I am deeply ambivalent about going to see bands I liked in my youth. Especially bands that re-form for superannuation tours. Hence why the new Romantic of my teenage years managed to avoid going to see Duran Duran, and why the Countdown tours make me break out in a cold sweat. I have no doubt that my old age will be spent reviewing my youth with nostalgic self indulgence, but I am not yet ready to admit that I have reached that age.
Soy shares my horror of all musical backwards-looking, although we went to see the Jesus & Mary Chain last year because they influenced him so heavily in their time. That gig only served to reinforce his conviction not to see re-formed bands.
Still, last Friday night we were invited by Apple to witness their 'Aussie Legends' series of live gigs. We had a choice of seeing Jimmy Barnes or Mental as Anything. Not having listened to a Mentals song since the 80s we plumped for Barnsey. 'This will be a laugh,' we thought. How wrong we were. Barnsey (preceded by Mossy) played not a single recognisable note from his Chisel days, or even a line from his more famous solo albums. Instead he played covers of 50s rock 'n' roll standards. If I'd had the misfortune of paying for the ticket, I would have asked for my money back. As it was even the free iTunes voucher Apple gave us did not adequately compensate me for the time I spent sullied by Barnsey's nostalgic reverie.
Here's a hint to ex-rock stars:Play your hits. No one wants to hear the dross you've written in your dotage, and absolutely no one wants to hear you sing covers.
Now this rant might seem to exclude me listening to anyone who was playing music in the 80s and 90s. Au contraire. Some of my favourite artists are bands I fell in love with in the 80s and 90s. But they have to continue to produce music that's worth listening to. So Nick Cave is still up there, Billy Bragg still gets my vote and They Might be Giants, who've moved right on to kids music as we had kids, are a firm family favourite.
Last night another favourite produced another new CD: Dave McCormack. Soy and I went to the album launch, sang along to his new old stuff, chuckled at his new stuff (Living Under The Flight Path With You, clearly written for us) and remembered what we love about live music: spontaneity, wit and a healthy dose of self-parody. None of which Barnsey possessed, but which our lovely Dave has in abundance. His new album Little Murders is available on iTunes.