To be clear, when I say old, I mean in music terms. The PS2 is not that old, but music from my PS2 days is. Which is how I found Helmet originally – by murdering beach goers in GTA while listening to Unsung.
Helmet and Cro Mag are on tour. Helmet and Cro Mag are young guys with old music. And even though a ton of old bands are coming back, it’s never too late to convince others to get off their asses and appease the masses.
And here’s 6 reasons why I, as a fan, want this to happen.
1) YOU GET TO INTRODUCE US TO NEW BANDS
Bands from the day have a built in audience – we’re going no matter who you have opening the show. So it’s nice to see new bands, like Dust Beneath Dirt, open these shows. I never would have found out about Dust Beneath Dirt, but thanks to Cro Mag and Helmet, I have a new group to check out and maybe stalk physically since they’re local and I have no life. Watch your back boys.
2) YOU DON’T HAVE TO GIVE A FUCK
People are happy you’re back. As long as you show up, we’re good. And with that type of pressure gone, you get to go crazy. You get to make weird fucking faces. You get to headbutt your guitarist. You can change your set list mid show if you feel like it because some kid in the front row asked you to. If you show up, you’ve done the hard work already.
3) YOU CAN PREACH OLD SCHOOL IDEALS AND SEE HOW NOTHING HAS CHANGED
A lot of old school bands come from hardened times. And a lot of bands hated these hardened. And nothing has changed except the technology, so you can still preach your anti-war ideals and, depressingly, watch it connect with the next generation in the audience.
I never said all these reasons were good. Some are just interesting.
4) YOU HAVE ANECDOTES YOU CAN SHARE
I have not lived a life. But Harley Flanagan has. He told us all about it. He had nothing, came from nothing, and still hates violence. Page Hamilton puked all over his grandpa in Colorado. I don’t know what the lesson there is, but hey, I never got the chance to puke on my grandpas. You have stories! Tell us your stories!
5) YOU GET TO BE GRANDPA
Speaking of grandpas, when music ages faster than people, it doesn’t take long until these bands get to preach to the youth and teach them things. I know this kind of wraps up together the previous two points, but it’s not just stories and ideas. You get to show the youngins what stage presence is. You get to show them balls to walls. You get to lead as a teacher.
And you get to make mistakes. I’m sure Dust Beneath Dirt appreciated that on stage correction, speaking of mistakes.
6) YOU GET TO HAVE FUN
If you’ve sold millions of albums, you’ve earned the opportunity to have fun. Helmet did literally change their set list because some kid asked. Page decided mid show to chat with people because why not? He used the wrong instruments on the wrong songs because he was feeling good so why change things? He’s earned it.
And that energy is contagious. I didn’t have some spiritual journey tonight watching these musical grandpas. But I did have fun. So did the kids in the front row chatting with the bands. So did the kid who was being carried in circles in the mosh pit for no reason. So did the musicians who joined us in the crowd after they played to watch their friends on stage.
There was no shaman or deep introspections. There was just a lot of motherfucking fun.
Know what else is fun? My merch.
