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Most Disappointing Concert Ever?

bern1

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Nov 23, 2004
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I will have to add to the list, this one has been mentioned in another thread:

Jefferson Starship at the Lorelei venue in Germany, 1977 or so, where the band did not play at all.
 

marshall1987

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Boston, Third Stage tour Texxas Jam @ the Cotton Bowl. Ugg

Was this the 1978 show (or was it 1979?).

Could the lackluster performance have been more about the excessive heat, the venue, and the outdoor sound system and bad mix?
 

johnnyslim

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Boston, Third Stage tour Texxas Jam @ the Cotton Bowl. Ugg

I was there and I would agree. Boston-Aerosmith-Whitesnake-Poison-Tesla-Farenheit...June 20, 1987.

I saw Boston on the "Don't Look Back" tour in the 70's and they were incredibly good. This Texxas Jam was not one of Boston's better shows.
 

Triburst

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I guess I'll have to pile on about poor old B.B. King. He played the Beau Rivage casino in Biloxi a few years ago, and it was very, very sad. I had seen him play in his prime at Charles Ever's nightclub in Fayette, MS (and was one of about six white people in there -- and 3 were with me, but no hassles) -- He was incredible.:applaude
 

Kiwi

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Jul 31, 2002
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Jefferson Starship, about 1976 or so. Free concert in Central Park, NYC. Let's go, kids!

Got there early with my friends to secure a good spot fairly close in. Waited hours, but no big deal ... until it clouded up and we all got soaked in a thunderstorm. Soggy blanket, chilly and wet.

Still ... it's the Starship, for free!! Red Octopus!!

Oh, they were terrible. Out of time, out of tune, Grace and Marty couldn't hit a note. Clam City on guitar. Tough to sit through all that. No fun at all.

Decades later, I wonder if the monitors were working, whether they could hear themselves properly.

=K
 

Dave P

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A few years ago at a bar near my lady friend's place, Derek St Holmes played a no-cover gig. Derek was great, but the pick-up band behind him was so awful I couldn't stand it anymore and left after 3 or 4 songs.
 

marshall1987

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Most disappointing concert that.............


Bloodrock, 1973, Mount Vernon High School Football Stadium.

The opening act showed up and started on time......but then the long wait for Bloodrock.......:hmm

Bloodrock never showed up for the concert. Nope, never even showed up for one song. Nada.

And just to rub salt into the wounds.....the promoter would not refund our ticket cost.

As much as I liked Bloodrock......that one bad experience soured me on the band for decades. This was the only concert out of dozens in the '70s I attended where the headliner never showed up for the gig. :dang
 

Beano Geno

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The Doors. Morrison was so far gone that they draped him over the mike stand so he could sing. Big disappointment.
 

deytookerjaabs

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Like many have eluded to so far...some places have a pretty well laid out absorption scheme but for the most part there's many arenas that I just won't go to again. Allstate Arena, formerly Rosemont Horizon, through 3-4 shows were all just pure mush. United Center is hit or miss, same thing with "Bridgestone Arena." Also, saw Joe B open for BB King out in DeKalb (met him before the show too) IL and that place is the same way. At times you can't tell the transients of a voice from a horn from the cymbals etc... I saw Bob Dylan there too, the only time it sounded OK was when it was just voice & one or two instruments.


Heck, big ensembles in indoor concrete laden arenas is just a bad idea..... Outdoor shows always sound good for the most part but you usually have to buy a ticket to a "festival"...meh


Luckily, besides awful sound, I haven't been to show yet where I thought the performer mailed it in.
 

JBLPplayer

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All very depressing........... I'm throwing in a good one.

Hubert Sumlin not long before he passed. Melbourne, Australia.

Did a mid day in store for an hour, came down a steep flight of stairs to Basement Discs, played 6 songs, talked, signed autographs and had photo's
taken.

That night played a gig at the Corner Hotel for 1.5hrs, using the red strat gifted to him by Jimmy Vaughan....... he was dressed immaculately and totally
KILLED !!!

And all with only One Lung aged in his late '70's .............. All CLASS & a True LEGEND !!! :salude

Hubert was class all the way!
 

TT100

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Jul 22, 2002
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ZZTop during the fuzzy guitar '80s. Total phone-in. Zero effort, would have been better lip syncing. I was in the second row. Point Blank opened for them and put them to shame.

TT
 

RJLII

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A few years ago we went to see Jethro Tull. Ian Anderson spent an inordinate amount of time hurling insults regarding the President at the time. What an asshole.
 

Ace139

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May 29, 2003
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Re: Most Disappointing Concert Ever?"

To be fair, you walked into that one................

Agreed, lesson learned! Have seen them multiple times and the sound was awesome!

If you're referencing the band - funny, I get it but I think they are great.
 

Pat Boyack

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I went to see Y&T, Ace Frehley and Guns 'N Roses in early 1987. Guns was supposed to open the show but instead it was Faster Pussycat because Guns was kickin' everybody's ass. Faster Pussycat sucked BALLS....Paul Bunyan BALLS!! Horrible band. The worst. On the other side of the coin, Y&T was the best live RnR band I have ever seen.....to this day.
 

jrgtr42

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Wow, Guess I've been lucky not to see anything as bad as what you are all talking about.
Seen a few shows that were lackluster - REM at the Boston Garden (TD Whatever Arena) in '02 or '03 or so, just no energy at all in the place, either from the band or the crowd. Only plus is we had gotten seats way up in the nosebleeds, and I guess there was so many open seats left, they upgraded us to loge level.

Also Aerosmith at the Garden, maybe 2010? I've seen them probably a dozen or more times going back to Pump tour, and they get better every time I see them - but not that show. Again, no energy, setlist was not good, lot of songs that even old-school fans didn't know. Saw them again a year or 2 later at the amphitheater near here and they kicked major ass.

Most other shows that I;ve at all been disappointed is the performer is wasted, loaded or baked, though they've never walked off - but you can tell something's off, even (especially) in a club show. Some bad sound or too loud - Misfits were so loud I couldn't hear right for 3 days - I got scared at that one, and Letters to Cleo in 2002 or so - though in that case, I was hanging over the guitarist's moniter, with his Boogie Dual Rec blasting at my head. I hadn't yet learned about earplugs.
 

Lhancock

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Someone mentioned 80-year-old BB King being a donation.

I decided day of the show to go and see Chuck Berry. I was fully aware of how he toured and used pickup bands so I didn't expect some tight show, but this was so bad I was embarrassed for the poor guy. He wold lose his place in the song, lose his place on the fret board. repeat songs and realize it then talk remember and stop mid-lyric. Bitched about the video cameras and big screens and how video taping was not allowed. Then realized what they were and said it was ok. Then he did it again. I have some audio. You can't un-hear it:
cHuck Berry 2011

Dang, I feel for him too. At some point you just have to throw in the towel. Or not, apparently.
 

Lhancock

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1988- Guns n Roses, Texas Stadium, Irving Texas

Drove from Louisiana to Irving to see GnR at a festival type thing with Ziggy Marley, Iggy Pop, the Smithereens, and INXS. Might have been someone else there too.

I think that GnR was pissed that INXS was the headliner at a time when Appetite had really hit big. Axel was ranting from the very beginning and walked off-stage several times. They were horrible and just had a nasty vibe about them. They would have been better off to just not show up, which they began to do later. Sad to say cause at the time I was a huge fan of theirs.

Later that night they showed up at On the Rocks, a live music rock venue. seemed like they were in a better mood then. I was too. lol...
 
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