Anyone have 'the worst concert ever'?

[TheLazenby]

I'm curious.... is there anywhere online to watch the 1981 Queen Mary concert, which is supposedly the absolute worst show the group ever did?

I wanna see, I love trainwrecks! :-)

[Myk Luhv]

I would also be interested in seeing (or at least hearing?) this concert somehow!

[Winston Wrong]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ebo1vDxipU

There is footage on youtube from this event, alas no Beach Boys performances, only Three Dog Night...

Just found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaJJRTbxvOg

Listed as Long Beach 1981, is this from the same show??

[bgas]

Just found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaJJRTbxvOg

Listed as Long Beach 1981, is this from the same show??

I especially like where Al mentions that they "kinda wrote a song" and then they sing Chuck  Berry's ditty.
Makes me better understand how Al sees fit to claim authorship for melodies that he doesn't write...

[Rocker]

Just found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaJJRTbxvOg

Listed as Long Beach 1981, is this from the same show??

I especially like where Al mentions that they "kinda wrote a song" and then they sing Chuck  Berry's ditty.
Makes me better understand how Al sees fit to claim authorship for melodies that he doesn't write...

Not to forget the intro, which in itself is an old song too....

Gosh, that was terrible, but Dennis really f!cks those drums... awesome....

[urbanite]

I watched it when it happened.  Not sure why you'd want to put yourself through it.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ebo1vDxipU

There is footage on youtube from this event, alas no Beach Boys performances, only Three Dog Night...

Just found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaJJRTbxvOg

Listed as Long Beach 1981, is this from the same show??

Yeah...same show.

[MBE]

It's a bad show but interesting to see how far they fell in a decade. In 1971 both on stage and in the studio everyone involved was brilliant.

[Andrew G. Doe]

There was an interview with Carl conducted at this time, while he was on tour (Musician ? Guitar Player ?), which revealed that he saw the show live (?) on TV. When asked for his thoughts, his response was brief and to the point:"That was painful. Some rehearsals would help".

Carl was as ever being diplomatic. It wasn't just painful, it was shockingly bad. Worse, it was shockingly bad on national, prime-time, coast-to-coast TV.

[The Shift]

Was the School Days clip really that bad? I'm struggling to be horrified...

[Fall Breaks]

Was the School Days clip really that bad? I'm struggling to be horrified...

Yea me too. I've heard worse versions of the acapella intro for example.

[tpesky]

I think School Days was one of the "better" songs from that concert.

[adamghost]

Brian kind of gets a bum rap on that concert.  "Don't Worry Baby" is atrocious, but some of his other leads aren't awful..."God Only Knows" is actually quite good.  But boy, he looks awful.  Adrian Baker is a bigger offender...his vocals were just painful.  The soundguy for that gig should be shot...the vocals are horribly off balance and the bass guitar line feed is all jacked up.  If you ever want to know what Al Jardine's vocal part is on a Beach Boys song, watch the Long Beach gig.  His mic is up the whole way, regardless of whether he's singing lead or not.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

School Days isn't awful at all!

Man, Dennis was kicking everyone's ass at that show! It at least sounds like HE'D been rehearsing! He's beating the merda out of his drums and rolling all over the tom toms like he's Keith Moon!  

[Rob Dean]

Adam , very good point about the mix and YES true about the Bass Mix (as I said on another thread) which is a shame as Ernie Knapps performance at this Gig was bloody awful (should have turned the man out of the mix) - No suprise that the first thing Carl did when he returned was to instigate Mr Knapp getting the boot , oh and reference to Adrian Baker all i can say is 'at least he was consitant' (if you what i mean)  

[Rob Dean]

In fact I have the whole show on tape (remember those ??) and most of the show on VHS (remember those as well ?) , If memory serves me correct there were a few additions to the standard set-list (ie Long Tall Texan/Surfin'/Sail On Sailor (the show highlight sang by Bobby) and Back In The USSR , but as already noted by many it is possibly their worse gig (and the worse by any top drawer band) and again if memory serves me correct there was sound problems to the extent that a security guards walkie talkie cames over the  P.A. (possibly it was on the same frquency of Mikes radio mic) and Bruce does his best to berate the said offender.   

[donald]

I saw them in that era at least a couple of times and one show was especially bad during the Carl solo period.

But that made lold boots sound better in comparison and subsequent shows after Carl's return sounded generally much better for many years.  Some of those shows were low water points.  Maybe they could release those shows and call the album......" The Beach Boys At Low Tide.........On the Rocks"

[HeyJude]

I’m guessing, without having heard or seen every gig they ever did, that the 1981 Queen Mary show is not their worst gig ever. It might be the worst gig ever captured on video and broadcast on TV, but I’m sure other gigs came off even worse, especially during this 1981-82 time frame. I’ve heard the gig they did the previous day on July 4th ’81 in Washington DC, and it’s just as bad more or less. I’ve heard other shows from this era, and they are all relatively consistent in that Adrian Baker’s falsetto is totally off, Knapp’s bass playing is both sub-par and usually mixed/processed poorly (with that awful boing-boing sound), and Brian is biting off way more than he can chew trying to take leads on stuff like “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Good Vibrations.”

Shows I’ve heard from the period after Carl returned in mid-1982 sound markedly better. The Knebworth and DC shows from 1980 are some of the last solid-sounding group performances with all members present.

[TheLazenby]

Why isn't the concert put out on "Aloha From Hawaii (And Hollywood)" considered the worst?

Seriously, was calling the proposed live album "Lei'd In Hawaii", a really obvious bad joke, supposed to cover up the fact that it's the laziest, most drugged up load of merda EVER?

[Andrew G. Doe]

I’m guessing, without having heard or seen every gig they ever did, that the 1981 Queen Mary show is not their worst gig ever. It might be the worst gig ever captured on video and broadcast on TV, but I’m sure other gigs came off even worse, especially during this 1981-82 time frame. I’ve heard the gig they did the previous day on July 4th ’81 in Washington DC, and it’s just as bad more or less. I’ve heard other shows from this era, and they are all relatively consistent in that Adrian Baker’s falsetto is totally off, Knapp’s bass playing is both sub-par and usually mixed/processed poorly (with that awful boing-boing sound), and Brian is biting off way more than he can chew trying to take leads on stuff like “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Good Vibrations.”

Shows I’ve heard from the period after Carl returned in mid-1982 sound markedly better. The Knebworth and DC shows from 1980 are some of the last solid-sounding group performances with all members present.

I think you have to go back to the day of the show, and the week or so after, and remember the reaction of the fan world: it's 30 years ago now, but as I recall, no-one went "eh, wasn't too bad, seen worse". As one, we went "jesus, that sucked". Even a US friend of mine called me up the next day and said "I taped it for you, but are you sure you want it - they were really, really bad".

[Jay]

Regarding the Carl-less shows from 1981 and 1982, was there any kind of media "backlash" like there was during the Australian tour from 1978? Were there any contemporary news articles or news broadcasts about just how terrible the shows were?

[Pretty Funky]

I see there is a pay per view review listed under the LA times for those with that service.


Found this mention somewhere else though ( a site selling footwear )This show was the day after the July 4th gig and a flight back West. Who could be at their best?


Comments
This concert was part of a live simulcast on national television and radio entitled The Spirit of America Spectacular. It originated from the site where the Queen Mary is permanantly docked in Long Beach, CA. and was hosted by DJ's Wolfman Jack and Charlie Tuna. The show included performances by other bands, Rick Springfield, Three Dog Night, and Pablo Cruise. The Beach Boys had performed in Washington, D.C. the day before and then flew back to California for this performance. This was during the period when Carl was not performing with the band and was touring solo. During the show, Charlie Tuna read a telegram from Vice-President George Bush complimenting the band on their 20 years of making beautiful music.

[Jay]

I bought a dvd-r of this show for $25 bucks. The review made it seem like a great show, with Brian in "great form". Um....no.