Best and Worst Live Bands

[Corona_Clyde]

Here's my list of guys i've seen so far in no particular order and why:

BEST
-Metallica-Good stage presence and crowd interaction
-Godsmack-Same reason as Metallica
-Red Hot Chilli Peppers-Best rythmn section i've seen so far and great light show
-Van Halen-Eddie is a guitar God; great lights

WORST
-The Mars Volta-Anything you can think of

 

[MammaryVest]

System of A Down is a miserable live band, their sound is horrible, and in my experiance they play it off like they would rather not be there. The Mars Volta is actually an unbelievably good live band, only you have to see them in a club with their original drummer, and they atually have to play some of their songs.

 

[these_go211]

i'd have to be in huge disagreement over the mars volta. i've seen them and it was an amazing display of improvisation, sheer musicianship (especially juan and the drummer), and transcendental space travel. but hey, to each his own.

 

[these_go211]

guess i'll be in disagreement again. i saw system of a down at this years ozzfest and i was very impressed. that fast start-stop heavy-mellow stuff was performed real well. they were a heck of show. guitar sound was good too though i couldn't hear the bass

 

[jomahu]

the mars volta - such an iffy live band.
it REALLY depends on the venue. their club shows are awesome.
big shows = SCREEEEEEEEE!

and maybe i'm biased, but jon theodore really makes a difference as well.

as far as best/worst live shows - y'know, i can't think of a bad show i've seen.

 

[Matt Till]

I love Monster Magnet but they are (well Dave Wyndorf) one of the worst live bands, considering how long they've been at it. I think they just get really stoned and then go out and play.

I hate Tool, but they put on a very tight live show.

 

[gkbass13]

best bands ive seen live:
simon and garfunkle
dave matthews band
pearl jam
red hot chilli peppers
robert randolph and the family band
rusted root
and a few others

i saw the mars volta once and it was terrible, but i think a lot fo it had to do with it being a big venue and them ebign an opener. ina club as a headliner i could see them putting ona really cool show.

 

[Vandelay]

Best live band I've ever seen:
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Seen them about 6 times, each was a pretty amazing life-affirming experience.

Worst:
New Order (most of their sound was computer-generated, and their stage presence was nil),
The Grateful Dead (got talked into seeing them once, it was so boring that I fell asleep)

 

[VanillaO]

Best:

Iron Maiden
RHCP
Protest The Hero (awesome awesome awesome)
The Decemberists

Worst:

Weezer (solely because of the whole lack of stage presence)
Band that opened first for SoaD in '05
Trivium

 

[Matt Till]

Weezer (solely because of the whole lack of stage presence)

Hmm, I expect that from a non musician... but why does stage presence (lack of) bother you? Does someone have to jump around like an idiot to keep you MUSICALLY entertained?

I really like old Weezer, good pop songs.

 

[Adam Barkley]

The Deftones are the worst live band I've ever heard. Bad sound, singing, and playing. The guitarist was snakebit as he must of broken three or four strings in a 45 minute set.

Granted their lead singer talked crap about every other band on the bill (Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne, and Linkin Park) so that could explain why they got shafted on the sound.

 

[Dash Rantic]

I saw Mars Volta last September... They put on an INCREDIBLE show. The OP musta been high when he wrote that they're bad live I don't listen to their recorded stuff that much, but their live show was by far the best show I've seen.

System of a Down was alright live (Mars Volta opened for them). They're one of my favorite bands, but they didn't do a whole lot on stage for some reason when I saw 'em... Watch some live videos of those guys on YouTube though, they do get pretty intense. I would love to see them again as well.

Tool does a decent live show as well. All the visuals are very entertaining.

-Dash

[edit]Too bad they're not around anymore, but the live DVDs I have of Rage Against The Machine are simply amazing. What I wouldn't do to somehow be able to see them live in person...[/edit]

 

[Adam Barkley]

Hmm, I expect that from a non musician... but why does stage presence (lack of) bother you? Does someone have to jump around like an idiot to keep you MUSICALLY entertained?

I really like old Weezer, good pop songs.

When I see a show, all I like to see is a band that is having fun. No need for a guitar flipping with a triple back-flip to keep my attention.

 

[markjazzbassist]

best bands ive seen live

earth wind and fire
the brand new heavies
van hunt
steely dan
brian auger's oblivion express
the ohio players

 

[VanillaO]

Hmm, I expect that from a non musician... but why does stage presence (lack of) bother you? Does someone have to jump around like an idiot to keep you MUSICALLY entertained?

I really like old Weezer, good pop songs.

I love Weezer to death. As abark000 said though, the band needs to be having fun. They looked more like they were just here to play the songs and get the eff out of there. They just didn't seem to have any emotion in the music they were playing. They don't need to rock out like they're seizuring. They don't even need to headbang. They don't have to move. As long as it moves me.. an dnot in the literal 'one place to the next' moving kind of way.

 

[The_Ryst]

I'm not too big of a Black Label Society fan, but when I saw them front and center at Ozzfest. It was insane. I've seen unmentionably amazing local bands, notably Sunset Greets the Moon (Link Removed) and Scarlet Undercover (Link Removed) Of course Scarlet Undercover's good parts (guitarist and bassist) who made their live show left and the band broke up.

George Clinton is one of the best I've ever seen live. Megadeth. Dream Theater perfectly recreates what they play on CD, which is impressive in itself.

 

[bryanjnkns]

BEST IV SEEN -

ROBERT RANDOLF AND THE FAMILY BAND
INCUBUS (before and after dirk, both were great)
DEFTONES(Chino wasn't drunk)
NOFX
FAMILY VALUES TOUR (the first one)
FINCH
MONTEY MONTGOMERY
311
BELA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES
DYNOMITE BOY
YELLOWCARD (before they made it to Mtv)
RxBandits!!!!!!!!! They are a must see!
Edit - I agree, George Clinton is one of the best. Saw him twice, once with a small back up group and second with his full band, simply amazing.

Worst iv seen -

Deftones(Chino was drunk!)

 

[threshar]

Best -
weird al - what a great show. great playing, great lights, great everything
tortoise - crazy musicianship. the guys all switch instruments during songs depending on what needs to be done. insane.
michael manring - he is simply not human. saw him in a small jazz club in boston. no lights or anything but yow...

Worst -
hmm.. tough call.. In some cases, it is not a band problem (when I saw trans siberian orchestra, I think they put the bass on mute, but the rest of it was incredible and a breathtaking light show)... or it just isn't my thing (bringing fiance to see alan jackson).. or one of the G3's was in a venue with comically small leg room.

I know there has to be some show I really hated, but I know I'll think of it later.

 

[bassist 4 life]

Maiden are amazing at live performances, Tallica have good presence too, but they make way too many mistakes.

 

[jady]

BEST:

Beastie Boys!!!!
Spinaltap - F'in awesome!!!!
ELP
Faith No More
Weird Al - incredible show
Living Color/Bad Brains - shared the bill at the Warfield in SF
Drums and Tuba - Invalid Link Removed
Flo and Eddie - played stump the band with the audience, they couldnt stump 'em

WORST:

Slaughter - sounded like a tape player with the batteries going dead
Grateful Dead - horrible sound, boring, got burnt for 2 sheets of LSD (I was in college)
Johnny Winter - we opened for him and blew him away, he didnt even talk to the audience
Smashing Pumpkins - they had been following the Beastie Boys on lollapalooza for 6 months, they were kinda pissy