a promo photo thread for '80s/'90s bands oozing sobriety and wisdom in the present day

but yeah, i've searched a few bands where it'd be particularly pathetic if they'd "gone gray" in this sense, but who have turned out, imo to their credit, to say "ehh, we were a comedy novelty act to begin with, and if anybody's going to come out and see us in 2015, it's to see a comedy novelty act. that's who's paying our checks so let's be good entertainers ffs."

<3 kajagoogoo forever, just to be clear

xp Have Bentley Rhythm Ace reformed then?

haha no, was thinking of POTUS and me first and the gimme gimmes.

http://content.hollywire.com/sites/default/files/2015/04/06/Fall-Out-Boy-‘American-Beauty-American-Psycho’-Album-Review-Thumb-FDRMX.jpg

Fall Out Boy's thug gravitas.

http://www.reloadfestival.co.uk/img/slideshows/image/slideshow/boomtown-rats-16.png

Bob Geldof IS Marianne Faithful AS Oliver Twist

hahahaha i was looking for the best way to phrase something on that order but you nailed it

i was debating dru hill, as the ed hardy-ness of their current look undermines any evidence of "wisdom," but they're definitely darker, grittier, etc

http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2014/05/22/1226926/485487-de510036-e074-11e3-9839-f536ebd0cf5e.jpg

http://www.dublinconcerts.ie/content/uploads/2013/11/ub-40.jpg

UB40

http://www.tickethub.co/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Mike-+-The-Mechanics-Tickets-Optimized.jpg

Mike & The Mechanics

http://assets.silverstone.co.uk/media/filer_public_thumbnails/filer_public/35/14/3514837a-362c-4ee2-bcbe-f48f04bdb9e6/madness_digital_presale_silverstone_webpage_image.jpg__707x398_q85_crop_subsampling-2_upscale.jpg

Madness showing a better alternative.

http://www.allaccess.com/assets/img/editorial/raw/th/TheFixxpic.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/7193/magazine_1318945436.jpg

Magazine

dying at the Fixx -- three men each heard that old-timey hats were a must for classing up your look these days, but failed to coordinate on exactly which look that implied

where's the colour??

http://cdn.ticketfly.com/i/00/00/71/18/03-og.jpg

a nontrivial number of these signal "the gravitas of the matrix without the camp value"

When did Ray Winstone (second from right) join the Boomtown Rats, and where the fuck did he get that wig?

I've been second guessing that mike + mechanics one for not being earnest enough, but man it really says something about the dourness of the norm when MIKE + THE MECHANICS might be looking too vibrant in 2015 for this thread.

thumbs up! taking 2015 in stride.

http://www.drunkenwerewolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Simple-Minds.jpg

See, a lot of these I passed on because I thought, "oh they haven't sobered up at all."

Like these guys.

http://i.imgur.com/fcaRoJn.jpg

http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/images/localworld/ugc-images/276271/Article/images/22248198/6616282-large.jpg

Big Country

anton corbjiuoinjknkjngrgrdn

Status Quo

http://fondosdeestrellasdelrock.com/wp-content/uploads/images/71/status-quo-0.jpg

second dude from the left - omg!

i don't know where i was going with this

http://i.imgur.com/wNCOcas.jpg

"the gravitas of the matrix without the camp value"

http://i500.listal.com/image/2961731/500full.jpg

lol pplains

http://renownedforsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hanson1.jpg

On the way there: Hanson.

middle hanson has a real "luke in ROTJ" vibe

Band photos where one member refuses to play along

http://hansonguy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/promopic.jpg

The Rubinoos

http://i.imgur.com/pfPj1pl.jpg

Trying to think of bands that will be forever impervious to this route, Primus maybe?

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/35/590x/del1-455816.jpg

del amitri

http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Hue-and-Cry-Press-Shot-4.jpg

hue & cry

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46836000/jpg/_46836983_deacon_blue-1.jpg

deacon blue

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/35/590x/wetwetwet-446872.jpg

wet wet wet

Bands are so stupid sometimes

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/news/48809/3afd3183.jpg

Don't they realize EVERYONE does this? It's like "I tell you what, we had strings on our last album so when we come to play live, how about having a string section which is exclusively made up of attractive young women dressed in black?" (Actually not sure this is as much a thing as it once was).

Spandau Ballet look like a pissed-off board of directors. Kajagoogoo, otoh, look like they fleshed out the lineup with a couple of bikers. Off topic but I wonder what it's like to be the new recruits in a reformed band on tour. a paycheck, if nothing else, and maybe wish fulfillment. "man this is it, now I can die happy after playing with Simple Minds!"

I cant fathom what its like to be 20-30 years younger and playing for Mike and the Mechanics in 2015

Rancid look like a group of prison inmates about to give some teens a "Scared Straight" lecture on the dangers of the drugs & crime lifestyle

I cant fathom what its like to be 20-30 years younger and playing for Mike and the Mechanics in 2015

It's just a job. And for a lot of jobbing musicians like this it's a badge of honour that they're 'pros' (calling someone 'semi-pro' is a putdown). Plus their tastes in music may be relatively similar.

Bands are so stupid sometimes

That photo might well have been the photographer's idea, but of course the band ultimately approved it.

I don't understand exactly why these bands all keep going. I suppose they make a living touring (not from the awful albums they record) and get some ego validation from their fans. Better than just being a nonentity doing some soul-destroying job. But is it? Maybe some of them actually do feel trapped, but they have no alternative financially.

omg, del amitri

tbqh it's easy to mock the sad image-making but I'd rather be most of these bands than be middle management, assuming the same pay and that you have some clarity/humility about what you do... whether that's making the fans happy or just filling out the bill under a more popular nostalgia act that actually has fans. on the bus, balancing the checkbook, having the family meet you at the end for an unforgettable trip to the grand canyon. the only trouble is how much the band's established youthful/rebellious image clashes with your own sense of how much dignity you think you require. hence these pictures I guess?

mind you, I was really charmed by that hugh grant movie where he played an andrew ridgeley type, mugging through the hits and giving thrilling winks to once-teenage idolizers. it was supposed to be the low-point rut from which love would lead him into a comeback, but I dunno, seemed okay.

I don't understand exactly why these bands all keep going. I suppose they make a living touring (not from the awful albums they record) and get some ego validation from their fans. Better than just being a nonentity doing some soul-destroying job. But is it?

Too fucking right it is.

i always think of these posts on that stage where you think they aren't popular anymore but are actually way more popular than they were when they had "buzz" :

this is sorta like the dream rocker retirement plan, though, isn't it? keep on doing yr thing, financial security and no media spotlight bullshit

― cop a cute abdomen (gbx), Tuesday, May 17, 2011 1:47 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah i mean we're mainly being snarky but for the most part i feel like these kinds of acts have really just had admirable career arcs, catering to a fanbase that stuck with them well after the tastemakers and the industry machinery kind of forgot they existed

― bile al (some dude), Tuesday, May 17, 2011 1:56 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just fyi every band I know dreams of getting to this stage. this stage represents total arrival. you don't have to worry about your haters and you don't have to be constantly trying to win over new people.

― w of in the attic (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, May 17, 2011 3:59 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i am not a rock n roll artist but i think lots of fields have their version of this and i dunno, maybe just healthy to think about different viable models of aging gracefully. not that i think all the bands have necessarily found that sweet spot, or that i will stop lolling at del amitri.

Mott

http://listeningroom.lohudblogs.com/files/2009/10/09mott_the_hoople1.jpg

OMD

http://www.omd.uk.com/images/sized/images/uploads/photos/img_3266-0x600.jpg

http://showbizgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-29-at-21.21.57.png

East 17

the pictures with multiple scarves are always my favorite