Capitalizing Nostalgia

The upcoming concert "When we were young" being put on by LiveNation later this year was such an exciting piece of news to stumble on - but is it really that great?

In 2010 I graduated high school. It was a generation of people who were certain that we were going to change the world. Not because we were more inventive, or we tried hard, but because we had a rebel spirit that took apart corporate regimes and challenged the Hollywood idealism of fairytale living. We were complicated, stupid, and real. With the rise of Instagram and TikTok in these recent years, it's not hard to see that my generation failed. We were young indeed.

That same year, 2010, I saw Paramore live, at Walt Disney World when they performed for grad night, when that was still a thing. To give you some insight to that time period, the other act that night was "Quest Crew" the winning members of America's best dance crew. When that was also still a thing.

I had burned a whole into my "Riot" album by Paramore when I was in middle school and high school. Misery business was an anthem that I annoyed my friends by singing so often.

This is not an insult on Hayley Williams or any artistic pursuit she's currently chasing. Paramore did however change their sound in subsequent years. In 2013 when Paramore came out with their self-entitled album they had changed. No longer were they the punk rockers consisting of teenage rebels, but an alternative group with a steady scene appearance. For better or worse, they changed.

Flash forward to 2022. I still love listening to old Blink-182, Dookie by Green Day, I will always sing along with A Day to Remember (regardless of song). I even like some of the new stuff coming out, but I have a mirror.

I can see the wrinkles starting to form on my forehead. I notice the difficulty that's starting to occur in my morning routines of getting out of bed. At 29, I'm not that old, but I did just get my first few grays.

I want to say that, in no way does this bash old rockers. Folks who have aged and have kept a young spirit. Fans of RHCP, The Eagles, and Limp Bizkit, that would still go to those concerts in a heartbeat if they could. This isn't a narrative of how old people can't rock anymore.

This is not a complaint of getting old, it's not about losing the rocker spirit, it's not about failing to recognize new talent or refreshing an age old desire to go to a concert.

No. This is about being pandered to.

That's what it feels like. You slap all of those artists on one ticket and expect all of them to play an equal amount and for us to get hyped? Yeah, we're going to get hyped. We're going to remember that time that we pushed forward through a crowd to see Hayley Williams closer. We're going to remember that time we took a few too many brownies and had the best/worst night of our lives. We're going to remember.

It feels like they're capitalizing on a feeling that we had "when we were young" as if that's not the most tongue in cheek title that it could've had. I went to Vans Warped tour from 2008-2012, and had a blast. Every. Single. Time.

What's the difference?

It was real.

It was a group of bands that A.) Knew they were going to be on tour, and B.) were dedicated to putting on a phenomenal show.

I can't say because it hasn't happened yet, but it feels wrong. It feels like LiveNation is spoon feeding a nostalgia rush to a generation that wanted desperately to challenge the world. It feels like a business took what made us independent and free and is selling it back to us for a night of 'rememberance.'

It feels like we're being served by someone who headed up one too many high school reunions and is trying to give a memory to us.

We've grown up. We're different now. Just like Paramore, we might have a punk rock spirit still, but we've changed. For better or worse, we've changed.

You want to give us a concert? Great! I love concerts. Don't feed us our best memories wrapped in 'great value' packaging and expect us to enjoy it.

I hope I'm wrong by the way. I hope that it's the best concert in the world. I hope that it doesn't just capture a memory but creates a new one. I hope that all the bands there realize exactly what the intention was and break it.

I hope that the performances are wild and crazy and carry on a well beloved tradition of breaking traditions.

Rock on people. Punk Rock on.