Andy Richardson: Music of today or bands on the comeback trail?

I saw Paul McCartney, however. My favourite Beatle was reading poetry at Hay on Wye and a short trip meant I got to see a living legend, without him ham-fistedly trying to recreate past glories.

Because as Weekend casts its gaze at the reunion of bands we once loved, I am happy to place myself on the side of leaving well alone.

Not for me the trip to watch bands in whom I delighted as a teen, or who soundtracked my 20s. I’m with Noel, it’s better that Oasis don’t reform.

And with Mr Weller who rightly stays in the moment or looks to the future rather than basking in the afterglow of former glories. The moment has gone. It’s time to move on. That was then and this is now. And who wants to live in ‘then’?

I probably had tickets for plenty of shows that I could have seen. But having enjoyed the frisson that came in 1994 and 1995, having watched peak Gallagher emotion, why settle for second best?

Ask yourself this. If you were given the chance to watch Usain Bolt compete in Beijing, London or Rio, running sub-10, or if you could see him plodding in a Masters Championship, going two seconds slower, which would you rather see?

Or if you could watch Damon Hill slowly making his way around Silverstone or see Lewis soaring past him in a faster, better car while demonstrating greater skill, which would it be?

There’s a place for nostalgia, of course. We all enjoy looking back through rose-tinted shades every once in a while. The Stone Roses playing Walsall’s Junction 10 was a moment to remember – but the last thing I’d have wanted to do was see them again, chunkier around the midriff, timing not quite as good, churning out hits that had long since lost relevance while considering their retirement plan. Where’s the fun in that?

I realise I’m in a minority, of course. Local gig venues are filled with tribute acts who trade on past glories.

And if you can’t get to see Pete and Roger on their next tour as The Who, you can always see one of the myriad of tribute bands who’ll play those songs for you so that you can take a misty-eyed trip back to when you were younger.

Not that I ever would.

You wouldn’t want to go on a date with a girl you fell in love with then moved on from in your teens. So why would you do that with a band?

The singer’s jokes won’t be as funny, his hair will have receded and the shirt that once looked cool will now look like something a drunk stepdad might wear.

My happiest musical find of 2021 was the brilliant and breathtaking Eddy Luna. The raw Black Country singer-songwriter is a new kid on the block matching raw, introspective lyrics about relationships and mental health with neo-soul and jazz production.

And as much as I enjoyed seeing Amy Winehouse at a similar stage in her career, strumming in a tiny club in Birmingham, I’d rather listen to Eddy than go Back to Black with Amy.

The excitement of any story is in not knowing how things pan out. Will other listeners feel the same? Will a new artist fulfil rich promise? Will new music emerge that will change the way you think and feel? Spoiler alert: who wants to know how the story ends before it’s even begun? Those records you once loved aren’t going to change in the way that you do. So while I understand the lure that some feel, while I realise there’s a certain satisfaction with revisiting happy times now past, I’m all about the here and the now. I’d rather find someone who speaks to me in 2022, who moves the man I am today than the person I was back then, who sings to me with a voice rooted in the now.