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Worst Live Performance?
- Thread starter scrove
- Start date
edmidlifecrisis
Registered mediocre bass player
Ugh. I think you win. That sounds horrible. Why did you go?
In 1972 that would be the LAST show I would go to......
Cheap Trick opening for Aerosmith at the FU Center in Philly in 2003 or 2004. The band wasn't bad but the sound was awful. The Aerosmith came on and sounded great! 
Makes you wonder. 
Makes you wonder. 
System of a Down turned me off forever, (with albums after Toxicity) and with a show in Miami where Mars Volta opened for them. Volta doesn't belong in a 30 minute set (they played two songs, albeit incredible performances)... SOD very blatantly changed the tempo of every song to match what seemed to me to be one BPM for the whole set. Old stuff, new stuff, everything was the same tempo. What a cop out!
Radiohead came down here and played the whole new album except for the single. They played fake plastic trees, Everything is in its right place and exit music for a film, which was all GREAT. But they played with very little energy overall. I was out in the grass and I couldn't here much, and everyone I was holding tickets for showed up very late (in the middle of Radiohead's set) so I was missing some of the best parts. For me, that was not a good show. I hear they blew the roof off lollapalooza though.
edit: I consider it a good thing that they didn't play the single but did do the whole In Rainbows album... that's very cool... when you can hear it. A friend had good seats and said it was a great show...
Radiohead came down here and played the whole new album except for the single. They played fake plastic trees, Everything is in its right place and exit music for a film, which was all GREAT. But they played with very little energy overall. I was out in the grass and I couldn't here much, and everyone I was holding tickets for showed up very late (in the middle of Radiohead's set) so I was missing some of the best parts. For me, that was not a good show. I hear they blew the roof off lollapalooza though.
edit: I consider it a good thing that they didn't play the single but did do the whole In Rainbows album... that's very cool... when you can hear it. A friend had good seats and said it was a great show...
Andrew WK when he opened for Aerosmith one year in Grand Rapids. He was so bad the crowd (me included ) was booing him. He kept apologizing saying they were doing their best. Then he said. "Come on guys, My Mom is in the crowd..."
True story.
True story.
The most disappointing show for me was Boston in 1976. Boston was red-hot after releasing their first album and toured with Rush, who had just released "All the World's a Stage". Boston's sound was so polished in the studio, but they sounded like crap live. All of the acoustic guitar parts from the album were done on a loud distorted electric and the overall sound was a muddy mess. Every song sounded exactly alike. They were halfway through each song before I could figure out what song it was. On the other hand, Rush put on an incredible show. I was just starting to get into Rush and this was the first time I had seen them live. It was the worst case I have ever seen of an opening act blowing away the headliner.
A7X... The headliners of the show were them and Flogging Molly. I didn't have high hopes for Flogging Molly and intended to leave early if they were last, but they were first and absolutely amazed me. Then A7X came out... they were just so unbelievably boring...
Oh, and Breaking Benjamin. They headlined a concert in my hometown and... it was just... not good, at all.
Oh, and Breaking Benjamin. They headlined a concert in my hometown and... it was just... not good, at all.
Holy necrothread batman 
But I'll play along.
A couple years ago, sandwiched between Death from Above 1979 and Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age put on the worst show I've ever seen. Great sound, great venue, crappy performance.
Their "we don't want to be here" vibe was matched only by the audience's "we don't want you here either" vibe.
But I'll play along.A couple years ago, sandwiched between Death from Above 1979 and Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age put on the worst show I've ever seen. Great sound, great venue, crappy performance.
Their "we don't want to be here" vibe was matched only by the audience's "we don't want you here either" vibe.
Jefferson Starship, Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio. Probably 1972.
The sound sucked, and they complained constantly about their stage monitors.
The sound sucked, and they complained constantly about their stage monitors.
This really **** band I saw opening for Jimmy Eat World in 05.
All I remember is that they were from Boston and had a song called "Liftoff."
All I remember is that they were from Boston and had a song called "Liftoff."
Also, The James Gang (post Joe Walsh), opening for Santana, at the University of Cincinnati Fieldhouse, 1974 or 75.
Go rent "Stones In The Park". Mick Taylor's first gig with the band and only a few days after he joined. If someone can nominate a worse performance that made it to film, I'd be interested to know.
Speaking of Mick Taylor.............
I saw Mick Taylor in a club in Houston around 1986 or so.The band had no direction at all and went from rock,to jazzy stuff,to blues,etc. all with no vocals.The band and Mick did not try to connect with the audience.When they played "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'?",they didnt play anything but the instrumental part at the end.
No communication with the crowd,no introductions of songs.
I'm usually fine with a band just coming out and playing,no frills,but this was just boring.I was really psyched to see Mick play too.Too bad they didnt seem to care if they were entertaining or not.
Joe Bonamassa two years ago was no picnic either.
EDIT: Not that either band played bad.Just kinda boring.
I saw Mick Taylor in a club in Houston around 1986 or so.The band had no direction at all and went from rock,to jazzy stuff,to blues,etc. all with no vocals.The band and Mick did not try to connect with the audience.When they played "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'?",they didnt play anything but the instrumental part at the end.
No communication with the crowd,no introductions of songs.
I'm usually fine with a band just coming out and playing,no frills,but this was just boring.I was really psyched to see Mick play too.Too bad they didnt seem to care if they were entertaining or not.
Joe Bonamassa two years ago was no picnic either.
EDIT: Not that either band played bad.Just kinda boring.
Listened to Fall Out Boy on the radio and online and they sounded good for what they do. Then heard them "live" on one of the late night shows and they sucked balls completely. Really dissappointing.
System of a Down at the 2005 Big Day Out in Sydney. I was so psyched to see them, and then they came out and played the most lacklustre set I've ever seen. Didn't talk to the crowd, sound was ok, not great, and just... bleh.
Prog-metal band Baroness was probably my worst live experience so far. Not Baroness themselves, they were amazing live - perhaps themselves one of the best acts i've seen live but their support was abominable. No support was announced at all before the gig so I sorta expected it to be an average metal band, I mean with a band like Baroness you are going to have a mix of people in the audience so it could go any way. Unfortunately it went Metalcore, or should I say Medio-core.
Supporting band, "SonDura" played about 45 minutes of cheesy melodic refrains to a blank-faced staring audience -one or two people at the back tapping their foot while the rest sortof looked at an invisible clock behind the stage, waiting for the headliners to come on. It was really, really awful - completely misjudged audience.
Half-way through the set there was a technical issue with the guitar and the singer attempted to rouse the audience with adolescent cries of "are you having a ****in good time?" with absoultely no reply from the audience (this was a sold-out gig and everyone had arrived early to get a good spot for Baroness). A few minutes later someone shouted "BASS SOLO!". The bassist looked confused and still visibly overweight and just stood there. Another heckler shouted "Seinfeld". Yeah, totally fail evening for the support
I looked them up on the internet the next day and it turned out all their other gigs were playing to pre-teens in high-schools.
Go figure.
Supporting band, "SonDura" played about 45 minutes of cheesy melodic refrains to a blank-faced staring audience -one or two people at the back tapping their foot while the rest sortof looked at an invisible clock behind the stage, waiting for the headliners to come on. It was really, really awful - completely misjudged audience.
Half-way through the set there was a technical issue with the guitar and the singer attempted to rouse the audience with adolescent cries of "are you having a ****in good time?" with absoultely no reply from the audience (this was a sold-out gig and everyone had arrived early to get a good spot for Baroness). A few minutes later someone shouted "BASS SOLO!". The bassist looked confused and still visibly overweight and just stood there. Another heckler shouted "Seinfeld". Yeah, totally fail evening for the support
I looked them up on the internet the next day and it turned out all their other gigs were playing to pre-teens in high-schools.
Go figure.
ASIA, outdoors at Penn's Landing in Philly. Early 80's IIRC
With a lineup that included Steve Howe, John Wetton , and Carl Palmer I was expecting to hear something a little more complex and interesting than their big hit at the time, Heat of the Moment
Nope. The whole show was just wall-to-wall cheezy pop poop. Total waste of talent, with the entire band looking like they were just phoning it in
With a lineup that included Steve Howe, John Wetton , and Carl Palmer I was expecting to hear something a little more complex and interesting than their big hit at the time, Heat of the Moment
Nope. The whole show was just wall-to-wall cheezy pop poop. Total waste of talent, with the entire band looking like they were just phoning it in
