I thought this would happen two years ago, just didn’t know how or exactly when, but when I learned that PiL would be hitting Coachie, it only seemed a matter of time before promoters got a clue and booked this…herewith, tour dates + long, inchoate thoughts on other reunions, and an open letter to The Specials.

The headline was self-explanatory, so here’s a re-post of my interview with John Lydon, + tour dates. Maybe Morrissey and Marr didn’t re-unite last year, and maybe The Jam didn’t either. But Johnny’ll probably sing a Pistols tune and with a little luck, The Specials, who are also playing Coachie, will see a full and proper reunion. While I have no idea how deep beef runs — the conspicuously absent Jerry Dammers said there was a takeover of the band, while Terry Hall maintains that the door is open to Dammers — and while I always support the artists’ right to not have to give more to the fans merely for the sake of nostalgia when they’d rather leave their legacy intact, this is very simply NOT the case with The Specials, because in SoCal? The Specials, The Selector (man if only THEY’D properly reunite, what I wouldn’t give to hear “Washed Up And Left For Dead” live, but I digress) The English Beat (see Dave Wakeling’s oral history and get dates on The Beat/Fishbone tour HERE) all enjoyed a special kind of love (Hell, when I was on yearbook in high school in San Diego, we shot our yearbook staff photos in vintage apparel, on scooters). All of these bands are still playing — and playing well — so it wouldn’t be a matter of the chops not being there…and I daresay if they forego this opportunity to feel and share the love, well, something will be lost — just see the Johnny Marr/Paul Weller Coachella video at the very bottom of this post for a touchable standard: As Paul Weller said when Johnny Marr joined him onstage for “A Town Called Malice”: “time is short/life is cruel/it’s up to us to change”

What becomes a legend most?

PiL 2010 line-up:

John Lydon

Lu Edmonds

Bruce Smith

Scott Firth

PiL’s website

EXTRA=CREDIT VIEWING: PiL/Coachie announcement plus the always-excellent Throbbing Gristle a Coache 09

This is what it looked like when Johnny Marr joined Paul Weller during Weller’s amazing set at Coachie ‘09:

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