OT: worst concert you attended

[Knight Shift]

Took my little girl to see Barney live. 19 years later we just saw Disturbed/Breaking Benjamin/Sainnt Astonia at PNC. Nice that her tastes changed

I don't know. I would probably take Barney over Disturbed.
As I type this, was glad to take my oldest son to see Twisted Sister and Bruce Springsteen- Bruce let my son strum his guitar.
Took my youngest to see Kiss, Scorpions, Alice in Chains and Van Halen.

 

[ScarletSince86]

My parents took me to see Sha na na when I was a kid. Awful. My aunt and uncle took us to see the oak ridge boys well after their prime in an amusement park on Florida. Terrible. Never made it to the one song I knew. Howard Jones was crap too.

 

[KeithK7624]

Since we had a thread on worst movie/plot, I figured I start one with this topic: Worst concert you ever attended.


Mine was the only one I ever left early because it was so mind-numbingly bad:

Spyro Gyra

Kanye west at penn state. This was before my hatred for Kanye and ttfp. Fantasia opened. Awful on every level

 

[OTBOTOR]

Worst performances:
M.I.A. at Governors Island in 2010
Ludacris in Norfolk, VA sometime in the early ‘00s

Worst crowds/venue:
Anything at Terminal 5

 

[rutger80]

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

I believe I was at that one......I think the opening act was Huey Lewis and the News.

 

[rutger80]

Is that type of jazz not your thing, because I saw them and they are extremely talented.

I wasn't really a fan to begin with, nor a big jazz fan, but it was an opportunity to see live music at a cool outdoor venue, Chastain Park, in Atlanta. Seemed like they were just going through the motions, no energy, etc.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

Sly and the Family Stoned , yes Stoned, in '72 at MSG. .They came out for 15 minutes we did the light the match thing to Higher, they walked off and never came back out. As Mark Mcguire once said drugs is bad.

 

[colbert17]

Sly and the Family Stoned , yes Stoned, in '72 at MSG. .They came out for 15 minutes we did the light the match thing to Higher, they walked off and never came back out. As Mark Mcguire once said drugs is bad.

I guess I was one of the lucky ones to see a whole Sly concert. It also was at MSG in '70 or '71. Opening acts were Rare Earth and Ruth Copeland.
This was an excellent show.

Worst concert was also at MSG in '71 or '72.
Donovan in the round. My girlfriend wanted to see him and it was God awful unless you enjoyed singing "Way down below the ocean. Where I want to be she may be" for about 20 minutes. [sick]

For those who don't know her, here's Ruth Copeland.

 

[RuBird]

I don't know. I would probably take Barney over Disturbed.
As I type this, was glad to take my oldest son to see Twisted Sister and Bruce Springsteen- Bruce let my son strum his guitar.
Took my youngest to see Kiss, Scorpions, Alice in Chains and Van Halen.

Concert was at PNC. A friend of ours also went. He and his girlfriend had 4th row seats. The weather was so hot and of course hardly any air flow all the way in the front. He texts me right before Disturbed goes on that he and the girlfriend are ready to pass out from the heat. Would I be alright switching up seats for a few songs?.............um. ...........Hell yeah!

Only thing I did not plan on was the fire pyrotechnics for the opening song, Ten Thousand Fists. My daughter is deathly afraid of fire. She kept her mind on singing and being so happy to be so close to the stage that she let herself enjoy it. We switched back to our regularly seats about a half hour later just under the overhang. She still talks about how much fun she had!

 

[chase07470]

A few contenders but Neil Young takes the prize. $200 plus tickets and at one point, he played guitar distortion/feedback for like six minutes. He played one or two of his "hits" all night and the rest were just horrible vehicles for his sound to travel through.

You want to play your new stuff and none of your old stuff? Fine. Charge $25 and go play a small venue. But what you can't do is charge top ticket prices and refuse to play what people came to see. He did. All night. Still pissed.

Suffered through Dylan once at the Bowery Ballroom in like '98. Never again. Van Morrisson is another "I'm not playing the hits" guy but the dude is so talented, I enjoyed the other stuff, even though I didn't want to.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Hard to pick between these two:

• The Kinks at the Livingston Gym around 1989. They played a lot of some new unreleased concept album that sucked and had some stupid dancers on stage as part of it. I liked the Kinks records but this concert fell well below expectations.
• Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium around 2002. Got free tix about 5 miles from the stage in the upper deck. Not a big fan of his but I'm a big rock fan and thought I knew a lot of his catalog but the majority of the set seemed like songs I'd never heard of in my life which weren't any good. I assume there was a lot from The Rising. Definitely the most bored I've ever been at a concert which seemed like the reaction of most of the others in our outer reaches section of the stadium.

 

[RUPete]

Hard to pick between these two:

• The Kinks at the Livingston Gym around 1989. They played a lot of some new unreleased concept album that sucked and had some stupid dancers on stage as part of it. I liked the Kinks records but this concert fell well below expectations.
• Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium around 2002. Got free tix about 5 miles from the stage in the upper deck. Not a big fan of his but I'm a big rock fan and thought I knew a lot of his catalog but the majority of the set seemed like songs I'd never heard of in my life which weren't any good. I assume there was a lot from The Rising. Definitely the most bored I've ever been at a concert which seemed like the reaction of most of the others in our outer reaches section of the stadium.

I think a lot of that is the stadium. If you’re upstairs in that environment, it’s really awful. Conversely, I saw BB King and Junior Wells in what was almost like a church hall basement in Pittsburgh and it was awesome.

 

[e5fdny]

I think a lot of that is the stadium. If you’re upstairs in that environment, it’s really awful. Conversely, I saw BB King and Junior Wells in what was almost like a church hall basement in Pittsburgh and it was awesome.

Saw him on the waterfront in Philadelphia and he talked more than he played.

It was eh.

 

[ru78]

Aerosmith back in the very early 80's, may have even been 79. At the Poughkeepsie Civic Center. Joe Perry was so ****ed up that he passed out on the stage and they eventually finished the concert without him.

Aerosmith at Madison Square Garden late 70's (78 or 79)
This time Tyler was trashed and forgot the words to songs and just babbled

 

[ru78]

Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Capitol in Passaic sometime in the 70's. They were so stoned they could hardly perform. Left long before the end.

Skynard early 70's was a last minute added band in front of J Giels and Rd Stewart. Never heard of them at the time but was a solid performance. The front 2 bands blew Rod away. Surprised how load Rod Stewart played. I thought they played in Jersey City or nearby

 

[RUhasarrived]

Gary Puckett at some bar in Manhattan in 79'.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Aerosmith at Madison Square Garden late 70's (78 or 79)
This time Tyler was trashed and forgot the words to songs and just babbled

I am thinking it was 79 with me...but Joe Perry for sure but honestly- they may have all been so smashed. entire concert ended after about 30-40 minutes. was horrible. Big bands used to come to the Poughkeepsie CC a lot in those days after a concert in NYC/NJ/Phily and when their next stop was Saratoga/Albany/Boston etc...

 

[joshk ru03]

Stone Temple Pilots at PNC when Scott Weyland refused to come on stage. He finally came on after more than an hour and they rushed through a set without any energy.

I've seen them at other show and they were great, for this one Weyland seemed to be fighting his demons.

I was at that same show.

 

[joshk ru03]

Genesis a few years back, didn't realize how much I like Phil Collins solo versus Genesis.
Also Beastie Boys at the Brendan Byrne Arena, music was good sound was horrible.

 

[chase07470]

Genesis a few years back, didn't realize how much I like Phil Collins solo versus Genesis.
Also Beastie Boys at the Brendan Byrne Arena, music was good sound was horrible.

You may be the only person on the planet to see all three of those acts, live.

 

[RU1993]

Guess you weren’t at the one I was at...there was a delay before they took the stage. Apparently long enough that a lot of young ladies got so restless they took turns taking off their clothes.
That happened to me at the Garden. I was stone cold sober and they were awful.

The late Paul Cilinski at the Norwood in Avon was pretty bad too. He was very wasted and it wasn’t a good look.

Ha, I was there, started with one girl flashing her chest, ended with another eventually taking everything off and getting taken out by security.

 

[RU1993]

I will nominate 3 shows, all of which have asterisks for a redeeming factor

1) Late 80's Paul McCartney and Wings at Giants Stadium. Maybe it was the shitty seats we had at the top of the upper deck, maybe it was Linda McCartney being onstage. I just could not get into the show and thought Paul was lousy on stage. Redeeming factor: After several years of hearing from others how good his recent tours have been, the wife and I saw him at The Prudential Center back in September. An absolutely fantastic show,Paul was great, talkative, really connected to the audience. The band was terrific and we had a great time. ranks as one of my favorite concerts ever.
2) Kenny G and Michael Bolton at Garden State Arts Center., early 90's? Nothing more really needs to be said other than I swear my then girlfriend, now wife, dragged me kicking and screaming to this one. Redeeming factor: This was the year that Sinead O'Conner refused to have (or complained about) the Star Spangled Banner played before her show started. Well before the Michael Kenny show, when it was time for the national anthem, the two of them came out and did it together. The place went nuts. Made me hate the show a little less.
30 Ian Hunter at the Barn '80 or '81. Ian Hunter had several real good solo albums at that time - "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic" and "Short Back and Sides
, if memory serves. One was produced by Mick Jones of the Clash ands that was the tour for this concert. Well Ian really mailed it in that night. Boring show which I now describe as an hour of crap the "all the Young Dudes". I did see him open for the J Geils Band a couple years ago at the Bracon and he did a nice job that night.

Some artist are much better in smaller indoor venues than out side, Giants stadium is a big place to fill

 

[RUSK97]

1992 Metallica/Guns’n’Roses concert in Montreal. Metallica played their set and (I didn’t know it at the time) Hetfield cut the set short because he got burned by pyrotechnics. Waited an hour and a half for GNR to finally come on. They did two songs and Axl left the stage because of vocal issues. A full on riot ensued. I got out quickly, but later heard they teargassed the place.

 

[e5fdny]

Ha, I was there, started with one girl flashing her chest, ended with another eventually taking everything off and getting taken out by security.

Remember the one who got booed?

What kind of guy(s) boos free boobs? Idiots. LOL

 

[Knight Shift]

Remember the one who got booed?

What kind of guy(s) boos free boobs? Idiots. LOL

Have at it.

 

[colbert17]

Have at it.

Wasn t she in The Shining??

 

[mcbabz]

Blink 182, sounded like all 3 of them were playing 3 different songs the whole time....but they were entertaining as hell on the microphone so we stuck around. Were playing with Brand New, 311 and Linkin Park at Hammerstein...Claus Fest, snowed like hell that day so getting into NYC was a trip. Actually was going to see Brand New & Blink, have to say 311 were great live and was not a big fan going into the show.

 

[retired711]

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.

Skillethead, wouldn't you agree the group had some pretty good songs? I'm thinking of "Come A Little Bit Closer" and "She Cried." It's been ages since I've thought about that group

 

[RU Mike73]

This thread has done me in. I had put this memory into the deepest reaches of my mind never to be thought of again. And now you guys have unleashed it . . . took my 2 young sons to see Milli Vanilli.

 

[e5fdny]

This thread has done me in. I had put this memory into the deepest reaches of my mind never to be thought of again. And now you guys have unleashed it . . . took my 2 young sons to see Milli Vanilli.

What is the statute of limitations on child abuse?

Do we need to make a call to DYFIS here? LOL

 

[hoquat63]

Remember the one who got booed?

What kind of guy(s) boos free boobs? Idiots. LOL

Maybe she had a mole

 

[i'vegotwinners]

I guess I was one of the lucky ones to see a whole Sly concert. It also was at MSG in '70 or '71. Opening acts were Rare Earth and Ruth Copeland.
This was an excellent show.

Worst concert was also at MSG in '71 or '72.
Donovan in the round. My girlfriend wanted to see him and it was God awful unless you enjoyed singing "Way down below the ocean. Where I want to be she may be" for about 20 minutes. [sick]

For those who don't know her, here's Ruth Copeland.

Ruth did a mean Gimme Shelter, "It's just a kiss away".

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Only concert I walked out of was Elvis Costello at the Livingston Gym circa '85. I was so psyched for this concert, but it turned out he wasn't playing with the Attractions and did some acoustic artsy horseshit that didn't resonate at all with my buddy and me.

The second-worst show I've seen was Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Welmont (Montclair) about six years ago. Small venue and the music was waaaaaay too loud--everybody in the place was asking the sound guy to turn it down because the sound was distorting so much. He didn't change a thing. One of the guitarists they had on tour with them was an older dude who was angry at the audience the whole time for not cheering as loudly as he expected us to. And Ronnie Van Zant, who's the front guy for the band since his brother died and the Rossington-Collins incarnation didn't work out, had as his constant refrain, "Raise your hands if you love Lynyrd Skynyrd!!," and, "Who loves Lynyrd Skynyrd?!!" After the twentieth time it got so old. Was @disappointed.

 

[rufan3860]

my friend was taking his GF to see Billy Joel at MSG in the late 90's but she bailed so I went. Best part was during intermission a roadie came up and sang a couple ACDC songs.

my wife is a big Heart fan so we saw Ann Wilson at the Welmont this summer and walked out half way through.

I got tickets to a 9/11 tribute concert at continental airlines arena. Foreigner was the headliner and the lead singer sounded so bad that people started flooding the exits. He started begging people not to leave. We left. Turns out he had throat cancer or something. Felt really bad.

 

[RU4Real]

Skillethead, wouldn't you agree the group had some pretty good songs? I'm thinking of "Come A Little Bit Closer" and "She Cried." It's been ages since I've thought about that group

Jay and the Americans is an iconic act. I would love to have seen them in their heyday.

 

[i'vegotwinners]

responses in this thread remind me that when you see a great musical talent such as a great voice, you can be a fan of the artist themselves.

but most of whom we consider ourselves to be die hard fans of, in reality, we are really die hard fans of certain music they put out.

i say i love Dire Straits, or even Knopfler, but in reality i love Sultans and Brothers In Arms and Tunnel Of Love and Romeo & Juliette and Roller Girl and Local Hero and others.

i guess i don't love Springsteen so much, i love Candy's Room and Badlands and Racing In The Streets and Born To Run and Thunder Road and Ghost Of and She's The One, Jungleland, Backstreets.

i had Darkness On and Born To, and wore out the grooves of both.

saw Bruce in the late eighties/early 90s, bball arena, 2nd row on the floor.

only song of the above listed he did was BTR, and he did that solo acoustic. (not how you want to hear BTR in concert).

i realized i didn't go to see Bruce, i went to hear/see him perform the songs i loved.

on the other hand, in college i saw Johnny Mathis in an auditorium.

not a huge fan, but liked him ok going in.

his voice was so great that whatever he sung sounded great.

so in this case, i was a fan of Johnny, and not the songs so much.

magic is when great performer meets great material.

 

[i'vegotwinners]

Jay and the Americans is an iconic act. I would love to have seen them in their heyday.

the original Jay could flat out sing, and they had some great songs.

saw them on the Mike Douglas Show as a kid, and Jay just nailed Cara Mia.

 

[SkilletHead2]

Skillethead, wouldn't you agree the group had some pretty good songs? I'm thinking of "Come A Little Bit Closer" and "She Cried." It's been ages since I've thought about that group

I agree. They were into putting on a show as well. I just HATE being singled out in the audience, and I cannot tell you how many times that has happened to me. I get called up on stage, get embarrassed, etc. Moms Skillethead will vouch for my ability to be the guy to be made fun of in a show.

 

[RU848789]

Dylan about 5 years ago at an outdoor concert in Hoboken - feeble, couldn't enunciate any words - felt like I was watching John Gill (Star Trek reference). Left early. Mostly went to see Wilco, who were great. Luckily had seen Dylan 20+ years earlier and he was much better.

 

[Lawesome]

I’ve got you all beat!! I saw Milli Vanilli in 1989 at the Club MTV tour at Brendan Byrne Arena. They “sounded” great.