There’s a natural desire in the heart of every music fan to see the bands they love who were unfortunate casualties of the volatile beast that being in a band can become, finally reunite and take the stage together once again to relive their glory days and provide a shining beacon for the future.
Sometimes these bands do reunite, and instead of receiving vindication for their years of love and devotion, fans are treated to four or five guys or girls who basically hate each other and for whom it was an immense struggle just to get into the town car that brought them to the gig, which was so-so.
With much recent talk of reunions, including the confirmed return of UK indie greats The Libertines, new speculation regarding Britpop giants Oasis, and bad news for Led Zeppelin fans, we’ve gathered 12 bands for whom, for one reason or another, reuniting was perhaps not the best idea.
Check out our countdown of 12 Moments When Crowd Participation Turned Ugly!
12. Eagles
While the Eagles, who for a period in the 70s stood as the biggest band in the USA, may have written songs about desperados, life in the fast lane, and sleeping in the desert, critics thought of them as disingenuous and money-hungry. The band proved them right with their 1994 reunion.
Watch: Eagles – Hotel California Live, 1995
http://youtu.be/m2K9gC3yRzY
11. 5ive
We’re not great at maths, but we swear we can only count four guys — not including backup dancers — performing the infectious 1999 single If Ya Gettin’ Down by UK boy band 5ive, who we also swear had five members. Come to think of it, d’you reckon that’s where they got the name?
Watch: 5ive – If Ya Gettin’ Down Live at The Big Reunion
10. ‘N Sync
The thing about the reunion of 5ive, whom we’ll refer to as 4our from now on, is that all of the members had pretty much stepped away from the global spotlight after the group’s split. Meanwhile, ‘N Sync‘s one-off reunion was just a reminder that Justin Timberlake was once in a boy band.
Watch: ‘N Sync Reunite for Justin Timberlake Medley, MTV VMAs 2013
http://youtu.be/5aVkddCtp0U
9. INXS
INXS ended with the death of Michael Hutchence in 1997. Fans who were more interested in the band’s instrumentalists than the frontman were rather few in number, so props must be given to the surviving members for taking part in so interesting a cash-grab as the reality show Rockstar: INXS.
Watch: INXS – Pretty Vegas
