You go and see a favourite artist live and come away seriously disappointed.

[stewblack]

I struggled to enjoy the Pogues ever since a Paddy's night gig many moons ago. 

It was 50% Shane McGowan's indifference to his paying public, and 50% the inexplicable adulation of the crowd. 

Thankfully I've grown up since then and can enjoy the music again - but I would not pay to watch the sad alcoholic public decline of any great artist. Never again. 

 

[Doctor J]

The worst gig I ever attended was Ian Brown, shortly after his first solo album came out. He wouldn't play any Roses material, so this wretched performance was essentially his one album (not a good album) plus a bad cover of Thriller... played twice.

[ubit]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

I was at that gig and thought it was great! 

I have been at gigs where the sound has been incredible, then spoken to someone else who said it was terrible and vice versa. Certain venues can have vastly different sound quality depending on where you stand/are seated.

[alexa3020]

Stone Roses - Wembley - their last gig. Sound was awful & Ian Brown can’t sing.

seen James  brown a couple of times in the 90s - obviously just cashing in at that point. Rubbish

 

[Bean9seventy]

On 11/04/2021 at 11:51, Cliff Edge said:

This can be quite common. 
The Band’s reunion tour was a bad mistake. They were awful. Didn’t appear to be anyone who could hold a tune or keep in time. 
Walked out on the Mavericks who were no better than your average pub band. 
This upset my wife who was enjoying standing next to Nick Lowe, who is always worth the price of a ticket. 
Supertramp reunion. Dreadful racket, again terrible vocals. 
Steve Earle used to be excellent but is now, and has been for a number of years, boring as feck. Far too much politics, and that stupid beard. 
 

Conversely I have never been disappointed by US country artists. And a rare appearance of Jimmy Buffet in London several years ago was outstanding. 
The large number of phone videos of the show that appeared on YouTube the following morning confirmed just how good it was. Rare when you consider how often you enjoy  a live show, and then see a video of it and realise how God awful it was. 
U2 at Glastonbury case in point. The crowd loved it but the TV relay showed how bad they need a good singer. Flat as a fart is the expression that came to mind. 

 

Hmm ? i hear they say you should never meet your idols ,, after all any idol is made in ones own image ,, thus a mirror image of the alter ego of ones own reflection ,, if not a least a competitor of it

yes ,, there will be some howling moments in any industry , music is no different ,

yet what makes rock n roll slightly different is , it only relies on 3 core values , each core value can spell the polar opposite of the other , sometimes any combination of all 3 ,,

so yeah ,, if you thought your idol is great at say rock n roll ,, only to find out he is a meth head, or a bread head or into other stuff ,, eg  core values you do not subscribe to ? ,, it can be a nightmare ,, even if everyone else 100% said it was great ,

its why i do not take bass too seriously guys ,, its just a hobby , cheers

[SH73]

3 hours ago, EJWW said:

 

I was stood next to an obsessive Rush fan who lived every minute which didn't help. 

 

This

[tegs07]

3 hours ago, stewblack said:

I struggled to enjoy the Pogues ever since a Paddy's night gig many moons ago. 

It was 50% Shane McGowan's indifference to his paying public, and 50% the inexplicable adulation of the crowd. 

Thankfully I've grown up since then and can enjoy the music again - but I would not pay to watch the sad alcoholic public decline of any great artist. Never again. 

 

Saw the Pogues many times in the early years and live they were brilliant. Occasionally joined by Joe Strummer later years.  Persuaded girlfriend (now wife) to see them at Brighton Centre and experienced exactly as you have described!

[stewblack]

20 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Saw the Pogues many times in the early years and live they were brilliant. Occasionally joined by Joe Strummer later years.  Persuaded girlfriend (now wife) to see them at Brighton Centre and experienced exactly as you have described!

Yeah first time I saw them was supporting Elvis Costello in Bristol and they were weird but awesome! 

[SteveXFR]

I saw The Fall at Glastonbury. My mates kept going on about how awesome they'd be.

The band were OK but Mark E Smith was bloody awful. He was absolutely wasted when he came on stage. whizzed himself during the first song and couldn't sing. He wandered around the stage messing with the bands instruments as they played. The man was a mess.

Disappointed was an understatement.

[Nail Soup]

6 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

I saw The Fall at Glastonbury. My mates kept going on about how awesome they'd be.

The band were OK but Mark E Smith was bloody awful. He was absolutely wasted when he came on stage. whizzed himself during the first song and couldn't sing. He wandered around the stage messing with the bands instruments as they played. The man was a mess.

Disappointed was an understatement.

I’m a massive Fall fan and it’s a shame about Mark. I’d have been as big more cautious about saying how great they’d be though.

I had the opposite experience though.... I saw them when the band were well into the revolving door phase. The band walked on and I didn’t recognise anyone and MES looked about 20 years older than his actual age. Turned out to be a great gig. I went with my brother, not a Fall fan, and he thought so too.

[SteveXFR]

I could imagine they could be good if he wasn't absolutely destroyed. I know he had a severe drink problem though. 

[Dankology]

Another massive Fall fan here, although I didn't bother seeing them live for the last 10 years of the band's existence.

The sad thing was that I could stand it when it could be either awesome or awful but that final era of being consistently sort of OK did nothing for me at all.

Plus the gigs were increasingly short, late and expensive... And the fans ever more obnoxious - the slightly cerebral working class types of old being outnumbered by people actively reveling in Mark Smith's drunken antics.

So sad. I'd put a top drawer Fall performance head and shoulders over almost anything else I've ever heard: an alchemy achieved by unstable line-ups - and MES was quite right to point out that none of the musicians could ever do anything a fraction as compelling once outside of his influence.

I shall dismount from my hobbyhorse. I was also deeply disappointed by the sort-of-reformed Afghan Whigs (essentially the Twilight Singers moonlighting) and the Only Ones' brief reunion - although the rehabilitated Peter Perrett is now marvelous live.

[redbandit599]

Another vote for RHCP - I saw them at Ipswich Town stadium, not exactly the heady heights but they were dull in the extreme. Chad and Flea tried, but failed, to lift any kind of performance from Kiedis. 

Gary Moore with some session blokes - snooze fest.

David Lee Roth, having seen him with Vai and Billy Sheehan previously I had very high expectations, again this tour he was out with some session guys and played mostly bluesy/swing material - dire.

There was a long period when Iron Maiden were definitely 'off the ball' imho - bearing in mind their massive status they just ran out the same old tired backdrops and predictable show. With ever longer meandering tunes. Did seem a bit sloppy between the three guitarists too - I remember a Sonisphere event were Rammstein headlined the first night and it was incredible, Maiden seemed were tame by comparison the next night. However, they seriously upped their game for the recent Legacy tour, which was properly impressive, the best I've seen them in a long while - made me happy as I'd hate a band I have always loved to have drifted.

[mike f]

Jane's Addiction at the Brixton Academy in 2003.  It was bloody awful. THE only gig I've ever walked out of and I can remember security telling me that I wouldn't be able to re-enter once Id stepped out the door, to which I replied, "I really don't want to". 

I'd seem them before in 1991 on the Ritual de lo Habitual tour, at the Manchester Academy with Primus in support.  The whole night had been amazing and I was really looking forward to seeing them again.  2003 and the energy, danger and excitement which was so evident 12 years earlier had gone from the both their sound and performance.  Even the crowd was dull, dutifully singing along to all their songs.  I was glad to get out of there.

Also Chili Peppers at the O2 in 2011.  A tired performance with no Frusciante. Kiedis hid behind the drums for a good portion of the gig.  Flea's whackiness grated. And Josh. Absolutely fantastic in 1990, 1992, 1996 (with Dave Navarro) and 1999 when I'd seen them but this was a real clunker. 

Also Prince in 1990 on the Nude Tour at the NEC.  I kind of blamed it on the NEC at the time but really it was at the start of the period I stopped listening to him so much. I was gutted on the coach home.  I'd seen him before, twice in 1988, and I saw him twice since, in 2002 in Hammersmith and 2007 at the O2 and consider all four of those concerts as all-time favourites, but like the Peppers one above, this one was very poor.

[ubit]

We went to see The Mission a few years ago on  their thirtieth anniversary tour. They were supported by the legend Peter Murphy and we were absolutely delighted to be seeing such great bands. Peter Murphy came on and it was evident that he didn't have a full band. He had a guy on guitar and a guy on a violin accompanying him. The first thing he said was we are here to see the 30th anniversary of The Mission, that's nothing, I've been going longer than that. Then he started playing obscure dirges that none of us recognised. There was an uber fan standing behind me and even he was getting cheesed off. Then Murphy made a mistake. He threw his acoustic guitar behind him shouting this f**ng thing isn't in tune. He had played it for a song just before, so if it was out it must have been him that put it out. I felt sorry for the single roadie that was running around after him. all in all he came across as a spoiled prick who felt that this support slot was beneath him and he obviously believed that he was arty enough to carry off this weird act that bore nothing to the music that we all knew and loved. Disappointed to say the least. The Mission were fantastic. 

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

10 hours ago, redbandit599 said:

Another vote for RHCP - I saw them at Ipswich Town stadium, not exactly the heady heights but they were dull in the extreme. Chad and Flea tried, but failed, to lift any kind of performance from Kiedis. 

Gary Moore with some session blokes - snooze fest.

David Lee Roth, having seen him with Vai and Billy Sheehan previously I had very high expectations, again this tour he was out with some session guys and played mostly bluesy/swing material - dire.

There was a long period when Iron Maiden were definitely 'off the ball' imho - bearing in mind their massive status they just ran out the same old tired backdrops and predictable show. With ever longer meandering tunes. Did seem a bit sloppy between the three guitarists too - I remember a Sonisphere event were Rammstein headlined the first night and it was incredible, Maiden seemed were tame by comparison the next night. However, they seriously upped their game for the recent Legacy tour, which was properly impressive, the best I've seen them in a long while - made me happy as I'd hate a band I have always loved to have drifted.

Yes, I saw DLR on the same tour at Hammy O . 
I got there late , but gave it about 20 mins and left . Very much like a bad pub band.  Saw them on the three tours before that and  completely different .

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Dream thester Wembley arena . Supported by symphony x who were much better. One of the best support bands I've seen .

Dream theatre seemed tired and going through the motions 

[Graham]

2 hours ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Dream thester Wembley arena . Supported by symphony x who were much better. One of the best support bands I've seen .

Dream theatre seemed tired and going through the motions 

I was at that show, DT were a bit meh, LaBrie seemed completely disinterested 

[Rich]

2 hours ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Dream thester Wembley arena . Supported by symphony x who were much better. One of the best support bands I've seen .

Dream theatre seemed tired and going through the motions 

That's a real pity, how long ago was that? I've seen them a couple of times, they were really cooking both times. 

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Just now, Rich said:

That's a real pity, how long ago was that? I've seen them a couple of times, they were really cooking both times. 

I saw them play a few blinding gigs also . This was around 2007 ( I think/ stand to be corrected  ) when South Africa won the rugby World Cup . 

[diskwave]

On 12/04/2021 at 10:26, Jus Lukin said:

I was very disappointed not to have seen one of James Brown's last performances.

Pity cause I have to totaly disagree with what Ive read so far about him. Saw him at a small local festival on the South Coast a few yrs ago (yes, weird or what!) and his band were just groovier and tighter than an over torqued  nut and bolt....great sound.

[Bean9seventy]

7 minutes ago, greavesbass said:

Pity cause I have to totaly disagree with what Ive read so far about him. Saw him at a small local festival on the South Coast a few yrs ago (yes, weird or what!) and his band were just groovier and tighter than an over torqued  nut and bolt....great sound.

: D lol Speaking in a Dubbed Kung Fu voice ,, Hey you ?

its not james brown ,its "Mr James Brown"  ,, the one & only , the minister of funk ,, the godfather of funk ,, the hardest working man in show business , 

i will let you go this time ,, but you bin warmed lol

[taunton-hobbit]

12 minutes ago, Bean9seventy said:

: D lol Speaking in a Dubbed Kung Fu voice ,, Hey you ?

its not james brown ,its "Mr James Brown"  ,, the one & only , the minister of funk ,, the godfather of soul ,, the hardest working man in show business , 

i will let you go this time ,, but you bin warmed lol

Fixed...............

😎

[Marvin]

I'm not a huge Depeche Mode fan but I think they're a good band, write some good and interesting material and always seemed great live from what I've seen on the tv and internet. So, I always wanted to go and see them and a couple of years ago my brother (who's a DM fanatic) got us tickets for their date in Birmingham.

Perhaps it was because we were sat up in the gods to one side, the stage partially obscured by the speaker array hanging from the roof, and that those around us all sat there for the whole gig like they were at a funeral (I include my brother in that), BUT it was the most disappointing gigs I've ever been to. It was utterly 'cold'. Depeche Mode performed as you see them on those great live videos on YouTube, but actually being there was really meh.

From then I've said I wouldn't go to another stadium gig.

 

 

[Supernaut]

Alter Bridge December 2019 at London O2. Good band but just didn't do it for me live. Similar to Foo Fighters - songs played perfectly but nothing dangerous about them at all.