We’re Breaking Up With “Hiatus”… Or Taking a Hiatus from “Breaking Up”
Posted by Dan Rodriguez on Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at at 3:17 pm
Break-up, hiatus, reunion, side project… there really needs to be some kind of rulebook to define these and other similarly nebulous status terms. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that Cave In is coming back, but technically they were never gone to begin with. This can all get very confusing!
It’s also very dispiriting when you plan a whole trip around band X’s “farewell” tour, only to begrudgingly shell out more bucks for the “reunion” tour a year and a half later. Hyping up either as a big deal can be a great business move, helping with short-term with ticket and record sales. However, you run the risk of appearing disingenuous and losing credibility with your core fan base in the long run. Honestly, it’s in everyone’s best interest to be a little more careful with throwing around these words.
I nominate Metal Insider’s more aptly sardonic sister site MetalSucks.net to come up with some ground rules for “breaking up”, “reuniting” and whether or not your side project is in fact a side project, because that whole “this is just as important to me” line is so cliche. Feel free to give them a head start in the comments!
From MetalSucks:
With regards to this morning’s post about a potential Cave In reunion, it seems there was some confusion on the Interwebs. Thankfully we just received this press release directly from Cave In’s camp, delivered by carrier pigeon and left at the gates of the MS Mansion:
After 3 1/2 long years, Cave In has decided to end its hiatus. Please join us for an EP release show at Great Scott’s (1222 Commonwealth Ave., Allston MA) on Sunday, July 19th @ 9PM. Also playing will be our friends Disappearer and Phantom Glue. Copies of the “Planets Of Old” limited 12″ (recorded by Adam Taylor, Alex Hartman & Johnny Northrup @ Camp St. Studio) from Hydra Head Records will be available that night.We hope to see your lovely selves.
Steve, Adam, J.R., Caleb
CAVE INSo, that’s that. Of note is the phrase “decided to end its hiatus,” indicating that the band never fully intended to “break up” so much as take a break. Which, in hindsight, is true: at the time, the band was deliberate in saying that they planned to go on hiatus. [System of a Down fans, take note: that band also said they were going "on hiatus," not breaking up. Don't get your panties in a tizzy over the eventual "reunion."]
Semantics aside, the result is the same: new Cave In in July. Now it’s official. Hoo-ray.
After the jump, live footage of the band performing “Anchor” on… MTV’s (!) Last Call with Carson Daly. Woah!
-VN
Tags: Break Ups, Cave In, Hydra Head, Metal, MetalSucks
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April 30th, 2009 at 8:21 AM
I agree wholeheartedly with your remarks, Dan. The semantics of this need to be clarified. I really want to be able to know definitively if a band is breaking up forever or if they might come back.
May 1st, 2009 at 3:13 PM
It almost seems like a rite of passage these days. You’re not a truly great band unless you can break up and reunite and still have people interested.
What I can never understand is the insistence of creating new material. Sure I thank the underworld everyday for allowing Cynic to write “Traced in Air” but at the same time less inspired endeavors from Pestilence, Believer and innumerable other acts seem like an unnecessary appendix on already proven legacies.
Bands should still reunite but its usually a better idea to celebrate the legacy like Carcass did rather than scramble to keep up with very different times.