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Worst Concerts You Have Attended ??

I just left a remark about a favorite band of mine back in the day - April Wine - that I saw in concert and was disappointed. Could have been that it was an off night for them, or maybe they were never good in concert. Maybe the lead guitarist had too much to drink? April Wine was not the worst, however. I remember Neil Young in the 1990's who was on his one-man acoustic show type of tour that many artists were taking advantage of (perhaps for financial reasons) during that time. While a friend of I had near front row seats at Desert Sky Pavilion (now Ak-Chin) in Pheonix, the crowd was just roused up into a frenzy by the warm-up band (James) and here comes Neil and his guitar/harmonica. Wow, what a sonic letdown. I remember getting up and leaving and feeling Neil's glaring eyes on us as we ushered out. I think, to this day, he probably still remembers me. We all can remember the great live concerts we attended, but what were the worst and why?
goodlistening64

Showing 2 responses by mitchagain

mitchagain
471 posts
 
The only two bands that I remember walking out on were The Dream Syndicate and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers (both were opening acts that were too loud and talentless). I have a vague memory of walking out on another opening act (Hydra) from my teenage years, but that's going back to far in the memory bank.

The three worst "going through the motions" shows were: Van Morrison, Morrissey and New Order. All three only lasted around 45 minutes; so, they also felt like a double ripoff.
mitchagain
471 posts
 
2007 SXSW Music Festival. The venue was the 18th Floor at the Hilton Garden Inn (one of the 3 best SXSW venues). Andy Pratt was first, followed by Bic Runga, Jonette Napolitano and Graham Parker.

Andy Pratt was beyond awful. He was doing his best to make us leave; but, no one did because the next three acts were so good. About halfway thru his set, Andy dropped his guitar pick and he couldn't find it. All of us were thinking "thank God this trainwreck is about to be over," only to have an audience member yell out that he had a spare pick.......despite most of the audience yelling "NO!!!," that did not deter him and we had to endure another 20 minutes of Andy Pratt. Bottom line, the agony was worth it, since the remaining sets were transcendant. Jonette even explained the origin of the Concrete Blonde song "Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man" (turns out she had a ghostly encounter years earlier while staying at the Driscoll Hotel in downtown Austin).

I was also fortunate to catch Bob Dylan on his 1986 tour when Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were his backing band.
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