Imagine seeing a band near the end of its run. And then nine years later, or so, they’re on a reunion tour. Or perhaps haven’t stopped touring. Nonetheless, you’ve not been aware of them all that much. Perhaps hearing a tune on the radio every now and then. And for some reason, you decide that you’re going to catch them live once again.
Chances are, the singer won’t be able to hit the notes. And the guitar player—facial contortions notwithstanding—has fingers that aren’t quite as flexible. The rhythm section is, well, tired. And all of them show the signs of gravity on their waistlines and on their follicles.
In effect, the band that you’d seen and the band you are seeing are really two different things. And the latter one is, simply, sad.
Which brings us to The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures by Louis Theroux (DaCapo Press; $24). You may recall Theroux from his 1994-95 gig on Michael Moore’s TV Nation, or perhaps saw his BBC series Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends (1998-2000), which essentially gave rise to this book, wherein he goes back, nine or so years later, on what he calls his “Reunion Tour,” to meet up with some of the people that he’d captured in his documentary footage. Once this was all somewhat funny. And now it is not. Nor is Theroux.