There’s something particular about the 1990s that seems to resonate with the general public.
It’s an intangible something that courses through everyone that has any semblances or memory of the back end of the 20th century.
The aesthetic of the 90’s, where everyone wore denim and pastel colors, listening to ska music on their portable cassette players, is something we long for and continue to grasp onto in the current culture.
Not in the literal sense; I don’t think anyone has seen a portable cassette player in years, but you can get that feeling when you see major artists from that era pop up on tour, co-headlined by a fellow “90’s kid” act.
The more prominent examples of these co-headlining tours are Weezer with the Pixies, TLC with Boyz II Men, and The Smashing Pumpkins with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
All of these groups were huge at one point in the 1990’s with the exception of Gallagher’s band, but he still has some pull from his Oasis days.
On paper, the idea of having two acts play the same show seems like a great idea; two for the price of one.
These bands also match up sound and audience wise, so there should be some fan crossover between the two.
It’s not as if the shows are being billed as Slayer with special guest Cher, despite how interesting that pairing would be.
“I think for older musicians and bands it could be beneficial to co-headline a tour for the simple fact that their fan bases have matured and are financially conscious,” said sophomore Andres Camacho, the future music director for WMCX.
Camacho further discussed the logistics of touring together, noting that it makes it more feasible for these artists to sell out bigger venues if they go on tour as a bundle, as oppose to doing it solo.
The main selling point is to relive the hits of the 90’s from bands of the same general sound.
Essentially they are tugging on the nostalgia heartstrings hoping they can get you to come to a show.
It should be a money machine, but the numbers don’t seem to indicate that.
According the NME.com, in 2018 only two acts ranked in the top 25 for highest total grossing tour: Journey and Def Leppard and Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
Obviously making the top 25 isn’t indicative of a failure to get people to come to your shows, but there’s an argument to be made when you see all of these solo acts performing at such a high level in terms of ticket sales.
People may be more inclined to go to a show knowing that they are going to get to see a full set from one act.
With the co-headliners, while the bands that go on tour together tend to be from the same era and of the same genre, it is no guarantee there will be a crossover appeal for both groups.
While the current trend of co-headlining shows seems to be fishing for the nostalgia of the 90’s and playing into the current wave of newly anointed adults from the 90’s, it hasn’t resulted in monstrous success.
It’s not a total failure; Weezer and the Pixies are on their second run of tours together after a performing last summer.
They went from playing PNC Bank Arts Center to Madison Square Garden. Based off the venue upgrade, things seem to be going pretty well, just not operating at elite numbers.
It’s purely speculative, but looking outside the bubble of these older 90’s bands you can see other tours adopting this strategy in their shows.
Last summer Drake had his tour billed as himself along with the Migos.
Camacho asked, “What artist wouldn’t want to go on tour with Drake?”
He continued, “For the Migos, it’s a circle of life thing and paid off as their tour was one of the higher grossing tours of 2018.”
Drake is arguably the biggest artist in the world right now and he brought on another associated act, presumably to help boost the ticket sales.
The current state of the co-headliner is a way to get an audience to go see bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and TLC play big venues along with other groups from that era.
It’s the nostalgia machine being revved up to promote an era of music that we are still deeply attached to.
While it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it seems like it may be here to stay.
IMAGE TAKEN from VIP Frontier
IMAGE TAKEN from Rolling Stone
