Kenney Jones Says a Faces Reunion Is ‘More Important Now Than Ever’
If the long-discussed Faces reunion doesn't happen in 2015, it won't be due to a lack of passion on drummer Kenney Jones' part.
Jones is quoted in a lengthy (and well worth reading) Austin Chronicle tribute to Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, whose sudden passing in 2014 cast a pall over tentative plans for the band to regroup for a tour this year — but, according to Jones, has only served to further emphasize the importance of finally getting back together with his fellow surviving Faces, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood.
"Rod, Woody and me are still going to do the Faces this year. It's more important now than ever," insisted Jones, adding that when the band returns to playing live, it will do so with an updated version of its former concert setup, which included dancing girls and an onstage bartender — although they'll make a concession for Wood, who's now sober: "We'll have ... a coffee machine for Woody."
McLagan was just the latest member of the Faces lineage to pass on, following the end of guitarist Ronnie Lane's struggle with multiple sclerosis in 1997 and Small Faces co-founder Steve Marriott's death in a 1991 fire. Their absence, noted Jones, will be keenly felt no matter how successfully the 2015 Faces manage to replicate the band's classic songs.
"I'm so proud and so honored that life introduced me to Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan. They've been a major part of my life – over half of it – and I miss all three of them. It's lonely, being here on my own," he admitted, but Wood added that McLagan's irreverent spirit will remain a part of anything they do together. "There's got to be a heavy dose of humor in everything we do," he said. "Mac epitomized the funny side of things, even in the most dire conditions."
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