OT: worst concert you attended

[RuBird]

Genesis, Invisible Touch tour at Giants Stadium in 1987. I wasn't a huge Genesis fan at the time but my friend convinced me to camp out overnight for tickets back when you had to do that. Ended up getting seats way back in the upper deck, could not hear a word Phil Collins was saying.

To me Genesis is one of those big bands with a poor batting average. (Poor Batting Average = 1-3 songs per album that are good to great, the rest are garbage, plus some "hits" that are popular but hard to listen to or not great live.) To be clear, this does not mean they are not great bands. For me these are risky bands to see live. If you could hand pick the set list, you would have an epic concert; in reality you often get a show that is hit-or-miss. I would put Billy Joel and Van Halen on this list as well.

Were you sitting next to me? We did the same thing. Camped out for tickets. We were “in line”for an hour only to find out they were giving out wrist bans. Literally we were in the last row of Giant Stadium. Worst seats ever and I agree could not hear Phil

 

[RuBird]

Same show! My friends had like 16 tickets so I went along for the ride. We were 3 rows from the way way back.. Some dude named Paul Young was the opener....not good. Me and a friend ended up just wandering around Giants stadium the whole time.

Paul Young was horrible

 

[Scarlet_Monster]

I never really seen a terrible show that I would've been pissed spending money on...unless we count going to a show and the opening act was just complete trash. If that's the case, went to see The Pixies at the Stone Pony Summer Stage and TV on the Radio opened for them, and it was just bad, so so bad. The sound was awful, the singer kept making these awkward hand gestures, the one guitarist looked like he was constipated, and it just didn't sound pleasing. Oddly enough John Grant opened the show first and I never heard of him prior to the show, and he was amazing. TV on the Radio was hot garbage, and The Pixies were simply sublime. However The Pixies are very much business only, not much banter, more or less you paid us to play music, so that's what we'll do and they did a great job at that.

However my Dad went to go see Lenny Kravitz, he was 45 minutes late, got about one riff into Are You Gonna Go My Way and passed out on the stage.

 

[Toddwills00]

Jay Z Sprite Liquid Mix Tour he did two songs and then the rest of the time was all the other rappers on his label. I saw him twice once in Camden and the following night at PNC. I left early both nights.

 

[knightfan7]

George Harrison at MSG. Show had no juice. It was so boring if I hadn't seen this thread I wouldn't have even remembered I went.

 

[KingHigh]

@ruhudsonfan rushed the stage at a Wham concert.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

@ruhudsonfan rushed the stage at a Wham concert.

Careless Whispers used to get me every time

 

[KingHigh]

Careless Whispers used to get me every time

Did you have the Flock of Seagulls hairdo?

 

[Plum Street]

Counting crows at pnc 2016. A little after my time, wife got them as part of that Ticketmaster lawsuit. Mass exodus out of there after 3 songs. Most of the place left . Free tickets, but still terrible.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

Did you have the Flock of Seagulls hairdo?

No. High and tight--pretty much since birth

@MYHATINTHERING on other hand still has the Per Shop Boys cut

 

[RUEd]

Frank Zappa in NYC in early 80s. He was sick and cancelled the show just as were we leaving. Awful.

 

[Knight Shift]

I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers back in 1991 in Cleveland. Really bad.

Funny thing, Pearl Jam was the first opener (Smashing Pumpkins was 2nd, also bad), and PJ was awesome. Their first tour before they hit the big time. But you knew that night they were the real deal. Embarrassed the headliners.

I saw the Chili Peppers about 10 years ago and they were great. Flea is a great performer.

 

[Knight Shift]

Counting crows at pnc 2016. A little after my time, wife got them as part of that Ticketmaster lawsuit. Mass exodus out of there after 3 songs. Most of the place left . Free tickets, but still terrible.

Was Kyle Flood there?

 

[Knight Shift]

I saw them once with the old singer and once with the new singer and I couldn't tell a damn difference between them. I heard that Ed is back again currently. He's a grade A toolbag.

Nickelback are bigger toolbags. I can't believe I stayed after Jerry Cantrell finished his set.

 

[RU4Real]

No. High and tight--pretty much since birth

@MYHATINTHERING on other hand still has the Per Shop Boys cut

In a West End town?

 

[Knight Shift]

Meatloaf. He was so terrible we walked out after 2 maybe 3 songs.

I saw Meatloaf at the Stone Pony in 1988-90 time frame when he still had long stringy hair. Fantastic show. I have heard his shows are not so good any more.

 

[Plum Street]

Was Kyle Flood there?

Probably. Since he was already fired and still getting paid millions by rutgers, I am betting though he wasn’t slumming it on the lawn with me.

 

[RU-05]

Offspring, at the Roseland I think. Not terrible, but lame, yet they thought they were cool. Forget who opened for them, they were a little better.

Worst I can think of at the moment.

 

[greenknight]

Jay and the Americans. At a high school gym. At one point, Jay came out onto the floor and sat on my lap. I was not amused.

Haha sang karaoke with one of the members who went into electrical industry. We were lab partners for Allen Bradley training out in Milwaukee

 

[famousbill19]

George Harrison at MSG. Show had no juice. It was so boring if I hadn't seen this thread I wouldn't have even remembered I went.

Wow, just remembered I saw George Harrison (I believe) at the Meadowlands Arena. I forgot until I read your post.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

In a West End town?

Face down ass up

In a west end town

Llo

 

[ron313]

Joe Walsh recently. Sat on stage, played a few songs poorly and left.

 

[ManasquanMike]

I saw Meatloaf at the Stone Pony in 1988-90 time frame when he still had long stringy hair. Fantastic show. I have heard his shows are not so good any more.

Sorry for the delay, was shoveling. This was in NYC when he was making his comeback. Absolutely horrible, different strokes for different folks. Enjoy theatre as well, same group (ex-wife & another couple) left Moving Out early. Billy Joel songs are great, the theatrics were terrible. Made no sense.

 

[RURM85]

The Cars at the Spectrum somewhere around '82. Amazing how boring of a concert it was.

This. Also saw the Cars at the Spectrum in the early 80's. They played for a total of 45 minutes and never came back out for an encore. Some fans so upset, starting throwing garbage on the stage. Complete waste of money.

 

[knightfan7]

Wow, just remembered I saw George Harrison (I believe) at the Meadowlands Arena. I forgot until I read your post.

Exactly my point.

 

[RUinOhio]

I just looked up a review of the show I went to, apparently RHCP didn't like the venue (it's an old hall for orchestras, all seating, no general admission standing areas), and Flea broke his bass the night before. Everyone is entitled to an off night. The reviewer said "Watch out for these 2 bands", meaning PJ and the Pumpkins, as at the time they were unknowns.

I saw the Chili Peppers about 10 years ago and they were great. Flea is a great performer.

 

[78CollegeAve]

Orleans. Cook gym. Probably 1975.

 

[RU4Real]

I saw Meatloaf at the Stone Pony in 1988-90 time frame when he still had long stringy hair. Fantastic show. I have heard his shows are not so good any more.

I saw the original Bat Out of Hell tour at the Arts Center. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Nearly incomparable.

Worst show is a really hard thing to pin down, because so many of them have been really bad. The Cars sucked. Boston was terrible, live. I once saw Frankie and the Knockouts on a double bill with The Marshall Tucker Band. I fell asleep. Springsteen at the Spectrum the night after John Lennon was shot was the best concert I've ever seen but Springsteen's first Giants Stadium show on the Rising tour may have been the worst.

 

[BigBlockR]

More the saddest show...

I saw New Riders of the Purple Sage about ten years ago, as part of a "fringe" festival.

There were about 25 people in a ballroom (like for a wedding reception) to see these 70 year old, fried rockers.

There were rows of dining chairs setup in front of a stage elevated about one or two feet. Midway through the show, two friends and I walked up and sat front row, center seats. It was a nice night. At one point there were more people outside on the balcony for a smoke than there were inside watching the band.. while they were still playing!

The music was what you'd expect from a band 40 years. Just a disinterested crowd.

The after party though...

 

[rutino]

Neil Young and The Shocking Pinks at Brendan Byrne. Horrible. I’m a big Neil Young and CSN&Y fan, a friend offered me a tickets to see “Neil Young” so I jumped. I had no idea he was performing basically du wop with the Shocking Pinks. We left early.

 

[phs73rc77gsm83]

I don’t want to say worst but the most disappointing concert for me was January 23, 1973 when Neil Young played at MSG. As the show was proceeding Neil Young was handed a piece of paper announcing the signing of the peace agreement ending the Vietnam War. Young merely stated in a matter of fact manner that “the war is over” to which the crowd went crazy and I said to my friends that the band was going to play all night. He played two or three more songs seemingly from a predetermined set and ended the concert. Obviously we were all elated that the war was finally over but I thought he was going to say more and play much more. Concert was about maybe a bit more than an hour, which was very short for that era. The lack of comment was puzzling, to me anyway.

 

[wheezer]

I saw Meatloaf at the Stone Pony in 1988-90 time frame when he still had long stringy hair. Fantastic show. I have heard his shows are not so good any more.

----------------
I saw Meatloaf at the meadowlands arena way back when...... this was after his long layoff, and he seemed very, very appreciative of the near sellout crowd still supporting him.....

the downside of his show was that he really did only about 8 or 9 songs, dragging out his hits as far as he could..... I remember the newspaper review
"pass on the Meatloaf"

 

[Scarlet4ever]

Nothing comes to mind as something so bad I felt cheated or felt I wanted to walk out of a show, but saw Don Henley in the late 80s or early 90s at Brendan Byrne and the show had so little energy it was like watching a lounge act in an arena. Cheryl Crow opened and was pretty good from what I remember.

 

[KingHigh]

I saw the Beach Boys at Great Adventure one time. It was like grab a pretzel, stand there and watch the Beach Boys play Kokamo and, when the pretzel is almost finished, carry on to the next ride. It was pretty sad.

 

[RU4Real]

I saw the Beach Boys at Great Adventure one time. It was like grab a pretzel, stand there and watch the Beach Boys play Kokamo and, when the pretzel is almost finished, carry on to the next ride. It was pretty sad.

I saw Quarterflash at Great Adventure in the early 80s. Talk about your prototypical One-Hit Wonder.

 

[ScarletNut]

Marshall Tucker at the Mayo in Morristown a couple years ago. Wouldn't do any of their hits. They did a whole bunch of slow, mostly acoustic songs that were fillers for their past albums, voice was shot, a real snoozefest.

 

[ch414]

I saw Quarterflash at Great Adventure in the early 80s. Talk about your prototypical One-Hit Wonder.

Gordon Lightfoot at the State Theater in NB a few years ago. Voice was totally gone. Sad and disappointing.

 

[RU4Real]

Gordon Lightfoot at the State Theater in NB a few years ago. Voice was totally gone. Sad and disappointing.

I saw him at the Count Basie, about 10 years ago. He's gotten on in years, but... Gordo has a special appeal. Great performer.

On the other hand, my wife would quickly point to that show as the worst concert she's ever seen.

 

[RU Mike73]

CSN&Y in STL. Between every song was a bunch of political BS. Audience started yelling “shut up and sing”. A whole bunch walked out.

 

[KingHigh]

I saw Quarterflash at Great Adventure in the early 80s. Talk about your prototypical One-Hit Wonder.

I'm not familiar with their work. Did the Beach Boys open for them? :P