Silkworm to Reunite for 2025 Shows

Josh Kenny
Feb 21
2 min read

While the Gallagher brothers are busy pricing out stadium tours they'll probably cancel anyway, Montana's finest export since... well, probably ever, are showing us how a reunion should be done. Silkworm are coming back. And they're doing it their way.

Silkworm's Joel RL Phelps, Andy Cohen and Tim Midget, photo by Jon Solomon, Courtesy of Comedy Minus One

THE SETUP

(Or: How to Make a Reunion Actually Mean Something)

After nearly two decades of silence, the Missoula-born indie rock architects are staging their first official shows since 2005. The news dropped via Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol podcast, where Andy Cohen and Tim Midyett casually announced what might be the most interesting reunion setup of 2025.

THE LINEUP

(It's Complicated, In The Best Way)

This isn't your typical "get the band back together" scenario. Instead, Silkworm is offering us something more intriguing: an alternate timeline version of themselves. Original drummer Joel RL Phelps (who left in '94) is back, joined by Bedhead's Matt Kadane on keys and Jeff Panall behind the kit. It's like someone opened a portal to a parallel universe where the band's history took a different turn.

As Midyett puts it: "It'll kind of be an alternate history 'Worm, where Joel never left, and Matt was in the band, and we met Jeff Pananall instead of Michael [Dahlquist]." There's something beautifully poetic about that approach, especially given the circumstances of their 2005 dissolution following Dahlquist's tragic death.

THE DETAILS

(Mark Your Calendars, Book Your Flights)

Two shows are confirmed:

September 25: Chicago (because of course)

and

September 27: Goner Fest, Memphis

THE CONTEXT

(Because History Matters)

This isn't completely out of nowhere - the band did play an impromptu set at Steve Albini's memorial gathering last year, a fitting tribute to their longtime collaborator and friend. But these upcoming shows represent something bigger: a proper return, albeit in an alternate form.

Meanwhile, Comedy Minus One is releasing an expanded edition of 1997's "Developer," featuring the original Albini-recorded album remastered, plus Japanese bonus tracks and a Bob Dylan cover featuring Stephen Malkmus (eat your heart out Timmy Chalamet).

THE BOTTOM LINE

This isn't another reunion tour designed to fund someone's divorce settlement. Most bands come back to relive their past. Silkworm are coming back to explore their 'what ifs' - and somehow, that feels more honest than any greatest hits tour could ever be. September can't come soon enough.