The Residents (all on one stage would be nice - but I'd be happy with as many as three different ones!).

I wouldn't go and see Alvin Stardust, Les McKeown's Legendary Bay City Rollers, Bev Bevan's The Move, The Dreamers (no Freddie, unfortunately), John Rossall's Glitter Band, (No Dave Dee just) Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, Ian Astbury & The Doors, The Rolling Stones or U2 if you paid me 'though.

In my experience Hyde Park + sunshine + almost any old band = classic.

Iirc the last time I saw them was on a balmy evening at the end of a glorious day at Reading Festival in '98. Absolute magic - especially when they answered my silent prayers and played both "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Atmosphere".

It's a bit tame these days if I'm really honest - Barney's autocue pisses me off and you know pretty much what they're going to play, since they've only got a certain number of songs programmed up and ready to go. That shouldn't stop them doing a few surprise songs that don't really on lots of programmed keybds and beats, but it does. I suppose they wheeled out Digital last time I saw them, so maybe I'm being a bit unfair. It'll still be classic though - beer, sun, seeing lots of old Factory-heads.

Indeed, they did "Isolation", "Ceremony" and "Heart And Soul".

And they did "Regret", "Confusion", "Bizarre Love Triangle", "True Faith", "Temptation", "Blue Monday" and even "World In Motion",

In fact It's hard to think how they could have improved significantly on that set list; which is probably why I haven't felt much urge to go and see them since.