Worst band you've ever seen?

[DelRider]

There was this one band at a battle of the bands. All in, horns and all. Horn players were decked out in these garrish outfits. The drummer was obviously out of it. After waiting, the guitar player came out in pink tutu and funkey mask, hit this power cord, and the drummer collapsed across his kit. They fumbled around a bit. I remember it started to get better, but I'm a little fuzzy after that,,,

[HeavyJazz77]

Candlebox in '93 when they opened for Rush. Terrrrrible! Gee, I wonder what ever happened to them...

[Edward G.]

Originally Posted by lhdiz14

Worst band I ever saw was The Doors at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago in 1970.

There were two shows that night. I went to the later one. They were simply too drunk to play. They crawled around the stage on their hands and knees, occasionaly getting another beer from a large tub in the center of the stage.

Amazingly, most of the audience seemed to find the whole thing charming.

Wow! I've heard stories like this about other artists but that comes as no surprise. Absolutely anyone will suck if they're too loaded. Fortunately I've never witnessed this. It would make me irate.

[Yools]

Originally Posted by Webtroll

I went to see a popular band playing at a festival and they were sharing the marquee with a puppet show, when they came out they were announcing the rebirth or some nonsense of the band and started playing some strange freestyle crap. It was sad.

Classic mistake. Never try to do a free-form jazz exploration in front of a festival crowd.

-Y

[4001]

Worst band on a professional stage for me was on 8/5/82 in Chicago, during Chicagofest. Iron Maiden was to go on but before them, the opening band called "Bohemia", instantly turned off the crowd with the frontman/singer flipping off everyone while holding a bible in his hands and the band playing some crappy punk music. They were booed at, EVERYONE and I mean everyone in the crowd, gave them the finger back, people were throwing everything they could find at them, cups, bottles, hairbrushes, bolts off of the makeshift bleachers, one JD bottle hit the drumkit, a female band member ran offstage crying and they lasted a whole 11 minutes. It was unreal.
And funny as hell.
Then Iron Maiden came on after the cleanup and absolutly kicked butt. It was the Number of the Beast tour. What a great birthday present for my 16th birthday the next day! Stopped at a Denny's in Schiller Park, IL on the way home for a burger.

[bassfran]

Originally Posted by Webtroll

(snip) I went to see a popular band playing at a festival and they were sharing the marquee with a puppet show, when they came out they were announcing the rebirth or some nonsense of the band and started playing some strange freestyle crap. It was sad.

I loved 'Jazz Odyssey'!

[4001]

Originally Posted by bassfran

I loved 'Jazz Odyssey'!

Besides the dance at the Air Force base scene, that Jazz Odyssey scene is priceless!
That movie is an all-time favorite.

[Swing Doom]

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

[echoSE7EN]

Instead of saying "worst band I've seen", I'll change it to most disappointing shows I've attended:

1. The Mars Volta at Rams Head Live, Power Plant, Balto., MD. I was really looking forward to see these guys, and it was a mess. Just a blanket of noise. Terrible. My buddy and I walked outside and drank beers on the patio.

2. Modest Mouse at Rams Head Live, Power Plant, Balto., MD. Getting the chance to see a band I dig, and one of my favorite guitar players (Johnny Marr) was ruined by, terrible sound. No definition. No jangle. No legible vocals -- things that spotlight why I like MM.

3. The Killers at Virgin Mobile Fest, Pimlico Racetrack, MD. This is the only band on this list that receives a bad grade for phoning it in, or perhaps not being able to translate a highly-produced, high-energy album (Hot Fuss) to a live setting. All of the energy present on that album was lacking in this performance. B-o-r-i-n-g.

...and to be positive

1. Willie Nelson in Sacramento, CA Outdoor show (Pat Greene opened) but it sounded as if he was singing into your ear from a desktop radio setting atop a table next to your recliner.

2. Alice in Chains, 9:30 Club, D.C. Just great sound. Crisp, clean, and harmony.

3. Wilco, multiple times including The Lyric Opera House, and the Strathmore, Balto., and Bethesda/Rockville respectively. Very well mixed.

...and the very best...

1. 32 Leaves, Ottobar, Balto., MD I have never heard a band so closely sound like their own recorded material. The drummer I used to play with and I still use this show as a reference point for outstanding live sound.

[gard0300]

Blink 182 live is horrendous!!! Just really bad.

[svt1233]

creed

[Scott Sauna]

I saw a So Cal pop punk (Easycore) band during the holidays. It was an absolute disaster. I walk into the club and most of the people in there are under 18. The only older folks are the parents of the band members. Of course the band has insanely expensive equipment that their parents bought for them. It was a small gig and these 16 year olds had Marshall Stacks and custom Les Paul's. I ignored that and waited for them to start. The singer sounded like the guy from Fallout Boy, a band I despise. The guitarist was way too loud and the bassist just played 3 notes and it wasn't really getting through the mix. The drummer had broken a snare or something because it sounded like a firecracker going off inside a dumpster every time he hit it. The audience was painfully quiet and seemed annoyed at the volume. The singer kept pushing his hair back every 30 seconds or say and between songs would tell the "groupies" to come dance, which they didn't because that would have been too embarrassing. It was a very awkward performance.

[ArtGuy9516]

Originally Posted by Webtroll

I've walked out of venues with bad bands before and for different reasons. One band was so loud my ears hurt and I was wearing earplugs. Bad singers are probably the #1 reason for me to walk out on a band; it doesn't matter how good the band is if the singer sounds like arse. I went to see a popular band playing at a festival and they were sharing the marquee with a puppet show, when they came out they were announcing the rebirth or some nonsense of the band and started playing some strange freestyle crap. It was sad.

Did the puppet show get first billing?

Janes Addiction comes to mind for me. Saw them when they were opening for Iggy Pop. They were pissed that it wasn't an all ages show so the changed all the lyrics to their songs filled with expletives...Iggy was great though

[klejst]

Originally Posted by svt1233

creed

+1

[baba]

I saw Korn open for Ozzy in 95 in Oakland. They must have been the worst touring band I've ever seen.

[abemo]

There have been a few. Of national touring acts, team sleep comes to mind as awful, singer too drunk to keep in key, drummer played two bars of off time fills for every bar of beat, just horrendous. Also, I saw tool get completely screwed by the soundguy once, and alice in chains with the new singer. Singer just ruined it.

Locally, too many to name, but a cover band that flubbed holy diver stands out.

[4001]

Originally Posted by svt1233

creed

Here you go....
http://www.youtube.com/embed/oCiS0jxzlFk

[fjadams]

Originally Posted by lokikallas

I saw limp bizkit open for primus.

Folks, I think we have a winner.

[El Beardo]

A band called Psychotica opening for Tool on their Aenima tour in the 90's. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget how unbelievably painful listening to them was.

[fjadams]

Worst band I've personally seen. Boys Life out of Kansas City. Absolutely horrendous, the whole bar left and stood out on the sidewalk til they finished, even the other bands. It was so bad that the other bands made nasty remarks about them.