Worst live act you've ever seen in person.

[Jeff Mason]

Fleetwood Mac on tour with Lindsey and Stevie without Christine.  No energy, no spark, too many good songs missing (without Christine, natch) and two drummers to help anchor the band.  I left before the encore.

[b.dfzo]

Fleetwood Mac on tour with Lindsey and Stevie without Christine.  No energy, no spark, too many good songs missing (without Christine, natch) and two drummers to help anchor the band.  I left before the encore.

This was their most recent tour, correct?  In support of "Say You Will"?

[Chance]

Now, I saw them in '87 or so, after Lindsey split but before the band fell apart. It was surprisingly good, they were trying to prove themselves. And the two new guitarists were really out to impress. I remember one of them taking a stupendous, extended solo. They weren't kidding around.

I can see the lack of Christine being fatal, I love her. She defines warmth and class.

[I. Spaceman]

So does the lady in your avatar.

[Jeff Mason]

Fleetwood Mac on tour with Lindsey and Stevie without Christine.  No energy, no spark, too many good songs missing (without Christine, natch) and two drummers to help anchor the band.  I left before the encore.

This was their most recent tour, correct?  In support of "Say You Will"?

I think so.  It certainly was within the last three years or so.  I didn't get the album so I wasn't paying attention to that (and the show certainly didn't influence me to get it).  Lindsey was trying very hard -- unsuccessfully -- to turn up the intensity, but ended up looking silly.  I was really let down -- especially since I passed up that same night a Mike and Bruce show in my town that was with the local symphony orchestra and the reviews for said show were phenomenal.

[trumpet sounds]

The Grateful Dead at 9:30 AM, outdoors on a hot muggy Sunday morning in August of '82. I think most of the band stayed up all night and didn't get any sleep. Jerry Garcia looked like death warmed over.



Probably the shortest live Dead set ever played:

Playin' in the Band, Shakedown Street, New Minglewood Blues, Samson and Delilah, China Cat, Sunflower, I Know You Rider, Sugaree, Women 'R Smarter, Truckin', Drumspace, Not Fade Away, Black Peter, Sugar Magnolia, U.S. Blues, Satisfaction

[Fire Wind]

Happy Mondays - their comeback in the late '90s.  A soulless run-through of tracks.  Dull, dull, dull.

[Boxer Monkey]

How can you guys possibly settle on just ONE band? Most every band/music-type person I've ever seen live proved to be a disappointment; exceptional bands/music-type people were the -- duh -- EXCEPTIONS.

[the captain]

How can you guys possibly settle on just ONE band? Most every band/music-type person I've ever seen live proved to be a disappointment; exceptional bands/music-type people were the -- duh -- EXCEPTIONS.

I'm sure we've all seen our share of trash. But the word worst means you have to settle...so we think about it for a while. And there it is.

[PapaNez22]

I threw away 15 bucks to see Modest Mouse sound like someone was taking a sh*t into a microphone. Words can't describe how awful they are live. Either they use auto-tune on their records, or that son of a bitch just can't sing live. BAD!!!

[cta]

Dave Matthews Band 1999 and 2000.  The first one I was very disappointed.  The songs were slowed down, the crowd was obnoxous - reminded me of all the "pretty people" I had to put up with in high school; too much pot in the air, etc.  Gave them a second chance...well, because I was dating some chick who loved them, and it was the same story...Abercrombie & Fitch crowd thinking they're being "alternative", bouncing beach balls, obnoxious crowd even worse than the gig before, songs slowed down big time, people screaming in unison for no real reason meaning nothing was being done on stage to indicate such a roar from the audience. 

People have said that DMB are the "New Grateful Dead".  I believe it.  Probably the people who were the obnoxious ones were offspring of Dead lovers years ago.  The music was pretty much the same as the Dead...pure milktoast and a crowd who just came to "par-tay".  As much as people love to call Carter Breauford (DMB drummer) as the "Next Neil Peart" is pure b.s.  I'm not a die hard Rush fan, but when I've seen Rush live twice they most certainly delivered tenfold and Peart's not some idiot slob playing half-assed with lungs full of bong resin. Peart gives it his all every time the band plays...considering the bad luck that man has had, it's good to know he continues to give it 1000% at age 55.

DMB reminded me of every local group I've been in for short periods.  Soon as they start smoking pot all the time, the music suffers and it turns into this "Man, you're killing our good vibes here" when the music's vibes have gone straight down the toilet thanks to the weed. 


Pearl Jam/Sonic Youth in 2000 at Riverbend in Cincinnati.  People were drugged out, some jock muscle guy was tripping out on LSD and punching people randomly (and I mean HARD) in the crowd, including me, thankfully a friend grabbed the guy and threw him to the ground.  Yes, I got violent and stomped him in the forehead.  By that time, security got the piece of s*** and hauled him off.   Sonic Youth did their usual screeching hypnotic effect sound orgies and Pearl Jam performed mediocre.  Vedder was talking to their crowd about how they were "down" because of a few weeks before a bunch of people got killed in their show, yet when the crowd got wild, Vedder seemed to encourage it. 

I don't know what it is with peformers who seem approving of people slamming each other around...I'd stop playing, tell the crowd to settle down or the show stops.  Yet some of these peformers seem fine with it and get all bent out of shape when a bouncer gives an obnoxious pusher-in-the-audience a taste of their own medicine and puts them in their place. 

At any rate...DMB and Pearl Jam were probably the worst performances.  DMB was mainly the band itself performing horribly yet people there thought they were great...and Pearl Jam the audience was the worst part. 

Obviously my old hometown, Cincinnati, hasn't learned it's lesson from the Who concert.   Cincinnati's one of the worst places to see bands.  The crowds are always a pain in the ass.  I strongly dislike Cincinnati in general...it's very fake overall.  I've never seen such obnoxious idiot audiences in Columbus, Cleveland, Indy, Chicago, Louisville or Nashville nearly as intolerable as the audiences in Cincinnati.  The Foo Fighters claimed they'd never play there again because the audience is just a pure, seemingly ungrateful, bunch of brats.  That's another show I've seen with a complete inconsiderate audience...for another time though...I've written enough as is, possibly too much.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Tough call. I've only gone to a select few concerts over the years, and thus it's usually a worthy show.

I went to see Pantera one time. They were fine, but they were opening for Skid Row! Yech! Not another drum solo!

Wait, I know. It was Dashboard Confessional. They opened for Beck and God they sucked. The teenybopper girls screamed but they were really dull. They didn't stand a chance, sandwiched between Beck and the Black Keys.

[Jason]

Wait, I know. It was Dashboard Confessional. They opened for Beck and God they sucked. The teenybopper girls screamed but they were really dull. They didn't stand a chance, sandwiched between Beck and the Black Keys.

Dashboard Confessional really really sucks. Is there going to be any emo worth my time? My money's on no.

[SurferGirl7]

Ok now I have the worst live act, worse then my other listing. Last night i had to go with my church to a new year's eve bash with a bunch of other churches. One of the "live" acts was a guy called Da T.R.U.T.H. The engineer must've been deaf because it was so LOUD. People were trying to find earplugs it was that bad. The guy was just eating his mircophone. His opening act was loud but still way better then that guy. 

[Lester Zombie]

Obviously none of you saw the debut performance of the band I was in back in high school. We played at a roller-skating rink and they threw rollerskates at us. Hurts!
And we really were that bad.

[I. Spaceman]

Obviously none of you saw the debut performance of the band I was in back in high school. We played at a roller-skating rink and they threw rollerskates at us. Hurts!
And we really were that bad.

Nominating yourself automatically makes your post the best on this thread.

[the captain]

Obviously none of you saw the debut performance of the band I was in back in high school. We played at a roller-skating rink and they threw rollerskates at us. Hurts!
And we really were that bad.

Nominating yourself automatically makes your post the best on this thread.

And having a story that involves roller skates being thrown at you didn't hurt, either.

[I. Spaceman]

And having a story that involves roller skates being thrown at you didn't hurt, either.

Well, who hasn't had that happen!

[MBE]

A group of 50 year olds singing early Beatles covers through their nose while someone kept beatin a cowbell. They were just a local band called ED.

[Aegir]

In that vein, I'm reminded of "Kerwyn Sings the Beatles", even though half the songs were just random covers of not-Beatles songs. It had an electric guitarist and a singer/keyboard player, both in their late teens/early 20s. Now, he could not sing at all. He wasn't even a bad singer, he just could not sing. I believe the only reason they were even on the bill is because the guitar player was also in other, better, projects.

[Don't Back Down]

Sloan, the second opening band when I saw JET. They were not together at all, and they went on for what seemed like hours. Plus they brought in different band members halfway through the set. It's like they kept bringing in local bands. Man was it awful. Finally they stopped. The Everyones on the other hand (first opening band for the night) were awesome. They had sort of a BBoys vibe to their sound. Even had a tannerin.

[Jonas]

Ugh, shouldve seen us two weeks ago. Absolutely horrible. power went out in the middle of a tune. Pedals' power supply crapped out, cable tip snapped, and worst of all it was 89 degrees on a humid evening. (we played outside)

plus we haven't practiced for weeks, so you can imagine the sloppiness. 0/5.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I've been to a ton of local shows and most of those bands aren't that great. It's more of a scene than a genuine want to make good music, so it doesn't bother me at all.

Worst famous band I've seen was the Vines who were supported by Seether and the Music. All of them were pretty much terrible. Should've been called "The U.S Poser Tour" and it would've been more fitting.

[Rerun]

Despite my love for tunes, I have only been to a handful of concerts.  Still, out of the ones I've seen, I'd say "Gene" was by far the worst.  The band was fine, but it was a) below another, louder rock venue and b) there were probably only 40-50 people there, standing around with no energy.  The combination of this did have it's affects on the band as well to an extent and I'm pretty sure they cut the show short.

Still, they were a great band and now they're gone...

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Hmm...tough call. I seen a weak Dylan show back when he was touring with Paul Simon....also, was forced to sit through Dashboard Confessional when they opened for Beck, and people, let me tell you, these guys blow and blow hard.