New band members

[bronxzoo]

first off, give them a chance, yes it`s not the poppies we all know and love, but it is the only chance we are going to get to see pwei songs live again, and i can`t wait, its not gra`s fault the others don`t want to do this, ad, rich and fuzz wont do it unless clint is involved, but he is too busy making huge pots of cash in hollywood to care about the fans that want to see "his" band, the first time i saw the poppies was at acid daze, and i saw them countless times until they split, including when they played without gra (and they were a bit shit without him) and i love everything about them, so i am going to see them, buy the album and jump around like a twat at the front!!
and as for the "sleeperblokes" i`m sure if the others want to come back they would be welcome, when neds atomic dustbin reformed, matt and rat didn`t want to do it at first, so jon, alex and dan got two "sleeperblokes" to fill in and when the others finally came round to the idea, they let them back in, plus, mary is a fantastic front man, i`ve seen him with gboa, pigface and apollo 440 and he will do a great job
as i said, give them a chance, go to the gigs, get drunk and pretend that we are all 18 again!!

[c3tra]

oh ffs........ * pulls on waders

never seen the poppies live, bought every album multiple times,.... thats a bits crap knowing what percentage goes to bands....
tho i did buy a f***load of teeshirts...prob knockoff.... i did have a drunkman blue eventually....

never had the chance is all, lived in portsmouth and on the rare occassion they came, my parents couldnt\wouldnt stump up the cash,
im 35 now, and have been into these guys since bf ...and i missed out on reunion tix.

sob story over.

pwei has shaped elements of my personality, and worldview....has been the constant in and on every music playing device i have owned....

What is the truth about PWEI?
PWEI is an innovotive and perhaps the
most innovotive band in the world.

PWEI.

...........says when the structure
of the band changes, the whole meaning of the band shall change.

........... a contemporary
of.......... says when PWEI changes to PWEi 2.0 there should be laws to govern the
nature and the character of that change

negative people are the best and the
quickest way to undermine any new idea

PWEI

ladies and gentleman, is a gift, it was given to us so we may enjoy ourselves
.......to lift us up......, and exhaust ourselves.......maybe even touch the tender
recesses of our hearts and of our minds.

some here say someone has taken PWEI and he has
counterfeited it, convoluted it, twisted it, exploited it and now he's
using it to hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer a fake version of the poppies into the minds
and the lifestyles of this generation."

i say no.... i have never seen them live and i couldnt give a flying rats left testicle that its only graham.....i WANT to see this.... and i want to see new blood.....
i know its not going to be anywhere near as amazing as when i was 15 but i really" do not care"...

im not as rabid as i may sound but im a but miffed by the community negativity at the mo....yes ve did not work.....yes pwei is only g but hey.....at least you get to listen to some of the tracks live ......nostalgia....its a bi***

[chrisconnection]

The last 2 posts = Brilliant

Stay positive PWEIPLE

[urban_futuristic]

[kwvp]

Great post c3tra.

[Coops]

What bands hasnt suffered some sort of line-up change? I wonder, if each member had left and been replaced until we were left with what we have today, would people be so unhappy? It wouldnt be the same as Back In The Day but what is?

I hope if the albums decent (and doesnt sound like a Vile Evils cut and paste) and the gigs are good we can all move on.

[nomorefakereunions]

The two new persons in Neds were Andy Kinga nd Martin Warlow, who both played with Jonn and Rat in the post-Neds Groundswell : not exactly randoms from nowhere.

[tezzer]

[wierdsbarandgrill]

My opinion is simple.

PWEI was. It is now, no more. A solo LP has been recorded and is using the brand name to gain recognition, record company interest, and promoters interested.

the sad thing is, if it didn't have PWEI on the name, would anyone more than about 50 curious people turn up? I seriously doubt it. But PWEI, can book a dozen date tour of 500 capacity venues.

Example:Birmingham o2 academy II, capacity 500. last time they played Birmingham, 2 nights at The Academy (big room) = 5000 tickets. now, 500. That means...quite simply, the expectation is that about one tenth of the audience will pay attention.

Its a big gamble. Its also dishonest and covert, the way its been announced and set up. I suspect there will be a lot of very unhappy punters, expecting to see PWEI, and getting something they don't recognise. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? there are many examples of bands where this happens, and none of these stories end well. None of them.

One thign that is CRITICALLY important is to manage people's expectations. What this has done has built peoples expectations up, and then revealed itself to be a cynical, crass underwhelming revelation. This is a mismanagement of arrogance and hubris the level of which is staggering.

lets look five years down the line ; what will audience sizes be like? How much will the albums sell? Can we look at the example of The Stuffies? The original line up, in its heyday, could play 40,000+ at Reading, as well as a two month tour of UK theatres at 2-5,000 people a night. The new line up averages about 250-500, and gets to play at midday at Glastonbury. Where did Rubbish Island Chart? abotu 178? as opposed to Modern idiot which was a no.1 or no.2 album in the charts.

And thats the telling thing. the PWEI name will be commercially, critically (as if critics opinion matter to Crabb, judging by his twitter comments and downright 'let them eat cake' attitude), and also reputationally devalued.

Thsi will not in anyway, enhance, or build the PWEI band name. it willmake promoters think to themselves that this band isn't worth booking, once they look at the ticket sales and album sales. Its a tap-esque tragedy.

On the other hand, a relaunch using a variation, such as "Pop will eat itself v2.0" will make clear to buyers, gig goers and everyone else what to expect. Without such a reputation to live up, any disappointment will be tempered accordingly. People will expect less. Which means they will think higher of the band if they do not disappoint. They wont spend the gig saying "wheres clint? Wheres fuzz?" and go home pissed off, annoyed, and swearing to themselves they'llnever see PWEI again.

Think about it from this perspective. What we are watching right now is hammering the nails in, as this all goes to hell.

I don;t want to be critical, but I am. i am because i expected Pop Will Eat Itself - not some shabby cash-in from an ex-singer hijacking the name. And yes, I am annoyed, and yes, I am upset. because of how it was managed, and mis sold to us.

Either way, It doesnt look good. they may be great, but with those expectations of gig goers, it will backfire. It will devalue the band. And probably piss away 25 years of reputation for nothing.

And that I dont want to happen to a band I love.

[Ugly Goblin Boy]

If this were 2 months ago, I would have agreed with some of what you posted. The Facebook/Twitter pages announced for weeks that news would be coming, and it all came flooding in Monday. The Facebook, Twitter, & Official Site all make it clear who is in the band and what their role it. I think they've done their best to let the masses know this isn't a reunion without hitting them over the head by saying "NEW BAND! NEW BAND!"

I'm optimistic, when all is said and done they will have played some fun shows and good times will been had.