Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Seven Bands Who Reunited at Music Festivals in the Last Decade

On Wednesday, late 1980s/early 1990s punk band Jawbreaker announced that they would be reuniting for a one-off show at this year’s Riot Fest in Chicago. The band has not played together since the late 1996, breaking up after touring behind their major label debut, 1995’s ‘Dear You.’

Music festivals have been a hotbed for reuniting bands over the last decade. Each one’s organizers try to entice bands to get back together and perform for concert goers who spend hundreds of dollars for tickets to see an once-in-a-lifetime line-up.  

We here at Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, enjoy a good reunion. That is why we have compiled this list of seven  bands who reunited during music festivals in the last decade.


1.       The Misfits: In 2016, The Misfits reunited with former lead singer Glenn Danzig at both Chicago and Denver Riot Fests. It was the first time he had played with the band in nearly 33 years. Unfortunately, the reunion didn’t go any further than that show, as Danzig told The New York Times days later that those would be the band’s final reunion shows.

2.       Outkast: Outkast had only been on hiatus for seven years before reuniting at Coachella in 2014. The show was the first in a 40-date series of festival reunion shows that took the duo around the world for one last hurrah before breaking up again. In an interview with Fader post-tour, Andre 3000 stated that he felt weird doing those shows, saying that he felt like a sell-out.

3.       The Jesus and Mary Chain: Though it took them until 2017 to cement their reunion with new music, The Jesus and Mary Chain actually reunited nearly 10 years ago. The band made a special appearance at Coachella in 2007; nine years after the sibling-fronted band broke up.

4.       Guns N’ Roses: Last year, Guns N’ Roses made their triumphant return to the stage at Coachella, marking the first time Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan played on the same stage since the late 1990s. The festival date led to an entire reunion tour and the possibility of new music.

5.       The Replacements: After breaking up in 1991, the Replacements announced in 2012 that Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson would be reuniting to record a new charity EP. That reunion turned into a full-fledged, three year tour. The tour kicked off with shows at Riot Fest in Toronto, Chicago and Denver, and then went on to Coachella and other festivals and dates around the world.

6.       The Marley Brothers: Not exactly a band reunion, but the offspring of the legendary Bob Marley (Stephen, Ziggy, Julian, Damian and Ky-Mani) will be playing together during this year’s inaugural Kaya Fest in Florida this weekend. The five musicians have not played together in nearly 20 years. When asked by southflorida.com about the performance, Ziggy Marley said that the set would include individual stuff, as well as some of their father’s many hits.

7.       Rage Against the Machine: In 2007, Rage Against the Machine made their first live performance in seven years at Coachella. That show would lead to a five-year reunion tour of festival dates. The band's popularity skyrocketed at the time, with the band winning a tight race for UK Christmas number one in 2009. Unfortunately, the reunion didn’t stick and most of the band’s members went on to form Profits of Rage.


Over the last decade, music festivals have become a popular venue for bands to reunite. Festival bookers bank heavily on nostalgia when creating their line-ups this way, attempting to create a singular experience for attendees. Jawbreaker is the latest band to reunite, giving Riot Fest attendees and the band’s fans their first glimpse of the band in more than two decades.

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Find music from these reunited artists and more at Vinyl Bay 777 and vinylbay777.com. Long Island’s top new independent record shop has thousands of titles to choose from in store and online. Our wide selection of new and used vinyl, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, memorabilia and more spans a vast array of genres. More titles are always being added to our selection, so it pays to stop by and take a look at what’s new.

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