For only the second time since Operation Ivy’s disbandment in 1989, frontman Jesse Michaels and guitarist Tim Armstrong performed music together live on stage. On Saturday night, Michaels made a surprise appearance at Los Angeles’ Musack Rock and Roll Carnival, where he joined Armstrong’s band The Interrupters for a performance of Op Ivy’s “Sound System.”
Michaels previously shared the stage with Armstrong and fellow Op Ivy bandmate Matt Freeman during a Rancid concert in 2006, where the trio reunited to play “Unity” and “Sound System.”
During a podcast appearance last month, Michaels said he “wouldn’t object to” a full-fledged Operation Ivy reunion, but added that “I don’t know if it could happen for various practical reasons.”
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“We have gotten offers, other people have tried to make it happen… who knows,” Michaels continued. “I just can’t talk about it more than that. It involves other people who have other careers, it involves legal matters…. I do truly appreciate the interest.”
Operation Ivy drummer Dave Mello expressed similar interest in a reunion during his own recent appearance: “For me, I’m totally for it. I’d be into it,” Mello said. However, “it’s something the other members don’t need,” Mello added. “They have so many other things going on in their lives. It’s not something they’d want to do.”
Whether or not this weekend’s on-stage collaboration between Michaels and Armstrong will manifest into something bigger remains to be seen, but the door has certainly been cracked open.