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Best and Worst Live Bands

#81
these_go211 said:
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.
Click to expand...

PM sent about the drugs you were on that night...

Seriously though, I have to agree with the OP, The Mars Volta were horrendous live.

Great improvisation my ass as well, all I could hear was Omar's screaming guitar masked under a ton of effects. Maybe something interesting was going on under there, but again, when I saw them that was not the case.

In any event...

Best -

Hyde
DragonForce
Andrew W.K.
Less Than Jake
The Lawrence Arms
Against Me!
D'espairsRay

Worst -

The Mars Volta

It pains me to trash on the Volta too cause I love their studio work. They're just atrocious live though.
 
#82
Best:
U2 - last night. Ok, I'm still on a high but it was an awesome and uplifting show.

Neil Finn - A solo show 5 years back. Some great interaction with the audience made for a fantastic show.

Betchadupa - Saw them at a local Uni bar playing to not more than about 40-50 kids. Great tight set played energetically despite the small crowd.

Worst:
Can't think of too many shows I've been to where the band hasn't been up to scratch. I've had a few which I haven't enjoyed because of the crowd or I just didn't feel like being squashed amongst people that night...
 
#84
Cool idea for a thread!

Best live...
Stevie Ray Vaughan (saw him 3 times)
Nine Inch Nails
Rage Against the Machine
Tool
311
Sevendust (amazing band live)
Ramones (3 times in the 80's, they sounded like crap but hey it's punk, it was supposed to!);)

Worst...
Rolling Stones (Steel Wheels tour)
Godsmack
 
#85
Best:
Muse by a mile. The sound the 3 of them crank out is awesome and to see Bellamy swap from Keys to guitar flawlessly is something else.

Also really enjoyed Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Back in the early days I saw them at the Barrowlands and they just rocked out. At one point a bottle of water hit the guitarists mic and he didnt even flinch!

Worst:
Has to be Blur. I caught them at T in the Park once and they sucked big time. I was never a fan anyway but that night just confirmed what I always thought. Daman Allbarn just has a rubbish voice.

Ian Brown too. My god I dont think he hit one right note!
 
#86
I saw KISS in 1976 and 1978, and they were awesome. I took my wife to see them in 1997 and they sucked. The stage was cheap, and their playing was not tight. I was embarrassed to have built them up to my wife, and then I saw a budget show. So, they have been the best and the worst.

Other Greats:
Heart
John Cougar
Nantucket!!!!!
Blues Traveler
Kinks
Bon Jovi
Hootie & the Blowfish
Cravin Mellon
Edwin McCain
Phil Dirt and the Doziers

Most Boring:
Dave Matthews
Jimmy Buffett (At least the last couple that I can actually remember) 25 years ago he was great. Now it's too corporate.
 
#89
Hands down, Rush is far and away the best live band. Best sound, best song selection, long shows, great lighting and props, and they truly appear to enjoy themselves every night.

The Dixie Dregs are also a high energy and great live band.
I saw The Tubes a year or so ago with Fee Waybill back in the fold. It was stellar! Just like he was in the old days.

The worst I think was Aerosmith but really because they sounded horrible. A high energy show but they sounded like they were trying too hard to be some rootsy garage band. Seemed they couldn't pull off some of their most well known stuff without some mishap. It was a long time ago.

Meh, I need to get out and see some more current stuff.
 
#91
These are the first that come to mind (there may be others, but I'll just quit here):

BEST:
Allman Brothers Band (Fillmore East, March 1971)
As their set went on, I just started to realize that there wasn't anything they couldn't do. Elegant, ballsy, soulful, brilliant improvisors, wonderful dynamics, ingenious arrangements. The best band in the world, at the time.
Honorable mention:
Mahavishnu Orchestra (Carnegie Hall, late 1971)
They simply pinned us (the audience) against the wall. Astounding.

WORST:
Aerosmith (in New York City, sometime around 1973, I think)
They seemed like a run-of-the-mill white "blooze" bar band. I had been seeing a lot of the real people like Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Albert King, Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, and so on, and the comparison killed Aerosmith, for me. At the show, people were heading to the rest rooms and the food counters during their set.
 
#93
Hands down, Rush is far and away the best live band. Best sound, best song selection, long shows, great lighting and props, and they truly appear to enjoy themselves every night.
Click to expand...

I don't know about best live band in all settings but as far as colosseum shows go, Rush was probably the best I have ever heard. Their sound was simply unbelievable and far and away from the usual mud you get in a large arena.

I also was impressed by a Blue Oyster Cult concert I caught in the mid 80's at a smaller club. Maybe it was the girl I met that night, but I remember that show as a standout.

Umphries McGee and Garaj Mahal were memorable shows for me more recently, both outdoor shows at Smilefest in 2003.
 
#94
Best:
Yes
Who
Robert Randolph & band
Ramones (saw them ohhh so many times at City Gardens in Trenton, cant remember a single show, just that I enjoyed myself immensly :))
U2

Worst:
ELP (w/ Cozy Powell at the Mann in Philly years ago)
The Fixx
Depeche Mode
System of a Down
 
#95
I'd like to add to the worst: Metallica.

I'm sorry, but if your drummer can't play, you are going to sound like ****. In rock, the drummer is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE BAND... sorry lead guitarists/vocalists... it's true... especially in Metal. Ignoring the fact that James' voice is shot, Lars drumming is so bad at this point, it's unbearable.
 
#96
Best:
Earth, Wind, & Fire in the 70's
Graham Central Sation
Train
P Funk in '78
Steely Dan, my personal gods! :hyper:
Primus
311
War
Zapp
Jamiroquai
Genesis in high school (greatest light show EVER!)
Rush in high school
The Hives
The Pixies in Belgium
The Roots
Level 42 in the 80's.
Reel Big Fish
BNH
Incognito
Omar
Jaheim
And MANY others.

Worst:
30 Seconds to Mars (I had the DEEP desire to give that Jared character a Nike enema!)
Marilyn Manson in Europe. I got to see what a band, who's horrible to begin with, mails it in!
The Roots in Europe last year sucked!!!!!
Lenny Kravitz. Caught him on a bad day, I guess.
Kid Rock
 
#99
Best:
Steve Vai
Eric Sardinas
Tool
Allman Brothers
GreenDay (touring for the Nimrod album)
Molly Hatchet :D
AFI - I didn't think Davey would be able to hit the notes he did.


Worst:
The Wallflowers
Thursday
Tomahawk - words can't describe how terrible this band was.
 

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