Suzanne Harrington: Forget 'heritage acts' new music is where it's at
Those first two albums were belters. But it was 30 years ago. Oasis are reuniting for the (“astronomical”) cash, and have no new material. Picture: Joanne Nelson/PA Wire
There are broadly two cultural directions – the nostalgia highway, where we travel backwards over terrain flattened by comfortable familiarity, and the road forward, exciting and unknown, full of unexpected bumps and jolts, twists and turns.
This especially applies to music, now that we have a phenomenon known as ‘heritage’ acts – a term I’d thought applied to old buildings and tomatoes, but has been expanded to include octogenarian men: Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The hope-I-die-before-I-get-old Who, etc, churning out the old faves like a jukebox in a care home. (Which, incidentally, would be a brilliant addition to any care home – music as medicine, therapy and joy all rolled into one).
