This week saw two band reunions, one a full-fledged return to form and the other a surprisingly sedate affair. Coming together for the first time since 1997, Jawbox rocked Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with the crunching guitar romp of “Savory.” Meanwhile at the New York Public Library there was a pseudo-reunion of the Velvet Underground, with Lou Reed, Doug Yule, and Maureen Tucker convening for a discussion pegged to the band’s new coffee table book. Both events made us think about just how awesome next year’s crop of highly-anticipated reunions stands to be. After the jump, the ones we are most looking forward to — some confirmed, some speculative, but all raising our excitement for 2010.
Pavement When the ’90s indie icons announced four shows at Central Park Summerstage for September 2010, tickets sold out faster than you could say Wowee Zowee. Although band member Bob Nastanovich has said that they are planning no new material for the announced shows, the band has achieved such a cult following since their disbandment that just to hear Stephen Malkmus’ lolling, tongue-in-cheek vocals live will be enough for most fans. No U.S. dates have been officially announced, but it seems a foregone conclusion that the group will be festival-hopping for quite a bit of 2010. See them when you get a chance, because Pavement never seemed like a band content to become a constantly touring nostalgia act.
Iggy Pop With the death of original guitarist Ron Asheton at the beginning of this year, it seemed the Stooges had lost a key component of their thrash-and-burn attack. Instead, Iggy announced plans to reform the group with former guitarist James Williamson for international dates, continuing to writhe and scream shirtless with reckless abandon. The band has already been tapped to perform classic album Raw Power in its entirety at ATP New York in September 2010, but until then crank Iggy to deafening volume and look forward to your chance to see a tireless rock legend.
Faith No More The ridiculously fun genre-fusion masters of Faith No More have been tearing across Europe this past year but have yet to perform live in the U.S. Two band members have confirmed that another leg of the tour is on the horizon, with bassist Bill Gould bluntly stating on his Twitter: “In response to our concerned U.S. brethren…YES… we are now actively planning US dates.” No harm in being straightforward, especially when Mike Patton’s eccentric and mind-blowing vocal techniques still jump off the albums like they are barely a day old. The group hasn’t lost its sense of humor either; check out a short video of them covering “Poker Face” and try to imagine another band that could make you sing along.
Pulp This is where things get interesting/speculative. Earlier this year there was a rumor that the Jarvis Cocker-led band would be reuniting for Glastonbury 2010. Later that month, Cocker denied the rumors, saying that his words were twisted around. However, the group remains massively popular in the UK, and a performance at Glastonbury would seem to fit in with founder Michael Eavis’ promise to have one band from every previous year of the festival play the 40th anniversary (Pulp headlined in 1995). Cocker has kept busy with his critically-acclaimed solo album Further Complications, but it couldn’t hurt to hear Common People played on the Glastonbury farm one more time.
Led Zeppelin Slowly but surely, the pieces of the most anticipated rock’n’roll reunion of all time seem to be falling into place. Since teasing fans with their age-defying performance at the O2 Arena in 2007, the rumors have been continually swirling about a possible tour. Now, Robert Plant has stated an interest to play Glastonbury 2010. Though bassist John Paul Jones is busy with his side-project supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, their tour dates only go through the end of March.
Regardless of whether Jason Bonham can ever truly match his fathers fire and brimstone drumming, Jimmy Page hasn’t misplaced an ounce of his guitar pyrotechnics. At this point, the reunion is a slightly plausible pipe-dream, but with U2 already penciled in as one Glastonbury headliner it seems like a reunited Led Zeppelin could certainly fill a second slot, a headliner with historical significance still capable of chill-inducing performances.