Pearl Jam is celebrating its twenty year anniversary. Quick, name another band that will celebrate its twentieth anniversary within the next ten years that anyone will give a crap about. Green Day, maybe? At least they’re still around. That is unless Billy Joe Armstrong gets a new career in musical theater.
I believe part of the demise of the great Rock & Roll bands in the 21st Century is the extinction of male bonding which has always been a key element of rock bands. To what do I attribute this decline in male friendships? I believe it is caused by lazy writing. I noticed this trend in what I consider lazy comedy writing in the 80s when instead of light hearted banter with one friend setting up the punch lines for another friend, the dialogue between supposed male friends turned into “cut sessions”, or trading insults. As insult is one of the lowest forms of comedy, this verbal sparring replaced witty repartee and instead of contributing to bonding friendships instead lead to insecurity, distrust and defensiveness. This kind of repoire undermines teamwork, leads to resentment and ultimately interferes with the successfulness of any team oriented endeavor. The basically adolescent oriented mentality of your average rock band is primed for destruction by this attitude, yet it seems to now be considered as much Rock & Roll as the music itself. How can a band maintain its fans when it can’t even maintain its friendships?
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