End of Year Frivolity

[ezbass]

5 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

So why have you seen them so many times?

 

 

Friends of mine are big fans and played in a WA tribute band, I went along for the meet up with chums (a curry was often part of the evening). Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of WA, back when they were a cohesive unit, before Powell and Turner went their separate ways, the leftovers were never as good as the Mk1 & Mk2 versions.

[Leonard Smalls]

New Model Army at the Cosmo Club in Leeds 1984ish...

It's not that they were bad, but that the Cosmo was largely a reggae venue - we'd seen Mad Professor, LKJ, Black Uhuru etc, and assumed NMA were also reggae.

So we arrived after some serious herbal refreshment, all ready to skank the night away, and what did we get? Noisy oiks in clogs.

Never forgiven the beggars!

Edited January 1, 2023 by Leonard Smalls
Speelig

[BassFace1991]

On 31/12/2022 at 12:11, Jakester said:

Went to see Oscar Peterson play at Symphony Hall in Brum back in 2006.  He was quite old and frail by that point, but the first tune showed he still had it. Or so we thought.  
 

Then the second tune went well, but then he played the first tune again. Then the second again. Then back to the first again. His band were looking increasingly confused, leaning across to try to speak to him. It he waved them away. All in all, across two sets he played about four or five different  tunes, with lots of them repeated multiple times in each set. In reality it was a shame, he probably shouldn’t have been gigging by that point and rather than seeing an aging master we saw someone who was able to perform but was so unmoored he didn’t know what he was playing. It was quite sad. 

I know its awful and incredibly sad and tragic to see but it reminds me of that fast show jazz club sketch where the singer just keeps introducing the drummer over and over again. I'm so sorry.

[AndyTravis]

I got free tickets to see The Fratellis and I still tried to get a refund 😂

 

Only gig I’ve ever walked out of.

 

I went to the bar when Muse were on stage once - it was the Origin Of Symmetry tour and Matt Bellamy was at the height of his singing through a distortion pedal - it just did my head in.

[Newfoundfreedom]

Worst gig I've ever seen, Paul young.

 

Worst comedy gig, Freddy Star.

 

Both should have packed it in a very long time ago. 

[Mudpup]

Worst gig - got dragged along to see Jonathan Butler at the Hammy Odeon about 30 years ago. Can't stand all that mellow jazzy funky stuff personally but the missus quite liked him. He came on stage in a cardigan and sat on a stool for most of the night. The saving grace was that Mothers Finest were the support band and they were awesome.

 

Best gig - a recent one. Simple Minds at Audley End last summer. I've never heard such a good sound at any gig in the last 40 years. Absolutely crystal clear but big and loud too. You could feel your eyeballs moving with the kick drum and bass but in a good way. Half of Scotland seemed to have driven down to Essex to see them. And the band were killing it, they were sooo good. Jim and Charlie looking like they were 20 years old, Jed Grimes on bass (who is always fun to watch with his old Stingray. It's about time he treated himself to a second bass), Cherisse Osai on drums is amazing, Roland Rat on rhythm guitar and Berenice Scott on keyboards was classy. They were on my bucket list to see and exceeded every expectation.

 

 

 

[Paul S]

Soooo many.

 

First time Joe Bonamassa came over to the UK (2009?), saw him at the Albert Hall.  Massively disappointing, 2 hrs of soul-less showboating.  Eric Clapton was wheeled out to a 2 minute standing ovation, he dusted off 'standard guitar solo #2', got another standing ovation.  yawn.  Paul Jones came out for a harmonica spot but Joe showboated over the top.

 

Kenny Wayne Shepherd.  Like a lot of his album stuff, live the band were awful.  Ol' Kenny Wayne stood at the edge of the stage, playing faster and faster then holding a note for too long, all the time pulling 'spontaneous' faces and movements that he'd clearly been practicing.  The rest of the band looked like they would rather have ben somewhere else.

 

Michael McDonald 2018.  He'd lost that effortless smoky falsetto and screeched out all the high notes.  We left at half time before he massacred the remaining favourite tunes of ours.  

 

Hall and Oates.  Saw them in the 90s and they were as good as a band can be.  Saw them 2017 - no T-Bone (obvs, he had died by then) or the mad genius of G.E Smith - and they were just awful  Arrogant, loose, played 2x40 ins, no encore.

 

Stereophonics Wembley Arena 10 years ago maybe.  Sounded like a pub band on a big stage.  No spark whatsoever.

 

Martin Turner Ex Wishbone Ash.  Couple of months back.  Awful.  Left at half time.

 

Maceo Parker.  Brooklyn Bowl at the O2.  They only played about 6 tunes.  Interminable introductions to each geriatric band member.  I don't care if the old lady hobbling up to the mic was one of James Brown's backing singers, just get on with it.

 

Government Mule, also Brooklyn Bowl.  Love their songs but live the solos went on and on and on and on..... same old licks in different songs.

 

Snarky Puppy.  Should never have gone, not my thing.

 

Vintage Trouble.  Singer kept flinging himself about out of time with the music, like some sort of 2hr floor gymnastics session, after which he was so out of breath he couldn't sing. OK, I admire his stamina but, really?

 

Jamie Cullum 2022?  London Paladium.  Cocky little tw@t playing jazz with a backing rock band.

 

That all sounds very negative, maybe we should have a 'best gigs' thread.  Couldn't agree more about Simple Minds @Mudpup whatever the venue - saw them on the same tour at both the Cliff's Pavlion and the O2 and each time they emptied the tank.  Several times since.

[Dr.Dave]

BB King was practically one foot in the grave when I went to see him so I suppose I shouldn't have expected much. His support act - guest rather - was Gary Moore and he and his under rehearsed band had no age related excuse at all for being plain awful.

[Woodinblack]

Worst gig, hard to say - Undoubtedly the worst gig was Guns and Roses, they were awful in every way but I wasn't a fan so I didn't expect much. 

 

Gary Moore I suppose - it was his 'still got the blues' but the album hadn't really come out much and everyone was wanting his rock stuff, but he came out, did a short blues set which was really quick and that was it.

 

Recently, Gary Numan - not technically his fault, his playing was great, but it was at the Bristol O2, and it was so oversubscribed someone collapsed upstairs and it took medics 5 minutes to get to them through the crowd, honestly if there had been a fire or something, noone would have stood a chance. I have been at sold out gigs there before* and had half the capacity. Left before the end just because it was too unpleasant and my wife wasn't happy there.

 

* Saw wolf Alice there 6 months earlier and there was a lot more space, but as my wife said, maybe the same number of their audience just take up less space!

[BigRedX]

Worst gigs:

 

Propaganda at Rock City on their first major UK tour after "A Secret Wish" came out. Sounded nothing like the album. It was as if a bad rock band had decided to do a set of Propaganda covers without bothering to get a synth player (or two) in the band. Vocals were almost completely inaudible apart from the shouty bit in Duel/Jewel. The NME reviewed another gig on the tour and gave them a royal slagging off for the same reasons. The following week they published a letter from Propaganda's session guitarist complaining about the harshness of the review, with the following week another letter from one of the actual band telling him to shut up and that the NME review was totally right!

 

Fleet Foxes at Nottingham Trent University on their UK tour after their first album. Musically it was fine, but every song was punctuated by ages of dead space with the band tuning up, engaging in banter between themselves and the front row of the audience all of which was totally lost on me and everyone else who wasn't at the front. Would have left after about 20 minutes when it was obvious that this was going to be the pattern for the whole gig, but was there with friends who were surprisingly into it. I have never been so bored at a gig in my entire life.

 

 

Best gigs:

 

Bauhaus at the Ad-Lib Club, Nottingham 1980. a few months before they released "In The Flat Field". The only time I have seen them play "Bela Lugosi" which they opened with. One of the most intense performances I have ever witnessed by any band. Finished with "Dark Entries" after which the whole band seemingly leapt off stage through the audience to get to the "dressing room" at the back of the venue and were gone before we really realised. No encore, although nothing really could have followed that.

 

Freur at The Marquee in London. At the time Doot-Doot was my favourite album, and unlike Propaganda Freur delivered that great electronic sound faultlessly.

 

Polysics at the Islington O2 Academy Bar. Even the two support bands - The Age of Jets and Kid Carpet were brilliant. Polysics were fantastic, and I went on the see them as often as I could including going to New York to catch them at CBGBs.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by BigRedX

[Dankology]

I have had a happily small number of bad gigs.

 

Plan B at Manchester Academy 3 - went due to an amazing acoustic rap style thing on a magazine cover CD but the gig sounded very much like a US boyband and the clientele were edgy to say the least. Plus it was the height of summer and the sweat was dripping from the ceiling. The only gig I've ever walked out of. I must have caught him in some weird in-between stage before the fantastic Strickland Banks album (which features some very satisftying bass playing).

 

Dylan at Manchester Arena in about 2003 - seats right at the back, got there late (ie normal gig time), no big screens in use so the band were just tiny dots a quarter of a mile away and the sound was incredibly poor with the snare drum reverberating of the back wall so loudly I initially assumed someone was banging their own drum up there. I later picked up a bootleg recording and the performance itself was magnificent.

 

Evan Dando at the Manchester Ritz a few weeks back - hideously oversold to the point that many people, including us, had no view of the stage whatsoever. Really meant to complain to the venue/promoter about this one - as well as being a crappy experience it was palpably unsafe.

 

I've saw a fair few underwhelming Fall gigs over the years too but they usually ended up entertaining for non-musical reasons.

[Owen]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

Freur at The Marquee in London. At the time Doot-Doot was my favourite album, and unlike Propaganda Freur delivered that great electronic sound faultlessly.

 

 

Make my day, rell me Pino played live with them!

[davepb24]

Two particularly awful ones: Def Leppard, Leicester 1987 - utterly bland forgettable tripe; Sisters Of Mercy Birmingham 2001-ish, like watching somebody impersonating them on BGT or something, competent but totally soulless

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, Owen said:

Make my day, rell me Pino played live with them!

 

Unfortunately I don't recall who it was but it definitely wan't Pino. It might have been whoever played bass on their second album (Get Us Out of Here). He was only on stage for the new songs that had bass and IIRC Alfie played the bass part on "My Room" on an Emulator keyboard.

 

TBH I don't know what all the fuss is about Pino Paladino, he may be a decent musician and a nice bloke, but IMO he's got terrible taste in music. I don't think I have liked anything he's played on from a musical PoV. He's only on one track on Doot-Doot which is the weakest one on the album, and his contribution doesn't really add anything to it.

Edited January 3, 2023 by BigRedX

[Owen]

32 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

Unfortunately I don't recall who it was but it definitely wan't Pino. It might have been whoever played bass on their second album (Get Us Out of Here). He was only on stage for the new songs that had bass and IIRC Alfie played the bass part on "My Room" on an Emulator keyboard.

 

TBH I don't know what all the fuss is about Pino Paladino, he may be a decent musician and a nice bloke, but IMO he's got terrible taste in music. I don't think I have liked anything he's played on from a musician PoV. He's only on one track on Foot-Doot which is the weakest one on the album, and his contribution doesn't really add anything to it.

Ta. Different strokes and all that

[Huge Hands]

34 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

TBH I don't know what all the fuss is about Pino Paladino, he may be a decent musician and a nice bloke, but IMO he's got terrible taste in music. I don't think I have liked anything he's played on from a musician PoV. He's only on one track on Foot-Doot which is the weakest one on the album, and his contribution doesn't really add anything to it.

 

2 minutes ago, Owen said:

Ta. Different strokes and all that

 

Quite.... I don't think BigRedX and I would be listening buddies - I am a huge fan of Pino's Soulquarians stuff 😄 

[Tokalo]

Texas at Nottingham Ice Rink, late 90s. It wasn’t a Texas gig - it was the “Charlene Spiteri is the female Elvis” show. Shame on her.

 

Prefab Sprout at Essex Uni in 1984. They weren’t bad: they were awesome. (Paddy McAloon’s songs are pure genius)They just didn’t have enough numbers ready, so at least two of the encores were further repeats of Don’t Sing. 

[Kitsto]

I am finding this thread surprisingly entertaining. As Homer Simpson says, most of us do our jobs half-assed (me included) so it's terrific to hear about pro musicians (whom I tend to revere pathetically) being just as bad. Really cheered to hear how good Simple Minds are. I've really come to appreciate CB's guitar-playing - just fantastic. And, having seen both versions of Wishbone, I have to agree with the posts above. One seemed to have a geography teacher on guitar and the other a hamster.

 

EDIT

Nothing against geography teachers (have been a teacher myself) nor hamsters, nor geography-teaching hamsters for that matter. 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Kitsto

[Doctor J]

Worst gig, for sure, Ian Brown in Dublin touring his first solo album. It's a short album, he was headlining and refusing to play Stone Roses material. I should have seen it coming. He filled 60 miserable minutes with every song on the album played appallingly, Aziz Ibrahim and his giant ego doing his best to look like the guitar hero he will never be and they even played a truly dreadful cover of Thriller twice. Worst of all was seeing all the goons in bucket hats going around saying "mun-ches-tuuuuuuh!" ad nauseam. I really don't do justice to how genuinely terrible it was, not at all. Honourable mention to Limp Bizkit on some NME tour about 10+ years ago. Three ridiculously bad support bands (one had a guy dressed as a goblin, another was a Japanese band with Simpsonesque Choco robot hour seizure-inducing strobes which lasted the entire show. Then LB came on, were utter shite and I left when they started their second Nirvana cover.

 

Thankfully, I've been to so many great gigs it's hard to choose but one that sticks out, probably because it's reasonably recent, is Therapy? in Hamburg a few years ago. I saw a few of my favourite bands (Killing Joke and Voivod to name two) were playing sequential nights there, so went over for a week, by myself as none of my mates would come, and went to a gig every night. Therapy? were the final gig. I had a Joliet Jake experience (see the light, vibrate from back of hall to front of hall) during Norwegian support band Ondt Blod, who were just incredible and Therapy? were sublime too. It capped a great week of music in the best possible way.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Doctor J

[Richard R]

Dire Straits, right at the end of the 200 year long Brothers In Arms tour. They were still going for it, but definitely sounded tired.

A million times better than I would have been after that long on the road mind you.