The Appeal of Reunion Tours

Brian Lehrer: Now that we've been through measles outbreaks and the denial of science, the beginning of school for the new school year with the New York City Schools chancellor, and all kinds of questions about foreign affairs and whether Trump is forming an alliance with Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Narendra Modi against democracies. All those light, little questions. We are going to end on a lighter note today with a call-in on the question: with so many iconic bands on reunion tours this summer, did you go see a former favorite band? What is your review on a scale of great to hear the old tunes again, to that was kind of sad to see these old musicians running through their old songs. 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692. Call or text. Again, with so many iconic bands on reunion tours this summer, did you go see a former favorite band? What is your review on a scale of great to hear the old songs again, to that was kind of sad to see these old musicians doing, well, the best they could do. 212-433-9692. Call or text. Why do we ask? Well, the news hook is that on Sunday, the Brit-pop band Oasis played the first of two sold-out shows at MetLife Stadium.

For a band that didn't really make it big back in the US back in the 90s, this tour is already getting rave reviews. Billboard writes, "If other bands have fans on the same level, they certainly aren't showing out like this in 2025, and Oasis have finally conquered the States." On the other side of that, here's a review of Neil Young and Crazy Horse and their Love Earth tour that's been going on.

"Most of the songs were played significantly slower than their recorded versions, sometimes approaching a sludgy or almost doom metal tempo. Drummer Ralph Molina and bassist Billy Talbot, both 80, could barely keep things moving, missing beats and losing time." Ouch. I know The Who has been out there this summer. Roger Daltrey is, I think, 82, their vocalist, Pete Townshend, around then. I will add an experience I had two summers ago now, seeing the iconic Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant in a duo with Alison Krauss.

For someone like Plant, who was so dynamic in his prime, it was a little sad for me to see how much of that dynamism he had lost. How about for you? With so many iconic bands on reunion tours this summer, did you go see a former favorite band, and what's your review on a scale of great to hear the old tunes again to cringe? Now to your calls on seeing those old bands on their reunion tours and how those things went. The Who's calling theirs a farewell tour. I've seen other artists on so-called farewell tours, and then they come back, for better or for worse. Oh, Jason in Ossining was at the Oasis Show at MetLife. Hi, Jason, you're on WNYC.

Jason: Hey, Brian. Saw the greatest show of my life last night with my wife. These guys rocked the stadium. Liam and Noel Gallagher, they sounded better than ever. 24 tracks, exactly like the album. They were unbelievable. The whole stadium was rocking. It was unbelievable. I still can't believe that I was there last night.

Brian Lehrer: Array from Jason, still bussing from last night's show. Gregory and West Islip, you're on WNYC. Hi, Gregory. Gregory, you there? Do I have your name right? Do I have your town right? Hi, you there?

Gregory: Neil Young, the other last one at Jones Beach, and I wouldn't say that he was on his farewell tour [inaudible 00:04:25]

Brian Lehrer: Your line is breaking up, but what was the highlight?

Gregory: It was Neil Young at Jones Beach last week.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, no, I know, but it sounds like you liked it and you thought he was on it. Was there a highlight? Was there a best song or anything? The line's too bad. I'm sorry. Thanks for trying, Gregory. Kate in Westport, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kate.

Kate: Hi. We saw Stevie Nicks last fall and the Eagles last fall, and they were so amazing that I'm taking my 23-year-old daughter to see them both. This fall, we're seeing the Eagles at the Sphere. Those concerts were both amazing, but the Eagles were spectacular.

Brian Lehrer: The Eagles still have it, says Kate in Westport. Nina in Maplewood, you're on WNYC. Hi, Nina.

Nina: Hi. I went to see Dead and Company in San Francisco for three days with 60,000 people. I'm 55, and I had to talk myself into going for three days because I didn't know how I'd do it. It was absolutely joyous. I was telling your screener that they bring in-- Well, John Mayer now plays with them, but they brought in additional people to jam with them. I feel like it would be a good model for Congress of bringing in the youth type of thing.

Brian Lehrer: [lauhgs] This was the one segment I thought we weren't going to talk about Congress. Anyway, go ahead, Nina.

Nina: I know, but it's in a positive light because it can be done. Also, I'm a psychologist. I sit and I listen to story after story of heartbreak. To get up full of joy and dance, it was the time of my life.

Brian Lehrer: Thanks, Nina. That's another way that some of these bands do it, right? They have some of their chorus stars, but then they bring in younger musicians and it freshens it in certain ways. I saw a couple of years ago, the guitarist John McLaughlin, 81 at the time, and I couldn't believe how well he was playing. One of the reasons that show worked was that he had brought in this younger violinist, who was also awesome and who they featured. Yes, that Dead and Company model, I think The Allman Brothers, kind of in the Dead vein for a lot of listeners, do something like that.

In fact, I think there are two generations of Allman tours going at the same time right now. Christina, in Lower Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Christina.

Christina: Hi. It's pretty funny, actually. This was a few years ago. We go to Asbury Park a lot. I'm 60 years old. We saw that the Pretenders were going to be playing at the Stone Pony. We got tickets. We line up, everyone looks really old. We were really surprised. We thought we'd look pretty good for our ages. We get inside, and Chrissie Hynde is amazing as always. The band proceeds to play all new music. We kept looking at each other like, "What? What is this?" We got out, and we were like, "That was the worst thing," so we got in our car and sat in our car blasting all of the classic Pretender songs that we knew for like 20 minutes afterwards.

Brian Lehrer: Wait, why isn't that a good thing? Because one of the things we can say about these older-- [crosstalk]

Christina: It was just bad music.

Brian Lehrer: It was bad. Older musicians is, did they run out of creativity when they were 35, and that's why they play the old songs, the classic hits, over and over again? Aren't they writing anything new and sprinkling them in? I don't--

Christina: She hardly sprinkled anything in, but the new music was very hard to listen to. I could tell that she was trying to be dark and creative, and she's fabulous and all that, but it just wasn't very good. You know what I mean? She was looking for a different audience, maybe. I don't know.

Brian Lehrer: Christina, thank you very much. All right, we'll end with a few texts here and a little music to go out on. Listener writes, "I saw Joan Jett and she doesn't give a damn about her bad reputation. She sounded great and went out of her way to voice support for trans people. Another one saw Wu-Tang Clan at MSG. It was a great show, but even they felt old and tired about it all. Even they felt old and tired about it all at the end.

Listener writes, "I went last fall to see Jane's Addiction. Show was great, teetering on ridiculous. The next show, the band got into a physical altercation on stage in Boston and will never be heard from again." One final one. "I went to see Heart at Bethel Woods on Saturday. They were incredible."

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