Wha' Happen?! - The Band Orgy

So I'm thinking of doing a "Wha' Happen?!" segment in this blog. Named after a particular scene in the movie A Mighty Wind, I'll be using the Wha' Happen topic for anything music-related that I find either bizarre, sad (yet funny), and WTF-ish.

This week's wha' happen is all about the late 90s/early 00s "death pop" band Orgy. Back in the Summer of 1998, I became infatuated by the sounds (and looks) of this new band that seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Candyass was stuck in my CD player for quite some time and their photos were plastered all over my bedroom, binders, and locker.

Fast forward to present day 2012. I receive an email from Ticketmaster saying that Orgy is playing Irving Plaza in NYC on March 6th (the day before my 28th birthday...What a gift!). The 15 year old in me started to shriek and convulse with excitement.

Then I learned something. After doing a little bit of digging, I discovered that it wasn't REALLY Orgy that was going on tour. Nope...

Jay Gordon (Orgy's original vocalist) owns the name Orgy. A few years ago, he left the band and recently "resurrected" Orgy with a WHOLE NEW LINE-UP.

Hey, wha' happen?!?!??!?!?!

I know of some bands that CAN pull this sort of thing off, like Dillinger Escape Plan, Misery Signals, and Darkest Hour. The reason bands like that can pull off having 1 or 2 original members is because they are ALL about the music.

The reason a band like Orgy can't (and shouldn't) do something like this is because their LOOKS are just as important (if not MORE important) than their music! Each member was a character with a specific style and personality...JUST like a boy band!

With that said, why the hell would I want to see a version of this band that only has ONE of its original characters? It just seems unfair to the fans.

Since their booking agent didn't respond to my inquiry to photograph their NYC show* (and Jay Gordon went from looking like this to this), I won't be there. I know the new guys in the band are great (like the 2 former members of Deadsy), but it's just not the same.

What do you think? Do you think it's smart or silly for a band like Orgy to start fresh?

*Update 03/05/12 - I got a one line response from someone from the band's PR group saying they couldn't accommodate my request to photograph the band. Not sure if I should be insulted or relieved?