Redux in a row

Ten years ago, British promoter Barry Hogan grew weary of his homeland’s glut of big-tent rock festivals. So he started a new one. But his All Tomorrow’s Parties became a much different beast from the corporate megaconcerts. In the English beach resort Camber Sands, ATP allowed hip bands to curate the lineup. Belle & Sebastian programmed the inaugural fest, and in 2005, the Scottish twee-pop act kick-started another ATP tradition, Don’t Look Back, by performing a seminal album in its entirety live.

Now, everyone’s doing it. In the next month, Steely Dan digs into its ’70s back catalog (Chicago Theatre; Mon 31, Tue 1, Sept 3, 4), Van Morrison relives Astral Weeks (Chicago Theatre, Sept 29), Bruce Springsteen proves he’s still Born to Run (United Center, Sept 20), and the Cult spreads Love (House of Blues, Wed 2). We asked folks in the music biz which records they’d most want to revisit, as a performer or a fan. Or is this trend a sign that rock & roll has run out of ideas?

Yoko Ono
“Yoko and Plastic Ono Band, especially the song ‘Why.’ I was keen on breaking the sound barrier. John and I just looked at each other, looked at the engineers like, Are you getting that? Usually the engineers would just go to the bathroom when I was singing. If you listened to that piece, you’ll know it broke the sound barrier.”

Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys
“Um, well, we wouldn’t do it. But we could do any of them, really. The obvious one to do would be Fundamental because it’s, I think, the only one really conceived as a series of songs. Maybe Behavior, ’cause people would want an old one, wouldn’t they? [Laughs] Or maybe Actually.”

Lindstrøm, space-disco titan
“I’d kill to see [British synth-pop teen idol] Nik Kershaw perform The Riddle or Human Racing from A to Z. Unfortunately, as far as I know, he now only performs his beyond-perfect songs on an acoustic guitar in pubs and ’80s-themed parties. Hey, Nik, please wipe the dust from your vintage sequencers. There’s nobody who makes synth-pop like you!”

Jennifer Herrema, Drag City’s Royal Trux and RTX
“Promoters might be able to get Black Flag to perform the classic album Damaged if you threw enough cash at them, but would the same aggression and emotion still be there? Just hit all the marks yourself on Rock Band and try to channel the original vibe. These concerts seek to redefine past works as franchises in much the same way the movie industry does films, like the endlessly occurring Batman.”

Girl Talk, mash-up maestro
“I’d like Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, A True Star [In fact, it’s Sept 12, 13 at Park West—ed.], with no backing band. Someone sent me a YouTube of him ripping ‘International Feel’ by himself at some show in the mid-’90s. He had an army of synths, drum machines, a guitar and a wireless headset mike. He even set off some party-store streamers himself. I would like to see that, but for the entire album. Either that or the entire Coneheads soundtrack with every band on stage at the same time.”

Ken Shipley, director of local reissue label the Numero Group
“The absurd thing about Don’t Look Back is the propensity toward records that only a handful of people give a shit about. Mission of Burma’s Vs.? Don’t Look Back, indeed. Go for broke, pay the Stones whatever they ask, and do Exile on Main St. Kick Ron Wood out of the band for the weekend (if not permanently) and give Mick Taylor a call. Drag Bill Wyman out of his ‘supergroup.’ Get sax-man Bobby Keys a TV to throw. Give the people what they want, while the Stones give the kind of performance that should be their last.”

Cryptacize
I'd love to see Aretha Franklin perform I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. It's such a beautiful album. Franklin's fantastic piano playing is a great touch.

Janet Bean, the Horse’s Ha, Freakwater and Eleventh Dream Day
The Raincoats’ Odyshape. When it came out I duped it on cassette and used to walk around downtown Louisville listening to it on my Walkman. It seemed the perfect soundtrack to make such a sad, beleaguered downtown have some sense of poignancy.

James Elkington, the Horse’s Ha
Larks' Tongues In Aspic by King Crimson. I'd love to see Crimson perform this album from end to end, and I think they're all the members are still around, but I'd want to see them performing it in 1973 with big hairstyles and velvet flared trousers.  It would be a lot heavier.  They had a percussionist at the time called Jamie Muir who used to climb the PA and spray the crowd with fake blood from his mouth. I doubt that he would be able to do that anymore.

DJ/Rupture
Public Image Ltd, Flowers of Romance. At first I was going to go with a Nass El Ghiwane album, but I've toured with the Moroccan legends. So I'd go for PiL. I don't like nostalgia in music, so the whole notion is weird, but this album is stark, spacious and remains unique, utterly unconventional. Strong emphasis on percussion and studio experimentation, with a Middle Eastern feel at times. Way more shocking than Sex Pistols or any 'rock' acts. Lyrics are amazing too: “Down in the dark / Tell us a story / From the room below…”

Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts
I think I'd like to hear Scott Walker's The Drift, but I'm sure I'm safe because he'll never do it. Will he suspend the meat from the ceiling? Will he do his Donald Duck impression?

RJD2
At the moment, I think that seeing Isao Tomita perform Holst’s "The Planets" would be my first choice. Very unrealistic, as I’m not even sure if he is still living [He is.—ed.], but this album is currently in HEAVY rotation, and as some of it sounds very improvisational in nature, it’d be quite a compelling live performance.

Shelley Short, Portland indie-folk singer
I would like to hear Angelo Badalamenti perform the soundtrack to Twin Peaks. The concert would take place in a lodge of some sort.

Weigh in with your dream concerts below.

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