At least, according to this Rolling Stone article.
While a reunion may be unlikely in the near future, Westerberg has spent a lot of time recently combing through his past for a planned box set. “On a whim I got to dig through some old tapes,” he says. “I found one song I never put on anything for people to hear. Then I dug deeper and found the original ‘Good Day’ [from his 1996 solo LP Eventually]. That pretty much stunned me. I have to close this box set pretty soon because this could take the rest of my life just going through all these things and going, ‘God, why was that there.'”
You’re fast! I was just here to post that. I hope they don’t reunite, especially if it’s just “to get paid.” Barf.
Yeah, the reunion part doesn’t thrill me so much, but it would be cool to see TS And PW play together- or just PW getting out to play.
The box set DOES thrill me, though, especially when they mention that PW is digging through tapes and finding stuff that HE is excited about. A PW box set with these unreleased songs are more desirable to me at this point than a Mats set.
It’s too bad the idea of them playing together has the heavy weight of ‘reunion’ over it.
Who cares what they call it, i would love to see “them” again…i don’t know who the re-united band would consist of, the truest sense of a reunion would be Paul, Tommy, Chris, and Slim. Is it true that Westerberg hasn’t released any new material since the 2009 EP… PW and the ghost cat wing joy boys? They must not be qualifying Paul with Grandpaboy. Let them re-unite and let them get PAID, as a second choice the box set would be cool.
Looks like the next poll question needs to be “to unite, or not to unite?”
I absolutely would not blame them for making the naked cash grab, since it’s unfortunately a sign of the times (maybe that’s what they should call the tour, that would be pretty amusing on a concert t-shirt…). But does it need to be done? Probably not. Would I go? Absolutely! PW and TS touring together, doing solo sets, taking turns opening for each other, and then hitting the stage together for Mat stuff – that’s what I would love to see. Leave the Mats brand & name out of it, and let the music stand on it’s own!
And clear the vaults, whether it’s Mats or PW. If there’s unique & interesting stuff out there, bring it on!
cheers all!
I don’t care about “reunions” and the bullshit that comes with it, but if it gets Paul onstage I am all in. I loooove the Stones and unfortunately am too young to have seen them when they mattered but I have seen them a few times. At one show Mick and Keith brought out stools and the two of them did an acoustic “Prodigal Son” I will remember that moment in my life until the day I die. You never know when a little magic will strike. So I say why not! If they aren’t as great as we all want them to be….that’s alright as well. It will do nothing to diminish them as far as I am concerned.
It seems like as the years go by, the idea of a reunion isn’t a very appealing idea to both Paul, Tommy, and the majority of the fans. I’m with Blasty on rather having a Paul box set than a ‘Mats. I thought the ‘Mats bonus stuff on the reissues was okay, but hearing unreleased Paul stuff like on “49” would be awesome. But to go back to the reunion idea, I once heard/read a Paul interview where he said if something was a bad idea, he’d do it, just for the hell of it, or something like that. So who knows.
Those unreleased songs that showed up on Besterberg (All That I Had and C’mon C’mon C’mon) are fantastic, and I would love to see more songs like that surface. A PW box set would be great if he’s got more songs like those in hiding.
Are you guys nuts? You hope they DONT get back together because it would be a “reunion tour” cash in?? What, you think they are the Eagles or the Police? It would be awesome! Come on put down the Holden Caulfield kool-aid and put your 1985 teen-age angst back in that old box in the attic and just have fun! They were fantastic and it would be great to see them again. Don’t over think this one.
I think everyone is over-thinking this one, PW and TS included. It’s only rock and roll …. give the people what they want, get paid handsomely in the process, everybody’s happy.
I’m just sad that a boxed set kind of signifies the end point of one’s career. I hate the idea that Paul is done with ever performing again. But if he doesn’t want to get up on stage and tour, hell, at least put out some basement videos so we can see/hear him play.
Ok, maybe this is a bit of hyperbole, but he’s such a talented songwriter, that to not share his gift , personally, with the world is kind of criminal. I can see how he’d be more comfortable in taking on a Jimmy Webb type career and writing songs for others to do, but it just isn’t the same if Paul isn’t the one doing them, if you ask me.
I’m not diggin’ the fact that he re-records over stuff. maybe they really are just meanderings and what not, but why not give them to Darren and let him see if there’s material there for the fans? Why not sell them online to the fans?
I hope he’s just exaggerating about recording a song a day and then wiping it clean.
So do I. I think by now he has to know he has fans chomping at the bit to hear new material or see him play. I just don’t get why he wouldn’t want to release some songs just to please his fans…..
if there is anything i respect about the replacements or PW is they did it how they wanted to do it, they were willing to shoot themselves in the foot, if people didn’t get the joke screw them….does anyone remember the MTV interview on 120 minutes where they all shave off their eyebrows? It would be nice if Paul would put some new stuff out for the fans, i would totally welcome new material, demo’s, or a box set…but in true “MATS” fashion i’m sure he’ll do it if he’s feeling it, cares, or even wants to do it.
I suspect you’re right; Paul’s gonna do things the way he wants and depending on how he feels about things.
I just kind of hope he’s talking off the top of his head to Rolling Stone, with no real seriousness about being Dadaist. But yeah, if he’s not going to perform or go on tour anymore, then please don’t sever the ties to the fan base by re-recording over stuff and not letting us hear some of it. Ever.
I know he’s been generous and produced a flurry of material for us in a short period, and I don’t mean to come off as an ingrate, but i don’t want him to stop releasing material altogether. The “why bother?” comment seemed kind of flip, but he’s talking to a reporter. and I’m guessing he really means, “I’ll eventually release something, but not now.” I hope!
He also took a lot of time off between Suicaine and Stereo/ Mono, where it looked like he was through, so I wouldn’t count him out. Didn’t he say in one of his interviews about how a true artist HAS to write, or something to that effect?
Anyway, he may be done for the time being, but I’m guessing he’ll be back. I only hope it’s not 6 years this time.
blasty, yes, you may be right. I suspect it takes a long time for Paul to recharge his batteries.
and yes, he said that a true artist has it in his/her blood, you have to keep creating. and i would hope that means he’s not just writing and purging songs for himself!
It’s been 6 years now since the Folker tour, and coming up on 2 years since he released “Ghost, Joy, Cat…”
maybe he’ll give us a Christmas holiday release this year?
some low key gigs with tommy,paul and whoever else.
playing whatever they want….that would be nice.
i found this today….nothing to do with paul.just mates playing music..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny8ZyHmiBNY&feature=related
No,I hope they don’t get back together.they are my favorite but let’s not tarnish those fantastic memories.I would love a box set by both and please include when the shit hits the fan. At least both boxes would help retirement.he’s getting old and so are we.deal