I've noticed that a number of my friends from high school and college jump at the chance to see bands that they loved back in the day. I certainly can't blame anyone for that. As a teenager, I just didn't get the "adults" hanging on to classic rock (which in retrospect is terrifying, because that music at the time was no older than, say, Nirvana's Nevermind is now). But something weird happened when I got older. I abandoned most of the growing up music.
OK, so maybe "abandoned" is a strong word. Let's put it this way: I tend to listen to new stuff most of the time. For years I've made yearly playlists, compilations of stuff that I'm into, and I use those as a jumping off point to listen to various albums that those songs are from. When I'm at my desk, or taking a walk, I'll hit those lists most of the time, and go back maybe a year or two. I unfairly avoid 2012, because it reminds me of going back to Cleveland from Seattle and I still can't let that go. The lists also act as soundtracks to my life, apparently.
What I don't do is think, "Gosh, I really need to listen to Def Leppard." That was my favorite band in high school, though I was no stranger to Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears at the time. In fact, high school music in general is something I just kind of find cringeworthy now. Maybe once a year, I get a little fit of nostalgia, but it never lasts very long. I do have a stronger opinion about a lot of music from the 80's, but that '88 to '91 era didn't have much going for it.
Stuff from college, and the late 90's, still creeps into my head some of the time, and I still like it even if I don't actively listen to it. The grunge/alt rock thing resulted in a lot of fun and excellent stuff. A few bands have managed to keep going even today. I have playlists from those years, which at the time were things called "mix tapes." I had a really nice tape deck.
Still, my daily routine is mostly current stuff, and I don't know why that is. I resisted change so much in my early adulthood, and now I need certain kinds of it to be continuous, including the music. I realize that this is atypical of people my age.
I believe this is the rise of the availability of XM radio from my personal experience. XM has many channels that primarily focus on certain decades of music. When I bought a new car back in 201, it had a six month trial and I thought I would just dump it after the trial was over. However, I started to hear songs from the late 80’s and early 90’s that I have not heard in years. It actually got me hooked to renewing the subscription each year over regular radio due to the flexibility to listen to what genre I am in the mood for.
It actually is not that bad to hear SOME of the 80’s hair metal songs without the MTV age videos of spandex, hair spray and the over excessiveness those video had. Some of these songs are not bad when you listen to them again without that picture in your mind. Most of these artist where forced into this persona by 80’s record company’s and MTV.
Don Dokken mentioned on the Eddie Trunk show that they hated every minute of the stage show, hairspray and makeup. They were forced into it and had no choice after signing. Fans eventually also got sick of the shenanigans and eventually caught on. Thus, the start of the Seattle sound
In short, some of your friend may have XM and just going back to their roots since some of the 80’s silliness is gone.
Just my thoughts