Worst Concert Ever Seen

[jhkayakr]

I've seen a few bad ones, any others?

[the_marq]

Maybe if you told us about the bad ones you saw it would get this conversation rolling.

[Mbwuto]

Journey and Peter Frampton.

The music was fine. I didn't know Frampton much then and no one else did either. He called us a bunch of damn yanks and left the stage. I'm sorry your music has not stood the test of time Peter. For what it's worth, everyone knows those two songs. You know the one with the "wah wah wah" in it.

Add in five hundred dour forty year old women and the situation gets pretty dull. Journey was playing their Greatest Hits album while Frampton cried offstage. It was just depressing.

[streak_56]

I haven't seen a bad one, though, Slipknot was crazy enough to make me not want to go to another.

[drag0nmanes]

Parts of the last warped tour I went to. So many bands that were out of place, a few getting boed throughout their "performances". Funny thing is some of my friendsonly went to see aforementioned bands. :shudder:

[sapiens]

I saw MC Hammer in concert. It was free, but it was still the worst concert I have ever seen. I saw Clint Back free as well. I didn't like him either, but I don't like new country.

[trickyy]

i saw fischerspooner. i thought i was finally going to "get" it when i saw them. nope, they were just weird and lame. didn't really perform, just played their cd while the singer bounced around in a goofy outfit. it was a demented fashion show held in a small tent. and they played their hit twice, as their extended catalog kinda sucked.

this was at a festival. there were many other better bands there. i left during the third song.

[warrrreagl]

Damn, rooks, use the search tool! There's another thread called "Worst Concert Experiences" at http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=77846, and it's not that old.

[roachboy]

worst concert experiences---apart from those parallel to warrreagl's in the other thread (hilarious story, btw)---has to be the following:

phoebe snow and dan hill: two sensitive people singing sensitive songs for what seemed like days, which made me think that i should just leave and shoot myself.

reo speedwagon opening for jeff beck: the worst, the worst, the worst thing i have ever heard. the absolute worst. worse than any number of foul bluegrass shows i was dragged to. worse than hank william's backup band opening for miles davis, during which they performed a tribute to dead hank by featured a spotlight on a mike center stage and the band singing the backup vocal tracks to a series of hank williams hits.

watching some nitwit at a jethro tull show long long ago throw an empty whiskey bottle forward into the crowd. watching the bottle eplode on someone's head and watching that person drop to the ground instantly. not being able to do anything about any of it.

watching the boards of the hockey rink in boston garden burst into flames because someone shot a roman candle into it during the chaos that followed keith moon's passing out onstage 4 songs into a who show. i was in the first row of teh first balcony across from the fire. i was sure i was going to die.

the first de la soul tour, before they had figured out how to perform live.

[thales]

I got them all beat. Double bill of Night Ranger ("Sister Christian" and "(You Can Still) Rock In America") and Starship (not Jefferson Starshiup...not Jefferson Airplane...Starship at the height of their "We Built This City" fame). Got their because I was extremely bored one night and a friend who worked at a radio station had free tickets lying around his dorm room. Should have gotten drunk instead. We finally had to leave at some point during the Starship portion of the evening. We couldn't take it anymore. It was awful.

[spectre]

I went to see Motörhead not too long ago, and they were awesome as well as one of the opening acts, but one of the other acts was horrible. They were the worst band I have ever heard. I think their name was Zeke (sp?). The singer came on stage and admitted they were a shitty band. Then they played, and more than confirmed that statement.

[frankx]

Cranberries, 1996, UNO Lakefront Arena, New Orleans. Grant Lee Buffalo opened (although we missed them). As boring and uninspired a concert as I have ever seen. $30 I'll never see again.

My wife went to a Justin Timberlake show during his 15 minutes of fame. She hated every minute of it and left halfway through.

[jhkayakr]

Originally Posted by the_marq

Maybe if you told us about the bad ones you saw it would get this conversation rolling.

oh, thanks for the suggestion dude.

[jhkayakr]

Saw Ratt, who open for Ozzie many years ago. They sucked and the crowd wanted them off the stage. The band began flipping the crowd off, so the crowd responded by throwing fireworks and bottles at the band. They, needless to say, left the stage early.

[Dbass]

A little band called Polyphonic Spree, opening for David Bowie (rock). I'm not sure I've got this right, but there were like 6 thousand people on stage in bleached-out African tribal robes, prancing and singing the same song for like an hour. Seriously, how many rousing choruses can you pack into one 5-pound bag? Polyphonic Spree seemed to think 10 pounds. Bowie saved the show, but still. It's sad when the loudest cheers follow the words "This will be our last song"

[Pyke]

The Tea Party (amazing Canadian rock band) had an opening act called Outta Your Mouth (or something along those lines), real emo stuff. Every last person in the venue was there for The Tea Party, and were forced to listen to this emo crap for about half an hour. They covered Madonna's "Music", with some of the worst vocals I've ever heard. Just horrible.

[Slavakion]

Originally Posted by jhkayakr

oh, thanks for the suggestion dude.

It's not an unreasonable request. You started the thread, you should initiate discussion with something other than "hey, has this ever happened to you?". I've been reprimanded myself for doing that.

[dX927]

Juvenile at my college. He didn't have a DJ or a hype man. He just rapped over a cd. He also had like 12 guys on stage with him just sitting there looking really bored. I didn't pay to go to this show, I was working security that night. He showed up extremely late for the show and stayed on his bus until he was finally ready to go on. Then he was on for like 30 minutes and walked off the stage and back on his bus.

[tspikes51]

Hoobastank's part of Meteora.

[OFKU0]

Tragically Hip. Because of circumstances I've had to see or hear them several times. But one thing is for sure. When they are all on and the mix is good,they certainly have some great moments. But when they are off, or just feel like not playing, any or all of them, they fucking suck large. I 've seen a couple of shows where they were beyond bad, even beyond amateur, and not when they were starting out, but rather when they were well established.

[gnort]

evanescence, hoobastank, and trapt.

Thank god it was a festival-type thing and was super cheap. Took a nice nap on the lawn.

[lordpoopshank]

Sponge at my college theater. I was really looking forward to this show since I grew up on a few of their songs, like "Molly," "Wax Ecstatic," "Have you seen Mary," but it was actually god awful. First of all, about 30 people showed up and their lead singer Vinnie Dombrowski (probably realizing that nobody gave two shits about Sponge anymore) decided to have some fun with the crowd and let us make up a set list for the show. Some girl scribbled her favorite songs down and gave it to the front man, but when he realized that her list included pretty much only their top hits he acted as if he no longer had any interest in playing anymore. After that, the band played a few horrible covers, one of which was "Go Speedracer"!?!?, then played a few of their new obscure songs. Nobody in the crowd had a good time, and to top it off, their sound levels were all fucked up. Pretty much a worthless experience.

[canuckguy]

by far the smashing pumpkins, billy can't sing live, atleast the show that I saw. was bascially an hour of him screaming or schrilling. Close second would be red hot chilli peppers. terrible again.

btw best would be oasis... :-)

[Derwood]

Originally Posted by Dbass

A little band called Polyphonic Spree, opening for David Bowie (rock). I'm not sure I've got this right, but there were like 6 thousand people on stage in bleached-out African tribal robes, prancing and singing the same song for like an hour. Seriously, how many rousing choruses can you pack into one 5-pound bag? Polyphonic Spree seemed to think 10 pounds. Bowie saved the show, but still. It's sad when the loudest cheers follow the words "This will be our last song"

That's too bad. I've really wanted to see Polyphonic Spree for awhile now. Guess you have to be into their music to distinguish it from being "an hour long song"

I have to say the worst for me was a portion of Lollapalooza 3. Fishbone, Arrested Development and Dinosaur Jr. made up for one shitty hour+ in the middle of the day. Good thing the concert started with Rage Against the Machine and Tool and ended with Alice in Chains and Primus. Dinosaur Jr. was the most craptastic piece of poo ever conceived.

[mercury-hg]

9-10 years ago i thought it would be worth sitting through alanis morrisette in order to catch radiohead as the opener. i guess i was right, but god was she awful. i'd have left as soon as radio exited the stage, but i was with a number of ladies who needed their dose of crap feminist rock.

third eye blind as part of a festival was pretty damn painful.

POD opened for System Of A Down. wish i could take back those 45 minutes of my life. atleast meshuggah was the second opener...

[IowaEric]

I have to say the worst for me was a portion of Lollapalooza 3. Fishbone, Arrested Development and Dinosaur Jr. made up for one shitty hour+ in the middle of the day. Good thing the concert started with Rage Against the Machine and Tool and ended with Alice in Chains and Primus.

This was one of the best concert experiences for me, not any of the bands you mentioned, but I had no idea who Rage was and they opened the whole thing and blew me away from the start. Awesome live performances, especially when they were still fresh then.

Worst for me was probably a Pantera show in Cedar Rapids IA that was going pretty decent until some guy on the balcony threw a full 22 oz beer right on the soundboard. The sound was totally wacked out for the remainder of the show, with guitars or drums cutting out all the time. Saw em twice since that and was great, but this one blew.

[cellophanedeity]

I went to see Evanescence at the Molson Amplitheatre, and they were great, but their openers were terrible. It was like two hours of the same song done by four bands.

Otherwise, I've been really lucky. I only see good concerts!

[Glory's Sun]

Chevelle and Linkin Park were the worst I've seen. Chevelle was out of tune and tried to make up for it with volume. I dont' like them anyway so that made it even worse. Linkin Park just sucked all the way around. Only reason I went was b/c of a chick. The singing was horrid the beats were off and the show was just lame. Never again is all I have to say

[rhaevyn]

I have several, but they're too embarrassing to say. lol Let's just say I was aged 12-14, and it was in my teeny-bopper stage.

[Stare At The Sun]

Thou Shalt Not in pittsburg...just...horrid. They are a decent band, but that show was just horrid. I really hope it was just the equipment at the venue, otherwise...

I couldnt even understand the words they were saying, and only caught snippets, because I know the songs.

[Jesus Pimp]

Dashboard Confessional opening for Weezer.

[Seer666]

Prolly dateing myself here a bit, but, Warrent, Trickster, and Firehouse. The only part of that show that was any good was the pot.....

[redlotuss9]

I have 2 experiences that tie for the worst concert experience, only because they both involve the same band. Back in '96 or '97 I went to see Pantera in Akron, OH. They had 2 opening bands. Clutch went on first. These guys rocked. Very groove oriented metal. After them came the absolute hands down worst band I've ever seen live: Neurosis.

I'm trying to classify what kind of music they play. They are very percussion heavy. They have some heavy guitar but it's mostly just a guitar player playing one chord while a few dudes wail away on drums. Then a guy comes on and screams something indecipherable. I could have sworn he wasn't saying anything. He just went up to the mic and went "AHHHHHH!" and "Roawr!". This went on for about 30-45 minutes. The fist time I saw them they played the tape of Bud Dwyer committing suicide over and over. I swear to you, I felt like these guys came up on stage, made a bunch of noise and left. No semblance of a discernable song, no meshing of a drum beat and a guitar riff, just a bunch of audio diarrhea.

You might be asking yourself why I would subject myself to this a second time. I have since asked myself this same question. The second time I saw them was at the Crowbar in State College, PA. Once again, they were opening up for someone cool, I think it was Mudvayne or Soulfly. I decided to give them a second chance, after all it had been a few years since the first time I'd seen them and maybe this time would be different. I couldn't have been more wrong. They took the stage and I got treated to 45 more minutes of some God awful noise.

The only way I would go see these guys again is if they would open up for Pantera again. I would gladly let my ears bleed a third time if it meant Dimebag was alive and playing.

[killeena]

Originally Posted by redlotuss9

I have 2 experiences that tie for the worst concert experience, only because they both involve the same band. Back in '96 or '97 I went to see Pantera in Akron, OH. They had 2 opening bands. Clutch went on first. These guys rocked. Very groove oriented metal. After them came the absolute hands down worst band I've ever seen live: Neurosis.

I went to that same show in Detroit, and yes, Neurosis was just horrible. Clutch and Pantera are always great, but that other band was driving me nuts.

Another bad show I went to was a recent Poison concert. I've never liked them anyway, I just went because a friend said he wanted me to go, and paid for me and all that. Never again. Unless I am paid a lot of money.

One of the worst was having to sit through Andrew W.K at one of the Ozzfests. I didn't know people actually like that guy, I actually saw 3 or 4 people getting into it. Everyone else was yelling about how much he sucks.

[Undercover_Man]

D00d...I got ALL of you beat. I bought Celine Dion tix for my sister and my bro-in-law couldn't go so she picked me. I almost committed suicide right then and there.

[3zos]

Jesus Pimp

I'd have to say the same thing :? i wonder, was it the show in Columbus 2-3 years back during the summer? Dashboard sucked, the singing was shite and the sound engineer was asleep at the wheel (the most prominent instrument were the drums). thank christ weezer made up for it, nothing like a fifteen minute rendition of 'Only in Dreams'

[TonySpilotro]

Can't think about the worst I've seen in person, but how about Axl Rose's comeback performance that closed the MTV Video Awards a couple years ago. That was some of the most laughable shit I've ever seen, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Jerwood, surprised to hear Fishbone was bad at Lollapalooza, I've seen those guys a few times and Angelo Moore (lead singer) is usually incredibly entertaining on his own. On the other hand, at one of their shows they played all new songs nobody had heard and the entire crowd just wasn't into it...

[Charlatan]

Years ago I saw the Cars at the CNE in Toronto... Dreadfully boring. The music was fine but the stage precense was completely absent.

start of show
"Hello Toronto!"
(music)
"Goodnight!"
end of show

Yeah! Now that's showmanship!