What is the worst live act or specific performance you've ever seen?

Question

I envy you lovenrckts. I've seen some really bad ones. Catherine Wheel was one of those bands I meant to check out but didn't get around to it. I like the one single I heard in the mid 90s quite a bit. Can't remember what it was called though, something about an airplane or something like that.

Hi Sookie, I had the same experience with the Chilli Peppers. So much hype, but I thought it was just pretty boring. I saw them at Coachella a few years back and we watched some, but ended up leaving early. Same thing with the Beastie Boys, which was disappointing because I had heard they were really great live.

That's funny Deke, I can honestly say as bad as it's gotten at times no one has ever literally put me to sleep.

Bean, PJ Harvey was that bad? I always wanted to see her live.

Hi JMike. That's just a bummer about Lou Gramm. Especially given the circumstances you've just got to feel sorry for the guy. Also, with GNR, I always thought they would be pretty good. I saw the Snakepit once and they were actually pretty awesome. Bummer.

For me, there are two that stand out. Both involve Perry Ferrel. I saw Porno for Pyros at Lollapalooza and Perry Ferrel was drunk and drinking as the set went on and was just pretentious and obnoxious and utterly frustrating. I also missed Cyprus Hill to watch them and came back to find out that they totally rocked. The second, which would have probably been funny if I didn't have a grudge to bear was at Coachella when the big mystery act ended up being him spinning records. He actually had to have a guy sync the records for him before he started. It was truly pathetic.

I've heard that Oasis is very bad live. Intolerably boring.

I also saw a guy named Johnny Polonski open for Frank Black once and they actually had to carry the guy off the stage about 3/4s (I would assume) through the set because he was so drunk that he couldn't stand anymore. It was actually kind of awesome.

I feel the same way about it lovenrckts. I think they're just not what they used to be.

You just gotta figure that Vince Neil would be awful. Remember that single "You're invited but your friend can't come"? Some people just can't go solo.

The Whitesnake thing brings up a whole new point. I think you can't have a tour as a band without at least half of the band. I hate it when one guy tours as what used to be a band.

And, from what I am gathering it sounds like a good rule of thumb to just skip Ozzfest.

Answer 1

I think the worst ive ever seen would've been at ozzfest some of those unsigned "bands" suck so hard.

Answer 2

I got a chance to see the Catherine Wheel with The House of Love about '93-'94 or so and from what I remember they put on a pretty good show. Must have got lucky. Chili Peppers at Lollapalooza put on a good show but the were absolutely overshadowed by Ministry who came on before them. Good line-up for the gig although it was my second time to see Lush and they are much better in a small intimate setting than in an outdoor venue at 3 PM.

The two worst I've ever seen by a mile were Morrissey and Adam Ant. My sister saw Moz recently and said it was susprisingly good but the show I hit in '90 was very bland and uninspired. Adam Ant was the same , it was a gig on the beach for Spring Break and did four songs with the mic hanging around his ankles for two of them and vocals still going through. Never was a big fan of him before but after that I hated him. At least it was free.

FAC1971: I was at that same Cult tour in '89 but Bonham opened up along with Tora Tora. Double the pain and triple the agony.

Edit: Actually another bad show was Spoon opening for Swervedrive, damn, somewhere between '99 and 2001? Spoon was good but all Swervedriver did was complain about the sound. Real disappointing since those guys sound so good on record.

Answer 3

Ok, I'm going to try. I'm going to REALLY try. It might be hard. Especially about Justin Bieber. Ick. :/ Michael Jackson - Good: KING OF POP!!! :) Bad: The dangling Blanket off of the balcony probably wasn't the smartest move... Prince - Good: Catchy music, good musician. Bad: I don't know much about him to say anything else. Janet Jackson - I don't really know anything here either. Madonna - Good: Great music. Bad: I've heard many times she's mean, stuck-up, and she's hours late for concerts. Britney Spears - Good: I do like some of her music. It's catchy. Bad: She went crazy. Do I need an example? Lady Gaga - Good: Music, wardrobe, everything about her I love. Bad: Oh this is hard. I guess flipping off paparazzi wasn't good. Christina Aguilera - Good: Music. Bad: I don't agree with some of her views. Beyonce - Good: Her voice gives me goosebumps. Bad: She said she would never dress revealing, but she didn't stick to that. Oh well. Miley Cyrus - Good: I gerew up with her show, so I still see her as like my best friend from when I was little. xD Bad: She's growing up too fast. Justin Beiber - Good: I remember watching his videos years ago on his channel and thinking, "Wow, he's got a good voice, he's gonna go far." So that was cool to see him do so. Bad: I think the fame is really going to his head. Paris Hilton - Good: Umm She has nice hair? Bad: The tape.

Answer 4

Two jump right to the front of the memory banks; one for being pitiful, and the other for being a major let down.

Just a few years ago, I drove down to Destin because John Waite was playing at the Seafood Festival. He did an awesome 60 minute acoustic set... really great stuff. Headlining that night was Lou Gramm of Foreigner. Now, I knew that Lou was getting on up there in the years, and I knew he was trying to recover from the removal of a brain tumor, so I was really pulling for the guy......... YIKES! It was bad in both a "my God, this guy needs to retire" and a "it's so pathetic because I don't think he knows how bad he looks and sounds" way. We didn't stay for the full set.

The other was a Guns N' Roses / Skid Row performance at Legion Field in Birmingham. Now, Legion Field is an outdoor football stadium (formerly the home to most of the University of Alabama's football games, roll tide!) located in a pretty not-so-nice part of town. Plus, it had rained for about a week solid prior to the show. Regardless, we were there and ready to rock. Skid Row did not disappoint. They kicked all kinds of tail on stage, and we just knew that GN'R would come out pumped up and ready to prove they were the better band. Wrong. My God, they stunk up the place. It was horrid. I saw them a few more times (none by my choice) and everytime I saw them live, they were just really bad.





NP: "Raise Your Glasses" - Kiss


Edit: Joe, you gotta remember that David Coverdale IS Whitesnake. Every other member of the band from Moody and Marsden all the way down to Sykes and Campbell to Aldrich and Mendoza are just hired guns. Not knowing what year you saw them, I can tell you that their current line up is the best they've had since '87, and they flat out rock live.

Answer 5

The Chili Peppers were pretty bad. I saw them at an outdoor place, and the sound was horrible. I wish I could blame it all on the audio, but I can't.

Edit: yeah, I camped out in the beer tent for a while. :)

Edit (again): I wish I got to see both the '91 and '92 Lollapalooza shows. Oh well, I guess that's what YouTube is for.

GK Dub - this is the second time in 5 minutes that I'm checking questions and hearing that my beloved Deftones aren't that great live. And then add Incubus to the list...I feel like I just found out there's no Santa! :(

Oh well...

Answer 6

I've taken in a few stinkers in my day, lol. HIM is terrible live. They don't work the stage, they just stand there. Cold is also completely boring, for the same reasons. Projekt Revolution had some bad ones, Madina Lake- the singer couldn't stay on key, they seemed to care more about looking pretty, rather than sounding good. Taking Back Sunday was BORING! My bf actually fell asleep during their set. Julien K was painful to watch- they tried to really sell it, but nobody was buying.

Answer 7

I haven't been to many concerts that completely sucked and for that I am forever grateful. The one that sticks out the most was Catherine Wheel back in 1997. They mostly played songs from their new album at the time (Adam & Eve), which I guess is typical when bands come out with new material. However, they neglected to play most of their stuff from the more popular albums. Also, not the most exciting live show to watch. They could have used an energy transplant from Les Savy Fav.

That song you refer to would be Waydown, where they did the video on a doomed airplane (totally pre 9/11). They failed to play that song as well.

Somehow, I get the horrible feeling that even if I were to attempt to go see the RHCP at this point in time, it would be a lost cause. I knew I should have gone to Lolla in 92, damn!

Answer 8

Well there's disappointing and there's horrible. The bands that were horrible were opening acts that I had never heard of. Some artists that come to mind are IMA Robot, Har Mar Superstar, and Tomahawk. I hadn't previously heard these groups, and after seeing them live, I hope I never have to hear them again.

But some of my most favorite artists have delivered lackluster concerts. I've seen Deftones 3 times now and they've never wowed me. I love their music so much, but their sound is so messed up live that it always took a few minutes before I realized what song they were playing. You can barely hear Chino until he screams and then it pierces your eardrums. I also saw a disappointing show from Incubus last month. The setlist was very short compared to the previous shows I've seen them at, and most of the songs were ones I wasn't dying to hear. I'm also sorry to say that Tool, one of my absolute favs, delivered a letdown performance last year. Normally they are quite good live, but this time Maynard was sick and had lost a bit of his voice. Rather than making up the show later, they played on and Maynard let the crowd sing most of the songs, which is not what I payed to hear. But most shows I've been to have been worth my money.

Answer 9

Ozzfest, Albuquerque, 2007. There were so many lame bands that my daughter and I didn't stay through the whole event. The headliner, which was Lamb Of God, was one band we wanted to see but we had already seen them several times in concert so we didn't stay for their set.

Also, several years ago, we saw 311 in concert. They put on a good performance but one of the opening acts, Pepper, was truly awful. The lead singer kept spewing out foul language and the band never seemed to want to leave the stage. When they finally did, nearly everybody in the audience cheered.

Answer 10

1)The absolute worst - House of Pain - when they opened for the Beastie Boys back in the early 90s. They were so bad that they got booed off the stage without even finishing their 2nd song.
2) A band called 'Food Head' that opened for the Dead Milkmen back in 1987 in Lawrence, KS. I am sure they were a bunch of local college kids, but they played one song called 'Food Head' for like 30 minutes.
3) Tora Tora opening for The Cult in the late 80s. Sucked so bad I fell asleep (on a date, too; ouch!!). The Cult was good, though.

Answer 11

I saw Whitesnake on one of their many "farewell" tours in 90something and they were THE worst band I have ever seen live. They were faaaaaaaar to loud, we were 10 rows from the front and couldn't actually make out any audible sounds! They could not play any of their songs correctly and were posing around the stage like they were the business. The only original member was David Coverdale...biggest waste of money I have ever spent!