• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Worst Live Performance?

#41
j.a.e.r.i.p said:
RHCP-WORST. SHOW. EVER! Showed up WAY late, sounded like crap, i'm no longer a fan.
Sonny Rollins-I LOVE older sonny...but at newport he soloed over I-IV for like fourty five minutes, he's pretty much lost it.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if they're the worst band I've seen live, but I saw RHCP at Reading festival 2007.

They came on a bit late and opened with "Can't Stop" only to have the guitar cut out. Then they just stopped playing while the problem was resolved. Anthony Kiedis kept going off between songs and a few times he spent ALONG time offstage so the rest of the band jammed. At one point, he tried to do a spinning kick, fell and landed on his face. Flea and Chad looked like they were into it, but Anthony and John looked really awkward and there was definately some tension on stage. At the end of the set, Anthony walked off and the band jammed in E for 40 minutes. Overall, the sound wasn't mixed very well and Flea's playing was surprisingly sloppy. It was absolutely ridiculous because noone knew whether or not to leave as they walked off without an encore. I was really dissapointed.
 
#42
Oh, I've seen LOTS of bad shows (too many) but Eric Johnson at the Canyon Club in Los Angeles was the most recent one.

And it had nothing to do with Eric. He was brilliant, as was his band, which included bassist Roscoe Beck.

The culprit was the PA, or more accurately, the brain-dead moron who was running it. Every time Eric stepped to the mic to sing there was a piercing shriek of feedback that was so loud he would literally have to step back from the monitors.

Now, sometimes the band arrives late and there isn't time for a sound check. And sometimes you just have ghosts in the machines and stuff happens. But a sound man who knows what he's doing will be able to even it out within a song or two at the most and get a decent mix.

This nonsense went on for the entire show, well over an hour! I don't know how Eric managed to put up with it. He basically just stayed away from the monitors when he could and played his ass off.

I never did find out if it was his sound guy or the house's (more likely the club hired this guy) but I certainly hope that individual is now cleaning a toilet somewhere and not running a mixer board!
 
#43
scrove said:
So, what are you worst live performances?
Click to expand...

The Melvins, back in '93 (or so) when they opened for Primus. "Primus Sucks" but The Melvins truly did suck. I think they played just about every song in E minor, and it was more or less a dirge- slow to mid-tempo songs that were all just "heavy" and rather indistinct. It might as well have been one long song for an hour, or song cycle in E minor.

:hmm:

I tried to like it, and have an open mind, but no dice. Maybe they're great, and it was just an off night. I give 'em that.

:hmm:
 
#45
I just saw The Average White Band earlier this year with one of my friends bands opening for them. Now, it was really the sound guy's fault, but when the sound is turned up so loud that you can't hear the music through the wall of noise, it's hard to call that an enjoyable experience. Just for the record, I am a fan of AWB and would like to see them in a better acoustical situation.
 
#46
Ozzy in 1992 in Allentown, PA- MAJOR disappointment. The band was sloppy (how do you f- up Mister Crowley? It's Ozzy for crying out loud, you may have played it a few times!). Not mistake sloppy, although there were some of those, but just not tight. And I was really looking forward to seeing him being a major Ozzy-head growing up and never getting to see him until 92 (when I was 18 and in college)

Earth Wind and Fire, 1997, Atlantic City, Trump Marina. (yes, my tastes had changed/ expanded in 5 years!!). They lip-synced / instrument synced almost the whole show. Again, very much looking forward to this show, as EWF was a major favorite by that point, but this show sucked. Worst part about was going back to the casino after the show and the band in the lounge was SLAMMING, doing Shining Star as the crowd made it's way back and sounding like EWF should have sounded. I still have the bootleg T shirt I bought with EWF on front and Larry Graham on back (he wasn't there, so not sure why he's on the shirt, but I'm not complaining). In fact, I was wearing the shirt yesterday.

Best show I ever went to? Paula Cole, Morristown, NJ community theater, just as she was getting well known. The only disappointment for me about that one was Tony Levin wasn't touring with her. Mark Browne was playing bass and was good though. I was in line to see her for Hard Rock Live for VH1, but they were very delayed in the taping and I had to leave to go to a gig. When I saw it on TV I was sad I missed it, because Doug Wimbish was on bass and was very creative.
 
#47
I saw Mars Volta open for System of a Down on 2 occasions. Both times were terrible.

It wasn't all coming from the band, the sound guy was partly to blame. It was incredibly loud, loud to the point that the keys, guitar, vocals, and brass were combining into this terrible loud screech that I couldn't stand to listen to. The band also seemed to have their stage volume way too high. I could hear the mains, and then about a second later, I'd hear the same thing coming from the stage. All in all, it made for a terrible show.
 
#49
Thunderthumbs73 said:
The Melvins, back in '93 (or so) when they opened for Primus. "Primus Sucks" but The Melvins truly did suck. I think they played just about every song in E minor, and it was more or less a dirge- slow to mid-tempo songs that were all just "heavy" and rather indistinct. It might as well have been one long song for an hour, or song cycle in E minor.

:hmm:

I tried to like it, and have an open mind, but no dice. Maybe they're great, and it was just an off night. I give 'em that.

:hmm:
Click to expand...

This makes me all nostalgic... I had a lockout studio in Downtown Los Angeles for years in the same facility where the Melvins had their studio. Those guys rehearsed at earsplitting volumes- The studio was a big, old brick and steel industrial building but would shake whenever they played. You could hear it like a mile down the block, too. We'd pull up to the light down the street and say to eachother "I guess the Melvins are here tonight." I also don't think they wrote a song faster than about 50 bpm. It seemed like there was 10 minutes in between share drum back beats. Pretty nice guys though.
How funny someone should bring them up.
-b
 
#50
Worst Audience

About six or seven years ago we went to see CSNY, over at the basketball arena in Broward (changed names, can't remember).

They were really awesome, Neil Young was on fire, Crosby's voice could melt ice, Stills was really on (I'm a huge Steve Stills fan) AND they had Booker T and the MG's as their BACKUP BAND!! What could be better? Can you say Duck Dunn?

We had pretty good floor seats, pretty far up. The row in front of us on the floor was taken up by a bunch of young girls, 16 or 18 year olds or so, who spent the ENTIRE concert talking to each other and on their cell phones at the top of their lungs, as if the music was an annoyance that they had to shout over, like they were in a bar or something. I couldn't believe it, even in the quiet acoustic songs, they were talking and shouting as if there was no concert going on around them. I told them to keep it down and they glared at me like I was some sort of mutant, on and off for the rest of the show. Real jerks. Why were they there? We spent a couple of hundred bucks to HEAR THE MUSIC. Not them. I never can understand people like that, I always seem to sit right in front or right behind them at most shows. A few months later we were at the West Palm Fairgrounds for YES and the same thing happened, a guy right behind me shouting over all the music, both quiet and loud sections, to talk to his girlfriend. We almost came to blows. He left finally about a half way through the show and I applauded.....

Ugh. The world is going to pot.....what happened to LISTENING?
 
#51
Y'all, I saw George Benson and his A #1 band a vew years ago at a very intimate venue. Probably less than 300 people at a sit down dinner.

I'll bet half the audience talked the entire time he played. It was appalling and embarrassing. It was like they thought this musical genious was some bar band they found on the street. Half-hearted applause. I was just floored.

One of the worst sounding concerts I ever endured was, and it's been mentioned before, Ted Nugent. And I am a huge Nugent fan. It was just a blisteringly loud, indistinguishable wall of mush.
 
#52
I saw Cheap Trick a few years back with a friend of mine. Neither one of us are huge fans but I'd seen them back in the eighties and they put on a great show so I figured I was guaranteed a good time... plus I do like some of their songs.

I can't remember who they had opening for them but, obviously, the band was pretty forgettable. In between bands we decided to try to move towards the stage since the front portion of the venue was standing room only. We were able pretty close and we're feeling pretty good about the show to come.

So the lights go down and there's a big crowd response as they go into the opening drum part to "I Want You to Want Me". But immediately I realize that something isn't quite right. For some reason the drum part is being played completely straight and there's no "swing" to it. I say something to my friend and we both lean to our left as the lights go on to get a good look at Bun E. Carlos, their drummer, to see what's up... oh, wait a minute, it's not Bun E., it's the damn drummer from the forgettable opening band... and he is just sucking wind.

The rest of the show got even worse when the drummer lost his place in a number of songs. Instead of the band putting on a good show, something they're known for, the had to spend most of their energy trying to figure out what the heck the drummer was going to do next. The show was pretty much a disaster all the way through.

Apparently Bun E. had to bow out of the tour a few days before because of back problems and rather than canceling the remaining dates, the band felt like they could keep cashing their paycheck by putting on a sub-par show.

Bummer.:scowl:
 
#53
I imagine the idea is worst performance by a major band, but for me it was prom. The band (from Indy) showed up with a pair of mid cabinets for a PA, the girl vocalist read the words out of a notebook, and the bass player looked lost and played a lot of notes that sounded weird. Turns out he was out of tune. Drummer just played the same song over and over. Determined to have a good time, I took my girl to the dance floor for some song that I had never heard before, until the guy started singing "If I don't get some shelter, I'm gonna fade away". Stunned, I had to leave the dance floor. On their break, I went up to them and asked the guitarist if he had ever heard Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones. He said "Yeah, we played it earlier, didn't you hear it?" I said "Yeah, that's why I asked if you had ever heard the song." Turns out the band that was originally booked had broken up and he threw something together for the gig. I told him he sucked ass for ruining the prom. Everyone was gone by 10:30 and they still paid those ******** and sent 'em home early. 25 years ago and still pisses me off.
 
#54
wallybill said:
I imagine the idea is worst performance by a major band, but for me it was prom. The band (from Indy) showed up with a pair of mid cabinets for a PA, the girl vocalist read the words out of a notebook, and the bass player looked lost and played a lot of notes that sounded weird. Turns out he was out of tune. Drummer just played the same song over and over. Determined to have a good time, I took my girl to the dance floor for some song that I had never heard before, until the guy started singing "If I don't get some shelter, I'm gonna fade away". Stunned, I had to leave the dance floor. On their break, I went up to them and asked the guitarist if he had ever heard Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones. He said "Yeah, we played it earlier, didn't you hear it?" I said "Yeah, that's why I asked if you had ever heard the song." Turns out the band that was originally booked had broken up and he threw something together for the gig. I told him he sucked ass for ruining the prom. Everyone was gone by 10:30 and they still paid those ******** and sent 'em home early. 25 years ago and still pisses me off.
Click to expand...
Similar thing happened at my prom last year. Though they were in tune, their originals were just plain bad and boring.

They were booed off stage. :hyper:
 
#55
hey said:
Similar thing happened at my prom last year. Though they were in tune, their originals were just plain bad and boring.

They were booed off stage. :hyper:
Click to expand...

All these years later, and schools are still hiring crappy bands for prom. The theme for ours was Stairway To Heaven (it was in '80) The guitarist played the first few lines (horribly) and then laughed it off - the rest of the band didn't know it. Why he thought it was funny to start it and then have it fall apart? Just proved he was a worthless bum.
I was never in a band that would be considered right for weddings or proms, so I always turned down the offers. I mean, who can be so low that they think it's a joke to ruin someones prom or wedding?
 
#58
bamaky1 said:
Dragonforce
It was pretty much a joke.
Not to mention their infamous performance:
Click to expand...


that video was too funny. I nearly died when the guitarist with the iceman fell...oh man! It's probably worth going to the show if they do funny stuff like that for the entire set.

My worst show was flatfoot 56...a local celtic punk band. The band played great but the crowd sucked. People would rock out and mosh for like the first half of the song and then stop and just stand there. Flatfoot still had some good energy though!
 
#59
wallybill said:
All these years later, and schools are still hiring crappy bands for prom. The theme for ours was Stairway To Heaven (it was in '80) The guitarist played the first few lines (horribly) and then laughed it off - the rest of the band didn't know it. Why he thought it was funny to start it and then have it fall apart? Just proved he was a worthless bum.
I was never in a band that would be considered right for weddings or proms, so I always turned down the offers. I mean, who can be so low that they think it's a joke to ruin someones prom or wedding?
Click to expand...
I agree 100%. String Quartets are for weddings. DJs are for proms. NOT live bands.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back