Worst band you've ever seen?

[Big Brother]

My gf anted to see Morrissey back in 92 or so.

For each song he gradually took his shirt off, whipped it around in a circle and threw it out to the crowd at the end, then went backstage for 5 minutes and came out with a new one and started over.

I talked her into leaving early and she relented without a fight. This wasn't the Smiths. It was something horrible and awful.

 

[edmidlifecrisis]

I've seen lots of really bad bands. Golden Earring and Wishbone Ash as openers for other, way better bands in the 1970's. Both really sucked big time. Horrible.

In the early 1980's a friend of mine with dreams of being a promoter was managing a few of the hundreds of "hair bands" in Los Angeles, and I went through all the LA clubs with him to see his bands and others he was scouting. I never heard so much really awful "music" noise in my life before or since.

Oh, and the Dead could really suck on a bad night. And in the mid 1970's I saw one of Eric Clapton's drug/alcohol fueled shows where he only played for thirty or forty minutes and had to bail (in a stadium). The only saving grace to that one after waiting on the field ALL DAY for the show to start was the fact that he had Freddie King playing, too. Many years later I saw his "From the Cradle" solo acoustic tour in Maryland, that was awesome. I still love EC.....

 

[daveman50]

And in the mid 1970's I saw one of Eric Clapton's drug/alcohol fueled shows where he only played for thirty or forty minutes and had to bail (in a stadium). The only saving grace to that one after waiting on the field ALL DAY for the show to start was the fact that he had Freddie King playing, too.

Rich Stadium in Buffalo? July 6, 1974. I got up in the middle of the night, drove from Syracuse and waited all friggin day for the show to start. It was a double bill with The Band, and some lame hard rock band opened (Ross?). We were really close to the stage and I could see EC swigging bourbon out of the bottle before they came on. Uh-oh. He was lying on his back on the stage trying to play (unsuccessfully), yelling stupid things into his mic, etc. Horrible. George Terry (EC's 2d guitarist) was doing his best to hold it together - but it was too much. At least The Band was OK.

 

[edmidlifecrisis]

Rich Stadium in Buffalo? July 6, 1974. I got up in the middle of the night, drove from Syracuse and waited all friggin day for the show to start. It was a double bill with The Band, and some lame hard rock band opened (Ross?). We were really close to the stage and I could see EC swigging bourbon out of the bottle before they came on. Uh-oh. He was lying on his back on the stage trying to play (unsuccessfully), yelling stupid things into his mic, etc. Horrible. George Terry (EC's 2d guitarist) was doing his best to hold it together - but it was too much. At least The Band was OK.

No, apparently it was ANOTHER drunken night at the Meadowlands in NJ. Same story. Waited all day etc. Freddie King was great but the rest of the show...no. And The Band was not there. I did see them that year at Watkins Glen racetrack with the Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers.

 

[GlennW]

LZ or James Gang. Page was terrible that night so the overall sound sucked; BEST drum solo I ever heard, and I don't go for drum solos. James Gang sounded like they were all on different drugs playing different songs.

 

[Thorsoundcore]

I have a bunch..

As far as mainstream acts go, three automatically come to mind. My first concert was Breaking benjamin, Staind, 3 doors down and some crappy opener ("No address" was their name, I think). Breaking benjamin was just awkwardly loud. Wasn't exactly the best first band to see live cause it messed with my ears at first, to the point where I was starting to get nervous. Their notes were muddy and inaudible at times because of the volume that was beyond overly bassy. They seemed like good sports though.

Same show, 3 doors down was just annoying. I didn't really care much for their music to begin with. In between songs, the frontman would just ramble on to the crowd for several minutes, aimlessly. Also, before at least 3 or 4 of their songs, he would say "this one is my very favorite one to play". I don't know if he was half drunk or what, but it just seemed like he was tripping over his own sentences at times. If he had said "one of my favorites to play", I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.

Last one was Puddle of mudd. All the other bands they played with were great, and I think they did put on a decent show. But once again, the frontman...
He started to go off in the middle of a couple of the songs, "singing" things like "pussy pussy pussy pussy, pussy pussy pussy all night long" over and over and over again for several minutes. I mean, I could have seen how that would appeal to some but I was just thinking "*** is this guy doing?!" it was just annoying after a few minutes, but he just kept on going!!

The last show I was ever at was "Dan deacon experience with special guests Lightning bolt". I was just getting into the noisy stuff and figured "well, if they are with LB, then they must be pretty interesting". Couldn't have been more wrong... I learned quite fast that EDM is not my thing that night. Maybe it would have been if my mind had been altered in some way that night, like the other memebers of the crowd more than likely were. But all it was for me was a few bearded nerds jumping around like they were 5 years old to giddy and super fast electronic beats for an hour and a half straight. It was like one long beat with a couple of silent breaks in between. And their openers were local acts in the same vein which were equally as dreadful to sit through for me at least.

Alot of the local "bands" here are just as bad as anywhere else of course. I too am guilty of being a part of a few that were just...blegh. But thankfully I was not even close to being a part of the two worst I have ever seen. One was a band from the opposing HS playing at our talent show. They were poorly EQed, especially the bass player...he was entirely low end.. literally no mids or highs at all. They had two guitarists, both with half or full stacks and a keyboard player with a tiny amp. Needless to say, you couldn't hear a damn thing that key player was doing. They played this corny mixture of pop punk, emo and a bit of some kind of "_____core" in there. The dudes in this band were equally as odd as they were arrogant as well.

And last but not least, was a "band" that the jock type kids had formed just to play the talent show a few years earlier. I don't know how else to describe their performance other than just an utter mess. I realise that playing is all in good fun, but they put so much emphasis on the fun part that everything was just kind of out of wack. I heard they had been drinking and smoking in their cars not long before hand, so this might have something to do with it. Singer was practically talking the lyrics, and was holding a guitar the entire time pretending to strum yet couldn't play at all. There was a sax player who was going a bit overboard if I remember correctly. The kid on bass looked like he was the only one putting a bit of real effort in. It looked like they were having fun, but to the crowd it was like a joke. Most of the people around me and my friends watching were talking some serious trash and laughing and yelling at them... a few of my friends included.

 

[petrus61]

I have literally unplugged my bass and walked off stage mid song at some open mic's. Because if the sign up rotation, I would sometimes get stuck with this particular drummer and guitarist who were oblivious to how bad they were. The drummer played jazz to R&B songs and had no concept of the "1", while his guitard friend noodled away like an out of tune Jerry Garcia. I don't think they even noticed I walked away a lot of times because they both usually had their eyes closed.

 

[daveman50]

I did see them that year at Watkins Glen racetrack with the Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers.

My friends tell me that I was at the Watkins Glen show but honestly I have no memory of it whatsoever.... those were the daze.

 

[Jack Butler]

The worst famous band I ever saw was KISS about 3 years ago. I was a big fan of theirs and had seen them many times but on that tour, they were terrible. The opening bands, "Switchblade Suicide" and "The Envy" were also pretty bad.

Interesting. I saw Kiss the tour before that I think, with BuckCherry opening, and both bands sounded fantastic. Great playing, excellent mix. I actually wondered if Kiss was lip syncing to studio tracks they sounded so good. And to be honest, I've never really been a kiss fan at all. I respect their accomplishments but don't own any of their music. A buddy of mine had an extra ticket, and I tried to get out of going, but he's like "come on man, it's free for you, and it's a Wednesday, what else you got going on."
I was very pleasantly surprised.
Second worst was definitely "Everlast". He was on a multi act bill with BB King and Robert Cray of all people. BB and Robert were great, but Everlast was out of place, out of tune, and just a disaster.
Worst by far was Van Halen 2007. Eddie was a mess, a shell of himself. Attempted to play Eruption twice during his "solo spot", and then just stopped trying and leaned on the whammy bar for about 10 minutes. Crowd actually booed him. I felt sorry for the guy.
Best ever was SRV about 2 months before he died. Saw him in Philly. Great mix, and he and the band were absolutely on fire. No smoke, no light show, and he said about 5 words to the crowd the whole time. My GF at the time, who was no fan of guitar driven music really, even said it was the best musical performance she'd ever seen.

 

[vegas532]

Worst ever had to be when I saw Wolfsbane open for Overkill in 1989. I was actually stunned when I heard that their vocalist, Blaze Bayley, became the replacement in Iron Maiden during that Dickinson-less period they went through.

I mean seriously...Wolfsbane had absolutely NO redeeming value whatsoever!!

 

[guitar ed]

Back in the daze.....

There used to be a club, back in the early to mid-80s, that had $1 night on Tuesdays. $1 at the door, $1 for a crappy beer. For $3 it was worth it. Was the music very good? Nope. Most of the bands sucked and were never heard from again. The players just moved bands. Was it worth while? Absolutely. My expectations were low enough to be met.

Another disappointing experience was Chuck Berry, earlier in the 80s. He was using Elvin Bishops band. It was clear that they had no idea what Chuck was going to do. What song, what key. It was fun, but..... It could have been much better.

And the Grateful Dead in the mid-80s. I know, live Dead was a hit or miss kind of thing. The night I saw them was a miss. By a mile.

Oh, well. I did see a number of good acts, and I had lots of fun, so I can't complain.

edg

 

[dtripoli]

Back in the daze.....
Another disappointing experience was Chuck Berry, earlier in the 80s. He was using Elvin Bishops band. It was clear that they had no idea what Chuck was going to do. What song, what key. It was fun, but..... It could have been much better.

To what I understand, Chuck Berry does not have a back up band now or ever.
When he signs on for a show, it is the promoters responsibility to provide a back up band.
Obviously, this means his shows are hit or miss. One night you might get class 'A' professional musicians
backing him and the next night some local bar band. No pre-show rehearsals or meetings, The back up band never sees him until he steps on stage.
As for his guitar, when he travels, he simply checks it as luggage. His guitar has been stolen/lost many, many times. It is the promoters responsibility to get him a replacement guitar to use if his is lost en route.
When asked if it bothers him when his guitar comes up missing, "No, that's what insurance is for"
I suspect the original guitar he used on Johnny B. Good, Roll over Beethoven, etc is long gone.

 

[No Malarky]

Metallica...

They are as over rated as Megadeath and Motorhead.

 

[Thrust Meatnozl]

1) Bob Dylan
2) The Tragically Hip
3) The Tragically Hip

 

[rtav]

OK... cheating bit here... THIS IS THE WORST BAND IN THE WORLD, and YES, I would pay to see something THIS bad. I present for your sheer disbelief the band COMPLETE playing "HOOGIE BOOGIE LAND":

Invalid Link Removed

Let's see what you think of this

 

[AMp'D.2play]

I thought the video you linked to was going to be that band that butchered both Comfortably Numb & Cocaine, but, yeah, the band you actually posted was pretty damn bad, too.

 

[dtripoli]

OK... cheating bit here... THIS IS THE WORST BAND IN THE WORLD, and YES, I would pay to see something THIS bad. I present for your sheer disbelief the band COMPLETE playing "HOOGIE BOOGIE LAND":
Invalid Link Removed
Let's see what you think of this

OMG, I love that band!
There is such a thing as being so bad yet being so committed to the music that it becomes an absolutely astonishing thing to watch.

 

[4-stringB]

creed

 

[preside]

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.

Come on now a festival with a puppet show... playing freestyle...Thats SPINAL TAN 2.0

 

[tinman 1967]

To what I understand, Chuck Berry does not have a back up band now or ever.
When he signs on for a show, it is the promoters responsibility to provide a back up band.
Obviously, this means his shows are hit or miss. One night you might get class 'A' professional musicians
backing him and the next night some local bar band. No pre-show rehearsals or meetings, The back up band never sees him until he steps on stage.
As for his guitar, when he travels, he simply checks it as luggage. His guitar has been stolen/lost many, many times. It is the promoters responsibility to get him a replacement guitar to use if his is lost en route.
When asked if it bothers him when his guitar comes up missing, "No, that's what insurance is for"
I suspect the original guitar he used on Johnny B. Good, Roll over Beethoven, etc is long gone.

I have heard the same thing here,.. I have listened to old live recordings and this is true, It is hit or miss, Chuck does his own thing in his own time... Its up to the house band to fall in with him. Sometimes its wonderful..... sometimes, Uh.... not so much. I will tell you this, when you see him and the band get into that majical zone, its simply awsome! I was lucky enough to see him in three river stadium in Pittsburg about 17 years back, and is was one helluva show. We were standing about 20 rows back on the floor and Jimmy Beaumont (who had finished performing earlier) came over and stood next to my uncle and myself. He asked him what the hell he was doing down on the floor? Mr. Beaumont said that he prefered to see Chuck perform from there, so he could take it all in. Boy! What a great show!