MC Lars.
He’s a “laptop rapper”. At least, he refers to his music as “laptop rap”.
He opened for Bowling for Soup, and I almost got beaten up by his sound guy for yelling, “Please shut the fuck up!” during a quiet moment in one of his songs. The crowd went nuts and started applauding me.
I don’t think they actually made it into the movie. The two main characters are singing one of their songs at the end. Which, being in possession of the Juno soundtrack, was a very wise decision by the director.
The worst band I’ve seen live was an opening act - All Saints. And when I say worst I’ve ever seen, I’m including all the college bands sans recording contracts in the mix. Bush, The Jesus Lizard and All Saints. Who the hell came up with that lineup?
No, the Moldy Peaches song itself was used in the soundtrack before Juno and Bleeker sang it at the end, and Kimya Dawson (the Peaches’ female singer) contributed several other songs to the soundtrack.
I’ve seen Freezepop live in a tiny bar. The lead singer was a total fucking bitch to me when I went to buy a t-shirt from her at the end, to the point where I don’t like them anymore.
The keyboard guy (Sean Drinkwater) is the lead singer of another band, Lifestyle, that’s much, much better, and he’s very nice. I saw Lifestyle play twice in a different tiny bar, and gave Sean a drawing once, and one of the other guys in the band bought me a Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
Saves the Day.
They opened for Weezer in '02 in Tampa. The singer jumped up and down so much he unplugged his microphone in what I must infer was the climax of that cacophonic earsmudge, ensuring that I had a headache to last me the next hour.
Then Ozma came on, and all was made well.
As someone in a band, it’s a weird emotion watching someone who utterly and totally sucks. One one hand, they totally and utterly suck, and you want to laugh. On the other hand, if you’ve ever performed in front of an audience, you feel an empathetic “OMG that’s my worst nightmare” type of feeling. You actually end up feeling sorry for someone you’d otherwise just hate and point and laugh at. Sometimes you just point and laugh anyway, but then feel like karma’s gonna crawl up your ass and take a big bite…
Unfortunately, I feel that way about an alarming number of performers I have had the misfortune of seeing.
I was going to say that VAST is the worst band I’ve ever seen. The lead singer thinks he’s Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor, and Robert Smith all rolled into one. Big swoopy cloaks, vampire makeup, a “light show” that a stoned high school sophomore could throw together, and music that was utterly forgettable (but memorably whiny) dreck.
I think they were the worst band I’ve ever seen, but there was a band that opened for Keanu Reeves’ band Dogstar, and they were so bad I’ve forgotten everything about them. I’ve seen amateur bar bands that were much much better. Then again, perhaps that’s part of Dogstar’s contract.
I’ll have to give my nod to Bert Sommer. Sommer actually had a minor hit and was touring as the opening act for Loudon Wainwright III.
He was awful. He couldn’t stay on key and sounded like he had just picked up a guitar three months ago. It was made worse by his introductions, which were unfunny ramblings. Maybe he was stoned at the time (he did play at Woodstock), but it was definitely embarrassing to watch him.
Being in & around the local music scene Back In The Day, I was lucky enough to see excellent local, regional, national & international musicians. And a few not so excellent. Or excellent but having a bad night. (“Hey, he was so drunk he fell off his stool!”)
However, working in various music venues, I was also subjected to some of the worst travesties ever to have been sent on the road by coke-addled record company execs. Time has thankfully removed many details from my memory. But I do remember Mama Lion.
Sucked. And not in a good way.
Incidentally, if anyone can remember or figure out who these people were, I’d appreciate it. I dug through a list of SNL musical guests and couldn’t figure out who it was; I can’t even remember what year it was. Could have been aqnywhere from 1984 to 2004.
All four of the bands that opened for Def Leppard at the Sarnia Bayfest last year. Holy mother of God, they all blew!! It was as if some radio station held a contest for local bands to open for Leppard and these were the best.
+1. Unfortunately, I’ve been that band. It ain’t fun. Either you know you suck, which is awful, or you have this weird belief that you are doing something that the crowd doesn’t understand - which is also not a nice place to be.
It’s no fun when the art and the audience don’t align. A complete lack of talent can often be a hindrance, too - not that that was ever an issue with my bands… 
Pee Shy, whose wikipedia page is found here: Pee Shy - Wikipedia
They opened for a Village People concert I attended in 1996. I had to cover my ears to protect them from the screeching vocals and the accordion (yes, there was an accordion). I was one of many in the audience who booed them.
I have to point out that, with your location directly above this, it clearly reads “america’s wang saves the day”. Thank you for making me laugh so hard my tension headache disappeared.
We have this local fellow, Casio Casanova who is simply the worst of the worst in a college town full of bullshit wannabe bands. Not only that, he is a jerk. The worst part? One of his real names is one of my real names! If anyone ever asks if we’re related, he’s gonna need america’s wang to save the day!
re: the OP, YouTube of the same song, different show… yikes!
I kinda like MC Lars. But then again, I never saw him live. Some performers are just better recorded than live.
As an example: Assemblage 23. A23 is one guy–Tom Shear. He’s amazingly talented, he writes fantastic lyrics, and I absolutely adore his music. But I went to see him (them–he has other musicians at the live show) and I had to leave early because it was just…not good. And this was with me heavily prejudiced toward wanting to like it. I left hoping that he was just having a bad night and didn’t sound that bad at every show. I’ll still buy every CD he puts out, though.
The New Riders of the Purple Sage. I saw them around 1983 or 84 when they played at the university I attended. I still want my money back. Every song had endless jams so the various band members could take turns ducking backstage to get a little more stoned or drunk. They were chemically altered when the show started and completely blitzed by the time I left. I didn’t hang around to hear them slur their way through Panama Red. The whole “sex, drug, and rock n’ roll” thing has only worked well, IME, when performers aren’t indulging in the first two while trying to perform the rock n’ roll. I don’t need to buy tickets to hear some drunk bellow and slur through a song. That’s what karaoke nights are for.
Very strange lineup. In another life I heard the All Saints album (I think I have it somewhere), and although they were largely forgettable and nothing too special, they did have nice voices and harmony. Did that not translate to a live show, or were these different members?
In attempting to research this question, I discovered that the Olsen Twins (obviously sisters, but one shy of the “three” you specified) have covered Yakety Yak. Mary-Kate and Ashley appeared on the SNL episode of May 15, 2004. I’m on a public computer with the sound turned off, but you may want to click on the video clips and see if they jog any memories.