Edgar Winter touched off a three day migraine.
I saw Michael Crawford on Broadway in Dance of the Vampire. Steven Barton had done the show in Germany to great applause. Crawford was put on Broadway because he was flying high from his performance in Phantom of the Opera.
Everyone, including the reviewers, agreed: Crawford sucked (pun intended).
They Might Be Giants.
Never was a big fan, but my wife was and even she was disappointed.
Was that recently? I saw them back in the 1990s and the put on a kick-ass show, lots of energy and talent. They came down from New York in a beat-up old telephone company van.
I saw them in DC or Baltimore, Skid Row was the opening act. In spite of nosebleed seats and GnR being late onto stage as usual, it was a good show. I would have really liked to see them back in their small club days right before they hit it big.
Yes, it was recently. I think what happened is we became middle aged and they didn’t.
We were in an mid-sized indoor venue, standing room only (no seats), EXTREMELY LOUD. So loud their was no way you were going to appreciate the music without ear plugs (which we unfortunately didn’t have). That part I can’t really blame them THAT much for, but then they spent way too much time doing childish “comedy routines” in between sets that frankly to me was just annoying AF. My wife appreciates their zaniness but it was even too much for her.
Now, contrast that to a band I’ve always considered TMBG’s spiritual successor, Bare Naked Ladies, THAT was perhaps the best live performance I’ve ever seen in my life.
This is a great thread. I’ve enjoyed reading every one of your stories , even if I was unfamiliar with the performer. Worst concert: Lee Michaels, 1972. Remember him? Lee Michaels was a prog-rock keyboard player whose music tended toward long albums cuts with his musical expertise front and center but with no radio-friendly hooks to them. Out of the blue, in 1971, he scored a top 10 hit single, “Do You Know What I Mean.” It was from his 5th album. His previous albums had either not charted or barely so. I was familiar with his earlier stuff, and the single was a surprising departure, as was its follow-up, “Can I Get a Witness,” which also made the Top 40. His album made the Top 10 as well. Riding the crest of this new-found success, he went out on a tour, which happened to stop in my home town. I went to see him. He came out, sat down at the keyboard and commenced performing a string of long, meandering tunes that were nothing like what the audience expected. People began asking to hear “Do You Know What I Mean.” And he said “No.” Finally he made a speech about how his record company had forced him into doing that song (which was odd since he wrote it) and that it didn’t really represent his music. Well, that was true, but it was the song people knew him for, and to refuse to play it was just being a jerk. People persisted, though, and he finally stood up, shouted that he was NOT GOING TO PLAY THAT SONG and walked off the stage. In total, a 45-minute show. The lights went up and we all got up and left, feeling ripped off and pissed off. His career promptly sank like a rock, and deservedly so.
This brought up a memory of seeing her on television. Yeah, not great by any measure.
I saw them in the mid 1990s with a friend who was 5 months pregnant (that’s relevant) and we both thought it was a good show.
It was in a ballroom at the college we both attended, and at some point in the show, they wanted us all to form a conga line, which we did. I was leading with her behind me, and I asked her if she would want to switch places due to her pregnancy. The line actually stopped while we did exactly that.
All these years later, that’s really all I remember about the show, but yeah, we did have a good time.
I’m gonna give a slight odd answer to this question.
When I was young kid in the 1980’s I used to watch the WWE(ok back then it was still the WWF) on television all the time with my dad. We watched it together for years before he brought me to one of their live events. Watching it live in person for the first time it was readily apparent to me that it was “fake”. It kinda destroyed the illusion for me and even when I asked my dad about it he would never admit to me pro wrestling was fake. He died when I was 21 and to this day I don’t know if my father was deliberately lying to me or he naively believed somehow it was real.
I still watch WWE to this day but the it doesn’t have the same appeal it did to me as a kid.
missing new order if I had a chance to go …would haunt me on my deathbed…well unless it was to see the pet shop boys …….
seen gallagher he was funny but for the wrong reasons… Apparently he had a run in of some sort before his performance because his 45 minute set was basically how much our area sucked and most of the town were assholes …. we laughed because it was mostly true ,
The weirdest thing ive paid for was a “wrestling peace festival” this was thing for charity in la it had some big name stars and some well unknown guys (for good reason) if you’ve ever been to an “indy” wrestling show you know how this thing went the stars were in and out as fast as they could get…the no names were mostly horrible the lady who bought tickets for her husband was bawling on how bad it was ………the la sports arena staff were dicks ……
ugh, I saw them about 10 years ago. They were horrible. I got free tickets and I still think I paid too much.
But I’ve seen a worse group, Pretty Boy Floyd, saw them open for Dokken in a small club. The lead singer kept shoving his crotch in one woman’s face the whole time, and they were horrible performers.
I’ve seen Bob Dylan three times, the last sucked so much I probably will pass next time he comes around. As much of a fan as I am, it was hard for me to understand the lyrics that I already knew, let alone those of his newer stuff. He just didn’t seem to give a shit what the audience was getting.
Transiberian Orchestra. Yeah, they seem to be talented musicians but the show bored me shitless. They had this backstory of some girl getting on a plane to go somewhere and after a while everyone was like “just put her on the fucking plane and shut the fuck up”.
Everyone slamming Dylan needs to understand that that’s just how he is. I’ve seen him perform many times and enjoyed every show except one.
During his religious phase I spent way more than I should have to get an excellent seat to his concert. The opening act was a gospel group. Nobody was there to hear them, and by their third song there were scattered boos.
They kept going, playing a very long opening set. By their last song, people were booing loudly. Then Dylan came out on stage and the gospel openers stayed *as his back up band. * He only did his new/religious stuff. People walked out. I stayed but I was in a lousy mood for a week after that show.
All his other shows were great, including the Pittsburgh outdoor show where he waved at people riding the T and the driver stopped and opened his doors for a while. At the end of that show he looked at his watch* in the middle of a song*, stopped playing, said “Goodnight Pittsburgh”, and left.
That’s Dylan.
The Flaming Lips were among the most boring acts I’ve ever seen. I saw them when they opened for Candlebox years ago. They played for about 45 minutes, with no breaks between songs. I’d never heard of them before that night, and I have no desire to hear them again.
Suicidal Tendencies was horrible. Just…ugh.
Reading through this thread thinking I had no experiences to relate, but that’s only because I forgot about TSO.
So fucking boring. Listen to their three or four good songs in Spotify or whatever if you must, but never go to an actual show.
My Dad thought it did be fun to take me and my brother and our spouses to TSO for Christmas. He actually apologized afterward.
Heh, I saw Candlebox open for Living Colour a couple decades ago and they were fairly boring themselves so Flaming Lips must be megaboring.
America has been a fave since the mid-'70s. Three Dog Night, even earlier. A double feature with both would be great, right? NOPE! America opened for 3DN and the sound was terrible, they were listless, at best, and only played for 55 minutes! 3DN (actually 2DN, one of their lead singers was absent) were light-years better and saved the day. Concert was in the mid-'80s.
After a hiatus of a few years I jumped on the bus for the Dead tour in the midwest. Dylan opened for them the 5 nights I saw them.
I knew, and appreciated his music however, the ONLY words u understood in the whole 5 night run were “Tweedle De and Tweedle Dum”
Thankfully I had seen him in the 80’s and 90’s…when his annunciation was MUCH better.
Pains me to say it, but Van Morrison, a few times over the years at various venues. I know, I know, fool me once, etc., I just love his music so much & think he’s a musical genius, so I kept buying tickets, hoping. He just sucked live, at least when I’ve seen him. Mumbles lyrics, doesn’t acknowledge or attempt to connect w the audience, very perfunctory, no encores. Sadly, Van has not been ‘the man’ live, in my experience…