Guided By Voices Have Come and Gone

December 7, 2004

I never really listened to Guided By Voices. It’s not that I don’t like them. I just never got in to them when they were making themselves legends. At this point I’m suffering from hard-to-start-liking-a-band-thats-been-around-forever-syndrome.

One symptom of HTSLABTBAF Syndrome is the feeling of having ‘missed out’.
I definitely believe that good music is timeless, but even timeless music is not the same at a later time. It’s hard to argue that the Pixies didn’t make good music. But can an 18 year old Pixies fan understand what it was like to hear the Pixies before Nirvana ever existed? Will they still love the Pixies? Yes (the ages of reunion tour concert goers has proved that). Will they understand? No (ok, maybe)

Another reason for suffering from the syndrome is all the good new music that appears everyday. It seems impossible to keep up with everything, even if you’re an obsessive-music-blogging-type. Result: too busy checking out the new stuff to ‘bother’ with the old stuff (especially if you can’t even see them live anymore).

Maybe one day I’ll change my mind (recover from said syndrome) and start educating myself GBV style. Sonic Youth was another one, that I have since recovered from. And if and when I do recover, I’ll probably regret that I wasn’t one of the thousands that experienced their last three NYC Shows ever (till the reunion) this past weekend at Irving Plaza.

Luckily for those interested, others are telling the story.

Catherine’s ‘impossible to link directly to a post’ Pita covered all three nights

pics from friday, saturday, and sunday (via catherine)

PowerPop: The Cult of the Cult

Waved Rumor: GB Three!

NYTimes: A Band That Built Its Cult Fan by Fan, Not Hit by Hit

one louder: review

fluxblog: A Miracle Cure For My Sorrow

Productshop: Someone tell me why

joyw: tears of sadness, tears of joy

Ambition, Impatience, and Sloth: GBV RIP

Newsday: Intoxicating indie legends bid farewell