Well, now that we’re getting into poor venues, I recall seeing Husker Du at University of Alabama-Birmingham in 1987 (Warehouse: Songs and Stories tour). It was in the student center ballroom or something; basically a concrete room, no chairs, no baffles, nothing. It sounded pretty poor. Also, Husker Du, though they were pretty good, were basically on their last legs and it showed (they didn’t interact with each other at all AFAICT, which was understandable, given that Bob Mould and Grant Hart had broken up or were about to or something.). They played the entire Warehouse album, but few other songs, which was kind of a bummer.
I’ve seen a lot of great shows, a lot of mediocre shows, and some bad shows in my time. But without a doubt, the worst live band I’ve ever seen was Widespread Panic. Yes, the same Widespread Panic that makes millions touring and has a huge, devoted audience that will follow them everywhere. I saw them on the Horde Tour, which I went to because I had some friends who were traveling with the show as drum circle who got me free tickets. Simply put, Widespread Panic is boring. And that’s the worst thing you can say about an entertainer in any genre. Panic is so boring that the aforementioned Blues Traveler blew them off the stage. The Spin Doctors were rock gods compared to them. As a result of being in with some drum circle hippies, I was on about as much acid as I’ve ever had in my brain at once that day. Everything was interesting: the sky, the grass, the scantily clad hippie chicks. I was surrounded by beauty and wonder–at least until Panic went on. They brought the party in my mind to a screeching halt. I never liked them to begin with, and now not only do I hate them, but I think less of people who tell me they’re fans.
The second-worst show was probably Yo La Tengo and Lambchop in Nashville a few years back. I was a Yo La Tengo fan until I saw them play live. Now I can’t stand them. People were shushing–actually shushing!–at a rock show. It was unbearably stuffy. The band didn’t play badly, but they were boring and pretentious and thought way, way too much of themselves. And Lambchop was godawful.
I’ve done the same thing at Dead shows, and I was a hardcord Deadhead. When they were hitting on all cylinders they were great - when they were phoning it in they could be extremely bad (and boring).
On the other hand, they (the band) recognized the good nights and the clinkers. According to Bob Weir, “I’ve had several nights when I felt like we should have been ridden out of town on rails. ‘Sorry folks, this ain’t hitting it. Drive safe - see you next year.’”
My worst show was a Cap Centre show in the early 90s. Terrible vibe, gear fuck ups left and right, Jerry in a opiate swamp, and anemic set list. I would have left at the break but was hoping the second set would be a keeper. No such luck.