Worst gig you've ever been to?

[PixelDream]

Anathema last year in Tilburg. Awkward presentation and everything just fell flat. Ironically they're also responsible for one of my best gigs ever. The magic just wasn't there that night,  and with their kind of emotional bombast it's just painful when the performance is bad.

[Dr. DTVT]

Some threads bead to die, but this isn't note of them.  I applaud you for using the search function newbie.

Worst live band I ever saw was O Brother.  They chugged with tons of feedback with their backs to the crowd for several minutes.  Thankfully they were just an opening act.

[JayOctavarium]

If you wanna get in to not so huge bands... the absolute worst I've seen has been The Feisty Piranhas. I saw them open for The Misfits in 07 and 09. They fucking suck hard hairy donkey dick. The entire pit sat down during their sets bother times. They were the band on right before the headliner too so that sucked all the energy out of it. Both times they had a bunch of awesome local punk and thrash bands open for them... and then TFP. I mean.. They would fit opening for like Blink 182 or something... but not The Misfits.


The lead singer died last year. Brain aneurysm. So sad.

[James Mypetgiress]

I applaud you for using the search function newbie.

I didn't even search for "worst gig" i searched for "hollywood undead" to see if there was a thread on them specifically, but, thanks anyway!

[Jaq]

The worst set I've ever seen was the local act that opened for Joe Satriani when I saw him on the Surfing With The Alien tour.

They were a glam band that had a gimmick of having a saxophone player and they were just dreadful. It was bad enough that they really weren't a fit for Joe Satriani-and you can't really blame the promoter there, in 1988 where the hell were you going to find a local instrumental act?-but they were just derivative and awful and the crowd turned on them pretty fast. The only highlight was the singer, after about thirty minutes, yelling "YOU GUYS THINK WE SUCK?" *about 800 people roar* "HERE'S ANOTHER SONG!" Had to admire the bastard, even if his band was awful.

[lonestar]

One new years back in the late 80s. I saw Night Ranger with the Eric Martin Band and Eddie Money opening. Eric Martin got us started off just right, Eddie Money fucking killed it, one of the best stage performances I've ever seen. The audience had nothing left for Night Ranger, and they had nothing to give. The band was deader than a cheep hooker going through the motions, and the audience was obnoxious at the best moments, we left early.

[SystematicThought]

I saw Hank Williams Jr when Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for him back in 2007 and he was drunk off his ass and was barely making it through songs. He sat down the whole time... it was bad. We left a few songs in

[sneakyblueberry]

Holy sheeeit son I don't even remember making this thread.

Worst gigs, hmmmm.

I saw a DRONE band called Black Boned Angel or something one time.  They were two guys, playing ONE CHORD on their baritone (or detuned) guitars through huge bass amps.  Then one of the guys starts crudely playing a little drum set at the same time, hitting the snare and cymbal with one stick, to coincide with their crashing chord...

Needless to say I had to leave.  I returned about 30min later...

Guys are still playing the same chord, with the drum hit, and A GODDAMN SAXOPHONIST BEHIND THEM.  It was the stupidest shit I've ever seen. 

[Xenon]

DT 2010.
Horrible Sound. Prety lame setlist. Short as hell.

[bl5150]

Mike Tramp (ex-White Lion).   He tried but boy..............it seems he'd hired a local band to back him at the last minute who were not rehearsed and the outcome was literally laughable.  That was the only consolation - it was that bad it was funny .

[Phoenix87x]

Radiohead- King of limbs tour

Just wanted to see them at least once and this was not to the tour to do it on. The show felt very phoned in and the set list wasn't doing it for me.

[black_biff_stadler]

Either Tool in 2007 or Katatonia opening for Opeth in 2013. Maynard did the majority of the show with his back to te crowd, they spent probably 15-20 minutes on bullshit ambient lighting set to smoke machines and boring synth interludes which had nothing to do with their actual music, didn't play a note of Undertow, and the sound was shit. Katatonia's music was very boring, they had little stage presence, the singer was the worst showman I've ever seen even including all the random youtube viewing I've done in my life, and he performed with his hair covering almost all of his face and wearing sunglasses and a long-sleeved shirt he'd grossly sweated through in the late spring south heat. What fat person wears long sleeves in North Carolina in May?

[Dark Castle]

Oh shit, they're the ones, Katatonia. On their co-headline tour with Devin Townsend on the Epicloud run, I was on the verge of tears because I was sure Devin Townsend's set was going to get cut short due to Katatonia going over their time by some stretch. Luckily it wasn't the case, but my friend and I walked around Downtown St.Paul for 3/4 of their set after thinking "This is the most boring shit ever". Like you said Bloyd, the band had like zero stage presence, and their singer had his face covered and stood still the entire fucking time I saw them at least.

[SystematicThought]

What fat person wears long sleeves in North Carolina in May?

A Swede

[black_biff_stadler]

Yeah cuz, I kno dey Svedish but if you're sweating through most of your shirt you surely must be uncomfortable enough to warrant considering short sleeves.

Bloyd

 

[SystematicThought]

Yeah cuz, I kno dey Svedish but if you're sweating through most of your shirt you surely must be uncomfortable enough to warrant considering short sleeves.

The vibe I got from him when I saw them open for Opeth in 2011 was that he doesn't seem notice he's performing in front of an audience, he probably doesn't even notice he's dying in his long sleeves.

[jammindude]

Worst gig I ever saw was not the band's fault.

Motorhead

Ever listen to a band playing through a soundboard that has fried itself?   Yep...that's what happened.   But, being the professional he is, Lemmy did the show anyway.  No one knew what to do except keep going.   Sounded like they were playing in the bottom of a cesspool.  Big disappointment.   I left 6 songs into the set.  It was just unlistenable.   But I applaud Motorhead for proving the old saying "the show must go on"...even under the most frustrating of circumstances.

[Sad Wings]

Tool, actually.  :|
Maybe it was just a shit seat.

Yeah, seeing them on the 10,000 Days tour was like watching a film set to the studio tracks.  It seems they've been content to phone it in with lame greatest-hits set lists ever since 2006.  A Perfect Circle in 2011 were also disappointing since they decided to dedicate the majority of the set to covers.

Dream Theater's first New York show in 2008 was very disappointing.  Terrible setlist, wayyy too much wanking, and a lame drum solo.  The second night was good, but the first night was the reason why I didn't see them again until the current tour.

The opening acts for The Gathering in NY in 2007 were putrid, and TG's sound was horrible with the vocals almost inaudible.  At the time nobody knew it would be Anneke's last headline set with them which made it all the more frustrating.  Some people flew across the country to see that.

[bout to crash]

I've never seen this thread! Interesting Zappa tale, Orbert.

Man, I wish the EMO FIGHT thread still existed...

[JayOctavarium]

I've got another one. It wasn't a -bad- show. It was actually fan fucking tasitic... but...

Black Label Society's "UnBlackened" show in Los Angeles last year. The show they filmed for the DVD. (For those who don't know it featured Black Label's less heavy / acoustic numbers, plus a bunch of Zakk Wylde's solo material and what not. There was also rumors of covers?)

It was epic but some aspects were a complete letdown. It was originally supposed to be at the historic Mayan Theater. It was moved to the Club Nokia (still a nice venue.) It was billed as having a string quartet and special guests (Ozzy? It was very possible.) Nope. The "special guests" were the singer from Cycle of Pain (BLS's bassist's side band), and Derek Sherinian on keys (who I met... randomly came up to my buddy and I and poked fun at us wearing DT shirts.)


Also... Zakk was slurring like a motherfucker. He has become less... epic since he stopped drinking. Or he spent way too much time around Ozzy.


Still had a blast.

[73109]

Either Tool in 2007 or Katatonia opening for Opeth in 2013. Maynard did the majority of the show with his back to te crowd, they spent probably 15-20 minutes on bullshit ambient lighting set to smoke machines and boring synth interludes which had nothing to do with their actual music, didn't play a note of Undertow, and the sound was shit. Katatonia's music was very boring, they had little stage presence, the singer was the worst showman I've ever seen even including all the random youtube viewing I've done in my life, and he performed with his hair covering almost all of his face and wearing sunglasses and a long-sleeved shirt he'd grossly sweated through in the late spring south heat. What fat person wears long sleeves in North Carolina in May?

Oh shit, they're the ones, Katatonia. On their co-headline tour with Devin Townsend on the Epicloud run, I was on the verge of tears because I was sure Devin Townsend's set was going to get cut short due to Katatonia going over their time by some stretch. Luckily it wasn't the case, but my friend and I walked around Downtown St.Paul for 3/4 of their set after thinking "This is the most boring shit ever". Like you said Bloyd, the band had like zero stage presence, and their singer had his face covered and stood still the entire fucking time I saw them at least.

Y'all are nuts. Katatonia was great before Devy and were the biggest surprise of the night for me. I dug the music on record and live, I'd worried it would plod and be boring but it never was. It was a weird energy but awesome and the crowd was into it and I was surrounded by Katatonia fans and it was awesome.

As for Katatonia before Opeth, that gig was much less awesome. I blame it on the Opeth fans who didn't give a shit and thus didn't get into and stood there like statues. Funnily enough, they did that for Opeth too. Sub par gig.

[Dark Castle]

I will barely ever get up in arms about a band but I'm about to.

Katatonia came on, and they all just stood still for a fucking hour. Their vocalist did little to no crowd banter, and hid behind his shitty spit end, sweaty, nasty hair, and poured a puddle of sweat into a what looked like either a long shirt or a sweatshirt, from standing still and barely singing. Every single fucking song would start off like they were going down this almost cool melodic death metal route before those shitastic, most monotone, most lifeless vocals came in and made it seem like what I could only assume is grandfather alt rock. None of them had any stage presence and many people were chanting for them to get off the stage for Devin Townsend. We left for part of their set, and dedicated the time to walking through a lovely downtown park in St. paul, and when we'd gotten back the atmosphere had never changed, people just didn't give a fuck about this boring band that looked like a limp, viagra-less, 65 year old dick up on stage. And before you say maybe I just didn't give the music a chance, my friend and I listened to them on the way up, and we had to turn it off, it was so dreadfully boring, we opted to just put on all of the Project albums at the time on instead. They also went over their allotted time and I was freaking out that it would cut into Devy's time, which it luckily didn't, but fuck them, nobody cared for them and they just wouldn't stop playing.

30 minutes later and the entire crowd was hugging each other head banging to Grace and it was magical.

[bout to crash]

I agree. I'm not really familiar with their music but when my friends and I saw them open for Opeth a few years ago we were BORED. Like you said, no stage presence or anything and the music was meh.

[73109]

My experience was, as I said, incredibly different. I was around 3 other people who dug the music and it was awesome. The set was fantastic and I was never bored. It really made the show for me. Devy is Devy and I liked Paradise Lost's set, so I knew that would be good. I was a bit skeptical about how Katatonia would translate into a live show and I thought they killed.

For me, a large problem with my going to shows is that a lot of my enjoyment comes about because of other people. If other people aren't into it, the show dies and I'm not into it. I've talked to some people who get just focus on the band like it is a concert specifically for them, but I can't do that. I think digging the music and being around other people who did made a huge difference. As I said, when they opened for Opeth, it was much worse--almost certainly because people didn't give a shit about their music.

[PuffyPat]

I saw Queens of the Stone Age last year, and I enjoyed the show, BUT it was WAY too loud. During Better Living Through Chemistry, they did this really cool jam thing, but you could barely differentiate the parts because it was too much for the PA to handle. Folks need to turn down their amps a bit.

Oh, and they didn't play I Appear Missing, so that was a let down. Other than that, though, pretty good show. Jon Theodore KILLED.

[black_biff_stadler]

Dylan Castle's diatribe perfectly summed up my Katatonia sentiment and in a more whimsically detailed manner than I would've been able to do so.

[James Mypetgiress]

What fat person wears long sleeves in North Carolina in May?

A Swede

I didn't read all of the original post and thought that was just a joke I didn't get...

[Elite]

Anathema last year in Tilburg. Awkward presentation and everything just fell flat. Ironically they're also responsible for one of my best gigs ever. The magic just wasn't there that night,  and with their kind of emotional bombast it's just painful when the performance is bad.

Yeah, that wasn't too good. I was there too, but definitely not the worst gig I've seen. That honour goes to both Fear Factory and Katatonia. Fear Factory was just terrible with the singer out of tune all the time. Luckily, I only had to see them, because Meshuggah in the other room of the festival was too boring to sit through and to wait for Opeth. As for Katatonia, I can only agree with all the other sentiments above.

[rumborak]

Probably one of my own gigs. I have stood on stage with half drunk musicians who could barely play anymore, and 5 people in the audience.

[PixelDream]

Anathema last year in Tilburg. Awkward presentation and everything just fell flat. Ironically they're also responsible for one of my best gigs ever. The magic just wasn't there that night,  and with their kind of emotional bombast it's just painful when the performance is bad.

Yeah, that wasn't too good. I was there too, but definitely not the worst gig I've seen.

You're right, far from it but I count it as one of my biggest disappointments since I only tend to visit shows from bands that I like. Also, my girlfriend came along and I wanted to convince her that they're a good band.. but even I had to admit that the show just wasn't good.

Also, Oceansize opening up for Porcupine Tree in Germany on their last tour wasn't good at all. Partly due to bad sound. Porcupine Tree had excellent sound though, as usual.

[The Curious Orange]

Opening Bands - well, if they're rubbish I tend to go to the bar or have forgotten about them.

Headliners - Faith No More. They were awful, and there was very nearly a riot.

[GentlemanofDread]

Tim Hecker. From my friend's review of it:

"Later on, Bear In Heaven seem pleasant enough on the main stage, but for some reason we decide it would be a better idea to go check out ambient noise artist Tim Hecker. The set is one, long flowing piece that transforms itself at a frankly glacial pace – it’s basically like listening to one of those ‘slowed down 800%’ videos on Youtube. Occasionally, something resembling a melody might drift into view, only to be quickly be obscured by a swell of bass. Oh God, the bass – it’s quite literally the most visceral thing we’ll hear (and feel) all weekend, with the low end frequencies reaching ribcage-shaking levels. It’s so visceral, in fact, that to leave would almost seem like pussying out, and so we stay until the end to claim our unwanted badge of honour – if it were a physical thing, it would probably read something like “I survived the Heckerpocalypse.” After about 40 minutes of bewildering noise, I’m not sure if I’ve had some sort of transcendental experience, or if I’ve simply been wasting my time – though I have a sneaking suspicion it’s probably the latter."

[sneakyblueberry]

Headliners - Faith No More. They were awful, and there was very nearly a riot.

when was that?

[The Curious Orange]

Birmingham NEC on the Angel Dust tour. The arena was just too large for the small stage/sound set up the band had, openers L7 had rocked the house down, and FNM were just lost in this huge aircraft hanger of an arena. The crowd started to rip the covers off the seats and throw them around, the security tried to stop them, and it all got a bit mental.

[Chino]

DT at the Palladium. DT was fine, but it had to be 100 degrees on the balcony. It was almost impossible to enjoy the show being drenched in sweat just sitting there. I debated leaving.