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The worst gigs
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 17:50
by Obviousman
Bumped into
this article
earlier today. Interesting reading, I thought!
Now, what's yours or where do you think it was the guys on stage's worst ever?
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 18:39
by Bartek
Quite recent- Damo Suzuki's Network with Wroclaw's musicians from Job Karma, Igor Boxx (ex Skalpel) and three others. Absolutely nonsense gig. Mr Suzuki repeated three lines in some gibberish-melted-brain language. Musicians tried to work together do generate some coherent noise for like 2 minutes buring 60 minutes, but even that was only on the level of rhythm. But i must admit that it started interesting. It was only gig that i left because band was so s**t.
Sisters in Krakow 2009 - to be fair it was sound not band itself.
One of local band- so alternative/hipsters/arty band that they didn't knew what they wanted to play- progressive-jazz-funk-collage-art-indie-rock. But maybe i was wrong 'cause i read after this gig that they won some local bands competition.
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 19:36
by mh
Probably the Soledad Brothers supporting Spiritualized. The headliners were going through a particularly grim and serious phase, and I'd never even heard of the support band. The sound was atrocious, they (the Soledads) came on and played an absolute stinker to a tiny audience that was split 50/50 between hostile and indifferent, and kinda aimlessly drifted off after half an hour or so of turgid sludge. Later on that night the lead singer - who seemed to be fully aware of the atrocity he'd just perpetrated - started shoving people over on his way to the bar. Not nice and never again.
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 19:44
by Obviousman
Nice ones so far
I think topping my list would be Grace Jones's son being her support (nothing more to say about it than that his mother gave one of the very favourite gigs of my life after that) and Oasis at Werchter. This was back before I went to gigs on a regular basis but I do remember it was boring as hell and consisted entirely going through the (annoying) motions. And then there's a whole lot of Eurocrap at some festival last winter in Brussels, luckily I don't remember any band's name
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 20:10
by James Blast
Glasgow Barrowlands, 2003 need I go on...
edit:
now I think of it, I have hundreds of gigs that disappointed or bored me
Robert Palmer, two and an half hours and counting is too long Bert, g'nicht am aff fer a beer
Loop - tuned up for 15-20mins and fucked off saying the monitors weren't working, like Aye! ye couldnae score any speed ya clints!!!
The Fall with Brix - just rubbish, couldn't tell who was more bored them or the audience
Motörhead - all twice of the times I've seen 'em, just fuckin' borin' mahn
Megadeth (bare chested men of rawk phase) - I was heartbroken, srsly I avoided them for years, until they put their shirts back on
Metallica - Snakepit tour, Hollywood feckin' showbiz bollocks
Ministry - Animositisomina tour, a band going through the motions, a crowd going through the motions, a Blast at the bar with his back to the band, guess I was going through the motions too
there will be more
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 20:51
by Garbageman
Spear of Destiny one night at Rock City were abysmal.
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 21:27
by James Blast
Speir of Brocolli
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 22:09
by Obviousman
Oh, I just remembered: Deep Purple last week's definitely up there too. Ugh.
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 23:26
by Izzy HaveMercy
Karjalan Sissit in Antwerp 2 years ago...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O79Jx-rgCm0
IZ.
Posted: 05 Aug 2011, 23:46
by Nikolas Vitus Lagartija
Iggy Pop on the Party tour in 81 was a depressing experience. Sad to see an idol sunk so low.
His Instinct tour of 88 when he was clean again and promoting a great album is probably one of the greatest gigs I have ever witnessed though.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 01:46
by Dan
A band called The Dust Devils supporting Ghostdance at Leeds Poly in 1987. It wasn't their fault, but you couldn't hear the vocals at all and a few of us (me included) shouted stuff at them between songs which didn't help. With hindsight I should have gone over to the sound desk and woken the guy up and asked him to turn the vocals up.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 06:40
by Silence is platinum
The gun club in '88. Though the band were realy trying especially Kid Congo and Sanderson the drummer, Pierce was so bored he realy couldn't care less.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 10:56
by abridged
Christian Death in Sheffield circa 1987 (I think). Boring pretentious twaddle. Supported by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry who anytime I saw them were just dull. The m*****n, (Belfast and Manchester) were also quite boring. Most of the goth second division were drivel with the honourable exception of Gene loves Jezebel who were actually entertaining.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 10:59
by abridged
Dan wrote:A band called The Dust Devils supporting Ghostdance at Leeds Poly in 1987. It wasn't their fault, but you couldn't hear the vocals at all and a few of us (me included) shouted stuff at them between songs which didn't help. With hindsight I should have gone over to the sound desk and woken the guy up and asked him to turn the vocals up.
Think I was at the Huddersfield Gig the day before/after! Originally All About Eve were supposed to support them if I remember rightly.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 12:49
by Sita
When I saw Sol Invictus sometime in the early 90s, electricity went off right in the middle of "Against the modern world". Wakeford said something later like it was this terrible moment. But he just carried on "unplugged" like nothing had happened, so it actually made him look cool.
I thought it was hilarious especially with that song - like he cares so little about the modern world that he doesn't even need electricity
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 13:12
by markfiend
Pulp (yeah I know) at Sheffield Don Valley Arena in about 95 or 96, supported by Edwin Collins.
Tedium beyond belief.
I've seen some real sh!te at places like Joseph's Well, the Duchess, etc. in Leeds, but they don't really count.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 13:33
by lazarus corporation
Hmm worst gig? I think it was probably "Dawn After Dark" in Birmingham in about 1990.
Went to it based on a couple of their singles released in the late 80s, which were OK-ish (nothing special - typical alt/goth sound of the time).
Between the release of the singles and the gig there'd been a line-up change - and a complete change of sound - and they had turned into a metal/thrash band of some sorts. At least 50% of the audience left after about 3-4 songs, and I was amongst them.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 13:53
by czuczu
The Horrors, they've been supporting a few times at other gigs I've been to - each time people have been openly laughing at them.
Primal Scream have also been consistently rotten when I've ended up seeing them.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 13:53
by million voices
I have seen some awful bands eg:-
In the mid-70's I sat on the floor whilst Camel performed the whole of the Snow Goose - my mate was a fan
In the early 80's I went to see the excruciating WASP because the singer had played guitar for the Dolls for a couple of weeks after Johnny had left
But as far as I can remember I have only walked out on one band. I saw UB40 at some very small club, way before they were famous, and they were absolutely awful. In fact they played the same crap they played when they became famous - I left half way through.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 15:14
by radiojamaica
Obviousman wrote:Oh, I just remembered: Deep Purple last week's definitely up there too. Ugh.
We expected it to be bad, didn't we
They sure bored the hell out of me and our plan to relocate towards the bar was a most excellent one!
One of the worst gigs was Bauhaus in Lokeren 2006. Not that the music was bad, but Danny & the Murph were just ignoring each other completely and they ended the gig after 40 minutes or so because the were about to start fighting on stage...
Another bad one was Metallica in Hasselt 1997. Hetfield in full Alcohollica mood and just nasty and disrespectful to everyone else. I left after 15 minutes... good thing The Orb was on the 2nd stage!
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 16:26
by Dan
lazarus corporation wrote:Hmm worst gig? I think it was probably "Dawn After Dark" in Birmingham in about 1990.
Went to it based on a couple of their singles released in the late 80s, which were OK-ish (nothing special - typical alt/goth sound of the time).
Between the release of the singles and the gig there'd been a line-up change - and a complete change of sound - and they had turned into a metal/thrash band of some sorts. At least 50% of the audience left after about 3-4 songs, and I was amongst them.
1990 would be when they replaced the singer. I only recently found out they'd even done any gigs with another singer, the stuff I read said that their hardcore fans didn't like it very much. Even before Howard (their original singer) left the band were going more metal.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 16:33
by James Blast
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/au ... worst-gigsMurph wrote:Peter Murphy, Bauhaus
Hammersmith Palais, May 1983
It was the last show Bauhaus played. The performance was quite intense and overwrought. We were at the height of our career and just about to break, and there was a decision to split, so I wasn't expecting the gig to be triumphant. I felt like I was jumping off the edge of a cliff into the sea. There was an audible gasp when the audience saw us come out – we knew how fervent they were. But between the band there was a lot of juvenile but dark, repressed, negative energy – sort of: "We are the creme de la creme and we can do what we like, we can split up or we can record a fart as a track on an album." I personally had to get out of that. But it was the end of something I had worked very hard to achieve, so it was very bitter. It was never going to be violent – it was gentlemanly, all stiff upper lip and respectful. One of the band members, though, chose to close the show with the words "RIP", and that was not cool: it was as though we were some death-orientated, Munster-rock band, and it cemented the perception of us as this graveyard rock thing, later to be identified as goth. I always thought of Bauhaus as the Velvets gone holy, or the Sweet with better haircuts.
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 16:54
by radiojamaica
a slight case of history repeating then...
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 18:17
by black smurf
status quo at lytham st annes last night. the mrs went and i didn't but i still know it will have been REALLY bad!!!
Posted: 06 Aug 2011, 20:13
by Obviousman
radiojamaica wrote:They sure bored the hell out of me and our plan to relocate towards the bar was a most excellent one!
No doubt
radiojamaica wrote:a slight case of history repeating then...
Aye! I thought the tension on stage to be pretty interesting though, it certainly doesn't rank as horrible, more as memorable for me...