I have my e-mail account set to notify me at a moment's notice with news of Jawbreaker's reunion. I am that kind of fan -- the kind of person, who upon hearing the rumor in June, obsessively Googles "Jawbreaker reunion" every 15 minutes during the waking hour.
Most of the alerts are about wrestling. The other half reiterates the same news: the group practiced just for the heck of it, recorded audio, had a good time, and is working on distributing the film. It may be awhile, the band says, but in the end, everyone will be happy.
And here I was, crossing my fingers for a secret March performance in New York. I had fantasies of my roommate, my friends from home, and me, swilling beer and making remarks about reliving teen angst at respectable drinking ages. The jokes were funnier with Jawbreaker than the other bands that reunited last year and the paltry offerings in 2008.
Last year's rock scene offered a handful of cataclysmic reunions for fans. We were treated to new material, reunion tours and one-night only performances that stole our hearts and made us believe, again. That's the point of a reunion.
The band gets on stage, older, wiser and less embittered to perform for fans that have also changed, but remember fondly. It is bittersweet in that there is recognition of two things: bands break up for good reasons but that while they were around the times were good.
In 2007, Lifetime released its first album in 10 years, performing twice in the area in a six-month time span. Rage Against the Machine performed in July in Los Angeles and are headlining as a reunion package for several European festivals this year.
In what may have been the area's best concert all year, The Dismemberment Plan (D-Plan) reunited in Washington, D.C. for two nights as part of a benefit for Cal Robbins and Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
During D-Plan's "The Ice of Boston," the stage swelled with fans as the group's tradition calls for during live performances. The Black Cat's tiny stage bowed to the pressure as good natured mayhem ensued bringing the best of what any fan can hope for.
Leaving 2008 with New Kids on the Block and…Finch. Oh. Well, okay, then. The California-based pop-punkers announced its "indefinite hiatus" in early 2006 and will perform at Recher Theatre next month-almost two years to the day that the group supposedly broke up. The energy behind the return is noticeably flat.
I am the Avalanche's Vinnie Caruana will perform a set of music by his old band The Movielife at this year's The Bamboozle in May. Caruana is the only member of The Movielife interested in reuniting or performing the old material; he'll be relying on Set Yours Goals as a backing band. In 2006, The Bamboozle offered Further Seems Forever's original line-up and 2005's Hellfest promised the original Coalesce (it was cancelled and the band scheduled reunion dates).
In the same vein as Caruana, Kris Roe will perform The Ataris' most beloved album "Blue Skies, Broken Hearts…Next 12 Exits" at the Ottobar next month.
The replay is sub par at best; Roe is said to be selling his personal effects on eBay to pay the rent and the performance lacks the rest of the band. If Roe was joined by the band that recorded the album I'd be there and so would 200 other fans who failed to show up to his recent incarnation of The Ataris last summer when the group performed at the Ottobar.
It seems improper to grab a drink during NKOTB when the crowd is in their acid washed jeans. This is a different kind of nostalgia. While I'm reliving my dreams of Joey Mac, it lacks the tenacity held by Lifetime and RATM.
In that stead, I'm holding my breath. I'm waiting, Jawbreaker. We prefer that you find a distributor soon.
We're hoping for a D-Plan like performance wherein we stop the message board feuding for an evening of old memories to form new ones.
Please do it soon or I'll have to chase down the Backstreet Boys in Japan, which I hear is very unbecoming.
RSS Feeds
Be the first to comment on this article!