Flashback attack: Bands try to recapture the magic

LOS ANGELES — Your favorite '90s band broke up? Fear not, they'll be back. Seventies and '80s bands, too. And if not this year, maybe next.

This summer's concert calendar boasts tours by reunited rockers and relics — Stone Temple Pilots and New Kids on the Block — and recently re-energized bands such as the B-52s, the Black Crowes and Motley Crue. A round of reunion shows — the Police, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and Van Halen — filled last summer's slate as well.

It seems that no matter how storied the split, almost every band is bound to get back together — and that could make the magic of an anticipated reunion a little less magical.

"If you can say it's a reunion of some sort, it does make it feel special and unique," said Michael Endelman, senior editor of Rolling Stone magazine. "But some you hear and it's exciting and some you hear and say, 'Didn't they just tour last summer?'"

The reunion-tour trend is inspired by money and the alluring power of nostalgia — for both fans and artists — so don't expect any slowdown, Endelman said.

"To go back on stage in front of an adoring crowd and relive some of these great moments and play all these old songs of theirs, psychologically it must be very seductive and very powerful for them," he said. "Because it's become so profitable for so many bands, it's become very attractive and it's bringing out a lot of bands to try that. ... There's a lot of money to be made in cashing in on people's nostalgia for things they were excited about when they were teenagers."

Not all reunion tours are created equal. They must be examined on a band-by-band basis, said Erik Pedersen, music coordinator and news editor at The Hollywood Reporter. Some are really for the fans, some are really for the bands and some are really for the money.

Stone Temple Pilots could hit all three. With songs still on radio playlists, the band has younger fans who know the tunes but have never seen them played live, Pedersen said. Their breakup was "spectacular" and like "a rock 'n' roll soap opera," Endelman added, so fan interest remained. And the quartet "ran out of money," singer Scott Weiland quipped at a news conference announcing their summer tour, which began Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.

The New Kids on the Block tour, on the other hand, inspired shrugs.

"That's pretty weird since they aren't new or kids," Pedersen said.

"I'm sort of surprised they ended up doing it," Endelman echoed.

The group sold millions of albums and played to stadiums of screaming teens during their heyday in the early '90s. After they disbanded, four of the five members enjoyed modest success in entertainment, and one left show business to work in real estate.

They often toyed with the idea of reuniting and were offered various opportunities, said New Kid Joey McIntyre, but they wanted to wait until the time was right.

"I'm sure there's a way we could sleepwalk through this thing, but that's not who we are," he said. "We want to make it real and make it last; make it last like last time."

The group is recording a new album that will be released in late summer or early fall, he said.