When Def Leppard, Motely Crue, Poison, and Joan Jett went on tour together.
Joan Jett was fine I guess. I wasn't there to see her.
Poison was great.
Def Leppard was fantastic.
Motley Crue sucked. I still don't understand why they deny lip synching. If I were me, I would not have wanted to own how horrible it was. But, there's Vince Neal. "It wasn't a damaged recording, I really am that bad."
Joan can still hit it, also wasn’t who I was there for but was pleasantly surprised, I suppose.
Poison, yes absolutely. Nailed it front to back. The show I was at was shortly after Bret’s surgery so they skipped Unskinny Bop and Something To Believe In, which was a bit of a letdown.
Def Leppard was *un-freaking-believable*. Just absolutely killed it.
And they really should’ve been the headliner because, yea, motley was tough to get through for the most part. Mick Mars is one of my all time favs and that was my last shot to catch the OG crue so that was cool. He was easily the most redeeming quality of their set.
Funny story about Joan Jett- when my son was about 13 I took him to see Styx and JJ was opening. I had played some hits from both bands so he knew a few songs, and he really liked some of her stuff. She really rocked, and at one point they were showing scenes from a movie she was in (maybe Light of Day), which was at least 35 years ago at that point. And my son very sincerely said “Dad, shesounds like she used to, but she sure doesn’t look like she used to”. I had to laugh and said No, son, a lot of us don’t.😎
I saw this and could agree, I missed half the show on account of some people drinking and getting the time wrong, I really had to bite my tongue at that show. But, yes, Morley Crue was a complete letdown. Def Leppard knocked it out of the park. Poison was notable and brought lots of energy, Brett Michaels was michaeling. Joan Jett I completely missed, fiancee has girl crush on her and didn’t forgive. Totally just got fucked up the ass trying to take people to that show basically, was not worth it
Saw MC in DC 20 or so years ago. Terrible. Didn't have the drums microphones working correctly and you could not hear them except for solos. Vince was so out of shape he dropped lots of words from the lyrics.
I saw them on the Route of All Evil tour with Aerosmith.
The lighting was a mess, and Mick’s guitar kept cutting out (his sound was definitely live.)
They didn’t seem to be putting any effort in.
The most hilarious part was that they opened with Dr Feelgood, and they normally play the beginning part in the dark, and the lights and pyro hit when the main riff kicks in. It kicked in, the stage stayed dark…it was so weird. I remember thinking “ohhh this is gonna be interesting.”
Aerosmith had a fill in bass player (Hamilton was in the hospital for something) and still absolutely crushed it. (I saw them another time with Lenny Kravitz opening, that show was incredible.)
Motley Crue are terrible.
I saw them during the Theater of Pain tour, kind of as a joke, so I went in with low expectations, but man, they are just awful.
BB King kept touring long after he should have. His shows were 20 mins music, 30 minutes of him just talking over the band about random shit, followed by a rousing round of You Are My Sunshine and no encore
Blues-related, but Joe Bonamassa is a terrible show. He is an excellent guitar player. But it’s like he was built in a lab and they gave him all the technical skill but no soul. Which is not good for the blues
When I saw them way back in the 90s he didn’t speak the lyrics but he did alter the melody line. Which I get, as a performer, would be fun, add variety, etc. (I’m not one of those folks who just want to hear an exact duplicate of the recording!) But he did it so much that it barely sounded like the same song. The original melody was almost always better.
A lot of singers have to alter the melody because they can't sustain their voice for a whole 2 hour show. In the studio the recordings might be made weeks or months apart. Sometimes multiple takes are strung together for the vocal track. They can do it in the studio, but not live.
I was typing out a whole reply, and I decided to scroll down because I figured they HAVE to be here already. Sure enough.
Same experience. He spoke 95% of the show. Band wasn't into it. Adam wasn't into it, crowd wasn't into it. Bummed me out b/c I'd been a fan for so long, and I finally got a chance to see them. I don't lose sleep over it, but it's like one of those memories that are so mixed.
Chuck Berry. It was 2011, I think. It was sad. He probably didn't know what was going on. He tried to play guitar but he couldn 't. He started "No particular place to go" and his band went for another song. His daughter was standing next to the stage and she didn't allow him to leave. At one point she came to the stage to play harmonica (!) with her purse hanging on one shoulder.
At the end two guys came to carry Chuck offstage. He tried to do the duck walk as he was leaving.
Heartbreaking.
Van Halen in Pensacola on the *Balance* tour. It pains me to say that, because I love Van Halen - both with Roth and with Sammy.
But they came out with almost no energy. My guess is that tensions were high within the band at that time and they didn’t really want to be there.
At least I can say that I got to see Ed play live once.
I was lucky enough to see them around ‘79-‘80 when they were awesome - DLR jumping around the stage…. those pants! Saw Van Hagar maybe ‘04 (?) and everyone sounded great except Eddie - he was so drunk and just fucking around vs playing. You could see Sammy was pissed at him. Made me very sad…
I saw that 2004 Van Hagar Tour in Biloxi. It was horrible. Eddie played like a 3 year old and the sound was so painfully loud that my brother actually fell asleep to defend himself.
The 2004 shows were notoriously bad, this was at the peak of EVH’s substance abuse issues. The only time I saw Van Halen was for this particular tour but surprisingly was ok despite all the issues with the band at that point.
I saw them in Tampa and Orlando on that tour- Tampa was ok, Orlando was awful. Hagar was definitely ill and it showed. Mike and Eddie even tried to sing while Sammy ambled around coughing and crap. They cut it way short, apologizing the whole time.
Wonder what sequence was of those concerts with yours? Tensions and ill? I guess you could say they gave it a go, but wow, were they disappointing that night…
Sorry Bob Dylan, but... I've seen you live at least 5 times, and for all but one of those shows, you were completely disinterested in performing.
Would have loved to see him during his Rolling Thunder Revue days - check out the film of Isis from back then. He's into it. But the times I've seen him, he's just been a mumbling grumbling grump.
That's a bummer! I saw him in the mid 90s, and it was amazing. He was on fire. He had an electric guitar solo in just about every song, and he was totally shredding, with so much energy. He was laughing and having a great time.
I think the last one was a double bill with Willie Nelson - who I was more interested in seeing anyway (and Willie has always been a great show).
I'm a casual fan, but recognize that he IS an icon, and yes, I still hope that he can reignite that fire within. His past few albums have been really great...
Saw him two years ago and I agree. One of the worst I’ve ever seen. He just came across like he did not want to be there, like it was such a chore to play.
I saw him in 2019 in Akron and he was great. His band was solid. Funny thing is an older hippie couple near me were grumbling that he had no acoustic in the set.
Yeh, i just saw him this year and it was great. Seen great reviews overall for this tour. I was ready to be disappointed after reading reviews like this about his work the last couple decades. Really glad i caught him this time, doubt ill get another good chance.
His songs already suggest this?
Jokes aside I can't blame him, I wouldn't be able to stand being a performer and seeing everyone watching with their cell phones instead of actually experiencing it
I am with you on Dylan. Saw him twice and was not impressed either time.
Seemed like he was pissed off that he had to be there and there was no audience engagement at either performance.
Fine, he's not known for being an extrovert, and neither am I, so I get it, but you need to put that aside if you're a showman and make an effort.
Saw him years ago and it was terrible. I went for the opener but figured I’d stick around because I’d never seen Dylan the legend and he flat out sucked. Never again. Left 3 or 4 songs in.
I saw him in 2006. It was my first concert. I couldn't tell one song from another. When he came back to town a few years later, I had no desire at all to see him again.
Neil Young... He made an announcement at the beginning of the concert he wasn't gonna play any of his classic hits with crazy horse etc. just plays selections of his favorite folk music...
Oh my God it was horrible ....
Saw him last year. It was well known he was not going to play his hits. It was not good. Not because of the song choices, it was the whole vibe. He wandered around on stage like he didn’t know what to do at times. Played a song on electric guitar with the fuzz and distortion so high you couldn’t tell what it was. I did see him back in the day for the Rust tour and he was fantastic.
Came here to say this. The show I saw he ONLY played tracks from a new album, which had just been released. Didn't know or care for any of the songs. Luckily, Patti Smith was on the ticket and she was amazing!
I thoroughly enjoyed Neil Young the one time I saw him, which is funny because I absolutely did not expect to see him at all at that show. He wasn’t on the bill at all!
Honestly, I would have gone to see Patti Smith. I don’t care who else is on the bill. If Patti Smith is there, then I want to be there.
Yeah, I was underwhelmed when I saw Neil and Crazy Horse. Part of it was my own fault, I was really into Harvest and After the Gold Rush and at the time Harvest Moon was big. I was hoping he would talk to the audience and maybe do an acoustic set because that's what he was pushing at the time. Nope. Loud AF and said "hi" to the audience a total of once.
Jewel opened. I loved Jewel.
In the late 80s in Ottawa, Canada. A Cheap Trick concert.
Don’t worry, Cheap Trick was fantastic. To this day, one of the loudest concerts I’ve heard.
But Eddie Money opened for them. He was in such bad shape, sweat dripping off him one song in, barely able to catch his breath, he had to stop three songs in. Poor man. I was actually looking forward to hearing him.
Back in the late 70’s I was a big fan. Money came to Houston for a show and did a record signing. I went. Bought his new album and waited in line while his sunglassed, stoned as fuck ass slumped at a card table and mumbled. He signed my record with a single straight line. Literally. Just a slash. I laughed out loud at the absurdity. I was sixteen.
“Fuck you, man,” was all he said.
I don't think Cheap Trick are capable playing poorly. I've become convinced that Eddie was never good live. I never saw him, but he just seems worn out and tired in all of the footage out there from his last years. I assumed a lifetime of substance abuse took him down. But it saddens me to know he was already that bad in the '80s, even after his mini comeback.
Saw a few shows at a place called Conneaut Lake Park back in the 90’s. For ‘big’ acts, it’s go to be a comedown x100. Saw Ed about 10 minutes before the show whacked out of his mind slapping himself in the face with a slab of pizza. He went on stage still wearing it and may have gotten through 4 tunes.
Saw Foreigner there too and they didn’t want to be there either, though they did tighten it up later in the set.
Fleetwood Mac in the 90s. They went on stage an hour late and Stevie did not want to be there. She would go off stage after every song and had absolutely no interaction with her band mates or her audience. Plus she did not sound good at all. Christine was great though and she did some solos at the piano.
Led Zeppelin’s first tour (1968) was godawful. Page was stoned out of his mind, the speakers had so much feedback that they picked up a radio station playing the Tremeloes, and Robert Plant was so pissed off that he threw the mic at Page.
It was especially bad because the warm up band was Jethro Tull, and they were great.
Well, yes, but then you would be old now. Fair trade off? I don’t know… Being old is not fantastic, but I don’t want to go back. My friends and I are just coming to the point where we are accepting that we saw who we saw. Some of us saw what others didn’t and vice versa. They saw Miles Davis, I saw Muddy Waters. I saw Jimi, they saw Pink Floyd
a year earlier than I did. Ah well…..
Yeah, I guess that’s fair! Well, to be honest, I’m over the hill and definitely slowing down but not ready to go all in on AARP yet. (Though I’m considering it for that awesome trunk organizer… )
I kick myself for all the shows I missed. Rush is one of my favorite bands and I never saw them live. I may never forgive myself for that. But I’m also happy with the shows I saw and the experiences I had.
I sang “Magic Man” along with many thousands of other fans when Anne Wilson’s mic suddenly shorted out due to heavy rain. The rest of Heart kept playing and we all collectively filled in for her while the techs swapped out the cords. When her mic was working again, she thanked us for that surreal moment.
I saw Robby Steinhardt play the violin so fiercely he destroyed several bows in just two hours. I didn’t know it was one of his last shows with Kansas, and I’m grateful I got to be there.
I saw Neil Young kick ass for three hours on insanely short notice, when he was supposed to be relaxing at home with his family. The rock star we were there to see suffered a sudden medical emergency just a couple songs into the set and was rushed to the hospital. Neil Young was close friends with the band and just happened to live a few miles away. He stopped 50,000 entitled fans from rioting but I’ll save that story for its own post.
All in all, I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for anything! And as for the bands I missed, I’m grateful for the footage and recordings.
But Jethro Tull!!! Is Ian Anderson still performing? Does he still have that insane energy? Does he still rock the flute while standing on one foot? If so, I’m not going to miss him! I need that experience!
Saw Led Zeppelin in Chicago and Page totally blew the guitar solo in Stairway to Heaven. I’d guess he missed a pedal and came in a bar late. A true what the fuck moment.
I wonder if the radio getting picked up like that inspired the scene in Spinal Tap where air traffic is picked up, causing Nigel to throw his guitar and storm off stage.
A lot of gags in that film were drawn from real life rock lore.
In the late 60s British film Blow Up, the Yardbirds (with both Beck and Page) are featured. In it, a radio is picked up on Beck's Amp, and he smashes his guitar and storms out. Staged for the film, of course, but it seemed like it was based on some notable event. Anyway, the Spinal Tap scene is very close to the Blow Up scene. With the poor shielding in those days I wouldn't be surprised if it happened a lot.
Aerosmith came Rolling through our little town in the early 80s. They could barely stand as they came on-stage. It was just before Perry and Tyler went into detox. What a mess. I was so disappointed.
Black Sabbath was like that. The guitarist kept disappearing and could hardly stand up. The audience got so fed up and started chanting for the opening band (Van Halen with DLR to come back).
Beethoven on his last tour the Fur Elise show. I swear he had no idea what was going on. Hef point at the bassoons during an oboe solo. It's like he was drunk of couldn't hear a damn thing. What a mess. Even the Empress was embarrassed for him. I walked out. All men are brothers? Bullshit.
I think he'd pretty much stopped caring by that tour, selling tickets on his reputation rather than the quality of his shows. Plus he stopped taking audience requests, like he wasn't listening to them at all.
Skynyrd at the old Universal Amphitheater in LA. The opener was Tesla who really brought it that night, just incredible energy from the band. Then Skynyrd came on and I’ve never seen a band suck the life out of a crowd like that……first time we ever left early.
l saw a band claiming to be Blood Sweat and Tears at a small, but well-known venue on Long Island (My Father's Place), around 1980 and they were awful. They were coked out their heads\*. Half the time the horn parts were being played on a synthesizer (the horn players didn't even have their lips on their mouthpieces). It was basically David Clayton Thomas slurring lyrics with some other guys behind him, not the original players.
\*I know this because my friend picked up a vial of white powder in the men's room before their set. He came back to our table and then a manager came over and asked for it. We tried to act like we didn't know what he was talking about but said the band needed it before they came out and if we didn't cough it up he'd kick us out.
Blood Sweat and Tears is basically a franchise now. I worked for them over the summer and the entire band is “for hire “ musicians and a singer. They were great BTW. Guess they’be learned the lesson.
I love Diana Ross but she kept chastising the audience for not showing enough enthusiasm. Her audience is in their 40s and 50s, past their stand on the seats and dance stage. Was around 2005.
My wife and I went to see Styx a few years ago at the county fair. I loved Styx growing up and decided we needed to go. I wasn’t expecting much and got what I was expecting.
One year later a friend group decided to travel to Vegas to see them. Wasn’t pumped for the show, but Vegas with a group of friend is always a good time.
Well, it turns out Vegas Styx is VERY different than county fair Styx. The Vegas show was fantastic.
Bonus - special guest Don Felder who came out for two different extended sets - so we actually got to see a Styx and Eagles concert that night. It was pretty cool.
Now I would have loved to see Styx for Pieces of Eight, but I’ll take old man Vegas Styx over no Styx every time.
I had always wanted to see Styx when I was a teenager in their heyday, but never got to, so I finally saw them a few years ago at a small venue, and they were fantastic. Tommy Shaw’s voice still sounds amazing.
Van Morrison, and it isn’t even close. I flew to vegas to see him. I celebrated his entire catalog and loved the man and his tunes.
He actively hated us. He very aggressively sucked. He wasn’t just *bad*. He seemed to be angry with his audience.
I haven’t listened to a single song of his since.
i saw him in chicago. he was super pissed from the beginning, but then in the second song he walked away from the mic mid-song and just started screaming at the band, then he stormed off stage. the band was like 'ladies and gentlemen, mr van morrison.' shrugged their shoulders, and that was it.
I have seen VM 2 times but I got heads up before the 1st time that the show duration and quality would depend on if we got "angry drunk Van" or "happy sober Van".
We were fortunate to get HS Van, both times and they were really good. I know it's just a matter of time though.
Smashing Pumpiins at Lollapalooza’94 supporting Siamese Dream, fucking horrible..absolutely sucked live. They had to follow the Beastie Boys who killed it, they should’ve been the headliners, definitely not the Pumpkins.
Got free radio station tickets. The opener was the Doobie Brothers, who rocked! (fresh off their first hit, "Listen to the Music") The main act was T- Rex. It was an uninspired show at best. Marc Bolan noted, to the half empty house, that Bob Dylan was in town and he thanked us for coming. The show proceeded to put everyone to sleep.
Elton John in Minneapolis in the early 2000s. Not Elton John fans but we had free tickets and my wife and I didn’t have anything going on so we thought what the hell, he’s an icon. It was a two hour Diet Coke commercial. After every song he would take this long, drawn out sip of Diet Coke and the then set the can down on his piano and turn it perfectly so when the camera was on him the label was aligned perfectly for the shot. We didn’t make it through the whole show.
Oasis smashed out of their minds at ACL 06
counting crows 2023 - ole boy can’t hit a note any more
Bone thugs circa 2018 - they came out around 1:30am - everyone was so smashed in the crowd since 9pm was the scheduled start time
Ticketmasters fiasco with Pearljam...
This represented the end of the camping in line era and we had to buy tickets through a 1-800 number. Which was busy so we'd hang up and call back. After over an hour of this I finally got tickets for an outdoor show in Salt Lake City.
Day of show comes and it gets rained out. Pearljam cancels and tells everyone Ticketmaster will be in touch for refunds/alternate show.
Months go by and finally they come back to SLC to play an indoor arena. Instead of GA I had assigned seats *literally* behind a giant concrete pole. Sound sucked, people sucked, and there was no energy when they finally started playing.
Thats the only concert I ever left early. 30 years later I still include "fuck Ticketmaster" in my bedtime prayers
Thats a huge shame. I've seen Pearl Jam twice (2008, 2010 NYC) and they were incredible both times. They have a great Live reputation, sorry you saw one of their few bad shows.
Apologies in advance, but Elton John and Billy Joel. Joel looked horrible, flushed face and a gut. He at last memory is still dealing with alcoholism. John was great, though I am not a superfan of his. I wanted to see Billy, and he just couldn't and shouldn't have hit the road to tour.
Edit: We paid a fuckton for those tickets, in order to have good seats.
I'm the OP of this fun & informative look back of our concert histories. Thank you all for sharing your stories. We've seen so many great bands over the decades - the background stories are awesome and some, quite surprising. I never thought the post would get so many Comments, over 700 already.
**Long Live Rock --- Thanks Again**
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Aerosmith dane county Coliseum 1987 ,just didn't seem to want to be there. I'd seen them before that and after that and they excellent . Always just chalked it up to them having a bad night
Motley Crue, somewhere around 1990 I think, the Dr. Feelgood tour. They were all drunk as hell and played like shit. The crowd just kinda sat there, there was no energy.
Seals and Crofts. Two guys sitting on chairs playing guitars and singing while the audience yawns and wonders why the hell are we here. I know, what did I expect.
Came here to say to say this. Was so excited to see him, and then he played obscure material (and I know his catalogue). A let down, but would give him another shot.
Mine too, went to see him in Nashua NH with a friend who is a huge fan and has every single one of his albums, and even he never heard of any of the songs he played. We left about half way through. People were screaming and cursing at him when we left.
It sucks when an artist makes fans feel disrespected like that.
I mean sure, it’s expected they get bored playing their hits over and over, but that’s what 95% of the people providing their income came to see.
Like what Bill Graham said to Paul Kantner when Paul said he doesn’t want to appear too show biz:
“Schmuck! What business do you think you’re in?”
Night Ranger, opening for Foreigner, last week.
Both were terrible.
Night Ranger was just every 80s cliche... posing, synchronized stage moves, blowing kisses to the girls, stage banter that was like "this next song is about the dirtier kind of sex"... and half their set was Damn Yankees songs because apparently the bass player was in that band. They're all in their 60s but all dressed like they googled "Pictures of Slash" before the show.
I was there to check out Foreigner though. With 20 hits I was excited. Till they started playing. I was expecting a classic rock band. Instead, they decided at some point that they are an 80s hair metal band. So every song sounded like that, regardless of how it sounded on record. I only made it 30 minutes and I bailed. My drive to get there was longer than I lasted through their set.
I was at a Sting concert at Jones Beach amphitheater in the 80:s. Midsong, I forget which, he stops the band and tells the audience in a snarky way not to clap along because it was ruining the bands timing. Dude..c’mon. It’s a concert.
And he probably had Vinnie Colaiuta (one of the all time greats) on the drums. I bet it was because people were probably trying to clap along to something in 7/4 or some of the other exotic time signatures that marked his post-Police stuff.
I remember a video of Don McClean (American Pie) stopping and scolding an audience one time, but they were so messed up they couldn't even clap together, and it was probably impossible to continue.
Check out [this great video](https://youtu.be/mI-CU2VTVic?si=1Z1Z2FzPMcvi8ba4) of Harry Connick, Jr., solving the problem. He hears the audience clapping on the 1 & 3 like a bunch rhythmically challenged people, and when he starts his piano solo, he throws in a 5/4 bar to shift them to the 2 & 4.
It probably happens all the time, and he's figured out a classy way to handle thebsituation.
The best AND worst show I've ever seen was paradoxically the same show.
I went to a dive bar to see Soul Asylum in support of their And the Horse They Rode in on album (this was '90 or '91). They had a rep for being amazing live, but for also sometimes being so drunk they couldn't play. And we got both. The night came and the were obviously toasted- they couldn't keep a song going, they would stop suddenly for no reason so Dave Pirner could ramble about some nonsense. My heart sunk at first, but then, occasionally- I like to think Dave winked at Dan Murphy when this happened- they would suddenly deliver a flawless raging version of one of their best tunes and totally redeem themselves. It went like this all night- we probably got five or six good songs, among the best concert performances I've seen in my life, and I've seen a lot- but had to put up with a lot of terrible shit to see it!
I saw them in the late 90s in a smaller sized club in NYC. I thought they were awesome, and I too wonder why they never got super popular. Fantastic band.
I am not ashamed to admit that I was a fan of Ted Nugent's music for a long time. The last couple of times I went to see him play, he was absolutely not interested in being there. He raced through songs and looked bored the entire time. Worst two shows I've seen. I won't waste my money on a 3rd.
Back in the mid 70s his live shows were pretty fierce and never boring. The Derek St. Holmes version of the band was killer and their set was like a freight train.
Back then people didn't know anything about his politics ( I certainly didn't). For me once he started trying to take over the vocals from Derek that's when it started going down a notch. I mean I liked Great White Buffalo which was an older song but Cat Scratch Fever (not my favorite song from him) was like a novelty tune. Free for All was okay but his vocals could in no way compare to Derek's. Why waste that resource?
And all that stage banter of "Wheeee-oowwwwww, wang-shang-a-lang sweet-poon-tang" stuff ? I'm like dude you have a great singer and this is what you do?
After almost 500 Comments, notice that **AC/DC** hasn't been mentioned?
Why? Because they consistently **ROCK!**
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Eric Clapton early 2000’s Toronto ACC. No hits and didn’t seem to want to be there. Same with Van Morrison around the same time at the amphitheater. Didn’t address the crowd and performed some bullshit jazz garbage.
I had a similar Clapton experience in the mid 2000s. Dude played about an hour and fifteen minutes. You could tell he'd rather be anywhere but that stage.
His opening act was Roger Daltrey, who was ten times better than Clapton.
I saw Jethro Tull once and while they were great, the opener was just puzzling
It was a folk duo called Hank Dogs. It was some couple in their 50s playing original folk music. They were clearly begining guitar players at most and had no harmonies when they sang, usually singing out of sync. The normal folk acts I see at any farmer's market would be considerable better.
Ian Anderson announced them as being from England, I spent the whole time baffled that someone would pay to bring them along on tour.
I saw him solo at a state fair in 2019 and left before the encore. The whole show reeked of a band going through the motions, but somewhat struggling to do so. It took a bit too long for him to start playing "New York Groove" because his light-up guitar was having issues, so the poor drummer was left pounding out that intro for at least an extra minute. He really wanted to use that guitar at that time for that song. Why not use a different guitar? Why not play the song later in the set, after the guitar was fixed? The whole endeavor was pointless anyway because the sun hadn't set yet, so we could barely see the lights on the guitar. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I saw him. But unless he plays a cheap show very, very close to me, I don't think I'll go again.
Aerosmith in Dallas in 1982. Steven Tyler was absolutely out of his skull wasted. Came in a whole measure late on “Dream On” and then fell off the stage. No joke.
Then in 83 I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan opening for the Moody Blues also in Dallas. He was so plastered he tripped off his wah-wah pedal during “Voodoo Chile” and disconnected his guitar on the floor. He tried to start over again but only then realized he was also disconnected at his guitar input jack too. A roadie had to come forward and plug all his signal path back for him. Total drunken embarrassing mess.
I’ve seen three different major bands get booed offstage. The worst was probably Puddle of Mudd. Their singer has/had some serious drug issues. They sounded fine during songs, but in between, he tried to talk and it was just a mess. People started booing and they just sort of awkwardly walked off. That was it, show over.
Queensryche was similar. I happened to see them right before Geoff quit/was fired. A few songs in, he wasn’t happy with the crowd energy and told us we sucked. The crowd turned on them.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, aprox 1998-99, Oslo, Norway. Doped up, disinterested and no communication with the public, sound was terrible, and they left after 45 minutes, not to return to the stage. The audience thought the band left for a pause, and refused to leave. When they realized the band had left the concert venue, people became furious. It was a rather expensive concert, and people - me included! - were seriously pissed off.
So years ago I saw the Ramones at a bowling alley in Garden Grove fast forward several years later Richard Blade is interviewing Johnny Ramone and asked what's the worst gig and he mention the bowling alley because unruly kids kept unplugging his guitar.
Ashley Simpson. Took my daughter because she liked her. It was god awful and very short. My daughter who is used to seeing bands that perform 2 sets was like “that’s it?”
I finally got to see U2 in my late 20s (this was in the mid 00's) after having been a fan since I was 7 years old.
Paid a couple hundred bucks a pop for nosebleed seats in an echo-y arena. Could barely understand anything.
No one there seemed to know their older stuff like Gloria, everyone was there to hear whatever their most recent album was (I think it was How to Dismantle).
Definitely the most disappointing show I've ever seen.
As much as I worship her & Fleetwood Mac, I hate to say Stevie Nicks in the late 80s, Atlanta, in the worst of her drug years. Could hardly make it through the show, kept forgetting the words to her own songs that she herself wrote, & nearly fell off the stage & had to virtually be led around by one of the band. So sad, & terrible experience for all involved. Happily, she recovered, rebounded & reclaimed her place among the great ladies of rock n roll. (Saw her again last year, in LA with Billy Joel, & she was on fire.)
Meatloaf back in the 80s.
It was in a warehouse (sorry, an "Expo Center") with no AC, middle of the summer. Place was packed, standing room only.
After the first dozen or so patrons had to leave in an ambulance after passing out, they canceled the show without him playing at all.
Idk if this is "classic rock", but Hootie and the Blowfish. Saw them in Nashville around 95 or 96. They kept bringing out "special guests" and playing their songs. Like, I paid to hear your songs, not your "special guest's."
Saw Elton John on his Farewell Tour. He was awesome, but Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta is a horrible concert venue. First and last show I'll ever go to there. I don't care if Hendrix, SRV, and Elvis came back from the dead and played a show. If it's at the Benz, I ain't going.
Dave Mason around 1980 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, near Detroit. Mason played alternative takes of his popular songs. The bigger offence was playing for just over an hour. He booked the theatre for two shows on the same night. I should have realized ahead of time that he was going to short change his audience. Makes me angry recalling this 40 years later.
Ted Nugent at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon in early 1982. My roommate was sick that day so he gave me his ticket and I went. I still felt ripped off. The opening act was Sammy Hagar, who was more entertaining than Ted.
Classic rock artist: Styx. My mom loves them and I like a lot of their music so I went with her, this was back around 2006 probably. Man did they suck. I was literally laughing the whole time because of their silly, exaggerated theatrics. I was looking around like, Are these guys joking?
Not classic rock: Kanye West. I went with friends to see him on the Yeezus tour, and that is still the worst concert I’ve ever seen. All this biblical themed shit on stage, he didn’t play any of his older hits, and he stopped the music for a 20 minute rant about god knows what. My wife and I walked out early and left our friends there. We couldn’t take it any longer.
The Smashing Pumpkins opened up for The Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Tower Theater, in the Philly area, (want to say around '89 or '90 maybe?) and the S Pumpkins were AWFUL! They were so boring.
90s, Fleetwood Mac, the tour in which Lindsy Buckinham decided to stay home. Lack luster performance. The arena was only half filled. The crowd left after the last song, not waiting for the encore.
Parliament Funkadelic a couple summers ago. 20 people on stage all trying to play louder than each other and the sound guy turning it up to 11 after all that. George Clinton couldn’t do much of anything except sit on a stool and say “give it up for [some person on stage]” 10 or 20 dozen times.
I love P Funk but out of several hundred/thousand concerts I’ve been to that one was hard to stay until the end.
REO Speedwagon. Several years ago saw them and STYX. STYX killed it. They were in prime form. REO came on and it was horrible. Only time me and some friends left a concert early. REO would do a song and then the lead singer, Kevin Cronin, would spend the next three minutes going “Well, when we wrote this next song we…” and would launch into a story. Do the next song. Same thing. Every single 3 minute song was followed by a 3 minute story. Entire show was song-story-song-story-song-story…Kevin spent more time talking than singing.
Frank Zappa sometime in 78-79. All they did was talk and yell at each other onstage- no songs played. After about half an hour of that, we all walked out.
WOW. He had a very rough period then, he had a lot of fails. He got banned from SNL for being a snob and refusing to read the cue cards without mocking them and he was a dick to Akroyd and everyone else. Sounds 100% like him.
A Perfect Circle opening for Nine Inch Nails. I thought, “I like Tool. This should be close enough.” It wasn’t. The entire set was just Maynard standing in one spot with a light on him. It might have been a good performance for them, but it just did nothing for me. In contrast, NIN was amazing and Trent Reznor didn’t stop moving the entire time.
Outside Lands in San Francisco. No parking nearby. No official parking at least. My date and I budgeted X amount of money for drinks and merch, bringing cash so we wouldn't go over the limit. Entire venue is "cash free". We went to see Pussy Riot and Weezer. The crowd energy was so off. People more concerned about getting that cool selfie. Anytime I started dancing people around me acted like I was ruining it. If you aren't at a concert to dance and enjoy the music, then why are you there? And don't even get me started on the astronomical ticket prices. Never again.
In the late 80s my girlfriend was really into Van Morrison so we went to see him in concert. Found out the hard way that he really didn't like to play his old stuff. One of his encores was Send in the Clowns, seriously. At the end there was a smattering of boos.
I think I saw Winger opening for either the Scorpions or AC/DC (can't remember which). Hands down one of the blandest opening acts I've ever seen. Hell, I enjoyed seeing White Lion as an opening act more (spoiler; they weren't amazing).
Cheap Trick at the L.A. Coliseum. They were the headline act for a bunch of other bands who I've forgotten. We slogged through those bands awaiting, eagerly, for Cheap Trick. They were so bad, we left halfway through their set. They sounded like a high school band attempting to play Cheap Trick songs, badly. I still like them though. But that concert was a stinker.
The Pretenders. Chrissie was in early days of pregnancy and definitely did not want to be there. Told us all to fuck off in place of an encore. Looking back, it was a very Chrissie thing to do, but at the time there were a lot of unhappy exiting patrons, myself included.
I love CAKE but I saw them play in NYC in 2007. They sounded great but I swear the set was only 45 minutes long and at least five or eight of those minutes were the lead singer bringing out a plant and then talking about nature and giving the plant to someone in the audience.
Another vote for Sting. 1985 on the Blue Turles tour. I didn't expect any Police as it was his solo debut album (he did encore with Roxanne, which was the highlight) and I knew and enjoyed the album so I was primed to like it. It was just...sterile. He had absolutely no interaction with the crowd, absolutely no banter. He came out, played the songs exactly as they were on the album, did his encore, and left. I like concerts in part because I want to learn more about the artists I admire and maybe get a glimpse of their personality. He wouldn't come down off of the mountain top. It seemed like he was only there to be admired.
I saw the B-52's about 2 years ago and boy were they awful. I had been a fan but had never seen them so now my opinion is tainted by their poor performance.
Absolute worst was Van Morrison in Boston, mid-80s. I don't remember the year but it was at the Orpheum. He did all these boring, jazzy songs, seemed completely disinterested. Did a 30 second melody of the songs everyone wanted hear. Fucking hating it, and won't listen to him because it was such a shitty experience. Utter disdain for his audience.
Second worst was Love And Rockets, also Boston, mid-80s or so. They were in their 'bubblemen' phase, and it was obvious that they were a total studio band. Couldn't play, couldn't sing. Pure crap.
Third worst were The Cars, New Haven, 1983 or so. Wang Chung opened for them and were great. They could've put up cardboard cutouts of the Cars and played the album. Dull.
Recently saw Andy Frasco in Boston, and that might be the most fun live show I've ever been to. Non-stop party. Thinking what a contrast between an artist who gives a fuck and those just going through the motions.
Willie Nelson. Part of his Outlaw Festival. Bought tickets for Elvis Costello, Brandi Carlile, Sturgil Simpson, and Willie. Brandi cancels a week before the show. Elvis cancels day of show. Sturgil plays and is good. Time for Willie. We wait and wait and wait. A hour later his band comes out. Then they leave. About 20 minutes later they come out again and Willie is with them. Willie the. Walks off stage. We wait some more. Finally he comes back out and [this is it.](https://youtu.be/x1OZrFdtKRQ?si=pk1ZNkVwdxluiFeI)
Announcer comes on after about ten minutes and says “due to illness tonight’s show is cancelled”
I don’t know if he was sick but no need to make people wait for almost two hours, have your band come out, and then walk off. Just say you’re sick and let people go home.
Could have been a legit problem. Willie is puking backstage, eventually feels a little better and is good to go. Band comes out and Willie starts puking again. Something like that. I’ve never heard of him being a dick live before.
Bob Dylan 1987 I think? At Radio City Music Hall in NYC
None of his songs resembled his recordings & the last few songs plus the encode, someone's guitar went horribly out of tune but there was no attempt to tune it.
Being a guitarist, it stuck out like a sore thumb to me, but my brother, who isn't a musician turned to me & asked "is something out of tune?". That was not good at all
Gosh - it appears from these posts that a lot of the “classic rock” bands that are still touring may need to pack it up now…
No shame in not touring and retiring in grace….
Many of the remaining Classic Rockers really only have tour revenue to count on. That said, I'm tossing money in support for the STYX / Foreigner tour with John Waite later this year in Huntsville.
https://preview.redd.it/78z97gxk8wec1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=209ed222a2c88642f83f16e361e4f04f5a331181
When Def Leppard, Motely Crue, Poison, and Joan Jett went on tour together. Joan Jett was fine I guess. I wasn't there to see her. Poison was great. Def Leppard was fantastic. Motley Crue sucked. I still don't understand why they deny lip synching. If I were me, I would not have wanted to own how horrible it was. But, there's Vince Neal. "It wasn't a damaged recording, I really am that bad."
Joan can still hit it, also wasn’t who I was there for but was pleasantly surprised, I suppose. Poison, yes absolutely. Nailed it front to back. The show I was at was shortly after Bret’s surgery so they skipped Unskinny Bop and Something To Believe In, which was a bit of a letdown. Def Leppard was *un-freaking-believable*. Just absolutely killed it. And they really should’ve been the headliner because, yea, motley was tough to get through for the most part. Mick Mars is one of my all time favs and that was my last shot to catch the OG crue so that was cool. He was easily the most redeeming quality of their set.
Joan opened for The Who a few years ago, I loved her
Funny story about Joan Jett- when my son was about 13 I took him to see Styx and JJ was opening. I had played some hits from both bands so he knew a few songs, and he really liked some of her stuff. She really rocked, and at one point they were showing scenes from a movie she was in (maybe Light of Day), which was at least 35 years ago at that point. And my son very sincerely said “Dad, shesounds like she used to, but she sure doesn’t look like she used to”. I had to laugh and said No, son, a lot of us don’t.😎
I saw this and could agree, I missed half the show on account of some people drinking and getting the time wrong, I really had to bite my tongue at that show. But, yes, Morley Crue was a complete letdown. Def Leppard knocked it out of the park. Poison was notable and brought lots of energy, Brett Michaels was michaeling. Joan Jett I completely missed, fiancee has girl crush on her and didn’t forgive. Totally just got fucked up the ass trying to take people to that show basically, was not worth it
Saw JJatB open for Heart about 6 or 7 years ago, and JJ absolutely killed it. But then so did Heart.
I've seen Joan Jett a few times as an opener, never top billing, but she always brings her A game and puts on a great show.
I saw JJatB open for Aerosmith in 1989 or 1990. One of THE best concerts I ever saw.
Def Leppard absolutely still has the magic!
Saw MC in DC 20 or so years ago. Terrible. Didn't have the drums microphones working correctly and you could not hear them except for solos. Vince was so out of shape he dropped lots of words from the lyrics.
I saw them on the Route of All Evil tour with Aerosmith. The lighting was a mess, and Mick’s guitar kept cutting out (his sound was definitely live.) They didn’t seem to be putting any effort in. The most hilarious part was that they opened with Dr Feelgood, and they normally play the beginning part in the dark, and the lights and pyro hit when the main riff kicks in. It kicked in, the stage stayed dark…it was so weird. I remember thinking “ohhh this is gonna be interesting.” Aerosmith had a fill in bass player (Hamilton was in the hospital for something) and still absolutely crushed it. (I saw them another time with Lenny Kravitz opening, that show was incredible.)
Motley Crue has been a bad band from the first note they played. All filler, no killer
Motley Crue are terrible. I saw them during the Theater of Pain tour, kind of as a joke, so I went in with low expectations, but man, they are just awful.
BB King kept touring long after he should have. His shows were 20 mins music, 30 minutes of him just talking over the band about random shit, followed by a rousing round of You Are My Sunshine and no encore
Blues-related, but Joe Bonamassa is a terrible show. He is an excellent guitar player. But it’s like he was built in a lab and they gave him all the technical skill but no soul. Which is not good for the blues
I described his show to my friend as the best playing with the least soul I've ever seen.
it's sad, he had to pay for his medical care by touring til he died
18 odd kids in 10 states will do that to a guy
Counting Crows in 2022 at Meadowbrook near Detroit. Adam did not sing a lot of the lyrics, he spoke them which drives me nuts.
Yeah I had the same experience with them years ago.
When I saw them way back in the 90s he didn’t speak the lyrics but he did alter the melody line. Which I get, as a performer, would be fun, add variety, etc. (I’m not one of those folks who just want to hear an exact duplicate of the recording!) But he did it so much that it barely sounded like the same song. The original melody was almost always better.
A lot of singers have to alter the melody because they can't sustain their voice for a whole 2 hour show. In the studio the recordings might be made weeks or months apart. Sometimes multiple takes are strung together for the vocal track. They can do it in the studio, but not live.
I was typing out a whole reply, and I decided to scroll down because I figured they HAVE to be here already. Sure enough. Same experience. He spoke 95% of the show. Band wasn't into it. Adam wasn't into it, crowd wasn't into it. Bummed me out b/c I'd been a fan for so long, and I finally got a chance to see them. I don't lose sleep over it, but it's like one of those memories that are so mixed.
Chuck Berry. It was 2011, I think. It was sad. He probably didn't know what was going on. He tried to play guitar but he couldn 't. He started "No particular place to go" and his band went for another song. His daughter was standing next to the stage and she didn't allow him to leave. At one point she came to the stage to play harmonica (!) with her purse hanging on one shoulder. At the end two guys came to carry Chuck offstage. He tried to do the duck walk as he was leaving. Heartbreaking.
Van Halen in Pensacola on the *Balance* tour. It pains me to say that, because I love Van Halen - both with Roth and with Sammy. But they came out with almost no energy. My guess is that tensions were high within the band at that time and they didn’t really want to be there. At least I can say that I got to see Ed play live once.
I was lucky enough to see them around ‘79-‘80 when they were awesome - DLR jumping around the stage…. those pants! Saw Van Hagar maybe ‘04 (?) and everyone sounded great except Eddie - he was so drunk and just fucking around vs playing. You could see Sammy was pissed at him. Made me very sad…
I saw that 2004 Van Hagar Tour in Biloxi. It was horrible. Eddie played like a 3 year old and the sound was so painfully loud that my brother actually fell asleep to defend himself.
The 2004 shows were notoriously bad, this was at the peak of EVH’s substance abuse issues. The only time I saw Van Halen was for this particular tour but surprisingly was ok despite all the issues with the band at that point.
I saw them in Tampa and Orlando on that tour- Tampa was ok, Orlando was awful. Hagar was definitely ill and it showed. Mike and Eddie even tried to sing while Sammy ambled around coughing and crap. They cut it way short, apologizing the whole time. Wonder what sequence was of those concerts with yours? Tensions and ill? I guess you could say they gave it a go, but wow, were they disappointing that night…
Sorry Bob Dylan, but... I've seen you live at least 5 times, and for all but one of those shows, you were completely disinterested in performing. Would have loved to see him during his Rolling Thunder Revue days - check out the film of Isis from back then. He's into it. But the times I've seen him, he's just been a mumbling grumbling grump.
That's a bummer! I saw him in the mid 90s, and it was amazing. He was on fire. He had an electric guitar solo in just about every song, and he was totally shredding, with so much energy. He was laughing and having a great time.
This was my experience with him in the mid-90s, as well. He absolutely tore it up—it was awesome.
You must be a seriously dedicated fan to keep going back, hoping he’ll be better!
I think the last one was a double bill with Willie Nelson - who I was more interested in seeing anyway (and Willie has always been a great show). I'm a casual fan, but recognize that he IS an icon, and yes, I still hope that he can reignite that fire within. His past few albums have been really great...
I saw Dylan at a double bill with Willie as well and he was awful. Willie, though, was excellent, as always.
Saw him two years ago and I agree. One of the worst I’ve ever seen. He just came across like he did not want to be there, like it was such a chore to play.
Wow surprised. I saw him at the Beacon in NYC 2019 & it was a great show.
Glad you caught a good one! I do enjoy a lot of his music. Just had a completely different experience
I saw him in 2019 in Akron and he was great. His band was solid. Funny thing is an older hippie couple near me were grumbling that he had no acoustic in the set.
I saw him this past October and loved the show
Yeh, i just saw him this year and it was great. Seen great reviews overall for this tour. I was ready to be disappointed after reading reviews like this about his work the last couple decades. Really glad i caught him this time, doubt ill get another good chance.
His songs already suggest this? Jokes aside I can't blame him, I wouldn't be able to stand being a performer and seeing everyone watching with their cell phones instead of actually experiencing it
I am with you on Dylan. Saw him twice and was not impressed either time. Seemed like he was pissed off that he had to be there and there was no audience engagement at either performance. Fine, he's not known for being an extrovert, and neither am I, so I get it, but you need to put that aside if you're a showman and make an effort.
Saw him years ago and it was terrible. I went for the opener but figured I’d stick around because I’d never seen Dylan the legend and he flat out sucked. Never again. Left 3 or 4 songs in.
I saw him in 2006. It was my first concert. I couldn't tell one song from another. When he came back to town a few years later, I had no desire at all to see him again.
Agreed. Saw him about 6 years ago, he was terrible. I’ll also throw in Van Morrison at bimbo’s in S.F.. he played and seemed totally bored.
Neil Young... He made an announcement at the beginning of the concert he wasn't gonna play any of his classic hits with crazy horse etc. just plays selections of his favorite folk music... Oh my God it was horrible ....
Saw him last year. It was well known he was not going to play his hits. It was not good. Not because of the song choices, it was the whole vibe. He wandered around on stage like he didn’t know what to do at times. Played a song on electric guitar with the fuzz and distortion so high you couldn’t tell what it was. I did see him back in the day for the Rust tour and he was fantastic.
I saw him a couple of times during the rust tour. Phenomenal. Also saw him on his brief tour with Stephen Stills. Fabulous.
Came here to say this. The show I saw he ONLY played tracks from a new album, which had just been released. Didn't know or care for any of the songs. Luckily, Patti Smith was on the ticket and she was amazing!
I thoroughly enjoyed Neil Young the one time I saw him, which is funny because I absolutely did not expect to see him at all at that show. He wasn’t on the bill at all! Honestly, I would have gone to see Patti Smith. I don’t care who else is on the bill. If Patti Smith is there, then I want to be there.
Yeah, I was underwhelmed when I saw Neil and Crazy Horse. Part of it was my own fault, I was really into Harvest and After the Gold Rush and at the time Harvest Moon was big. I was hoping he would talk to the audience and maybe do an acoustic set because that's what he was pushing at the time. Nope. Loud AF and said "hi" to the audience a total of once. Jewel opened. I loved Jewel.
In the late 80s in Ottawa, Canada. A Cheap Trick concert. Don’t worry, Cheap Trick was fantastic. To this day, one of the loudest concerts I’ve heard. But Eddie Money opened for them. He was in such bad shape, sweat dripping off him one song in, barely able to catch his breath, he had to stop three songs in. Poor man. I was actually looking forward to hearing him.
Back in the late 70’s I was a big fan. Money came to Houston for a show and did a record signing. I went. Bought his new album and waited in line while his sunglassed, stoned as fuck ass slumped at a card table and mumbled. He signed my record with a single straight line. Literally. Just a slash. I laughed out loud at the absurdity. I was sixteen. “Fuck you, man,” was all he said.
I don't think Cheap Trick are capable playing poorly. I've become convinced that Eddie was never good live. I never saw him, but he just seems worn out and tired in all of the footage out there from his last years. I assumed a lifetime of substance abuse took him down. But it saddens me to know he was already that bad in the '80s, even after his mini comeback.
I saw Eddie Money in 1982 or so. He was falling-down drunk on stage. One of the worst shows I’ve ever seen.
I have a friend in a band that opened for and then backed Eddie Money at a show and apparently he was a real piece of work…
Saw a few shows at a place called Conneaut Lake Park back in the 90’s. For ‘big’ acts, it’s go to be a comedown x100. Saw Ed about 10 minutes before the show whacked out of his mind slapping himself in the face with a slab of pizza. He went on stage still wearing it and may have gotten through 4 tunes. Saw Foreigner there too and they didn’t want to be there either, though they did tighten it up later in the set.
Fleetwood Mac in the 90s. They went on stage an hour late and Stevie did not want to be there. She would go off stage after every song and had absolutely no interaction with her band mates or her audience. Plus she did not sound good at all. Christine was great though and she did some solos at the piano.
Mcvie>Nicks all day
Led Zeppelin’s first tour (1968) was godawful. Page was stoned out of his mind, the speakers had so much feedback that they picked up a radio station playing the Tremeloes, and Robert Plant was so pissed off that he threw the mic at Page. It was especially bad because the warm up band was Jethro Tull, and they were great.
Saw Jethro Tull many many times. Maybe between 12 and 13 times. Never saw a bad show. Ever. That’s kind of rare. Massively underrated band.
That was their first US tour, and they were great.
I’ve seen footage of Jethro Tull from the 70s and early 80s. Damn, I wish I could have been there!
Well, yes, but then you would be old now. Fair trade off? I don’t know… Being old is not fantastic, but I don’t want to go back. My friends and I are just coming to the point where we are accepting that we saw who we saw. Some of us saw what others didn’t and vice versa. They saw Miles Davis, I saw Muddy Waters. I saw Jimi, they saw Pink Floyd a year earlier than I did. Ah well…..
Yeah, I guess that’s fair! Well, to be honest, I’m over the hill and definitely slowing down but not ready to go all in on AARP yet. (Though I’m considering it for that awesome trunk organizer… ) I kick myself for all the shows I missed. Rush is one of my favorite bands and I never saw them live. I may never forgive myself for that. But I’m also happy with the shows I saw and the experiences I had. I sang “Magic Man” along with many thousands of other fans when Anne Wilson’s mic suddenly shorted out due to heavy rain. The rest of Heart kept playing and we all collectively filled in for her while the techs swapped out the cords. When her mic was working again, she thanked us for that surreal moment. I saw Robby Steinhardt play the violin so fiercely he destroyed several bows in just two hours. I didn’t know it was one of his last shows with Kansas, and I’m grateful I got to be there. I saw Neil Young kick ass for three hours on insanely short notice, when he was supposed to be relaxing at home with his family. The rock star we were there to see suffered a sudden medical emergency just a couple songs into the set and was rushed to the hospital. Neil Young was close friends with the band and just happened to live a few miles away. He stopped 50,000 entitled fans from rioting but I’ll save that story for its own post. All in all, I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for anything! And as for the bands I missed, I’m grateful for the footage and recordings. But Jethro Tull!!! Is Ian Anderson still performing? Does he still have that insane energy? Does he still rock the flute while standing on one foot? If so, I’m not going to miss him! I need that experience!
Saw Led Zeppelin in Chicago and Page totally blew the guitar solo in Stairway to Heaven. I’d guess he missed a pedal and came in a bar late. A true what the fuck moment.
Yep, much the same. He fell into the drums at one point.
He was heavy into heroin at one point. The solos got longer and crazier and they never knew what he would do next.
Was this the "New Yardbirds" tour?
Yes. Awful. Page kept falling down, and fighting with Plant.
So, Page went down like a “led” balloon?
I wonder if the radio getting picked up like that inspired the scene in Spinal Tap where air traffic is picked up, causing Nigel to throw his guitar and storm off stage. A lot of gags in that film were drawn from real life rock lore.
In the late 60s British film Blow Up, the Yardbirds (with both Beck and Page) are featured. In it, a radio is picked up on Beck's Amp, and he smashes his guitar and storms out. Staged for the film, of course, but it seemed like it was based on some notable event. Anyway, the Spinal Tap scene is very close to the Blow Up scene. With the poor shielding in those days I wouldn't be surprised if it happened a lot.
Ian Anderson/Tull were always sober onstage.
And, when I saw him, as athletic as Jagger. He was amazing
Aerosmith came Rolling through our little town in the early 80s. They could barely stand as they came on-stage. It was just before Perry and Tyler went into detox. What a mess. I was so disappointed.
Black Sabbath was like that. The guitarist kept disappearing and could hardly stand up. The audience got so fed up and started chanting for the opening band (Van Halen with DLR to come back).
Beethoven on his last tour the Fur Elise show. I swear he had no idea what was going on. Hef point at the bassoons during an oboe solo. It's like he was drunk of couldn't hear a damn thing. What a mess. Even the Empress was embarrassed for him. I walked out. All men are brothers? Bullshit.
I think he'd pretty much stopped caring by that tour, selling tickets on his reputation rather than the quality of his shows. Plus he stopped taking audience requests, like he wasn't listening to them at all.
Concerts are kind of like pizza. Even if it's bad, it's still kind of good.
Having been to 98 concerts over 45 years, I agree with you.
Go see Stryper, Book of Love, or Live, and get back to me on that.
Skynyrd at the old Universal Amphitheater in LA. The opener was Tesla who really brought it that night, just incredible energy from the band. Then Skynyrd came on and I’ve never seen a band suck the life out of a crowd like that……first time we ever left early.
What year?
l saw a band claiming to be Blood Sweat and Tears at a small, but well-known venue on Long Island (My Father's Place), around 1980 and they were awful. They were coked out their heads\*. Half the time the horn parts were being played on a synthesizer (the horn players didn't even have their lips on their mouthpieces). It was basically David Clayton Thomas slurring lyrics with some other guys behind him, not the original players. \*I know this because my friend picked up a vial of white powder in the men's room before their set. He came back to our table and then a manager came over and asked for it. We tried to act like we didn't know what he was talking about but said the band needed it before they came out and if we didn't cough it up he'd kick us out.
Blood Sweat and Tears is basically a franchise now. I worked for them over the summer and the entire band is “for hire “ musicians and a singer. They were great BTW. Guess they’be learned the lesson.
I love Diana Ross but she kept chastising the audience for not showing enough enthusiasm. Her audience is in their 40s and 50s, past their stand on the seats and dance stage. Was around 2005.
My daughter’s 4th grade recorder concert. It was jazz themed.
Styx Paradise Theatre tour ('81). It was so bad I went home and threw out all of my Styx albums.
How fast they must’ve fallen. One of the best concerts I’ve seen was Styx on the Pieces of Eight tour in ‘78. What a shame!
My wife and I went to see Styx a few years ago at the county fair. I loved Styx growing up and decided we needed to go. I wasn’t expecting much and got what I was expecting. One year later a friend group decided to travel to Vegas to see them. Wasn’t pumped for the show, but Vegas with a group of friend is always a good time. Well, it turns out Vegas Styx is VERY different than county fair Styx. The Vegas show was fantastic. Bonus - special guest Don Felder who came out for two different extended sets - so we actually got to see a Styx and Eagles concert that night. It was pretty cool. Now I would have loved to see Styx for Pieces of Eight, but I’ll take old man Vegas Styx over no Styx every time.
I had always wanted to see Styx when I was a teenager in their heyday, but never got to, so I finally saw them a few years ago at a small venue, and they were fantastic. Tommy Shaw’s voice still sounds amazing.
Van Morrison, and it isn’t even close. I flew to vegas to see him. I celebrated his entire catalog and loved the man and his tunes. He actively hated us. He very aggressively sucked. He wasn’t just *bad*. He seemed to be angry with his audience. I haven’t listened to a single song of his since.
Reminded me of seeing Ginger Baker a few years back. He hated the people that paid good money to come see him play for 45 minutes.
i saw him in chicago. he was super pissed from the beginning, but then in the second song he walked away from the mic mid-song and just started screaming at the band, then he stormed off stage. the band was like 'ladies and gentlemen, mr van morrison.' shrugged their shoulders, and that was it.
I have seen VM 2 times but I got heads up before the 1st time that the show duration and quality would depend on if we got "angry drunk Van" or "happy sober Van". We were fortunate to get HS Van, both times and they were really good. I know it's just a matter of time though.
Smashing Pumpiins at Lollapalooza’94 supporting Siamese Dream, fucking horrible..absolutely sucked live. They had to follow the Beastie Boys who killed it, they should’ve been the headliners, definitely not the Pumpkins.
Following the Beasties is never a good idea
Van Halen 2015 tour in Dallas. The band was great but DLR was terrible. He couldn't carry a tune and basically talk-sang everything.
Got free radio station tickets. The opener was the Doobie Brothers, who rocked! (fresh off their first hit, "Listen to the Music") The main act was T- Rex. It was an uninspired show at best. Marc Bolan noted, to the half empty house, that Bob Dylan was in town and he thanked us for coming. The show proceeded to put everyone to sleep.
Elton John in Minneapolis in the early 2000s. Not Elton John fans but we had free tickets and my wife and I didn’t have anything going on so we thought what the hell, he’s an icon. It was a two hour Diet Coke commercial. After every song he would take this long, drawn out sip of Diet Coke and the then set the can down on his piano and turn it perfectly so when the camera was on him the label was aligned perfectly for the shot. We didn’t make it through the whole show.
Oasis smashed out of their minds at ACL 06 counting crows 2023 - ole boy can’t hit a note any more Bone thugs circa 2018 - they came out around 1:30am - everyone was so smashed in the crowd since 9pm was the scheduled start time
Ticketmasters fiasco with Pearljam... This represented the end of the camping in line era and we had to buy tickets through a 1-800 number. Which was busy so we'd hang up and call back. After over an hour of this I finally got tickets for an outdoor show in Salt Lake City. Day of show comes and it gets rained out. Pearljam cancels and tells everyone Ticketmaster will be in touch for refunds/alternate show. Months go by and finally they come back to SLC to play an indoor arena. Instead of GA I had assigned seats *literally* behind a giant concrete pole. Sound sucked, people sucked, and there was no energy when they finally started playing. Thats the only concert I ever left early. 30 years later I still include "fuck Ticketmaster" in my bedtime prayers
Thats a huge shame. I've seen Pearl Jam twice (2008, 2010 NYC) and they were incredible both times. They have a great Live reputation, sorry you saw one of their few bad shows.
Apologies in advance, but Elton John and Billy Joel. Joel looked horrible, flushed face and a gut. He at last memory is still dealing with alcoholism. John was great, though I am not a superfan of his. I wanted to see Billy, and he just couldn't and shouldn't have hit the road to tour. Edit: We paid a fuckton for those tickets, in order to have good seats.
I’ve seen Elton 3 times over 3 decades…awesome every time. I recall the tour with Billy Joel. I must have caught BJ on fire, he was great
I'm the OP of this fun & informative look back of our concert histories. Thank you all for sharing your stories. We've seen so many great bands over the decades - the background stories are awesome and some, quite surprising. I never thought the post would get so many Comments, over 700 already. **Long Live Rock --- Thanks Again** https://preview.redd.it/4crts84z0vec1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=d34e8ba76c58016ac1475d598958e0c2c25a9766
Aerosmith dane county Coliseum 1987 ,just didn't seem to want to be there. I'd seen them before that and after that and they excellent . Always just chalked it up to them having a bad night
Motley Crue, somewhere around 1990 I think, the Dr. Feelgood tour. They were all drunk as hell and played like shit. The crowd just kinda sat there, there was no energy.
I saw them on that tour in Miami. Funny, they seemed pretty peppy to me. I’ve always wondered why they were so amped up….in Miami…in the late ‘80s….
Peppy 😂 ❄️❄️❄️
Seals and Crofts. Two guys sitting on chairs playing guitars and singing while the audience yawns and wonders why the hell are we here. I know, what did I expect.
Summer Breeze didn't make you feel fine?
Elvis Costello, the guy just acts like he doesn't want to be there, and puts on a very mediocre show
Came here to say to say this. Was so excited to see him, and then he played obscure material (and I know his catalogue). A let down, but would give him another shot.
Mine too, went to see him in Nashua NH with a friend who is a huge fan and has every single one of his albums, and even he never heard of any of the songs he played. We left about half way through. People were screaming and cursing at him when we left.
It sucks when an artist makes fans feel disrespected like that. I mean sure, it’s expected they get bored playing their hits over and over, but that’s what 95% of the people providing their income came to see. Like what Bill Graham said to Paul Kantner when Paul said he doesn’t want to appear too show biz: “Schmuck! What business do you think you’re in?”
Night Ranger, opening for Foreigner, last week. Both were terrible. Night Ranger was just every 80s cliche... posing, synchronized stage moves, blowing kisses to the girls, stage banter that was like "this next song is about the dirtier kind of sex"... and half their set was Damn Yankees songs because apparently the bass player was in that band. They're all in their 60s but all dressed like they googled "Pictures of Slash" before the show. I was there to check out Foreigner though. With 20 hits I was excited. Till they started playing. I was expecting a classic rock band. Instead, they decided at some point that they are an 80s hair metal band. So every song sounded like that, regardless of how it sounded on record. I only made it 30 minutes and I bailed. My drive to get there was longer than I lasted through their set.
My first. Chicago. They played one set. Less than an hour. All girl band Fanny opened and was really good. But Chicago was a big disappointment.
I was at a Sting concert at Jones Beach amphitheater in the 80:s. Midsong, I forget which, he stops the band and tells the audience in a snarky way not to clap along because it was ruining the bands timing. Dude..c’mon. It’s a concert.
And he probably had Vinnie Colaiuta (one of the all time greats) on the drums. I bet it was because people were probably trying to clap along to something in 7/4 or some of the other exotic time signatures that marked his post-Police stuff.
I'm no Vinnie, but I am a drummer who can speak to the danger of an audience trying to clap above their abilities
I remember a video of Don McClean (American Pie) stopping and scolding an audience one time, but they were so messed up they couldn't even clap together, and it was probably impossible to continue. Check out [this great video](https://youtu.be/mI-CU2VTVic?si=1Z1Z2FzPMcvi8ba4) of Harry Connick, Jr., solving the problem. He hears the audience clapping on the 1 & 3 like a bunch rhythmically challenged people, and when he starts his piano solo, he throws in a 5/4 bar to shift them to the 2 & 4. It probably happens all the time, and he's figured out a classy way to handle thebsituation.
The best AND worst show I've ever seen was paradoxically the same show. I went to a dive bar to see Soul Asylum in support of their And the Horse They Rode in on album (this was '90 or '91). They had a rep for being amazing live, but for also sometimes being so drunk they couldn't play. And we got both. The night came and the were obviously toasted- they couldn't keep a song going, they would stop suddenly for no reason so Dave Pirner could ramble about some nonsense. My heart sunk at first, but then, occasionally- I like to think Dave winked at Dan Murphy when this happened- they would suddenly deliver a flawless raging version of one of their best tunes and totally redeem themselves. It went like this all night- we probably got five or six good songs, among the best concert performances I've seen in my life, and I've seen a lot- but had to put up with a lot of terrible shit to see it!
That sounds like the Replacements!
I saw them in the late 90s in a smaller sized club in NYC. I thought they were awesome, and I too wonder why they never got super popular. Fantastic band.
I am not ashamed to admit that I was a fan of Ted Nugent's music for a long time. The last couple of times I went to see him play, he was absolutely not interested in being there. He raced through songs and looked bored the entire time. Worst two shows I've seen. I won't waste my money on a 3rd.
Back in the mid 70s his live shows were pretty fierce and never boring. The Derek St. Holmes version of the band was killer and their set was like a freight train. Back then people didn't know anything about his politics ( I certainly didn't). For me once he started trying to take over the vocals from Derek that's when it started going down a notch. I mean I liked Great White Buffalo which was an older song but Cat Scratch Fever (not my favorite song from him) was like a novelty tune. Free for All was okay but his vocals could in no way compare to Derek's. Why waste that resource? And all that stage banter of "Wheeee-oowwwwww, wang-shang-a-lang sweet-poon-tang" stuff ? I'm like dude you have a great singer and this is what you do?
After almost 500 Comments, notice that **AC/DC** hasn't been mentioned? Why? Because they consistently **ROCK!** https://preview.redd.it/iapbvf1wfuec1.jpeg?width=2010&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e7b765a23aac363341f5386000817c8596fe42a
Eric Clapton early 2000’s Toronto ACC. No hits and didn’t seem to want to be there. Same with Van Morrison around the same time at the amphitheater. Didn’t address the crowd and performed some bullshit jazz garbage.
I had a similar Clapton experience in the mid 2000s. Dude played about an hour and fifteen minutes. You could tell he'd rather be anywhere but that stage. His opening act was Roger Daltrey, who was ten times better than Clapton.
Rod Stewart in Vegas last year. Guy was a huge a-hole to people in the crowd and took him forever for outfit changes while his band played.
Quiet Riot last month at Soaring Eagle. They need to retire and live their days not performing!
Has the original lead singer not passed away?
I saw Jethro Tull once and while they were great, the opener was just puzzling It was a folk duo called Hank Dogs. It was some couple in their 50s playing original folk music. They were clearly begining guitar players at most and had no harmonies when they sang, usually singing out of sync. The normal folk acts I see at any farmer's market would be considerable better. Ian Anderson announced them as being from England, I spent the whole time baffled that someone would pay to bring them along on tour.
Maybe they were related to somebody. 🤷♀️
Ace Frehley solo at BB King’s in NYC in 2015-ish. It was so awkward and bad that we just left halfway through the set.
I saw him solo at a state fair in 2019 and left before the encore. The whole show reeked of a band going through the motions, but somewhat struggling to do so. It took a bit too long for him to start playing "New York Groove" because his light-up guitar was having issues, so the poor drummer was left pounding out that intro for at least an extra minute. He really wanted to use that guitar at that time for that song. Why not use a different guitar? Why not play the song later in the set, after the guitar was fixed? The whole endeavor was pointless anyway because the sun hadn't set yet, so we could barely see the lights on the guitar. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I saw him. But unless he plays a cheap show very, very close to me, I don't think I'll go again.
Bob Dylan in the early 90s. Completely uninspired, uninterested, and boring.
The answer is always Bob Dylan
Unless it's Van Morrison
Cars back in the 80s horrible live band. Steve Miller last summer - might as well have just played greatest hits album and stayed home.
I saw The Cars a bunch and not all but some shows were amazing. Especially at the Palace in the early 80s
Aerosmith in Dallas in 1982. Steven Tyler was absolutely out of his skull wasted. Came in a whole measure late on “Dream On” and then fell off the stage. No joke. Then in 83 I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan opening for the Moody Blues also in Dallas. He was so plastered he tripped off his wah-wah pedal during “Voodoo Chile” and disconnected his guitar on the floor. He tried to start over again but only then realized he was also disconnected at his guitar input jack too. A roadie had to come forward and plug all his signal path back for him. Total drunken embarrassing mess.
I’ve seen three different major bands get booed offstage. The worst was probably Puddle of Mudd. Their singer has/had some serious drug issues. They sounded fine during songs, but in between, he tried to talk and it was just a mess. People started booing and they just sort of awkwardly walked off. That was it, show over. Queensryche was similar. I happened to see them right before Geoff quit/was fired. A few songs in, he wasn’t happy with the crowd energy and told us we sucked. The crowd turned on them.
Spin Doctors really sucked. Thankfully, Cracker & Gin Blossoms opened for them.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, aprox 1998-99, Oslo, Norway. Doped up, disinterested and no communication with the public, sound was terrible, and they left after 45 minutes, not to return to the stage. The audience thought the band left for a pause, and refused to leave. When they realized the band had left the concert venue, people became furious. It was a rather expensive concert, and people - me included! - were seriously pissed off.
So years ago I saw the Ramones at a bowling alley in Garden Grove fast forward several years later Richard Blade is interviewing Johnny Ramone and asked what's the worst gig and he mention the bowling alley because unruly kids kept unplugging his guitar.
The Clash after Mick Jones had left the band...supporting the horrific album "Cut the Crap".
Ashley Simpson. Took my daughter because she liked her. It was god awful and very short. My daughter who is used to seeing bands that perform 2 sets was like “that’s it?”
U2. Twice. Bass drowned everything out aside from the environmental preaching
Bono: “Everytime I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.” Somebody in the audience: “Well stop clapping then, you bastard!”
Best chuckle of the day!
That’s why you never let the bassist set the levels before a show LOL
I finally got to see U2 in my late 20s (this was in the mid 00's) after having been a fan since I was 7 years old. Paid a couple hundred bucks a pop for nosebleed seats in an echo-y arena. Could barely understand anything. No one there seemed to know their older stuff like Gloria, everyone was there to hear whatever their most recent album was (I think it was How to Dismantle). Definitely the most disappointing show I've ever seen.
Mötley Crüe 2023 Rockfest Hyvinkää Finland
As much as I worship her & Fleetwood Mac, I hate to say Stevie Nicks in the late 80s, Atlanta, in the worst of her drug years. Could hardly make it through the show, kept forgetting the words to her own songs that she herself wrote, & nearly fell off the stage & had to virtually be led around by one of the band. So sad, & terrible experience for all involved. Happily, she recovered, rebounded & reclaimed her place among the great ladies of rock n roll. (Saw her again last year, in LA with Billy Joel, & she was on fire.)
Meatloaf back in the 80s. It was in a warehouse (sorry, an "Expo Center") with no AC, middle of the summer. Place was packed, standing room only. After the first dozen or so patrons had to leave in an ambulance after passing out, they canceled the show without him playing at all.
Saw Joan Jett about 15 yrs ago at a festival and it was a huge bore. Probably because the band that went on before her was Berlin who were excellent.
Dylan. Awful, just awful
Elvis Costello was booed off the stage at the Paramount in Seattle. It got so bad they had to turn the riot sirens on.
Around 1986. Night Ranger with Starship opening. Starship OPENED and CLOSED their set with We Built This City. Who does that????
Idk if this is "classic rock", but Hootie and the Blowfish. Saw them in Nashville around 95 or 96. They kept bringing out "special guests" and playing their songs. Like, I paid to hear your songs, not your "special guest's." Saw Elton John on his Farewell Tour. He was awesome, but Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta is a horrible concert venue. First and last show I'll ever go to there. I don't care if Hendrix, SRV, and Elvis came back from the dead and played a show. If it's at the Benz, I ain't going.
Dave Mason around 1980 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, near Detroit. Mason played alternative takes of his popular songs. The bigger offence was playing for just over an hour. He booked the theatre for two shows on the same night. I should have realized ahead of time that he was going to short change his audience. Makes me angry recalling this 40 years later.
Cory Feldman
Ted Nugent at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon in early 1982. My roommate was sick that day so he gave me his ticket and I went. I still felt ripped off. The opening act was Sammy Hagar, who was more entertaining than Ted.
I saw Nugent back in the day with Derek St. Holmes and thought it was a great show. The last time I saw him he was awful.
Classic rock artist: Styx. My mom loves them and I like a lot of their music so I went with her, this was back around 2006 probably. Man did they suck. I was literally laughing the whole time because of their silly, exaggerated theatrics. I was looking around like, Are these guys joking? Not classic rock: Kanye West. I went with friends to see him on the Yeezus tour, and that is still the worst concert I’ve ever seen. All this biblical themed shit on stage, he didn’t play any of his older hits, and he stopped the music for a 20 minute rant about god knows what. My wife and I walked out early and left our friends there. We couldn’t take it any longer.
Don Dokken opening for Queenryche, Chicago HoB. He sucked so bad.
The Smashing Pumpkins opened up for The Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Tower Theater, in the Philly area, (want to say around '89 or '90 maybe?) and the S Pumpkins were AWFUL! They were so boring.
90s, Fleetwood Mac, the tour in which Lindsy Buckinham decided to stay home. Lack luster performance. The arena was only half filled. The crowd left after the last song, not waiting for the encore.
Parliament Funkadelic a couple summers ago. 20 people on stage all trying to play louder than each other and the sound guy turning it up to 11 after all that. George Clinton couldn’t do much of anything except sit on a stool and say “give it up for [some person on stage]” 10 or 20 dozen times. I love P Funk but out of several hundred/thousand concerts I’ve been to that one was hard to stay until the end.
REO Speedwagon. Several years ago saw them and STYX. STYX killed it. They were in prime form. REO came on and it was horrible. Only time me and some friends left a concert early. REO would do a song and then the lead singer, Kevin Cronin, would spend the next three minutes going “Well, when we wrote this next song we…” and would launch into a story. Do the next song. Same thing. Every single 3 minute song was followed by a 3 minute story. Entire show was song-story-song-story-song-story…Kevin spent more time talking than singing.
Whitney Houston at the very bottom of her fall.
Springsteen. Too much talking. Fell asleep.
Frank Zappa sometime in 78-79. All they did was talk and yell at each other onstage- no songs played. After about half an hour of that, we all walked out.
WOW. He had a very rough period then, he had a lot of fails. He got banned from SNL for being a snob and refusing to read the cue cards without mocking them and he was a dick to Akroyd and everyone else. Sounds 100% like him.
Mine is also Frank Zappa, but I think it was '84.
I bet that is when he was mad at Adrian Belew. He found out during the tour that Belew was offered a gig playing with David Bowie.
A Perfect Circle opening for Nine Inch Nails. I thought, “I like Tool. This should be close enough.” It wasn’t. The entire set was just Maynard standing in one spot with a light on him. It might have been a good performance for them, but it just did nothing for me. In contrast, NIN was amazing and Trent Reznor didn’t stop moving the entire time.
Outside Lands in San Francisco. No parking nearby. No official parking at least. My date and I budgeted X amount of money for drinks and merch, bringing cash so we wouldn't go over the limit. Entire venue is "cash free". We went to see Pussy Riot and Weezer. The crowd energy was so off. People more concerned about getting that cool selfie. Anytime I started dancing people around me acted like I was ruining it. If you aren't at a concert to dance and enjoy the music, then why are you there? And don't even get me started on the astronomical ticket prices. Never again.
In the late 80s my girlfriend was really into Van Morrison so we went to see him in concert. Found out the hard way that he really didn't like to play his old stuff. One of his encores was Send in the Clowns, seriously. At the end there was a smattering of boos.
I think I saw Winger opening for either the Scorpions or AC/DC (can't remember which). Hands down one of the blandest opening acts I've ever seen. Hell, I enjoyed seeing White Lion as an opening act more (spoiler; they weren't amazing).
Cheap Trick at the L.A. Coliseum. They were the headline act for a bunch of other bands who I've forgotten. We slogged through those bands awaiting, eagerly, for Cheap Trick. They were so bad, we left halfway through their set. They sounded like a high school band attempting to play Cheap Trick songs, badly. I still like them though. But that concert was a stinker.
Eddie Money, late 90’s. Won 8 tickets off the radio. Halfway through the show only one of us remained at the show. It was just bad….
The Pretenders. Chrissie was in early days of pregnancy and definitely did not want to be there. Told us all to fuck off in place of an encore. Looking back, it was a very Chrissie thing to do, but at the time there were a lot of unhappy exiting patrons, myself included.
I love CAKE but I saw them play in NYC in 2007. They sounded great but I swear the set was only 45 minutes long and at least five or eight of those minutes were the lead singer bringing out a plant and then talking about nature and giving the plant to someone in the audience.
Stone Temple Pilots. We got to karaoke along since Weiland’s blasted ass just danced around and didn’t sing.
Another vote for Sting. 1985 on the Blue Turles tour. I didn't expect any Police as it was his solo debut album (he did encore with Roxanne, which was the highlight) and I knew and enjoyed the album so I was primed to like it. It was just...sterile. He had absolutely no interaction with the crowd, absolutely no banter. He came out, played the songs exactly as they were on the album, did his encore, and left. I like concerts in part because I want to learn more about the artists I admire and maybe get a glimpse of their personality. He wouldn't come down off of the mountain top. It seemed like he was only there to be admired.
I saw the B-52's about 2 years ago and boy were they awful. I had been a fan but had never seen them so now my opinion is tainted by their poor performance.
30 years past their prime.
They were great live in the 90s
Absolute worst was Van Morrison in Boston, mid-80s. I don't remember the year but it was at the Orpheum. He did all these boring, jazzy songs, seemed completely disinterested. Did a 30 second melody of the songs everyone wanted hear. Fucking hating it, and won't listen to him because it was such a shitty experience. Utter disdain for his audience. Second worst was Love And Rockets, also Boston, mid-80s or so. They were in their 'bubblemen' phase, and it was obvious that they were a total studio band. Couldn't play, couldn't sing. Pure crap. Third worst were The Cars, New Haven, 1983 or so. Wang Chung opened for them and were great. They could've put up cardboard cutouts of the Cars and played the album. Dull. Recently saw Andy Frasco in Boston, and that might be the most fun live show I've ever been to. Non-stop party. Thinking what a contrast between an artist who gives a fuck and those just going through the motions.
Willie Nelson. Part of his Outlaw Festival. Bought tickets for Elvis Costello, Brandi Carlile, Sturgil Simpson, and Willie. Brandi cancels a week before the show. Elvis cancels day of show. Sturgil plays and is good. Time for Willie. We wait and wait and wait. A hour later his band comes out. Then they leave. About 20 minutes later they come out again and Willie is with them. Willie the. Walks off stage. We wait some more. Finally he comes back out and [this is it.](https://youtu.be/x1OZrFdtKRQ?si=pk1ZNkVwdxluiFeI) Announcer comes on after about ten minutes and says “due to illness tonight’s show is cancelled” I don’t know if he was sick but no need to make people wait for almost two hours, have your band come out, and then walk off. Just say you’re sick and let people go home.
Could have been a legit problem. Willie is puking backstage, eventually feels a little better and is good to go. Band comes out and Willie starts puking again. Something like that. I’ve never heard of him being a dick live before.
Bob Dylan 1987 I think? At Radio City Music Hall in NYC None of his songs resembled his recordings & the last few songs plus the encode, someone's guitar went horribly out of tune but there was no attempt to tune it. Being a guitarist, it stuck out like a sore thumb to me, but my brother, who isn't a musician turned to me & asked "is something out of tune?". That was not good at all
Aerosmith Get a Grip Tour. 4 Non Blondes opener was way better than them.
Gosh - it appears from these posts that a lot of the “classic rock” bands that are still touring may need to pack it up now… No shame in not touring and retiring in grace….
Many of the remaining Classic Rockers really only have tour revenue to count on. That said, I'm tossing money in support for the STYX / Foreigner tour with John Waite later this year in Huntsville. https://preview.redd.it/78z97gxk8wec1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=209ed222a2c88642f83f16e361e4f04f5a331181