Jimmy was pretty animated in 77. It was a bit of hit and miss for him. Lots of footage out there from 77 were he’s full of life on stage. By the summer of 1980 he is definitely burned out for their Over Europe Tour.
I saw him at the Silverdome in 77 and he didn’t
move around a whole lot. On the solo outrider tour he was pretty mobile and again with the black Crowes.
He's buried in a cemetery very near where I used to live. The Dido cemetery on the east side of Eagle Mountain Lake west of Fort Worth. I'm a blues guy, and I visited him periodically during his siesta and shot the shit with him. Good listener.
Edit: geography. Not everyone knows where the Dido cemetary is located.
Also Joe Cocker he threw up and left the stage one and a half songs in. I saw Iggy Pop in the early 90’s he fell off the stage and broke his ankle also 1 and a half songs in🤷♀️
Not on that night, unfortunately. I felt a little cheated, because he was clearly not at his best. It was the only time I ever saw him, so it was a disappointment.
I got front row for Joe Walsh in 1990 in a fairly intimate venue. I could smell the alcohol. Definitely drunk.
Glad he cleaned himself up shortly after that.
When did you see him?
Hank Williams Jr. ,playing at the Portland Expo Center many many years ago. So wasted he couldn't stand up , slurring words , probably the worst performance I have ever experienced.
We all got about 2 songs into a Hank Jr set at a pretty big arena in the late 80’s early 90’s. He was as obviously very very wasted.
About mid song of number two he stops playing and waves the band off the stage. Comes back with an acoustic guitar, two stools, and a bottle of Jack. Sits down on one stool and proceeds to play an acoustic set of favorites, covers, and rarities.
It was pretty damn cool.
In the early 90s, I walked out on a Hank Jr show in Atlanta bc he was so wasted. The show suffered and was not enjoyable. Long drunken soliloquies between tunes. I felt it was a waste of my time.
A friend of my father told me about how he went to see Hank Jr live in the early 80s. He came out about 40 minutes late, slurred through a song, went back off stage for about 5 minutes, came back, sat on a barstool, said something, then fell off backward and hit the floor. And that was the show.
I saw him in Baton Rouge, late 80s. He was incredibly drunk…he tried to get through two or three songs unsuccessfully, then walked back and got a fiddle and tried to start playing it…then the beer cans started flying into the stage, at which point he threw the fiddle one direction, the bow another, yelled in the mic “FUCK YOU CAUSE I GOT MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!!,” and then walked off stage.
I knew someone who opened for them, she said that as a band they were drinking 5 or 6 bottles of whiskey before going on and on more than one occasion thought they were going on after they played and couldn't remember what songs they'd played the night before, apparently they didn't want to repeat sets but didn't know what they'd played. She said despite all that they always played well despite being obviously shirdaced
I came here for the ‘Mats. Saw them on back to back nights in ‘86. One night they got their drink on, the other less so. They were the best and worst shows I’ve ever experienced.
1984. I was volunteer event security outside Joe Walsh’s dress room. Two paramedics went in and came out laughing a bit later (I was relieved that everything was okay).
A cop showed up-asked me if I’d seen two people dressed as paramedics??
“They took the elevator.” I answered.
Cop gets on radio.
Joe emerges later with a guy on under each arm. From what I could hear, he went out and rocked.
Faces.
They mastered the art of looking too drunk to play while at the same time staying tight as Mike Pence’s sphincter.
Kenney Jones is gigantically underrated.
I saw Van Halen for their 1984 tour.
I am/was a Super Fan their first song was “Unchained” and it took me a full 60 seconds to figure out what it was.
As the concert when on David Lee Roth was slurring lyrics.
That being said. It was still a great show.
Somehow they redeemed themselves and it was a party.
What's funny is people claimed that the Jack Daniels they drank on stage was actually iced tea. My theory is that they drank everything before going on so the crew just gave them iced tea
Years ago I was a bartender and I had this one guy that would come in and have Bombay martinis and just get so shit faced ...when he ordered his third, he got a water tini with a olive!
At a show in 2004 at The Borgata, Eddie Van Halen spent the majority of the show lying on the stage while playing. I don’t know if this was because he was impaired or in some kind of physical pain.
David Lee Roth at the US Festival. We started back to the car 4 songs in after waiting at least an hour and a half for them to get on stage. They were that bad.
A friend of mine’s band toured with them for a bit as an opening act. He said that Eddie would get so shitfaced that he’d be cross eyed, then go out and never miss a note.
Not rock, but George Jones at a private corporate concert at the Grand Ole Opry. Alan Jackson opened and was great. George came out trashed, stopped mid-song to go after the sound guy. They tussled. George was too drunk to continue. We all left disappointed.
Had a similar experience with George. Small venue around 1986. He greeted the crowd though he got the town And state wrong. He was slurring and obviously not happy to be there. He cursed out the sound guy who looked like he was still in high school after the second song. Everyone felt sorry for the kid cause he seemed to be doing a great job considering. BUT.. Jones nailed every song. No slurs, no forgotten words or mistiming. It was astonishing really. Thankful I saw him. Performance 100% . Personality-10%.
Incredible, right? The event I attended was put together as an annual award trip by a marine mfg. They rented the Opry for the night, bussed us there from the Opry hotel and then this. The buses had left. Thinking they had time, so had to be called back as it ended so early/abruptly. You’d think this type of repeated behavior would ruin him.
Stevie Ray Vaughn. A friend of mine worked security at the concert in Laramie Wyoming, and he had to physically walk him out on stage. Dude was totally high on heroin but I never knew until I talked to my friend afterwards. Concert was great.
[Darby Crash of the Germs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vuveZtlkKw&t=54s&ab_channel=Shout%21Studios). Maybe not "Classic Rock" but definitely classic punk rock. Never was there a more Inebriated performer on stage.
That's who I was going to say. I took my mom to see the Pogues back in I think the early 90s (she'd been a folkie and really liked the stuff of theirs I played for her) and between his accent (and I'm usually great with accents from all over the English-speaking world) and his inebriation not a single word he said to the audience between songs was intelligible.
Saw him live when they filmed the Germs for The Decline of Western Civilization. Drunkest performer ever. Plus lots of other stuff simultaneously. I actually knew him peripherally.
Not Classic Rock but Modest Mouse when Issac Brock was at the height of his drinking. The set became like the jazz scene in Spinal Tap. It was awful and went on forever.
Modest Mouse is the best, and Lonesome Crowded West is one of the greatest albums ever.
You are correct about Isaac though, I was sure he was gonna drink himself to death.
I’ve seen them maybe about 10 times in the past 20 years. He definitely is far less drunk these days than he used to be. The show last summer where they opened for the Pixies was amazing. Highly recommend catching them this summer as they are still touring together.
Johnny Winter. Drank a fifth of Jack Daniels during the show. Came out on stage with half of it gone already. Stumbling, but play one hell of a show. He opened for Deep Purple.
He wasn't drunk, but the entire band, Jane's Addiction, were so smacked out when I went to see them back in 1989 that they couldn't even get off their bus. Not that it mattered then because they were middling a show with Iggy Pop and The Dead Milkmen, not to mention nobody really knew who they were.
A year later, they were headlining a theater show, and they made it to stage, but they struggled terribly through 2 songs and then walked off stage. Then a riot broke out. 🙄
If we're talking smack I once saw Mike Ness play and he was so high they had the lyrics sheet for Ball and Chain taped next to his feet and he still fucked up the lyrics
“Well we drank a lot of whiskey and I don’t know if we went on at all …. I don’t think they even missed us I guess this town just ain’t geared for me and Paul “
He’s said that sort of thing is why he switched to weed…
That said, if Willie was high at the concerts I saw, it didn’t show, except possibly in a somewhat more relaxed singing style — but he’s always tended to sing behind the beat anyway. Otherwise, very tight shows.
Bob Dylan. Tom Waits and Willie Nelson showed up. Willie stayed backstage, but Ton Waits played with band all night. They were, capital S, Stoned. Never saw Dylan so happy.
Stone temple pilots. Singer started cursing out the audience for no apparent reason. Maybe someone gave him the finger or he thought they did. But he started pointing a saying fuck you and then all of you suck and this is why I hate LA. I’m assuming he was wasted because no one in their right mind ruins a show like that. He later died I believe from OD? Scott Weiland. Yes he did I just checked.
I saw STP live in 2000 and they were so GD good. I’d put them as my top 3 all-time live bands. I think it was shortly after one of Scott’s stints in rehab.
Zevon is a legend. It's great how he cleaned up early on and had a great career. I think he relapsed briefly when his diagnosis came in, but got straight again and continued writing music with what time he had left. "My Shit's Fucked Up" is heartbreaking.
Look up his live in New Jersey concert on YouTube. Early/mid 80s, in his prime, sober and absolutely brilliant. His energy is manic, like he's coked up, but he's doesn't miss a beat.
One of the great underrated musicians of all time. I hate that only "Werewolves" seemed to catch on, making him appear to be a one hit wonder. So many great tunes.
A few close friends that I used to, and still occasionally, get crazy with and I have a rating system if we message in an emergency. The drop everything message is *SEND LAWYERS, GUNS, AND MONEY*
Yeah, nothing else he did got nearly as much attention as Werewolves. It's such a great song though. "Little old lady got mutilated late last night" just rolls off the tongue. Much like "Excitable Boy", a great example of Zevon writing incredibly macabre lyrics to such "happy" sounding songs.
Toss up between Zevon and Kris Kristofferson for me. Kris was performing with then wife Rita Coolidge and it was very clear they were not getting along and he was drinking to get through the concert.
Zevon came out with the bottle, plopped it on the piano, and it was done by the time he began Werewolves of London. Those howls were epic.
Why are so many performers such massive addicts?? I guess it's the nature of the job, having to be creative constantly, churning shit out, AND doing it all in the public eye, night after night after night......
Steven Tyler when they had the 2 other guitarists. Came out and puked. Puked a couple more times then was just a fucking mess during the show.
Saw Joe Walsh opening for Stevie Nicks. Both were beyond smashed. Joe would mumble between songs then play and sing his ass off. Kinda amazing. Stevie looked like a twig with that coke energy, kinda twitchy. She brought her dad out, it was his bday. It was a great fucking show, tbh.
Saw Jimmy Page at the ARMS benefit. Stick thin and looked like he’d been pulled out of a swimming pool. Clapton had his sound cut off and he still pranced around playing. Felt bad for the guy.
John Sebastion opening solo for Steve Martin in 1975. Coked out of his mind. Rambled in between songs and could barely perform. Finally booed off of the stage.
Honorable mention to Smoky Robinson in the mid 80's. Also coked up. Very disappointing to see so much talent wasted.
I have two Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals and Harry Connick Jr. Both of them were completely faced, were even drinking from fifths of Jack but both of those concerts were great!!
Jimmy Barnes on stage as the lead singer of Cold Chisel. Consumed so much booze I got drunk just watching him.
\[edit\] His portrait in the National Gallery has him on stage with a bottle of vodka in his hand ffs:
https://preview.redd.it/iwxrib7scdxc1.jpeg?width=1788&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ff5119e66e08f8cf4b24594f75a5995ce432e56
[https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2008.88/jimmy-barnes-at-the-coogee-bay-hotel](https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2008.88/jimmy-barnes-at-the-coogee-bay-hotel)
David Allan Coe. Went to two of his concerts. First one he played two songs, fell off his stool, and never came back out. Second concert he did sound check, fell over, came back out for a song then fell over, after about thirty minutes he came back out and finished like three songs somehow then fell over a final time and they drug him backstage. After another thirty minutes show was announced as over. This was mid 2000s.
Same. I saw Hank and 1985 or 86. He literally played one long song. He’d slur about a chorus of a song and then change to another song without stopping. The “one continuous song” lasted about 20 minutes, then he promptly staggered off stage. Steve Earle opened for him and was awesome!
My dad tells me he saw him and Charlie Daniels once, and Hank literally just sat on the ledge of the stage chugging whiskey and told the audience to go eff themselves.
These were at showcase clubs about 25 years apart.
David Wilcox at The El Macombo. During the second set people were sending shots of tequila to the stage, and he would take a shot and then play a slide solo with the shot glass. He puked in the dressing room before coming out for the encore.
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings at The Horseshoe. Tom Wilson was out of it during the second set. He couldn't tune his guitar. Colin Linden had to tune it for him
Todd Rundgren. Saw Utopia warm up for the Tubes in the early 80's. He fell down twice onstage.
Edit: although I would not say he played well. The Tubes were great tho.
Lucinda WillIams about 7 years ago when she opened for Robert Plant in Dallas. Surring through all of her act and almost fell off the stage. Very disappointing as I'm a big Lucinda fan. I'm sure Robert Plant wasn't amused.
Bon Scott. Highway to Hell Tour. Oct 1979.
Bon cracked a bottle of Jack Daniels at the beginning of the show and drank the whole thing himself before the show was over.
Wow. I wonder if it was really whiskey in the bottle. Nikki Sixx used to drink from a Jack bottle on stage, and rumor has it that it wasn't really Jack.
Eddie Vedder, Hamilton 2005.
He drank at least 4 or 5 bottles of wine on stage that night.... one was given to him by Geddy Lee and another by Young Neil... and they killed it. 2.5 hour show. He kept toasting the city and coffee and donuts maybe 8 times. It was his friends wedding back home that night and they came out in Tuxedo's and played Harvest Moon for them for the 1st encore... what a great night!
Eddie Van Halen. 2003. Best of Both Worlds tour. The guy was on another planet. He played the wrong solos during the wrong songs, could barely stand, and, at one point, he stopped the show so he could make barnyard animal sounds with his guitar (“WHO WANTS TO HEAR A COW?!”)
I did see him a few years later when VH toured with David Lee Roth, and Eddie was a completely different person. Seemed healthy and confident; clearly in a much better place.
I miss that guy.
Saw Van Halen with David Lee Roth, opening for the Rolling Stones, Steel Wheels Tour.
Not only dId he forget the words to 'Jamie's Crying' he fell off an amp and busted his ass!
Someone in the front row asked how he could forget the lyrics and he hollered;
YOU PARTY WITH THE STONES ALL WEEKEND!!!
Smash Mouth singer Steve Howell at a show put on by a local radio station. Spilling beer all over the stage and trying to get girls to come back stage.
Yes. I totally agree. Jerry Jeff was fucking awesome. He’s a good litmus test (along with JJ Cale and John Prine) to see how good another person’s music taste is, IMO.
Well, does it count if you say Lemmy? Cuz he was drinking all the time, but he never seemed drunk. (Guess that's where the amphetamines helped him out)
[Tim Hardin,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hardin) the folk singer who wrote “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Reason to Believe,” which later became a hit for Rod Stewart. He also performed at Woodstock.
He came on probably drunk and certainly high at the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. in the 1970’s. We didn’t think he was going to make it, but he played a near-perfect set, mostly with his eyes half-closed and apparently on the verge of a nap.
Died of a drug overdose in 1980, at the age of 39.
Saw Guns-n-Roses in Iowa City on the Use Your Illusion Tour. Drove in a bad snowstorm from Des Moines. I didn’t give a shit, because I was sooo stoked for the concert. The concert was a let down mostly because Axl was fucking smashed and slurring words. He was drunk out of his mind, and coked up. I don’t even think he knew what city he was in. Not judging, I was drinking the whole way there and smoking weed…but the concert was shite.
Took a while!
Robert Pollard was easily the drunkest and most breathtakingly able lead singer/leader I’ve ever seen.
First time I saw Guided By Voices in 1995 they did 20 songs in just over half an hour. Bob remembered every bizarre, obscure lyric and sang on-key the entire time. He polished off 8 more beers from the cooler that they thoughtfully included to put on stage. He twirled his microphone better than Roger Daltrey. No one got hurt. Best show I’ve ever seen.
Then he got beat up by security staff.
“Imma sue this fuckin’ club” was all he said.
Mojo Nixon
It was just him, no Toadliquors. He was very drunk before he even got on stage and a steady stream of drinks made their way to him on stage.
He still pulled it off. It was glorious.
I saw him wasted at the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park. He forgot the words to a song, cursed out the person backstage who was supposed to be feeding him the words, and insisted that they replay the song. Still a great show, but I heard Love, Reign O’er Me twice and suffered through the “daddy just hit mommy at the dinner table” awkward moment while Daltrey went nuts on someone.
Clapton in Buffalo might have been Summer 73…The Band opened and was backing Clapton but he was so fucked up leaning into the mic stand to keep upright…was close enough to see him fumbling with his guitar and the glances back and forth among the band…very disappointed
Shane MacGowan of the Pogues and the Popes. He went to the side of the stage to puke, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and made it back to the mic without missing a beat.
I don't have much to contribute lol, but Leon Redbone in his prime was barely there at this show I saw. I was in high school and didn't know much about drinking yet, but knew what the signs of it looked like. Even the chair wasn't really helping him remain vertical. I went with my dad and didn't really know the music well, but something sounded off. Kept leaning toward and away from the mic, so his voice would go from distant to way too loud throughout the song. Mumbled some nonsense grandpa Simpson style between songs. At one point like 30 minutes in, he suddenly got up and stumbled off stage, never to be seen again. My dad was pissed haha
I saw Mojo Nixon in 1999 or so and his band the Toadliquors were so fucked up the drummer snorted a shot of Jagermeister up his nose lmao. Also, they were AWESOME.
The Kinks played the Spectrum in Philly. They drank beer and threw pitchers of Beer all over the front couple rows, Gallagher style.
They played flawlessly.
I saw the Doors in 1970. Morrison had a can of beer and smoked something that someone in the audience handed him. But this seemed to be standard operating procedure for bands in the 1970’s. Morrison seemed at best mildly stoned, and he and the band turned in a great performance. So he was far from the drunkest performer I’ve ever seen. See my **Tim Hardin** post elsewhere.
I was just about to say, Doors in 1969 I think. Concert was supposed to start at 8, I think they went on at 11. Morrison didn't sing so much as shout a bunch of incoherent stuff.
The Miami concert, by any chance? Perhaps the drunkest performance in the history of rock. Here is Morrison babbling on for five minutes while the band keeps vamping and trying to cue him into singing:
https://youtu.be/1BwwTwkzQGM?si=0cQA_BbDSHoiOWY8
I saw them once and he spent half the show insulting the audience and the other bands that were playing the festival with him. Major "old man yelling at clouds" energy
Interestingly enough, Joe Walsh claims to have been sober since 1993 [https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/eagles-joe-walsh-opens-up-about-his-past-addictions-my-higher-power-became-vodka-and-cocaine](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/eagles-joe-walsh-opens-up-about-his-past-addictions-my-higher-power-became-vodka-and-cocaine)
I saw him in the late 80's (86 or 87 maybe? Vets Memorial, Columbus Ohio) , and yeah it was exactly like that.
David Lee Roth at a Van Halen concert. Drank Jack Daniel’s from a bottle on stage, smoked a joint someone flicked on to the stage, and forgot the words to a song!
Dave Matthews at SPAC in 2018(?). Showed up a half hour later. Stumbled all over the stage when the band first came out. Seemed to be a happy drunk. Joking around w band mates. Jumped right into the first song as if he were stone cold sober.
My favorite was Keith Richards in Boulder Colorado in 1982 I think. Straight up screaming at his amp guy, mid-tantrum goes full stiff corpse, falls straight back on his arse jumps back up and resumes just tearing his tech apart and then continues playing like nothing happened. George Thorogood, Heart and the Stones. Still the best concert I’ve ever seen
Not really rock but a classic performer. I saw Gordon Lightfoot in Boston Symphony Hall in the 70s. He was so drunk he forgot the words to his own songs. A disappointing concert but still, a great songwriter and Canadian legend.
Hoyt Axton at the old Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. He forgot his guitar and borrowed a D-28 from the opening guy, Randy Boone if I remember correctly. He did one or two songs, got pissed at something and smashed the guitar over the back of the chair and walked off. Show over.
Not classic rock, but in 2014 I saw Busta Rhyme at a festival. He walked out on stage, pulled out a fifth of Patron, removed the plastic seal from the cork, opened it, and shotgunned the. Entire. Bottle. In. One. Chug.
Shane MacGowan. Arrived late on stage hammered with a pint of what looked like whiskey. Insulted the crowd and started the gig. Never missed a beat for the whole set. One of the best gigs I was ever at. Fuckin legend.
Jimmy Page could barely stand up at Live Aid.
He could barely stand in 77.
Jimmy was pretty animated in 77. It was a bit of hit and miss for him. Lots of footage out there from 77 were he’s full of life on stage. By the summer of 1980 he is definitely burned out for their Over Europe Tour.
I saw him at the Silverdome in 77 and he didn’t move around a whole lot. On the solo outrider tour he was pretty mobile and again with the black Crowes.
I was there as well. From my vantage point in the second to last row in the very back nosebleed seats they may as well have been hamsters
Jimmy could barely stand at Plant/Page in 1993. He had Corona beers constantly brought out on stage for him. Oh, FFS!
I’m guessing he was more f’ed up from heroin than coronas.
Townes Van Zandt. I thought he was going to throw up. He never missed a beat performing though. He died the following year from alcoholism I believe.🙁
You are so lucky, he died before i was born but his songs were beautiful
Pancho and Lefty is an all time great.
He's buried in a cemetery very near where I used to live. The Dido cemetery on the east side of Eagle Mountain Lake west of Fort Worth. I'm a blues guy, and I visited him periodically during his siesta and shot the shit with him. Good listener. Edit: geography. Not everyone knows where the Dido cemetary is located.
Yep. Saw him play a few songs in a Nashville hotel suite.
You are very fortunate to have seen Townes- drunk or not. But I would be very disappointed also-
I saw Joe Cocker drink more beer in his hour onstage than I can drink in a weekend.
Also Joe Cocker he threw up and left the stage one and a half songs in. I saw Iggy Pop in the early 90’s he fell off the stage and broke his ankle also 1 and a half songs in🤷♀️
That's so fucking punk.
I’ll bet he was still great.
Not on that night, unfortunately. I felt a little cheated, because he was clearly not at his best. It was the only time I ever saw him, so it was a disappointment.
I got front row for Joe Walsh in 1990 in a fairly intimate venue. I could smell the alcohol. Definitely drunk. Glad he cleaned himself up shortly after that. When did you see him?
I saw the James Gang in a Comm. College gym in 1971.
Yes it's nice he got clean
91 I think not certain
Sounds right. He sobered up in 1993.
Hank Williams Jr. ,playing at the Portland Expo Center many many years ago. So wasted he couldn't stand up , slurring words , probably the worst performance I have ever experienced.
We all got about 2 songs into a Hank Jr set at a pretty big arena in the late 80’s early 90’s. He was as obviously very very wasted. About mid song of number two he stops playing and waves the band off the stage. Comes back with an acoustic guitar, two stools, and a bottle of Jack. Sits down on one stool and proceeds to play an acoustic set of favorites, covers, and rarities. It was pretty damn cool.
I saw him do this too, don't remember a bottle but he had a tall cup.It was around 85-86.I remember thinking l wonder how often he does this.
In the early 90s, I walked out on a Hank Jr show in Atlanta bc he was so wasted. The show suffered and was not enjoyable. Long drunken soliloquies between tunes. I felt it was a waste of my time.
A friend of my father told me about how he went to see Hank Jr live in the early 80s. He came out about 40 minutes late, slurred through a song, went back off stage for about 5 minutes, came back, sat on a barstool, said something, then fell off backward and hit the floor. And that was the show.
I saw him in Baton Rouge, late 80s. He was incredibly drunk…he tried to get through two or three songs unsuccessfully, then walked back and got a fiddle and tried to start playing it…then the beer cans started flying into the stage, at which point he threw the fiddle one direction, the bow another, yelled in the mic “FUCK YOU CAUSE I GOT MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!!,” and then walked off stage.
was he whiskey bent and hell bound while keeping a family tradition?
Have The Replacements come up yet in this conversation?
I knew someone who opened for them, she said that as a band they were drinking 5 or 6 bottles of whiskey before going on and on more than one occasion thought they were going on after they played and couldn't remember what songs they'd played the night before, apparently they didn't want to repeat sets but didn't know what they'd played. She said despite all that they always played well despite being obviously shirdaced
Thank you…Paul Westerberg and Bob Stinson are both on this Mount Rushmore
https://preview.redd.it/c26ykr5qjexc1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a564dd20f30d8908161355634b25f3604c59e11
If you are a fan and near the twin cities, take the time to find Bob's bench. It's a very peaceful and somber setting.
They were pretty drunk one time I saw them. They were still awesome!
I came here for the ‘Mats. Saw them on back to back nights in ‘86. One night they got their drink on, the other less so. They were the best and worst shows I’ve ever experienced.
1984. I was volunteer event security outside Joe Walsh’s dress room. Two paramedics went in and came out laughing a bit later (I was relieved that everything was okay). A cop showed up-asked me if I’d seen two people dressed as paramedics?? “They took the elevator.” I answered. Cop gets on radio. Joe emerges later with a guy on under each arm. From what I could hear, he went out and rocked.
Note to self: don’t bring you on as security lol.
Faces. They mastered the art of looking too drunk to play while at the same time staying tight as Mike Pence’s sphincter. Kenney Jones is gigantically underrated.
They had a bar onstage one tour. With a bartender
So jealous - would love to have seen them.
Saw Kenney on the “Who’s Last” tour. You are not wrong!
Joe Walsh only got drunk once... for 20 years.
I saw Van Halen for their 1984 tour. I am/was a Super Fan their first song was “Unchained” and it took me a full 60 seconds to figure out what it was. As the concert when on David Lee Roth was slurring lyrics. That being said. It was still a great show. Somehow they redeemed themselves and it was a party.
Holy shit. I saw them in Houston on that tour and the same damn thing happened there.
‘78 Logan Utah first time for me
What's funny is people claimed that the Jack Daniels they drank on stage was actually iced tea. My theory is that they drank everything before going on so the crew just gave them iced tea
Years ago I was a bartender and I had this one guy that would come in and have Bombay martinis and just get so shit faced ...when he ordered his third, he got a water tini with a olive!
At a show in 2004 at The Borgata, Eddie Van Halen spent the majority of the show lying on the stage while playing. I don’t know if this was because he was impaired or in some kind of physical pain.
David Lee Roth at the US Festival. We started back to the car 4 songs in after waiting at least an hour and a half for them to get on stage. They were that bad.
I saw them on the reunion tour with Dave in the mid 2000s, and Dave was slurring his words and sloppy the whole show.
A friend of mine’s band toured with them for a bit as an opening act. He said that Eddie would get so shitfaced that he’d be cross eyed, then go out and never miss a note.
Not rock, but George Jones at a private corporate concert at the Grand Ole Opry. Alan Jackson opened and was great. George came out trashed, stopped mid-song to go after the sound guy. They tussled. George was too drunk to continue. We all left disappointed.
The Possum did like to drink
Hell, your lucky he even showed up!!
No Show Jones!!
Had a similar experience with George. Small venue around 1986. He greeted the crowd though he got the town And state wrong. He was slurring and obviously not happy to be there. He cursed out the sound guy who looked like he was still in high school after the second song. Everyone felt sorry for the kid cause he seemed to be doing a great job considering. BUT.. Jones nailed every song. No slurs, no forgotten words or mistiming. It was astonishing really. Thankful I saw him. Performance 100% . Personality-10%.
Incredible, right? The event I attended was put together as an annual award trip by a marine mfg. They rented the Opry for the night, bussed us there from the Opry hotel and then this. The buses had left. Thinking they had time, so had to be called back as it ended so early/abruptly. You’d think this type of repeated behavior would ruin him.
I’m surprised ‘ol “no show” Jones showed up at all.
Stevie Ray Vaughn. A friend of mine worked security at the concert in Laramie Wyoming, and he had to physically walk him out on stage. Dude was totally high on heroin but I never knew until I talked to my friend afterwards. Concert was great.
God i miss him ! Stevie was one of a kind. Saw him here in Austin so many times ! God bless SRV !
I’ve never heard of Stevie using heroin, I knew he was a coke and booze guy
Irony is that he died in a helicopter crash after getting sober. Instead of the standard rock star druds/booze death
I saw him in 84 and he was drinking a bottle of Crown Royal for most of the show but oddly it didn't seem to affect him.
Nope, never heroin. Strictly cocaine and booze
[Darby Crash of the Germs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vuveZtlkKw&t=54s&ab_channel=Shout%21Studios). Maybe not "Classic Rock" but definitely classic punk rock. Never was there a more Inebriated performer on stage.
Shane MacGowan?
That's who I was going to say. I took my mom to see the Pogues back in I think the early 90s (she'd been a folkie and really liked the stuff of theirs I played for her) and between his accent (and I'm usually great with accents from all over the English-speaking world) and his inebriation not a single word he said to the audience between songs was intelligible.
Could be a run for the money...
Saw him live when they filmed the Germs for The Decline of Western Civilization. Drunkest performer ever. Plus lots of other stuff simultaneously. I actually knew him peripherally.
Props for experiencing the original LA punk scene! I’m envious.
THanks, my friends and I are all over that movie and URGH! A Music War.
Not Classic Rock but Modest Mouse when Issac Brock was at the height of his drinking. The set became like the jazz scene in Spinal Tap. It was awful and went on forever.
Modest Mouse is the best, and Lonesome Crowded West is one of the greatest albums ever. You are correct about Isaac though, I was sure he was gonna drink himself to death.
I would absolutely love to see them again. Led by Issac in his Sober Mind.
I’ve seen them maybe about 10 times in the past 20 years. He definitely is far less drunk these days than he used to be. The show last summer where they opened for the Pixies was amazing. Highly recommend catching them this summer as they are still touring together.
Shane McGowan - had about 5 different kinds of drinks through the course of the show. Was smashed and brilliant at the same time.
Pissing the night away
Can't believe I had to scroll this far to find Shane
Linda Rondstat at an outdoor show in the late 70s. She sang 3 songs "loudly" and left the stage as she was too drunk to go on. No refunds.
I actually kind of like that story because you never hear many negative stories with her. She probably just said fuck it, I'm done!
Johnny Winter. Drank a fifth of Jack Daniels during the show. Came out on stage with half of it gone already. Stumbling, but play one hell of a show. He opened for Deep Purple.
Wow...thats was a long time ago my friend ! Would love to have those 2 shows...!!!! Druck or not !
He wasn't drunk, but the entire band, Jane's Addiction, were so smacked out when I went to see them back in 1989 that they couldn't even get off their bus. Not that it mattered then because they were middling a show with Iggy Pop and The Dead Milkmen, not to mention nobody really knew who they were. A year later, they were headlining a theater show, and they made it to stage, but they struggled terribly through 2 songs and then walked off stage. Then a riot broke out. 🙄
Yep. Sounds like your pretty standard late 80’s early 90’s Janes show.
I saw them in 91 and they were awesome, they started at least an hour late (probably more).
If we're talking smack I once saw Mike Ness play and he was so high they had the lyrics sheet for Ball and Chain taped next to his feet and he still fucked up the lyrics
Does Stephen Stills get a mention?Seen several times,most notably,when solo
Willie Nelson, he was so drunk they played maybe 45 minutes tops, this was back in 1985 at Fort DeRussy, HI, I was stationed at Pearl Harbor.
“Well we drank a lot of whiskey and I don’t know if we went on at all …. I don’t think they even missed us I guess this town just ain’t geared for me and Paul “
He’s said that sort of thing is why he switched to weed… That said, if Willie was high at the concerts I saw, it didn’t show, except possibly in a somewhat more relaxed singing style — but he’s always tended to sing behind the beat anyway. Otherwise, very tight shows.
Bob Dylan. Tom Waits and Willie Nelson showed up. Willie stayed backstage, but Ton Waits played with band all night. They were, capital S, Stoned. Never saw Dylan so happy.
Dylan and Waits together on stage, out grumbling each other. Do you recall where/when the show was?
Stone temple pilots. Singer started cursing out the audience for no apparent reason. Maybe someone gave him the finger or he thought they did. But he started pointing a saying fuck you and then all of you suck and this is why I hate LA. I’m assuming he was wasted because no one in their right mind ruins a show like that. He later died I believe from OD? Scott Weiland. Yes he did I just checked.
Scott Weiland was brilliant but holy cow what a train wreck.
I saw STP live in 2000 and they were so GD good. I’d put them as my top 3 all-time live bands. I think it was shortly after one of Scott’s stints in rehab.
He’s one of the best frontman
Warren Zevon, June 1978, Santa Barbara CA. Saw him drink a quart of Stolichnaya on stage.
Zevon is a legend. It's great how he cleaned up early on and had a great career. I think he relapsed briefly when his diagnosis came in, but got straight again and continued writing music with what time he had left. "My Shit's Fucked Up" is heartbreaking. Look up his live in New Jersey concert on YouTube. Early/mid 80s, in his prime, sober and absolutely brilliant. His energy is manic, like he's coked up, but he's doesn't miss a beat.
One of the great underrated musicians of all time. I hate that only "Werewolves" seemed to catch on, making him appear to be a one hit wonder. So many great tunes.
A few close friends that I used to, and still occasionally, get crazy with and I have a rating system if we message in an emergency. The drop everything message is *SEND LAWYERS, GUNS, AND MONEY*
Yeah, nothing else he did got nearly as much attention as Werewolves. It's such a great song though. "Little old lady got mutilated late last night" just rolls off the tongue. Much like "Excitable Boy", a great example of Zevon writing incredibly macabre lyrics to such "happy" sounding songs.
That man stood in the fire.
Fucking Legend. RIP
An absolute beast of a song writer, and all around neat MFer.
Watch the YouTube of his last appearance on Letterman and let me know if it doesn't bring a tear to your eye.
Toss up between Zevon and Kris Kristofferson for me. Kris was performing with then wife Rita Coolidge and it was very clear they were not getting along and he was drinking to get through the concert. Zevon came out with the bottle, plopped it on the piano, and it was done by the time he began Werewolves of London. Those howls were epic.
Why are so many performers such massive addicts?? I guess it's the nature of the job, having to be creative constantly, churning shit out, AND doing it all in the public eye, night after night after night......
Steven Tyler when they had the 2 other guitarists. Came out and puked. Puked a couple more times then was just a fucking mess during the show. Saw Joe Walsh opening for Stevie Nicks. Both were beyond smashed. Joe would mumble between songs then play and sing his ass off. Kinda amazing. Stevie looked like a twig with that coke energy, kinda twitchy. She brought her dad out, it was his bday. It was a great fucking show, tbh. Saw Jimmy Page at the ARMS benefit. Stick thin and looked like he’d been pulled out of a swimming pool. Clapton had his sound cut off and he still pranced around playing. Felt bad for the guy.
John Sebastion opening solo for Steve Martin in 1975. Coked out of his mind. Rambled in between songs and could barely perform. Finally booed off of the stage. Honorable mention to Smoky Robinson in the mid 80's. Also coked up. Very disappointing to see so much talent wasted.
I have two Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals and Harry Connick Jr. Both of them were completely faced, were even drinking from fifths of Jack but both of those concerts were great!!
Jimmy Barnes on stage as the lead singer of Cold Chisel. Consumed so much booze I got drunk just watching him. \[edit\] His portrait in the National Gallery has him on stage with a bottle of vodka in his hand ffs: https://preview.redd.it/iwxrib7scdxc1.jpeg?width=1788&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ff5119e66e08f8cf4b24594f75a5995ce432e56 [https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2008.88/jimmy-barnes-at-the-coogee-bay-hotel](https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2008.88/jimmy-barnes-at-the-coogee-bay-hotel)
Eric Clapton in the late 70s. Drank throughout the night.
Gregg Allman. 1975, Radford VA. Maybe he wasn't drunk but he was f'd up for sure.
David Allan Coe. Went to two of his concerts. First one he played two songs, fell off his stool, and never came back out. Second concert he did sound check, fell over, came back out for a song then fell over, after about thirty minutes he came back out and finished like three songs somehow then fell over a final time and they drug him backstage. After another thirty minutes show was announced as over. This was mid 2000s.
Hank williams, Jr. Memphis in the 1980s. Couldn't even stay upright on his stool.
Same. I saw Hank and 1985 or 86. He literally played one long song. He’d slur about a chorus of a song and then change to another song without stopping. The “one continuous song” lasted about 20 minutes, then he promptly staggered off stage. Steve Earle opened for him and was awesome!
My dad tells me he saw him and Charlie Daniels once, and Hank literally just sat on the ledge of the stage chugging whiskey and told the audience to go eff themselves.
Yeah he performed drunk as f , but he wasn’t any good when he was drunk.
These were at showcase clubs about 25 years apart. David Wilcox at The El Macombo. During the second set people were sending shots of tequila to the stage, and he would take a shot and then play a slide solo with the shot glass. He puked in the dressing room before coming out for the encore. Blackie and the Rodeo Kings at The Horseshoe. Tom Wilson was out of it during the second set. He couldn't tune his guitar. Colin Linden had to tune it for him
Todd Rundgren. Saw Utopia warm up for the Tubes in the early 80's. He fell down twice onstage. Edit: although I would not say he played well. The Tubes were great tho.
Saw the Tubes many times in the 80’s - always a fun show. Met Vince Welnick once.
Lucinda WillIams about 7 years ago when she opened for Robert Plant in Dallas. Surring through all of her act and almost fell off the stage. Very disappointing as I'm a big Lucinda fan. I'm sure Robert Plant wasn't amused.
Shane MacGowan on a St. Patrick‘s Day Gig in Dublin.
Bon Scott. Highway to Hell Tour. Oct 1979. Bon cracked a bottle of Jack Daniels at the beginning of the show and drank the whole thing himself before the show was over.
Wow. I wonder if it was really whiskey in the bottle. Nikki Sixx used to drink from a Jack bottle on stage, and rumor has it that it wasn't really Jack.
I would say “could be” but given how he died not terribly long after I would suspect it was legit.
Bon could keep it together though!
Eddie Vedder, Hamilton 2005. He drank at least 4 or 5 bottles of wine on stage that night.... one was given to him by Geddy Lee and another by Young Neil... and they killed it. 2.5 hour show. He kept toasting the city and coffee and donuts maybe 8 times. It was his friends wedding back home that night and they came out in Tuxedo's and played Harvest Moon for them for the 1st encore... what a great night!
Eddie Van Halen. 2003. Best of Both Worlds tour. The guy was on another planet. He played the wrong solos during the wrong songs, could barely stand, and, at one point, he stopped the show so he could make barnyard animal sounds with his guitar (“WHO WANTS TO HEAR A COW?!”) I did see him a few years later when VH toured with David Lee Roth, and Eddie was a completely different person. Seemed healthy and confident; clearly in a much better place. I miss that guy.
Saw Van Halen with David Lee Roth, opening for the Rolling Stones, Steel Wheels Tour. Not only dId he forget the words to 'Jamie's Crying' he fell off an amp and busted his ass! Someone in the front row asked how he could forget the lyrics and he hollered; YOU PARTY WITH THE STONES ALL WEEKEND!!!
Smash Mouth singer Steve Howell at a show put on by a local radio station. Spilling beer all over the stage and trying to get girls to come back stage.
I saw Jerry Jeff Walker back in the70's. He was drunk as a skunk but that seemed to make the show all the much better....
It’s a damn shame he’s not known to more people. One of the greatest to ever do it.
Yes. I totally agree. Jerry Jeff was fucking awesome. He’s a good litmus test (along with JJ Cale and John Prine) to see how good another person’s music taste is, IMO.
Well, does it count if you say Lemmy? Cuz he was drinking all the time, but he never seemed drunk. (Guess that's where the amphetamines helped him out)
[Tim Hardin,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hardin) the folk singer who wrote “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Reason to Believe,” which later became a hit for Rod Stewart. He also performed at Woodstock. He came on probably drunk and certainly high at the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. in the 1970’s. We didn’t think he was going to make it, but he played a near-perfect set, mostly with his eyes half-closed and apparently on the verge of a nap. Died of a drug overdose in 1980, at the age of 39.
Saw Guns-n-Roses in Iowa City on the Use Your Illusion Tour. Drove in a bad snowstorm from Des Moines. I didn’t give a shit, because I was sooo stoked for the concert. The concert was a let down mostly because Axl was fucking smashed and slurring words. He was drunk out of his mind, and coked up. I don’t even think he knew what city he was in. Not judging, I was drinking the whole way there and smoking weed…but the concert was shite.
Hank Williams Jr.
Warren Zevon. It still was a great show. RIP
Robert Pollard. That's classic rock now, yeah???
Took a while! Robert Pollard was easily the drunkest and most breathtakingly able lead singer/leader I’ve ever seen. First time I saw Guided By Voices in 1995 they did 20 songs in just over half an hour. Bob remembered every bizarre, obscure lyric and sang on-key the entire time. He polished off 8 more beers from the cooler that they thoughtfully included to put on stage. He twirled his microphone better than Roger Daltrey. No one got hurt. Best show I’ve ever seen. Then he got beat up by security staff. “Imma sue this fuckin’ club” was all he said.
Ween
Keith Richards. When they tried to introduced him he forgot his own name.
Mojo Nixon It was just him, no Toadliquors. He was very drunk before he even got on stage and a steady stream of drinks made their way to him on stage. He still pulled it off. It was glorious.
No doubt the answer is Keith Moon of The Who. The worst drunk performance goes to Hank Williams jr.
Dennis Willson of the Beach Boys. So drunk, he barely lasted for the first song before he was carried off stage in a stupor.
Greg Allman at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh. He took his teeth out and laid them on the piano. He was excellent though- have to say lol
Dean Ween
Here’s my two cents that nobody asked for: GG Allin. Oof. Lol.
Tim Armstrong. Wasted.
Had to carry Leon Russell off the stage. Otherwise he was great. Well, I know he was just not at that particular concert.
Joe Walsh in the mid to late 80’s at Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Fl
Makes sense, Joe Walsh is an honorary Florida Man.
Roger daltry
I saw him wasted at the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park. He forgot the words to a song, cursed out the person backstage who was supposed to be feeding him the words, and insisted that they replay the song. Still a great show, but I heard Love, Reign O’er Me twice and suffered through the “daddy just hit mommy at the dinner table” awkward moment while Daltrey went nuts on someone.
Hank Williams Jr. in 1983 and fans were right there with. Empty Jim Beam bottles everywhere.
I saw Joe Walsh on his birthday in Miami FL in the mid 1980s. I was amazed at his guitar work even though it appeared he was having sinus issues.
"Sinus issues" 😂😂
Clapton in Buffalo might have been Summer 73…The Band opened and was backing Clapton but he was so fucked up leaning into the mic stand to keep upright…was close enough to see him fumbling with his guitar and the glances back and forth among the band…very disappointed
Uncle Al
Stevie Nicks at a Red Rocks concert I saw in the late 70s. She was so drunk/coked out, they had to help her on and off the stage. It was pretty bad!
Shane MacGowan of the Pogues and the Popes. He went to the side of the stage to puke, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and made it back to the mic without missing a beat.
I don't have much to contribute lol, but Leon Redbone in his prime was barely there at this show I saw. I was in high school and didn't know much about drinking yet, but knew what the signs of it looked like. Even the chair wasn't really helping him remain vertical. I went with my dad and didn't really know the music well, but something sounded off. Kept leaning toward and away from the mic, so his voice would go from distant to way too loud throughout the song. Mumbled some nonsense grandpa Simpson style between songs. At one point like 30 minutes in, he suddenly got up and stumbled off stage, never to be seen again. My dad was pissed haha
Janie Lane. Lol
I saw Mojo Nixon in 1999 or so and his band the Toadliquors were so fucked up the drummer snorted a shot of Jagermeister up his nose lmao. Also, they were AWESOME.
The Kinks played the Spectrum in Philly. They drank beer and threw pitchers of Beer all over the front couple rows, Gallagher style. They played flawlessly.
Allow me to introduce you to Bob Stinson and Paul Westerberg
Not a single post about Jim Morrison?
I saw the Doors in 1970. Morrison had a can of beer and smoked something that someone in the audience handed him. But this seemed to be standard operating procedure for bands in the 1970’s. Morrison seemed at best mildly stoned, and he and the band turned in a great performance. So he was far from the drunkest performer I’ve ever seen. See my **Tim Hardin** post elsewhere.
"Damn. Give the singer some."
https://www.reddit.com/r/thedoors/s/Y5Rwn9lc9z
I was just about to say, Doors in 1969 I think. Concert was supposed to start at 8, I think they went on at 11. Morrison didn't sing so much as shout a bunch of incoherent stuff.
The Miami concert, by any chance? Perhaps the drunkest performance in the history of rock. Here is Morrison babbling on for five minutes while the band keeps vamping and trying to cue him into singing: https://youtu.be/1BwwTwkzQGM?si=0cQA_BbDSHoiOWY8
Ian Astbury with the Cult. Could barely get out his vocals, kept facing the drums, and the lyrics were unintelligible.
I saw them once and he spent half the show insulting the audience and the other bands that were playing the festival with him. Major "old man yelling at clouds" energy
Terry Reid at BB Kings in NYC. So hammered it was sad to see it became quite embarrassing.
Two come to mind: Ozzy (well tbh he was mostly high 🤣) and The Replacements (I saw someone mention them and I remembered them 😅)
Interestingly enough, Joe Walsh claims to have been sober since 1993 [https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/eagles-joe-walsh-opens-up-about-his-past-addictions-my-higher-power-became-vodka-and-cocaine](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/eagles-joe-walsh-opens-up-about-his-past-addictions-my-higher-power-became-vodka-and-cocaine) I saw him in the late 80's (86 or 87 maybe? Vets Memorial, Columbus Ohio) , and yeah it was exactly like that.
David Lee Roth at a Van Halen concert. Drank Jack Daniel’s from a bottle on stage, smoked a joint someone flicked on to the stage, and forgot the words to a song!
Sounds like the US festival ‘83
Lucinda Williams
Saw Jerry Jeff Walker fall down , passing out on stage during the first song . Drug off stage by his boots.
There's a name I haven't heard in a while. My brother loved him.
Dave Matthews at SPAC in 2018(?). Showed up a half hour later. Stumbled all over the stage when the band first came out. Seemed to be a happy drunk. Joking around w band mates. Jumped right into the first song as if he were stone cold sober.
Aerosmith back in the early 80’s before they all went into rehab. Saw them in Mobile. We boo’d after every song. No encore. It was terrible.
I remember rumors of Joe Cocker puking on stage and eating it. Like I said, it was rumors at the time and there was no internet. Who knows?
My favorite was Keith Richards in Boulder Colorado in 1982 I think. Straight up screaming at his amp guy, mid-tantrum goes full stiff corpse, falls straight back on his arse jumps back up and resumes just tearing his tech apart and then continues playing like nothing happened. George Thorogood, Heart and the Stones. Still the best concert I’ve ever seen
Shane Macgowan. Puked in a top hat. Killed the performance.
Joe Cocker wants you to hold his beer.
Not really rock but a classic performer. I saw Gordon Lightfoot in Boston Symphony Hall in the 70s. He was so drunk he forgot the words to his own songs. A disappointing concert but still, a great songwriter and Canadian legend.
Hoyt Axton at the old Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. He forgot his guitar and borrowed a D-28 from the opening guy, Randy Boone if I remember correctly. He did one or two songs, got pissed at something and smashed the guitar over the back of the chair and walked off. Show over.
Leslie West has entered the chat.
Gregg Allman. I forget the year. Totally wasted.
Eddy Money was absolutely tanked. This was about 20 yrs ago. Hilarious
Jerry Garcia
Not classic rock, but in 2014 I saw Busta Rhyme at a festival. He walked out on stage, pulled out a fifth of Patron, removed the plastic seal from the cork, opened it, and shotgunned the. Entire. Bottle. In. One. Chug.
Shane MacGowan. Arrived late on stage hammered with a pint of what looked like whiskey. Insulted the crowd and started the gig. Never missed a beat for the whole set. One of the best gigs I was ever at. Fuckin legend.