The new year is upon us, which means we're right in the heart of winter, but some of us are already gearing up for spring and the start of the music festival season. The 2016 Coachella lineup is here, and two of this year's headliners are reuniting, which feels so good for fans. Guns N' Roses has been touring with only one original member in Axl Rose, but, for this year's festival, they'll get the original lineup back together. LCD Soundsystem hasn't been gone quite as long, but their reunion is still sweet for those who didn't get a chance to see their final 2011 farewell shows in New York City, which spawned the documentary Shut Up and Play the Hits.
While having two nostalgia acts headlining the same year may seem odd, in its 16 years, Coachella has become known for bringing bands back together. Whether it's because of nostalgia or a hefty paycheck, fans don't really seem to care. They just want to see these acts play one more time. Some of these reunions are everything fans could have dreamed of, while others are a bit awkward. (We're looking at you Outkast.) Sometimes these bands can't live up to the hype that builds in the months between the lineup announcement and the actual show, but, when they do, it's a moment that will never be forgotten.
The eight acts below definitely proved that they were worth every penny it took to get them out on that stage.
1. Siouxsie and the Banshees (2002)
Back in 1996, Siouxsie and her band broke up to the disappointment of many fans. But, six years later, a 44-year-old Siouxsie brought her goth ensemble to the desert and high-kicked her way through her greatest hits like "Christine" and "Hong Kong Garden," proving that her band should be judged solely on quality, not quantity.
2. Outkast (2014)
The reunion of Andre 3000 and Big Boi is still fresh in our minds being that it only happened two years ago. It was a reconciliation that was a decade in the making, but it was a little uncomfortable at first. By the second week, though, the guys had hit their stride, making us all want to shake it like a Polaroid picture once again.
3. Mazzy Star (2012)
In 1996, the alt band featuring Hope Sandoval and David Roback dissolved only to return in 2000 to play a European tour. Twelve years later, they reunited once again to play Coachella — one of six shows they would play in California — and made all those fans who still loved "Fade Into You" very happy.
4. Pulp (2012)
The 2012 edition of Coachella was certainly very nostalgic. Along with Mazzy Star, Pulp also graced the stage as one of their first gigs in the United States in over a decade. Of course, Jarvis Cocker's strut still seemed as youthful as it ever did.
5. Jesus and The Mary Chain (2007)
Brothers Jim and William Reid make Oasis' Liam and Noel Gallagher look cuddly. The warring siblings have a heated past that includes a 1998 Los Angeles concert that ended with William ditching the show in protest after Jim drunkenly fell off the stage. No surprise, they broke up a year later. But, in 2007, they saved the drama for their mama and reunited — four years after Sofia Coppola's Lost In Translation reintroduced their song "Just Like Honey" to a new crop of Coachella goers. We still don't know what Bill Murray whispered to Scarlet Johansson, but we do know that the song sounded even sweeter with ScarJo on guest vocals.
6. My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Another Coppola favorite reunited for Coachella with frontman Kevin Shields forgoing his Salinger-esque seclusion to play the festival as part of the tail-end of the band's first tour in 16 years. MBV managed to burst everyone's hearts and eardrums in the process.
7. Rage Against The Machine (2007)
In 2000, frontman Zach de la Rocha announced he was leaving the band, citing in his statement that the band's "decision-making process has completely failed," and that, from his perspective, this lack of communication "has undermined our artistic and political ideal." So it's fitting that what brought them back together in 2007 was a shared hatred for then president, George W. Bush "It occurred to all of us that the times were right to see if we can knock the Bush administration out in one fell swoop," guitarist Tom Morello would later tell NME, "and we hope to do that job well." Perhaps we should expect another possible headlining gig in 2017 if Donald Trump takes office.
8. Rilo Kiley (2014)
OK, this wasn't an official reunion. But, for Rilo Kiley fans everywhere, seeing Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett share a stage after their band's break-up in 2011 was pretty epic. Lewis brought Sennett out during her set — her seventh at the fest, two of which were with Rilo — to play "Portions of Foxes" from 2004's More Adventurous and "Better Son/Daughter" from 2002's Execution Of All Things. It wasn't the whole band, just Jenny and Blake, but it made me hope that in a few years, we'd see them officially get together to play in the desert one more time.
Will LCD Soundsystem and Guns N' Roses live up to their hyped reunion and be added to this list in the future? Only time will tell.
Images: Giphy
