All aboard the reunion train. Five days into the new year and that bandwagon is already looking kind of full with the news that both LCD Soundsystem and Guns N’ Roses are confirmed for the Coachella festival, which takes place across two weekends in April in Indio, California. You can be sure too that their appearance at the festival won’t be the only date in the diary for either, and we can expect to see them at large in Europe during 2016.
It’s a given that legendary acts of yesteryear will reform at some point if the cash is right because there are always bills to pay and royalties will only go so far in that regard.
Whatever about Guns N' Roses, the imminent reappearance of LCD Soundsystem is a bit of a surprise because it's less than five years since the band called it a day. Moreover, they said goodbye in some style with a run of gala shows at New York's Madison Square Garden in 2011, a farewell that became the Shut Up & Play the Hits film and The Long Goodbye live album.
It’s not as if the band have had much trouble filling the days and nights since then. Main man James Murphy has kept the wolf from the door with high-profile production work (including Arcade Fire), soundtrack contributions, the Despacio sound system with 2ManyDJs/Soulwax’s David and Stephen Dewaele, the Four Horsemen wine bar in Brooklyn and the House of Good espresso brew.
For all this activity, it looks like Murphy and co will get back together again. The lure of a very large wad of cash – various sources have talked about a “multi-million dollar” offer from promoters AEG – for a summer of no-risk festival shows is obviously not something to be sniffed at.
This reunion may well lead to an appearance at an Irish festival like Body & Soul, Electric Picnic or Metropolis. Furthermore, the reunion might even lead to a longer stint at the controls, including new studio albums.
Of course, there will be many LCD Soundsystem fans who will be a little miffed by this news. There was huge palaver around their farewell shows in 2011, including a fiasco over tickets, and the sight of the band back onstage less than five years on will stick in the craw of many.
Yet it’s clear that reunions have become an accepted part of the rock and pop business. The Pixies are now together for a longer time post-reunion than they were the first time around. With the exception of The Smiths, there are few acts that have resisted the clarion call of the reunion trail.
If Murphy and LCD Soundsystem take the cash, it goes to show that the duration between the split and the reunion is getting shorter and shorter. Indeed, such indecent haste begs the question why they called it quits in the first place. Now that’s a question for the press conference . . .
