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Worst concert/live show that you attended


Carl Spackler

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On 12/27/2024 at 4:07 PM, MAUFRAIS said:

Bob Dylan at ACL fest

Bob Dylan out at Round Rock Dell Diamond.  I missed Willie Nelson because my date was a woman and women are late to fucking everything.  We all know Dylan sounds like he's gargling gravel, and it's not like I caught him in his prime, but literally couldn't understand a single word.  This had to be early 2000's?

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Saw Hank Williams Jr. try to open for ZZ Top back in Beaumont in the early 2000s. He played a couple of acoustic songs then started cussing the audience, saying this wasn't his kind of crowd then he left. There were a couple of chicks talking to each other loudly in the front row so maybe that's what set him off. Other than that, no idea.

Next Monday a buddy told me that after that Bocephus went to a hotel down the road and played in the lounge until after midnight for free. Wow

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This is a cut n paste of a concert experience I wrote in August 2011, on another board:

So, my wife is a big fan of The Kings of Leon.  We had seen them twice before, and I thought they were “OK”, but nothing too special.  Honestly, I’ve always been annoyed  by their lead singer (and main songwriter) Caleb Followill, who I refer to as the Least Engaging Front Man in Rock Music.  His stage persona is that of a serious musician seeking an audience worthy of him, and never quite finding it.  My wife says that’s his schtick.  I think he’s just a jerk.  Also, in the two prior shows we saw, the gigs lasted 50 – 55 minutes, with only one encore of two songs each.  It’s like they’re union workers and not getting paid overtime.

The concert Friday was in the Starplex bandshell in Fair Park.  It was as hot as hell, still near 100 degrees as the band took the stage after 9:00.  I was not too excited about going, but even less excited about sending my one, true love, the mother of my child, into Fair Park late at night on her own.  Knowing I needed to be a responsible driver, I limited myself to just the one 24 oz. beer, leaving me with more clarity than I desired for the show.

Two songs into the show, the lead singer (TLEFMIRM) announces (when you read this, sprinkle in a bunch of f-bombs to get the real flavor) that his throat is shot, and he needs the audience to sing along.  That’s fine, I thought, the crowd was standing up and into it.  Two songs later, he complained that the audience wasn’t singing loudly enough.  “Asshole”, I thought.

30 minutes into the show, he changes up.  He starts talking about how great the audience is, how we’re the best audience ever.  I turned to my wife and said, “This doesn’t bode well” (yes, I do use words like “bode”).  Sure enough, one song later, Followill announces he’s going backstage to throw up and drink a beer, following which he will return to sing three more songs (presumably the band’s two biggest hits, “Use Somebody” and “Sex on Fire”, would be included, as they have not yet been sung that night).  He then left the stage, followed by his bandmates.

The crowd waited patiently.  After 20 minutes, half of the “Go Home” lights came on, and “Go Home” music came over the speakers.  The audience sat.  A few minutes later, two of the band members came out and apologized for the show ending, saying the lead singer couldn’t go on, alluding to the heat.  Some fans were upset, but most seemed fairly placid about it.  Walking to the car, my wife, knowing my feelings about them, said, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”  I smirked.

Oddly, this was not our first unexpectedly curtailed concert there.  20 years ago, while dating, we saw a Morrissey concert at the same venue (Morrissey was the lead singer for the band “The Smiths”, known mainly for their hit “How Soon is Now?”).  That show ended an hour in, when overenthusiastic fans stormed the stage, and swarmed Morrissey.  Nobody could really fault him for ending that one early.

The next day, word came out that the main reason for Followill leaving the stage was that he was too drunk to continue (the heat probably contributed).  Supporting an exhaustion fiction, the Houston show scheduled for Saturday was postponed.  Yesterday, word was released that there would be a makeup show in Dallas, and we could re-use our tickets.  My wife is excited, because she is convinced they will really try to a great show this time (I’m expecting them to do their greatest “Don’t give a crap” performance ever, myself).  I would just as soon stay home, but…love of my life, mother of my child, late night, etc.

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Another Bob Dylan checking in. Somewhere around 1999-2001ish?

Arrested Development opened for him (this was well past their "prime" of Mr. Wendle and whatever that other song or two was) and I didn't expect much out of them. 

They put on a show with an energy and intensity that I've never seen before or since - just a nonstop, ten-tenths jam, including that 900 year old dude just dancing and grooving the whole time. 

Dylan sucked and put me to sleep after a few songs. 

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Yeah I've seen Dylan twice, certainly not a banging show by any stretch but neither were godawful either. Kinda dull is what you get from him.

 

Mellencamp opened one of the shows and was fantastic.

 

ETA Willie also played the Mellencamp show.

Edited by G650
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21 hours ago, G650 said:

Mellencamp opened one of the shows and was fantastic.

I saw Mellencamp open for Heart at the Erwin Center in 1982.  It was as weird as you think it might be.  He jumped up on a bandmates shoulders and ripped his jeans from zipper to ass, briefly apologized, ran off stage and changed.

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On 12/27/2024 at 3:19 PM, Dennis Taylor said:

Smashing Pumpkins , some venue on Richmond Ave in Houston, right before they blew up. Someone in the crowd threw a shoe on stage about 15 minutes in and Corgan said if it happened again they were gone. What the hell do you think happened about 2 seconds after he said that? End of show

This made me think of when it happened to george bush

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Last "big name" concert I was at was a decade+ ago. Drive-By Truckers. They mighta sounded great themselves but by the time the sound bounced around to us, it was like pebbles and soggy kitty litter getting thrown at your face from a couple feet away. Didn't ruin it but knocked the experience down a bit.

Last few years, I've gone to lots of small venue Punk and Metal shows. 3 to 5 bands. Some really good, some not. Only act I ever walked out of was a guy whose schtick is to take a mallet and tap a large screwdriver up into his sinuses. Is it music? It goes "ting. ting. ting." He's actually a nice guy and he thinks I enjoy his act, which tells me maybe he's not just hitting sinus.

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Saw Steve Miller play at Starplex (Fair Park in Dallas) in the summer of ‘91 or ‘92, and instead of playing his greatest hits, he covered friends of his music who were recently inducted into the Texas Blues Hall of Fame. 

6-7 minute saxophone solos were not what I signed up for. 

People started leaving about a third of the way in and there was a steady flow from then. It was fucking awful. 

I have never heard of any performer pulling a stunt like that, ever! 

Far and away the worst trash that I have ever experienced at a show. 

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