Gigs you left early.

[Geddys nose]

R30 Tour Rush at the Manchester MEN,  Double kick was so loud hitting the Stadium end and echoing back and killing the sound. 

Someone should have Tested for Echo.

Never saw them again after that.

 

 

[uk_lefty]

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

Can I add one I want to leave early?

I foolishly bought tickets for Michael Buble for last year and the show was rescheduled to 12th July at Hove cricket ground. My partner thinks he's great. I don't.

Is it just me or whenever "just haven't met you yet" comes on the radio it sounds like a studio autotune is working really hard? It's like hearing a dull ITV watered down robot singing for Now That's What I Call Mother's Day. The guy can sing (despite my auto tune comment, there's far worse out there for sure) , and isn't too offensive, but I wouldn't mind if he retired and lived as a recluse with zero public profile for eternity. Would hate to see him live. 

Edited February 22, 2021 by uk_lefty

[JJTee]

Oasis, Finsbury Park 2002. Horrible, horrible atmosphere, simmering with aggression. Saw a few fights break out, people utterly wasted, a friend noted a few of the notorious Chelsea Headhunter firm in the vicinity. Topped off by the hideous oaf Liam Gallagher’s droning, and his unpleasant aggressive posturing. Binned it about halfway through. Charlatans were good though, who supported!

[mcnach]

The Verve - in Norwich around 1991 in a small bar, before they became big. I didn't know who they were, I just went in because there was live music. Entry was £3 or something like that. Uninspiring drivel. After nearly falling asleep on my beer we decided to walk away and find something more interesting to do, like watching grass grow.

Gogol Bordello - Glasgow 2017. Terrible terrible sound, couldn't really hear half of the musicians onstage, and except for one guy dressed like a pirate they all looked like they were going through the motions. Eugene, singer, looked particularly bored and uninterested, bringing props and doing things as if 'it's expected'. Here came the obligatory bottle of wine pretending to take swigs of (mostly falling down his chest) and spraying those on the first rows with it (nearly got me). After around 40 minutes I left. The good thing is that Lucky Chops were their support (a superb and funky badass brass band) and they were amazing, beautiful sound, great show... I was a fan already but they went above and beyond what I was expecting.

Sea Bass Kid - Edinburgh 2012. Yeah, my band  Outdoor festival. After getting crap repeatedly from some ignorant cnut who was part of the organisers because according to him we were too loud, despite my pointing to him every time that it was THEIR engineers who actually controlled the volume out there by the mixing desk. We were all getting annoyed at this guy coming on stage to tap us on the shoulder and yell at us. Guy comes again and grabs my shoulder. That was it. He was lucky he didn't eat a slab of ash that evening.

 

[PaulWarning]

Stiff Little Fingers at Rock City springs to mind, for some reason I've got an inbuilt dislike of Jake Burns, the awful dress sense doesn't help,  first song in somebody threw some beer at him, not nice I know, but it was the way he handled it,  stopped the gig and ranted for a few minutes saying he'd walk off and not come back if it happened again, so the whole crowd would lose out because of one idiot? anyway during a way overlong Johnny Was encore I decided to get to the pub before the rest of the crowd and get in a peaceful pint.

A few years latter I was talking to his cousin also called Jake Burns when we were doing the same open mic, he told me SLF's Jake tried to get him to change his name so people wouldn't think it was him, sort of confirmed my impression

[bassace]

50 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Is it just me or whenever "just haven't met you yet" comes on the radio it sounds like a studio autotune is working really hard? It's like hearing a dull ITV watered down robot singing for Now That's What I Call Mother's Day. The guy can sing (despite my auto tune comment, there's far worse out there for sure) , and isn't too offensive, but I wouldn't mind if he retired and lived as a recluse with zero public profile for eternity. Would hate to see him live. 

I’m not much of a Bubble fan either. But he carries a good band round with him.

[Steve Browning]

38 minutes ago, bassace said:

I’m not much of a Bubble fan either. But he carries a good band round with him.

They'll be great players but it'll be so sugary as to jeopardise anyone with diabetes.

[cetera]

Judas Priest at Hammy-O with Scorpions.....

Scorpions were superb but Priest were just going through the motions. Guitarists standing rocking behind a shoegazing Rob Halford in long leather trenchcoat. No energy or crowd interaction at all.

I left half hour into Priest, got the early train and was in bed soon after 11pm.

[ProfJames]

Genesis.....doing Land of the Sliippermen  (or some tosh...woeful racket).........New Order...complete poodle's plop in my opinion, loved Joy Division but New Order sounded worful...done it twice!  Adam and the  Ants....he was whizzed I reckon or something and was always an arrogant twonk when I worked on his videos....

[Nicko]

Keane at the O2 Brixton.  Although I quite like some of their songs I hadn't realised just how dull a band they were when you try to listen to them for more than 5 minutes.

Pigbag at the Jazz Cafe.  Went with a mate who know one of the band. The fact it was at the Jazz Cafe should have indicated to me that it was likely to be jazz, but it was just freeform jazz by which I mean everyone playing different stuff at the same time.  I sat in the bar and waited for my lift home.

The BBC Radio 6 prom at the Albert Hall.  We got tickets in the private box from  the company Mrs Nicko was working for, and took some friends.  It was supposed to be a classical/rock crossover to get people who listen to rock to be more interested in classical.  An epic fail if ever I saw one.  They stayed but I couldn't stand it and waited outside.

Joan Jett's set supporting Green Day at Wembley on the 21st Century Breakdown tour was terrible and I only lasted 5 minutes, but had to hang around to see the main event obviously.  Didn't learn my lesson either and had to endure the Kaiser Chiefs when I saw GD at the Emirates.

I very nearly left RHCPs at the 02 Arena.  I was one row from the back at the furthest part of the seating.  The band wasn't bad, but I could hardly see them and it was so quiet all I could hear was other people shouting the words. I refuse to go there to see anyone now.

 

[Elfrasho]

2 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

Sea Bass Kid - Edinburgh 2012. Yeah, my band  Outdoor festival. After getting crap repeatedly from some ignorant cnut who was part of the organisers because according to him we were too loud, despite my pointing to him every time that it was THEIR engineers who actually controlled the volume out there by the mixing desk. We were all getting annoyed at this guy coming on stage to tap us on the shoulder and yell at us. Guy comes again and grabs my shoulder. That was it. He was lucky he didn't eat a slab of ash that evening.

 

We've probably crossed paths, I was in Hector bizerk. I'm sure we've shared a few stages/festivals over the years! 

[christhammer666]

3 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

I have to ask. Does anyone stay to the end of a Malmsteen gig?

I saw him again years after that and he was brilliant but loads still walked out towards the end

[christhammer666]

2 hours ago, Geddys nose said:

R30 Tour Rush at the Manchester MEN,  Double kick was so loud hitting the Stadium end and echoing back and killing the sound. 

Someone should have Tested for Echo.

Never saw them again after that.

 

 

I caught them at the 02 on that run and was the same. it literally hurt my chest it was that loud

[Graham56]

Only two that I can recall:

Uriah Heep, Edinburgh, mid 70s. They were head-splittingly loud.. and, err... that's it. 

Robert Cray in the 90s. Boring low-key mid-paced endless noodling, all at the same level and energy. He made the mistake of having an interval...

[mr4stringz]

Only a couple spring to mind...

 

Anthrax at Wolves Wulfun Hall on their first tour back with Belladonna singing. I lasted an hour but the vocals were killing me. A shame as I’ve always loved the ‘Thrax. It was only a couple of years on from them playing the same venue in what turned out to be their last tour with John Bush and it was one of the best gigs I’ve been to. He was such a better fit for the band and material.

Also, My Morning Jacket at Birmingham Institute. Yawnfest.

At the opposite end of the spectrum there was one gig I didn’t leave but should have. Living Colour at Birmingham Hummingbird on the Stain tour. About 4 people fell on top of me two songs in. Hobbled to the back and stood there on one leg, refusing to admit defeat. Turned out I’d broken my ankle...

[toneknob]

I fell asleep standing up twice during a gig if that counts: Quireboys (Southampton university 1989 ish) and Transatlantic (Shepherds Bush Empire 2010).

 

 

[uk_lefty]

5 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Would hate to see him live. 

I have to say that is LIVE meaning a live performance, not LIVE meaning the opposite of Die. I don't like his music but I don't wish him dead. 

Just in case, your honour. 

Edited February 22, 2021 by uk_lefty

[thodrik]

In terms of 'mainstream' gigs, the only gigs I left early was Motorhead and Killswitch Engage. Motorhead were great but I felt ill so left. In terms of the Killswitch Engage gig,  I was kind of enjoying them but I was really only there to see Every Time I Die with my mate who secured me a free ticket. My mate didn't like the silliness of Killswitch Engage's onstage antics and wanted to leave to grab a beer instead so I did.

I wish I would have left the following: 

- Red Hot Chili Peppers - mind numbingly awful and I was fan!; and
- Van Morrison - the level of contempt he had for the audience and his own band was palpable; 
 

[christhammer666]

1 hour ago, toneknob said:

I fell asleep standing up twice during a gig if that counts: Quireboys (Southampton university 1989 ish) and Transatlantic (Shepherds Bush Empire 2010).

 

 

I love transatlantic but can imagine it being a hard slog if you haven't got a nice comfy balcony seat to watch from

[Lozz196]

5 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

Stiff Little Fingers at Rock City springs to mind, for some reason I've got an inbuilt dislike of Jake Burns, the awful dress sense doesn't help,  first song in somebody threw some beer at him, not nice I know, but it was the way he handled it,  stopped the gig and ranted for a few minutes saying he'd walk off and not come back if it happened again, so the whole crowd would lose out because of one idiot? anyway during a way overlong Johnny Was encore I decided to get to the pub before the rest of the crowd and get in a peaceful pint.

A few years latter I was talking to his cousin also called Jake Burns when we were doing the same open mic, he told me SLF's Jake tried to get him to change his name so people wouldn't think it was him, sort of confirmed my impression

Sadly - as I love SLF - these aren’t the only things I’ve heard about Mr Burns that are less than appealing. Yet credit where credit is due, a mate of mine interviewed him for TV and he said he was the nicest guest he’d ever interviewed.

[meterman]

2 minutes ago, thodrik said:

In terms of 'mainstream' gigs, the only gigs I left early was Motorhead and Killswitch Engage. Motorhead were great but I felt ill so left. In terms of the Killswitch Engage gig,  I was kind of enjoying them but I was really only there to see Every Time I Die with my mate who secured me a free ticket. My mate didn't like the silliness of Killswitch Engage's onstage antics and wanted to leave to grab a beer instead so I did.

I wish I would have left the following: 

- Red Hot Chili Peppers - mind numbingly awful and I was fan!; and
- Van Morrison - the level of contempt he had for the audience and his own band was palpable; 
 

Van Morrison - yep, walked out after about 25-30 minutes, he wasn’t even phoning it in. Waste of money and time. 
 

Bob Dylan - almost walked out after 25 minutes of him just fannying about really... like, playing reggae versions of “Mr Tambourine Man” in 3/4 time and stuff like that. There was grown men, proper Dylan heads, around me crying into their beer and stuff, it was painful. Then it was like somebody flicked a switch and he suddenly tore into about 70 minutes of “Maggie’s Farm”, “Positively 4th Street”, loads off “Blonde On Blonde” and “Highway 61 Revisted”, “Bringing It All Back Home” etc... gig saved 😂

[cetera]

Just thought of another. Deep Purple in 2007 at Wembley Arena...with Thin Lizzy & Styx in support.

Thin Lizzy were average.... but Styx were phenomenal! Supreme musicianship, vocals, songs and sound....!

Within a few songs of the Purple set though I couldn't see them raising their performance much above the durge & plod they'd started the set with so I headed home....

[PaulWarning]

1 hour ago, meterman said:

Van Morrison - yep, walked out after about 25-30 minutes, he wasn’t even phoning it in. Waste of money and time. 
 

Bob Dylan - almost walked out after 25 minutes of him just fannying about really... like, playing reggae versions of “Mr Tambourine Man” in 3/4 time and stuff like that. There was grown men, proper Dylan heads, around me crying into their beer and stuff, it was painful. Then it was like somebody flicked a switch and he suddenly tore into about 70 minutes of “Maggie’s Farm”, “Positively 4th Street”, loads off “Blonde On Blonde” and “Highway 61 Revisted”, “Bringing It All Back Home” etc... gig saved 😂

I had a similar thing with Squeeze, spent 45 minutes playing songs off their new album, half hearted shouts for an encore, came back on a did a greatest hits set, everybody went home happy

[silverfoxnik]

8 hours ago, JJTee said:

Oasis, Finsbury Park 2002. Horrible, horrible atmosphere, simmering with aggression. Saw a few fights break out, people utterly wasted, a friend noted a few of the notorious Chelsea Headhunter firm in the vicinity. Topped off by the hideous oaf Liam Gallagher’s droning, and his unpleasant aggressive posturing. Binned it about halfway through. Charlatans were good though, who supported!

"...and if you tell that to the young people today, they won't believe you..." 😉

[silverfoxnik]

I walked out of a show by The Drifters in a dreadful 'chicken in a basket' venue in Watford once, must have mid-80s.. 

It wasn't because of the band though, who were great, it was because of the audience. 

The venue had decided to put on a stand up comedian as the support act - probably because the majority of the punters were air force or army staff from a local base. 

So, the comedian comes on and he spent about 45 minutes telling mainly racist jokes about 'chalky' and 'golliwogs' etc, which the audience found absolutely hilarious from start to finish..

Honestly, it was like being at a Bernard Manning Fan Club event. 

And then, The Drifters came on (who must have heard it all going on from their dressing room) and had to perform in front of this completely hypocritical audience, who, without any sense of irony or shame, started clapping away and singing as though the previous 45 minutes had never happened! 

I was so shocked and angry at the hypocrisy, I had to get up and leave. 

Still riles me to this day!