Worst Concert You've Ever Seen ...?

[scrumm21]

1974 Nazareth opened for Ted Nugent ( band I don't remember was the opening act )
1st band was too loud....Nazareth came on and was even louder. My buddy and I almost left but stayed for Ted....he comes on and now the volume is Really over the top, and we left after 2 songs as it was physically painful

1972 Crosby and Nash with opening act Tequila Sunrise......don't remember much but my notes simply say "Awful"

1979 BB King. His "announcer" spent 15 minutes telling us how we were about to experience the most incredible night of our lives..... BB played for 25 mins or so then left...... "Announcer" comes back out and spends another 15 mins telling us to Give It Up for the great bb king...... he never came back out...word was BB was pissed at the promoter over something so he took it out on us Paying Customers

 

[Eddie 70]

It's been a few years ago, I went to see Black Stone Cherry. BSC was the opening band for Seether. I'm not a big fan of Seether, after about 5 songs, we walked out.

 

[fleahead]

'75 Uriah Heep in a gym.

Loved Heep but Byron the singer was clearly heroin'd out. The band was so loud that the only way I knew what song they were playing or where they were at in a song was watching the drummer because I knew every part.

Silverhead was the opening act, a bunch of skinny, London-heroin wastoids including one Michael Des Barres. Glam like T-Rex, not my thing.... but the whole night was devoid of much musical enjoyment....

 

[CB91710]

Anaheim House of Blues.
Queensryche
We left thinking the band had lost it. They were horrible.
A few months later, we saw Nugent at the same venue.
Same horrible sound.
The problem is, the acoustics on that place suck... it simply does not work for loud music. The sound was so bad that I literally could not tell what song Ted was playing until he started singing.
I had seen him on his previous tour at a different venue and he was great, so I knew it wasn't Ted... it was the Anaheim House of Blues.

 

[markbastable]

Television, a year or two back, in Brixton. They were disinterested, uninvolved, repetitive and aloof.

 

[Stinky Kitty]

Summer 1974, New York Dolls, Chilhowee Park, Knoxville Tennessee. They were too hammered to keep time, were out of tune, moreso than usual, the make up was terrible, outfits trashy beyond camp.

It was like every rebellious thing they were, did, stood for failed as just plain ineptitude..

 

[SWeAT hOg]

Ozzy. He was bloated, wasted, slurring, tempo-challenged, and ultimately, relied on backing tracks because his voice was failing him.

 

[fleahead]

Isn't that about every Ozzy gig now?

 

[SWeAT hOg]

Isn't that about every Ozzy gig now?

I saw him twice on that tour. The first time was a 'warm-up' gig at a club in Toronto. Ozzy was fit, lucid, vocals on fire. He played for over two hours. Sabbath covers only, and he was backed up by Vinnie Apiece on drums and Mr. GEEZER FUCKIN' BUTLER on bass (dunno the guitarist, but he was excellent on the material). THIS was one of the best live acts I've ever seen.

Fast-forward to the end of the tour, and I got the amphitheatre show and a fat, wasted and very tired Ozzy, with very little Sabbath (Snowblind got traded in for Changes-gross!). Ozzy's condition, along with having to listen to dreck like Mamma I'm Comin' Home was disappointing. Thank god for the shrooms that night, at least I could laugh at it all.

 

[jenton70]

The latest G3 concert I got dragged to was just terrible. Phil Collen, John Petrucci, and Joe Satriani were the lineup. Collen played with a blues singer lady and it was decent but the tone was awful. Petrucci came out and proved that he belongs in a band, seemed completely lost as a solo act, and Satch played his elevator music for people who grew up on rock and don't want to admit they're getting old. It's one of the only concerts I've attended where I actually wished I could come up with an excuse to ditch my buddy and take off.

 

[Ghostman]

Blue Oyster Cult at the Cowboy Bar 1998. A legendary band shoved on a stage the size of a postage stamp, playing to 20 drunks and my wife and I. The stage wasn't even big enough to put the drums on it, and they were stashed behind everyone.

Obviously the band's enthusiasm to be there was missing.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

I saw him twice on that tour. The first time was a 'warm-up' gig at a club in Toronto. Ozzy was fit, lucid, vocals on fire. He played for over two hours. Sabbath covers only, and he was backed up by Vinnie Apiece on drums and Mr. GEEZER FUCKIN' BUTLER on bass (dunno the guitarist, but he was excellent on the material). THIS was one of the best live acts I've ever seen.

Fast-forward to the end of the tour, and I got the amphitheatre show and a fat, wasted and very tired Ozzy, with very little Sabbath (Snowblind got traded in for Changes-gross!). Ozzy's condition, along with having to listen to dreck like Mamma I'm Comin' Home was disappointing. Thank god for the shrooms that night, at least I could laugh at it all.

I've seen Ozzy five times. It's always been a roll of the dice.

First time was in 2003. He played for two and a half hours. Opened with War Pigs and rolled from there. Did an entire Sabbath miniset halfway through the show (including The Wizard, which was mindblowing). He was drugged out of his mind, slurring and was a complete madman.

Second time was in 2007. He played for an hour and a half. Thirteen song set with Paranoid as the only Sabbath tune. Voice was blown out. It was lame, Rob Zombie blew him off the stage.

Third time was in 2010. He played for two and a half hours. He didn't even have a setlist that tour, he was just doing this monster shows one song at a time. He sounded fantastic, played tons of classic Sabbath, old hits and some deeper cuts that he doesn't do often. It was one of the top shows I've ever seen, on the same level as Paul McCartney. Completely unbelievable.

Fourth time was in 2013 with Sabbath. He cut it short by two songs because his voice blew right the fuck out at the end, but holy shit was it epic to see Sabbath.

Fifth time was in 2016 with Sabbath. He sounded great, the setlist was almost perfect and it was a great, great concert.

I'm kinda relieved his new tour has been stalled. It sucks that he's so sick of course, but I don't think he was going to top his last solo tour. Shorter set, worse voice and everything tuned down to C#.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

Fourth time was in 2013 with Sabbath. He cut it short by two songs because his voice blew right the fuck out at the end, but holy shit was it epic to see Sabbath.

This was my experience on the 2016 tour. I sorta felt sorry for Tony and Geezer because they were stunning.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

This was my experience on the 2016 tour. I sorta felt sorry for Tony and Geezer because they were stunning.

Ozzy had some health issues that tour. His show in my town was actually cancelled and postponed a month due to illness. I was getting nervous leading up to the show because I was checking vids on Youtube and seeing a lot of croakiness.

The postponed date was a blessing, because he was unreal. It's a shame. When Ozzy is on he's fucking on. But he's pretty spotty.

 

[Deek]

Larry Coryell in the late 1980s at some club near San Diego. His bass player was 90 minutes late and they played without him for a long time. Apparently Larry was not happy with his own playing as he continued to swear like a maniac at himself at every riff he played. It was embarrassing. Hate to speak I’ll of him as he passed away, but I do hope I caught him on one of his worst gigs.

 

[Razzle]

Yea: Puddle of Mudd

They played a real small venue here (concert room behind a bowling alley) and they were like they hated being there, clearly exuded an attitude. I mean I know it was a shitty venue, but if they agreed to do the gig they shouldn't have acted that way.

They did sound... well, better than mudd.

 

[meatball]

Worse ,,, walked out of Steely Dan
Surprised ,,, Saw Styx open for Joe Cocker in 1977,, they were awesome ,, a New guitar player named Tommy Shaw had just joined the band .To this day I have seen Styx about 15 times ,,,
Surprisingly dissapointing .. Joe B ... yup Joe Bonamassa performed all twelve bar blues .. No deep cut hits , none .. I couldnt wait to leave ,, a Monday night show isnt a good show to do when you have to work so I give hi a benefit of a doubt ..

 

[jkes01]

Yea: Puddle of Mudd

They played a real small venue here (concert room behind a bowling alley) and they were like they hated being there, clearly exuded an attitude. I mean I know it was a shitty venue, but if they agreed to do the gig they shouldn't have acted that way.

They did sound... well, better than mudd.

Used to see them all the time locallly before they ever had any radio play, friends of friends. Never saw a bad show. Years later saw them open for Nickelback at the state fair. Was a great show.

Worst concert I’ve ever been to was White Zombie. Could not make out one word he was singing and the band wasn’t that tight.

 

[DADGAD]

2014 Nazareth. Sub in lead singer and ZERO energy. It was so bad I returned the 2 shirts I bought and left. I have never left a concert before. The Headpins who opened, were just on fire.

 

[Rando375]

15 years or so ago LA guns opened for Faster Pussycat in Atlanta. LA Guns put on a pretty good show.

Evidently at some point between the 80s and early 2000's, Taime Downes had morphed into Marilyn Mansion.

Have no issues with MM but I paid to see FP. Made it to the 3rd song and walked out.