Conference mr1pst::music

    An Aussy group called"Tatoo Rose"at the Centrum.
    They blew so bad they were getting pelted by everything from full
    cups to pieces of seats.The singer said"Hey,whats the matter with you
    people?!!We came all the way from down_under to rock you,and look at
    the way yer treatin us!!!
    
    Well,that did it..They had to run off the stage for their life.
    The singer managed to yell out"You all suck"before gettin wacked by 
    a thrown boot.         
    
    Bad performance but the small riot made it worth while.
    
           Crazy_by_the_way_AC/DC_opened_AL
        

    
    You're thinking of Rose Tattoo.  Saw that horror show with Aerosmith
    and Pat Travers at the Centrum back on the first Rock In a Hard Place
    tour.
    
    

    Rob,yer right.It was Rose Tattoo,but not the night that Tyler K.O'ed.
    I tink they played two nites in succession..
    
                 <<<crazy_Al>>>>>>>

     The James Mongomery Band at Lowell Memorial auditorium. There was a
     woman in the band that would periodicly go up to the mike and just
     scream. Honerable mention goes to The Joe Perry Project. The first
    time I saw them ( @ the Orphium in Boston ) they were great, with
     Charlie Farren, supporting the "I got the Rock n; Rolls again" Album.
     The last time I saw them was with his last band, Last solo album.
     The Lowell Auditorium had about 200 people tops and the band came
     on 2 hours late, played sloppy and mind numbingly loud. Joe
     looked like he was lucky to not fall off the stage.

    
    	Yea, Joe Perry with Charlie Farren (or was was he with Charlie at
    	the Paradise show? - anyhow) were great seeing them in the Rat. 
    	Around this time period mostly garden shows were where Aerosmith 
    	could be seen which aren't quite as intimate.  I have a lot of
    	respect for Joe and company for their doing small club setting shows 
    	some years later...Metro, Mr. C's Rock Palace, etc.
    
    	{sorry to bounce around the topic}
    
    	- Jim

    
    Robbie Robertson on Saturday Night Live.

    Deep Purple in concert ( Blackmore in the ozone )
     Jimmy Page in the later years ( ARMS concert in particular )

    
    	FWIW, the ARMS shows were some of his first live outings in some 
    	years and it was quite obvious that he wasn't picking up a guitar 
    	too often during this period - not too long after the passing of
    	his friend John Bonham.
    
    	- Jim

    Judy Collins on SNL a few years back.  At least Robbie Robertson doesn't 
    bill himself as a singer....

    Dylan at the Boston Garden in the late 70's. He was going through
    some sort of religious kick and rearranged his material so that
    it was almost not recognizable. Not only that but he seemed to be
    falling asleep, add to that the poor quality of the venue and it
    added up to a prenty bad time. People were leaving very early.
    
    That was the third time I had seen him. Once with The Band, a dynomite
    show and once with his own band, an ok show
    
    Jim C.
    

    
    Steppenwolf at the Fillmore East, around March of 1970. They were top
    act, but Brian Auger w/Julie Driscoll and the Trinity had just 
    preceded them on the bill, brought down the house, and were called back 
    for an encore. Steppenwolf were loud, out of tune, a bit arrogant (the
    bass player came on stage in a jockstrap and bunny ears--and eventually
    took off the ears), and pretty stoned. After a bit, some in the crowd
    were calling for Auger's band to return to the stage. Quite a few left,
    which was a bit unusual for a Fillmore audience. 
    
    

    Re: .11, Ginger Baker
    
    I was at that Ginger show...while standing in line in the snow waiting
    for the doors to open passerbys asked who was playing.  When told
    "Ginger Baker" most said, "Oh, he's still alive?".
    
    I thought the show was pretty good although his *Italian* band was
    kinda weird.  "Guido" on the bass was actually *very* good but didn't
    speak a lick of English, and the guitarist/singer wasn't too hot at
    English either..."I'm-a-with-you-my-a-love-a".  Stage presence was
    zero.
    
    But Ginger himself played quite well IMHO.  I wish he could tour with
    the studio band of his last two releases....
    
    As for worst performance ever, that's easy: my first band, "The Fenton
    River String Band" at the Golden Eagle Pub in Tolland, CT.
    
    						Brian

    Anderson,Wakeman,Bruford and Howe in Manchester. Totally uninspired
     playing. I really like the band Yes ( old and new ) but this show
     stank.

One of the best:  Clash at Bond's in NYC on the verge of success

The worst:  Clash in Providence, post-success, pre-implosion

    While not exactly on the subject of the note, one thing sticks in my
    mind in terms of "negative" live performance:

    Back in the 70s, the Pousette Dart band ("Amnesia") backed up just
    about every act that came through the area. It became a joke. Pousette
    Dart weren't bad, but after I saw them a hundred times and it didn't
    get any better, I started to go to concerts late to avoid this
    seemingly obligitory opening act.
    
    Brian

    Dylan at the Grammy awards (?) a year or two ago.  An unrecognizable
    and unexplainable version of "Masters of War..."
    
    Peter Tork (the Monkees Guy) and his band at UNH @1983.  I don;t recall
    why I went in the first place, but hoo boy did he stink up the joint.
    Leonard Pinth Garnell (remember him on SNL) might call it "a dreadfully
    bad display of music...wonderfully pathetic" :')
    
    dan\
    

    
    steven stills, capitol theater, passaic nj, 1973.  barffffff!
    
    greatful dead, music hall boston, 1971.  Major barfff!
    
    bob
    

    I won't even have to look at the previous replies.  Hands down, David
    Crosby at Live Aid.
    
    Mark.
     

Golden Earring, who warmed up for Aerosmith at the Boston Garden ... sometime
in the late '70s.

Just exceedingly bad playing, annoying light show (blinding beams of light 
focused towards the audience 80%) of the time ... and some really silly stage
antics that I think we're supposed to show they were The Bad Boys of Rock 'N'
Roll, but made them look pretty goofy.  They dragged "Radar Love" out for ...
it must've been 20 minutes, seriously, and at the end the lead guitar player
(?) ran across the stage and kind of jumped at the other guitar player, who
staggered back then raised a hackneyed Nigel Tufnel-style raised-fist salute.

I think that's what finally pushed me into the punk scene ....

- Dave

    Someone beat me to saying Dylan at the Grammy's.  Hoo boy!
    
    K.C.

    The Who in 197? -- when Keith Moon (rest his soul) passed out over
    his drum set.  What a zoo it was getting outta the place.
    
    BUT, we got to see them twice in 1 month (of course it helped that
    I was in the 24th row at the BG).
    
    Also, this never turned out to be a concert cuz they cancelled due
    to vandalism.  Waiting for Led Zep tickets, they let us into the
    BG to get out of the cold and the place was leterally trashed.  Toilet
    paper all over the ice.  They also broke into the beer area -- well,
    you can imagine.  I was really pi**ed cuz I actually had tickets, after
    waiting all night.  Very disappointing.
    
    Ahhhhhh, those were the days.
    
    

    I wuz at the Garden for that Who concert...didn't someone torch a bunch
    of seats?
    
    I also had tickets to that Zep concert.  We waited in line outside of
    Ticketron at Searstown in Leominster for 12 hours in a hellacious
    snowstorm.
    
    Mark.

    Van Halen at the Norfolk Scope in Va. in '88(?).  Way too loud for the
    acoustics(or lack thereof) of the Scope; basically 2 hours of white
    noise.  Eddie's keyboard crapped out at the beginning of "Jump", to
    which Sammy Hagar replied, "well, what the f*uck, we don't know what's
    wrong with the piece of sh*t".  The bass solo was probably the most 
    god-awful playing of any instrument I've heard yet, especially when
    he was bashing it against the microphone stand.  The biggest
    disappointment though had to be EVH's solo-very uninspired and
    apathetic.  
    
    We left early...

    
    	Sorry to put this here but -1 reminded me about VH's show in '78
    	at the Orpheum, it still stands out inmy mind as a great show,
    	even though we were sitting in the last row!
    
    	- Jim

    No doubt about it...Fleetwood Mac, Worcester Centrum in September 1982.
    Lindsey, Christine, and Stevie's vocals ALL were bad at the start, but
    Ms. Nicks' performance throughout was HORRIBLE...I've seen many shows,
    and this stands out as the worst performance I ever saw by any
    individual. 

    RE .26
    
    I think I saw that Fleetwood Mac show too. I don't recall it being all
    that bad, as I can actually think of worse I've seen. However, Stevie's
    voice was suffering in general during that time period due to polyps on
    her larynx. I believe it was either just before or after that tour that
    she had surgery to correct the problem.
    
    Brian

    Worst concert I ever saw:
    
    Alice Cooper, Fitchburg Civic Center.
    
    I went with a Cooper fan to see the opening act, the Atlantics (I liked
    Cooper too, but was not a big fan). Cooper was OK, not terrible and not
    great. On the other hand, the crowd was several notches below Primates
    on PCP and it ruined the whole thing for me.
    
    In my opinion, the place and crowd have a lot to do with whether
    something is good or not. Another example is the first "big time" rock
    concert I ever attended, back when I was a sophmore in high school. The
    concert was at the Worcester Auditorium and the band was T Rex. Mark
    Bolan walked off the stage a couple of times because the acoustics were
    so bad and then the audience started getting on his case. All
    in all it sucked, even though I liked - and still like - T Rex. The
    opening act was this obscure Canadian Led Zeppelin sound-alike that
    were out on their first tour: Rush (at least they were Zep sound-alikes
    back then).
    
    Yet another example of a disastrous combination of act and venue was
    Frank Zappa at a skating rink in Danvers.
    
    Brian

    Geez, I can't believe no one mentioned the Cars. Usually
    they're on everyone's list of lousy shows. I still don't 
    know how I got roped into that one. Boston Gahden-Shake it
    Up tour.
    
    It wasn't that they played poorly, in fact it sounded just
    like the record (if that was the goal)...but they had no 
    charisma whatsoever. Total robots. It was billed as their 
    triumphant return to Boston. I remember wishing I had gone 
    to the movies instead.
    
    At the end of their incredibly short yet tedious set, Elliot 
    Easton tried to inject some excitement into things by smashing
    his guitar. He finished it with one whack, breaking off the neck.
    Should've used a Les Paul.
    
    Oh yeah, and on the way out, some ex Nazi storm troopers known
    as Don Law's security force decided to start shoving people 
    towards the exits (and into chairs). One guy was trying to get
    back to his chair because he forgot his coat, but they kept
    shoving us towards the exits. He got the last laugh by picking
    up a chair and throwing at the security guard, then disappearing 
    into the throng.
    
    -Tom

    
    The cars were always wicked boring in concert.

    
    	ditto, ditto..Yea, I remember cathing up on some sleep at a Cars
    	show at the former Music Hall (Wang Center).
    
    	- Jim

    The Cars debut LP and Candy-o are two of my favorite albums.  That
    said, the one time I saw them in Worcester still bored me to tears.
    There music isn't exactly droning and dull, so how could they be so
    stiff when playing?  
    
    

    Here's a double bill for ya: Willie "Boom Boom" Alexander opening
    for the Cars, circa Candy-O, down in Providence.  Now Wille may not
    be everyone's cup of tea, but he was wild, unpredictable, exciting...
    everything the Cars were... NOT!

    Yes, probably the worst rock show I've been to was the Cars (before
    their debut album, I believe) and Rick Derringer warming up for Bob
    Seger.  Unfortunately Seger was flying in that night and was snowed out
    so the concert was rescheduled, so I got to hear one lousy (Cars) and
    one mediocre (Derringer) act with some long breaks and no Seger.  Our
    moderator may count that as a lucky break, but some of us did like Seger
    concerts, and the rescheduled show was a good one.

    Joe Zawinul "closed" for Steve Morse (IMHO Steve Morse is too good to
    "open for" someone else, certainly in this case) at the Berkeley
    in Boston about 4-5 years ago.
    
    I had front row center seats (only time).  Morse came on and did an
    incredible one man show including solo classical guitar, playing to
    pre-recorded backing tracks, create sonic backgrounds with effects,
    etc...  An usual tour-de-force.
    
    Zawinul came on with an ARMY of MIDI'd keyboards and basically 
    musically masterbated for... well, I don't know how long he did
    that for cause I left after about a half hour (it would've been
    shorter if I hadn't had front-row center seats believe me).
    
    I mean, basically what he did was no more interesting than what I've
    seen half a dozen guys at music stores trying out keys do.
    
    GOONNNNGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    	db

    Led Zep on their first tour, opening act was Grand Funk Railroad.
    At the Cleveland Public Arena, 1970??? No charisma, whatsoever.
    The soon-to-be standard rock god posturing, and mike-twirling.
    
    Jefferson Airplane at a restored movie palace in Cleveland. They were
    so LOUD that my ears buzzed for the entire next day; suffered sort of
    a temporary partial deafness.
    
    Another great JA experience; the police tear-gassed approximately 3,000
    of the fans, including me, by releasing tear-gas at the top of the 
    Akron Rubber Bowl. Worst crowd control I've ever seen,. The police
    tried to shift the blame by arresting the Airplane for inciting a
    riot, when the band was trying to calm the crowd down. Ohio justice,
    at its very best.
    
    -roger
    

    >Jefferson Airplane at a restored movie palace in Cleveland. They were
    >so LOUD that my ears buzzed for the entire next day; suffered sort of
    >a temporary partial deafness.
    
Ludlow Garage??

    How about Bob Dylan last night on David Letterman's 10th anniversary
    special...IMHO that was BAD

    watching last nights performance on Letterman makes me ask one
    question:
    
    Whats the gag?
    
    dan
    

    
    gee, i thought it was real generous of Bob not to launch off into
    another key, tempo or whatever for the who song. Great Band! Dylan
    doing Dylan just as always

    Re: Dylan
    
    I personally thought Bob did a fantastic job of keeping his teeth
    clinched for the entirety of the song!

    I have to agree with the past 4 replies.
    
    Was Dylan's performance part of (comedy) routine?
    
    I should have taped it 'cos it would be funny to play 
    at a party.
    
    Maybe we should take this conversation to the "I don't get it" note.
    
    
    chUck

    Bobby looked a little under the weather, and not his usual cheery self.
    Have seen him twice before and last night was one of his best.
    
    
    sean
    .
    

    re: .38
    I thought it was funny actually. He seemed so "out of place" with this
    HUGE backup band filled with heavy hitters. His lyrics? What Lyrics? 
    Remember this kids, when you're singing a tune and you get a stupid
    attack that makes you forget the lyrics...   just say it's your 
    Bob Dylan impression!   ;^)
    
    		Fred (who almost felt sorry for Bobby D. last night)

	Boy, Dylan was worst.  I thought it was part of "Stupid Pet Tricks" for
a while.

	I really think his guitar wasn't even plugged in.  I was just waiting
for him to completely loose it and start eating the mic, or just plain old 
pass out.

	The band was great though, good thing too.


kevin

"Angel" at the Orpheum in Boston. (I had free front-row seats.) Not only
could they not play their FM hit, they couldn't play anything else either!
100% costumes and posturing. Zero talent.

"Jimmy Spheeris" at Boston Garden. This folk singer somehow got himself
on stage to open for the Moody Blues. He was so bad that by the second 
song, the crowd started to throw things at him. He got angry, lost his
composure, and started insulting the crowd, which only made things worse.
To his credit, he finished the set.

Re: .26

>>>    No doubt about it...Fleetwood Mac, Worcester Centrum in September 1982.
>>>    Lindsey, Christine, and Stevie's vocals ALL were bad at the start, but
>>>    Ms. Nicks' performance throughout was HORRIBLE...I've seen many shows,
>>>    and this stands out as the worst performance I ever saw by any
>>>    individual. 

I agree. I love Fleetwood Mac but Stevie should not have been on stage
that tour. Her voice was shot. "Rhiannon" sounded so bad that I cringed 
through the whole song. It was the only concert experience I've ever had
that I would call painful.

Barry

    Speaking of Dylan on the Letterman show...I was there for the first of
    two tapings at Radio City Music Hall. What's scary is that the take
    they used on the show that was broadcast last week was actually from
    the second taping...you should've seen the one that I saw! The only 
    performance I've seen that rivaled it was The Kinks at the Cape Cod
    Coliseum shortly after the release of their live album. Of the 70+
    major concerts that I've been to, that was *clearly* the most pathetic.
    
    Ross

Of course, the Cape Cod Mausoleum is the worst venue this side of the 
LaBrea tar pits.

>>> Of course, the Cape Cod Mausoleum is the worst venue this side of the 
>>> LaBrea tar pits.

You mean you don't *like* sitting in a huge steam bath with terrible 
acoustics among hundreds of drunk teenagers? :^)

Barry

    
    	Do they still have shows there?  I nearly passed out (from the heat)
    	many times there.  And if I remember it was one of the few arenas
    	that sold beer, not to mention the abilty for people to hang in
    	the parking lot for hours before the show.
    
    	- Jim

    No it is no longer a hockey rink, arena, whatever. I believe it is
    a warehouse for a lumber company or some such thing. We are all
    better off.
    
    Jim C.
    

    What I can't believe is that Dylan on Letterman wasn't mentioned until
    reply .38.   This has absolutely got to be the worst performance of all
    time.
    

    
    That wasn't just bad, it was pathetic!

While Dylan himself was bad, I thought the performance as a whole was great!!  
The band that was assembled on that stage was amazing, I wish I could have seen 
more of what they did during the commcerial breaks (what a *hot* All Along the 
Watchtower they were playing as they faded in from one of those breaks).

Scott

    Believe it or not, the sound in Radio City Music was terrible. 
    Visually, seeing the show afterward on TV just didn't compare. It
    was incredible seeing how the stage really looked, but it was nice
    to hear what the band sounded like on TV because the live version
    sounded like it was coming out of a shoebox...and the mix was brutal
    also. It was obvious that they spent a ton of money on the show, and 
    I was amazed that they couldn't do a better job on the audio. It was
    even very difficult to hear Letterman speak. Whenever the audience 
    laughed, you could only see his mouth move...it was that faint.
    
    I only wish that they had let Carole King do a song. 
    
    Ross
    

    Then I guess we're lucky we didn't get to hear Dylan clearly

    Pat Metheny at the Paradise in Cambridge circa 1984.  I went with some 
    guitar wizards promising them some hot stuff a la "American Garage".  
    Instead, Pat stood up there, alone, for a couple of hours totally into 
    his own head thinking, I suppose, he was the next incarnation of Al 
    Dimeola who at his best is too obscure for me.  Metheny was embarrasingly 
    horrible.
    
    Then of course the Dead in Springfield around 1980, probably like every
    Dead concert, I guess.  Tuned up for an hour, played a song, tuned up
    for another hour, left the stage, came back, tuned up for an hour... 
    yawn.
    
    Sandy

	RE: .58 Al Dimeola is "obscure"?  Do you mean Ornette Coleman?

	Al Dimeola is one of the most accesible guitarists I've ever heard
	play; hell, even my parents listen to him!

	Ornette Coleman, on the other hand, is an aquired taste.  Also,
	I think PM was into OC around that time (1984/Song X).

	ScottR
 

    I worst performance I've ever seen was Sonic Youth last November, at
    Neil Young's Concert for the Bridge School, in Mountain View,
    California.  There were several different acts, and everyone did four
    songs.  Some of the performers were wonderful.  Tracy Chapman, Nils
    Lofgren, Don Henley and Neil Young were all extremely good.  However,
    Sonic Youth were just terrible.  The entire concert was acoustic, and
    apparently, they had never performed acoustically before or even
    practiced, and they just couldn't do it!  They started to do a song,
    stopped, tried to stumble through it, stopped, etc.  It was
    embarrassing.  Then, the female singer got mad and screamed "F***!"
    into the microphone, smashed her guitar and they stomped off stage. 
    And, this with all the little kids from the Bridge School sitting in
    wheelchairs at the back of the stage!  The crowd actually booed them,
    and that's the first time I've ever heard that done at a rock show.
    
    The next worst was Willie Nelson at the same Bridge School Concert.  I
    hate his stuff anyway, but he staggered on stage, and appeared to be
    drunk or on drugs.  He almost talked his way through four of his songs,
    and strummed his guitar.  It was pathetic.  He appeared to have no
    talent at all.  He was so unprofessional.  I don't know why he even
    bothered.
    
    The third worse performance was Southside Johnny & The Ashbury Dukes at
    one of those small halls in Worcester about 1984.  He was awful.  His
    voice stunk, he seemed drunk, and he said rude things to the audience. 
    He got a bunch of women & girls from the audience up on stage to dance
    and then proceeded to make fun of them.  What a jerk.  We walked out
    before it ended.
    
    The fourth would probably be Chicago at the Centrum several years ago. 
    Just excrutiatingly boring. I don't know why I even went since I never
    liked their music anyway.
    
    Lorna
    

    Barbara McNair and Mike Douglas singing a duet on the Mike Douglas
    Show live on a beach somewhere.  I get chills just thinking about
    it.
    
    Peter

    
    Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company at WPI sometime
    around 1965.
    
     The band wasn't too hot, but Janis was pathetic.  She was bombed out
    of her mind strutting around the stage with a bottle of Jack Daniels
    that she kept pulling out and guzzling.  At times, her voice resembled
    singing, but the moments were few and far between.
    
    - Larry  

    I have see a lot of concerts and I've been lucky that I have never
    seen a really bad one but I have to say the one that really
    disappointed me was David Bowie at Sullivan a few years ago.
    
    He acted/sang like he was doing us all a favor, he took a break
    in between his show and the stage was set up so that if you
    didn't sit right in front you saw nothing.  I don't think I will
    be wasting anymore time or money to see him.
    
    Mo
    

    saw this on the TNN channel the other day and for some reason I was
    sucked into watching this not worst but very weird duet.
    
    	Florance "Mrs. Brady" Henderson & Mickey "HeyHey Im a Monkey" Dolens
    	singing Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain"
    
    
    	I must say Mickey sound great but Mrs. B was #$%^in' alwful !
    
    Chris_who_has_shut_his_mouth_finally

    re: 63 (about David Bowie)
    
    I didn't think the Foxboro show was quite as bad as you did, but he
    certainly didn't seem to be particularly into doing it.  Seemed kinda
    sterile to me.
    
    Don't give up on him, though... go see Tin Machine when you get a
    chance.  Now _that_ was a great show.
    
    								Marc

    re. 64:
    
    My friend saw it too, and said it was frightening.  She also said that
    Florence pretty much drowned out Micky (no e) Dolenz.  The reason he
    was singing "Sugar Mountain is because he remade it for his childrens
    album "Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep".
    
    Who told Florence she could sing, anyway?  I just don't get it.  OOPS!
    that's another note isn't it? ;')
    
    Nancy

    Number one worst band that I ever saw was The Pogues who opened up for
    U2 in 1987 (U2 was incredible).  They were so loud and awful that even
    standing out in the halls of MSG couldn't block out that sound.
    
    Second was Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Pier around 1984 - Steven
    Stills was so out of it that he didn't even sing Love the One Your With
    - we walked out after 5 songs.  I lost all respect for this once great
    band and haven't been able to really listen to their CD's since.
    
    Third was definitely David Bowie's Glass Spider Tour - talk about
    overproduced - yuk!!!!!  Even Peter Frampton couldn't save that
    concert!
    
    Fourth - The Cars at Wollman Skating Rink - Central Park early 80's -
    boring - ditto for Talking Heads (before they went to the expanded
    lineup and funked up their sound).
    
    Most disappointing and hyped tour ever - The Who - on their second
    "reunion" - we're only in it for the money - tour two years ago.
    
    
    Fredda

Last night, Boston Garden.  The Pixies - ugghh.  I would have prefered to just 
watch an empty stage.

Scott

    Not only was it the worst show I saw but it ahd to be the worst band
    that I have ever heard.  The name of the band was Flying 69. It was at
    the Casba in Manchester N.H., they were backing up Motor Head. Motor
    head never showed up so we had the great privlige to see thses guys
    headline. We got our money back becuase of the no show and got to see 
    them for free, you couldn't pay me to see these guys. These guys most
    of thought they were kiss because they had makeup on and the singer had
    those shoes that Gene wore with the teeth as soles. The main line out
    of the singers mouth was "Stand up an  shout, lets f*ck*n fight."
    it got obnoxious after awhile so we left. Talk about a total waste
    of time. The only good thing was we got to party with Motor Head's
    road crew.
    
    moral of story, no matter what, avoid seeing Flying 69.
    
    Tony
    

Good picking on the note number, Tony.

I've had great luck with opening acts the past few years.
Poi Dog Pondering, John Wesley Harding, the Oyster Band,
and Baby Flamehead are some of the groups I've heard for 
the first time as openers.  Even the less interesting
openers like Jill Sobule, Sam Phillips, and Del Amitri
were at least OK and reasonably talented.

That streak came to a screeching halt last night at the
Orpheum, where Victoria Williams opened for Neil Young.
This disheveled woman comes out, putters around, picks
up her guitar, tries to tune it, and sings.  Unfortunately,
the guitar is immensely out of tune and the voice sounds like
acetylene ragweed.  Then the harmonica solo comes in way
off key.  I kept waiting for someone to say, "Ha ha, 
that's a joke - here's the real opening act", but that
never happened.  The tuning did get better, moving up
to poor, but over the course of her blessedly short set,
Victoria Williams demonstrated a notable inability to sing or
play guitar, banjo, or harp.  The thing that kept me in my
seat was hoping either somehow it might get better, or 
somehow it might get even worse. 

	I forget which of one Neil's songs she does on the compilation 
	tribute / good cause "The Bridge".

	- Jim
	

    re .70
    
    believe it or not it was purely accidentle.
    
    Tony
    

    The Moody Blues in Manchester, N.H. about 5 years ago.  They were
    AWFUL!!!!  Instrumentally they were very sound (no pun intended) 
    especially Pat Moraz on keys.  But, their vocals were horrendous.
    Fortunately, the Fixx opened the show and were great.
      Second on my bogus concert list would be Asia at the Worcester
    Centrum around 83' or 84' timeframe.  Chris DeBurgh was opening
    promoting  whatever album had "Don't Pay the Ferryman".  He had the
    more-often-than-not opening band lousy sound quality. This combined
    with music that I didn't like made for a thoroughly nauseating
    experience.  I'm thanking the heavens when Asia takes the stage
    thinking these guys are gonna save the night. WRONG!  A totally lame
    performance punctuated by bad sound and marathon solos capped a most
    horrific night of bad entertainment.  

    I even liked Krokus @ the Orpheum. My tolerance for ingratitude was
    overwhelmed, however, by New Order. They sounded so so; they had no
    personality; they weren't loud enough; they played a really short set;
    & (I presume) due to lukewarm applause, they never came out for the
    obligatory (or so I thought) encore. The opener, whose name escapes me, was
    sort of new age synth. They had few hooks, but they were much more
    interesting (interested) than New Order. 
    
    Speaking of not loud enough, Tom Petty at the Centrum gave an excellent
    concert ('Til Tuesday opened !), but everybody in the audience knew (or
    thought they did) the words to every song, so all night I got to listen
    to 5,000+ semi-blotto "fans" scream along as if they were in a huge
    shower stall, while catching ocasional glimpses of TP through the
    picket fence of a 2-hour standing ovation. His picture is on the wall
    at the Paradise, so I guess that would have been the place to catch
    him.
    
    Cape Cod Col. ruined Van Halen's show for me. (They seemed a tad wasted
    too though.)
       

    re .75, baloney!  I've seen Tom Petty nine times, and they were nine of
    the best concerts I've ever gone to!!  
    
    You can't be in back, on the floor, though, or on the lawn at Great
    Woods, cause everybody stands up and acts rowdy. 
    
    Lorna
    

    
    I think the point wasn't neccessarily that TP's performance was bad,
    but that the audience participation detracted from it.
    
    Tim
    

    10-4, 131.77 ! Petty's performance was *superb*, he did one solid song
    after another, the lighting was decent. (He didn't do one of my
    favorites, "I Need To Know", though). I went away feeling like I'd
    imagine it might have been at a Beatle concert...Great songs, fine
    performance, but I could barely hear what I had come to hear. The
    *AUDIENCE* ruined it for me. It could have been so much more enjoyable
    without all that "sports arena/bar room" behavior. I think it was the
    Rolling Stones that said "...Just 'cuz you feel so good, do you have to
    drive me outta my head ?"  
    	THe solution I've found is to see acts like Iron Maiden in places
    like the Centrum. They were so paralyzingly loud that the *audience*
    was drowned out !!  

    i echo the sentiments expressed about fans singing
    the songs.  i saw tom petty at great woods and these
    'drunks' near us sang every word of every song at top
    volume.  one or two people asked them to keep quiet,
    but they were so out of it they got abusive.  luckily,
    they finally got so drunk they passed out in their seats.
    
    saw the kinks about x years ago at the centrum and was
    forced to stand the ENTIRE concert as the rows in front
    stood (sort of a wave effect).
    
    bands should announce from the stage that standing and singing
    alone are frowned upon.
    
    willie

    
    It was not the worst and it was not a performance. I still believe it
    belongs under this topic. It was the best non-performance.
    
    Rolling Stones at the max, larger than life...
    
    In cinesphere cinemas located in a number of towns across North
    America, Rolling Stones live, filmed with IMAX technology ...
    
    I watched it here in Ottawa, in the National Art Centre. The music
    comes from 6 (or was it 8) channels, crystal clear. The screen is 7
    storeys high. Chairs are placed on a very steep amphitheatre, not
    blocked by the ones in front, extremely comfortable I might add. You
    hear and see everything. You are right there, on stage, with Mick
    Jagger. It is better than the real thing. The sound and vision quality
    was priceless. I would prefer it to a concert any day.
    
    The only annoying part was to see Mick's lips as big as an apartment
    building, other than that, you know, start him up and he'll never stop.
    
    I wish they would do it for my other favourite performers, but I hear
    that IMAX technology is very expensive.
    
    Ever since Steve Hackett deafened my ears, I am reluctant to go to
    concerts.
    
    Lale
    

    i saw stones at the max in norwalk, ct and was very impressed.
    i wondered why more groups don't do this kind of thing.
    it is much better than even the theatre thing the stones
    did about 15 years ago (ladies and gentlemen, the rolling stones,
    or something like that).   i've seen various concert movies
    but they never make the leap from movie.  the imax stuff DOES!
    
    wish it would come to the boston museum of science theatre.
    
    stones fan from way back.

    
    If you feel like sitting at a rock n' roll concert you must be old.
    
    
    

    
   >> If you feel like sitting at a rock n' roll concert you must be old.

    Bull.  It's one thing if you're standing in an open area, it's
    another if you're standing at your seat, where you can hardly
    move around, for the entire concert.  Ridiculous.
    
    
    

    
    Well that depends where you are. If you're on the floor, standing
    give you a better view. A rock N' roll concert isn't an opera, other
    people listen to music in a different. A lot of people like to groove
    with the music. You can't do that sitting down. Now you may not like
    standin' and groovin', but don't put other people down for it. And 99%
    of the bands out there would never say they frown upon standing and
    singing... they love it. Fans that sing and stand LOVE the music. They
    want to be one with the music. (As corny as that sounds). I personally
    love singing and moving, and I'll be damned if I pay 25 bucks and can't
    enjoy the music they way *I* like to enjoy it.
    
    

    re. 84
    
    i'll be damned if i'm going to pay $25 to go
    to a concert to hear other people sing.
    maybe we should have 'no singing/standing sections'
    at concerts. :- )
    
    if i am sitting in front of you and decide to stand and
    block your view the entire time AND sing so loudly (and
    poorly) as to drown out the band, you have no problem 
    with that?
    
    I always thought standing ovations were the ultimate form
    of appreciation, AFTER the performance.
    
    BTW - i felt this way when i was young and foolish.
    now i'm just old and foolish.
    
    willie

    
>>    i'll be damned if i'm going to pay $25 to go
>>    to a concert to hear other people sing.
>>    maybe we should have 'no singing/standing sections'
>>    at concerts. :- )
  
    	Well see that's life. :-) Cuz everybody is different. But
    	the standing sections idea sounds great. ;')
      
>>    if i am sitting in front of you and decide to stand and
>>    block your view the entire time AND sing so loudly (and
>>    poorly) as to drown out the band, you have no problem 
>>    with that?
  
    	Well I'm 6'2" and I sing out of key... so it prolly won't
    	bother me. ;')
      
>>    I always thought standing ovations were the ultimate form
>>    of appreciation, AFTER the performance.
  
    	Most bands always say how they love to hear a crowd sing 
    	along. 
      
>>    BTW - i felt this way when i was young and foolish.
>>    now i'm just old and foolish.
  
    	It's alright, I'm young and foolish.
    
    
      
    

    Well, I'm 5'1" and what bothers me the most when people stand at
    concerts is that 6' tall guys always seem to stand in front of me and
    block my view.  Last summer at one of the Springsteen concerts, at the
    Centrum, I had to stand up in my chair for the entire concert in order
    to even *see* Bruce (and, hell, I'm the same age as Bruce, so I'm not
    that young anymore!!)  One of the security people kept trying to get me
    to get off the chair, but I told him, "Hey! You get the 5,000 people in
    front of me to sit down and so will I!  I paid 100 bucks for these tix
    and you can be damn well sure I'm going to make sure I can *see* him!!" 
    The guy finally gave up and left me alone.
    
    I don't mind if people stand up, I just hate it when they get so out of
    control that they start waving their arms around and bopping other
    people in the head.  At one Tom Petty concert, a couple of years ago,
    my daughter (then 17), and I had lawn tix.  The crowd was full of
    rowdy, drunk young guys, and, at one point, a guy came flying through
    the crowd, landed on top of my daughter, and wound up rolling around on
    the ground with his arms wound around her, while she attempted to jab
    him in the balls with her elbows to get him off of her!!  I ran over
    and started pounding on his back, and he finally got up, and said,
    "Hey, I tripped!! Okay?"  Yeah, he tripped.  How convenient he landed
    on top of a cute 17 yr. old blonde when he tripped, too.  We ended up
    leaving half way through the show since we couldn't see the band
    anyway.  Fortunately, we had regular seats for the next night.  I'll
    never buy lawn seats for Great Woods again.
    
    Lorna
    

    >>Now you may not like
    >>standin' and groovin', but don't put other people down for it.

    I didn't say I don't like "standin' and groovin'", and I'm 
    not putting anyone down for it.  It's the selfishness associated with
    where and when they choose to do it that I'm putting down.

    >>Fans that sing and stand LOVE the music. They
    >>want to be one with the music. (As corny as that sounds).

    You don't have to tell me about being one with the music, or LOVing
    the music.  A person can appreciate the music without standing up
    in front of everyone else who's trying to appreciate it.  People
    did it for decades and it's cocky to think they didn't LOVE the music
    as much as the average '90s concert-goer.  

    >>I'll be damned if I pay 25 bucks and can't
    >>enjoy the music they way *I* like to enjoy it.

    Yeah, case in point.    
    
    The separate sections thing sounds like a good idea.    

    It's all that weed them young people are smoking.  And them older ones
    too.  They take a few drags, stand up, wave their arms like their
    saluting the Virgin Mother, and do their chants.
    
    Damn pukes.  Let's kill'em.
    

What's unfortunate about rock concerts is that for some people, all normal 
rules of socially acceptable behavior go out the window. It's as if their
ticket is a license to be rude, obnoxious, and irrational.

Try not to let them bother you. You can't control them and if you let them
spoil the concert for you, then it's a waste of time and money. So why go?
Buy a live album instead.

The only time anyone has really gotten to me at a concert was when a drunk,
teenaged, street scum fell off his chair and broke one of my mike stands.

Barry

    
    Well puking and falling and jumping on people is something I find
    distasteful too. But there's a big diffence from standing up and
    singing and puking and jumping around.
    

    A year ago I went to a Bob Dylan concert in San Jose and a guy sitting
    in back of the woman to my right threw-up.  It was the most sickening
    thing I've ever seen at a rock concert.  It went all over the woman's
    back and in her hair!  In fact, there were 4 people who got hit with
    it, and I was the first person to his left that he didn't get.  I was
    lucky.  A whole bunch of us tried to get the security guards to throw
    him out of the concert, but they said they had to give him one more
    chance before they threw him out.  If I had been the one sitting in
    front of him, I swear I would have wanted to kill him.  At least
    security did get some cleaning people in to clean-up the mess.  I
    couldn't believe it happened at a Dylan concert,though.  It's the sort
    of thing I'd expect from a Guns'n'Roses concert.
    
    Lorna
    

    ....probably had nothing to do with the guy having too much booze....most 
    likely a statement on dylan's singing ability.....;').../k

Oh!  Dylan sings?

    Actually Bob was in pretty good voice when I saw him in concert last
    May, so I was pleasantly surprised, since I admit he hasn't sounded too
    good on TV recently.  I still love'em, though.  
    
    Hey, who knows where rock'n'roll would be today if he had never
    existed?  Look up the word influence in the rock'n'roll dictionary and
    you'll find his picture!  :-)
    
    Lorna
    

>>Try not to let them bother you. You can't control them and if you let them
>>spoil the concert for you, then it's a waste of time and money. So why go?
>>Buy a live album instead.

	Well that's exactly the point.  If you're forced to buy a live
	album instead, then they have spoiled the potential concert
	experience for you.  So, "try not to let them bother you" doesn't
	make any sense.  

>>>>Try not to let them bother you. You can't control them and if you let them
>>>>spoil the concert for you, then it's a waste of time and money. So why go?
>>>>Buy a live album instead.

>>	Well that's exactly the point.  If you're forced to buy a live
>>	album instead, then they have spoiled the potential concert
>>	experience for you.  So, "try not to let them bother you" doesn't
>>	make any sense.  

Let me try again. If you go to rock concerts, you should be able to
enjoy yourself in spite of the fact that you are going to be in the
presence of drunks, screamers, whistling idiots, and many other species
of obnoxious moron. That's a constant. They are not there for the music; 
they are there because there are virtually no rules of behavior. It's
a golden opportunity to display their truly offensive nature with no risk.

Assuming that they don't fall on you or throw up on you, you can still
enjoy the music. Just look on them as part of the background. You can 
also stay aware of what's happening in your immediate area. If I see 
someone who looks like they might fall or vomit on me, I get their 
attention and make it very clear that those actions will be hazardous 
to their health.

Barry

>>Let me try again. If you go to rock concerts, you should be able to
>>enjoy yourself in spite of the fact that you are going to be in the
>>presence of drunks, screamers, whistling idiots, and many other species
>>of obnoxious moron. That's a constant. They are not there for the music; 

>>Assuming that they don't fall on you or throw up on you, you can still
>>enjoy the music. Just look on them as part of the background. You can 

	Let me try again.  Obnoxious morons are one thing - they've
	always been at concerts.  Most of them are ignorable.  Everyone
	standing up the whole time, at their seats, is relatively new.
	These people can't very well be looked on as part of the background
	when they're constituting the foreground as well.  For _some_ of us,
	who are there to enjoy the entire experience, including being able
	to actually _see_ the performers (what a concept), it lessens it.
	At the current ticket prices, it's not always worth it.  People can
	say "Well, don't go then." all they want - that's the easy (stupid)
	answer.

> Everyone standing up the whole time, at their seats, is relatively new.

New? Hardly. I think it might be something you only start to notice when 
you get good floor seats.

> These people can't very well be looked on as part of the background
> when they're constituting the foreground as well.

That's subjective. It depends on how much you want to sit down. Personally,
I don't mind standing up anywhere near as much as I mind having a whistling 
idiot nearby. Some of them are deafeningly loud. They spend half the concert 
competing with each other and trying to outdo the sound system.

I have to admit that standing up the whole time on a rickety chair is pretty
offensive. The intelligent thing would be if everyone just stood on the floor 
instead, but you can't expect intelligent behavior from a mob.

> People can
> say "Well, don't go then." all they want - that's the easy (stupid)
> answer.

What you do suggest as an answer? Go to concerts and get angry because
things aren't the way you want them to be? No thanks. Write letters to 
the band or the promoters and complain about the shoddy security? Good 
luck!

Barry

    ....i think bit*hing about a situation without offering any logical 
    suggestions is the best way to go...................;').........../k

    
    
    
    The best way to go is just buy the front row...  works for me, but then
    I don't go to nearly as many concerts as I used to.  But I'm pretty
    sure I'm enjoying it more.  I'd be more sure if I could remember the
    old days...
    
    

    re: .99  good floor seats
    
    Now that is as good a definition of an Oxymoron as I have ever seen.
    ;-)
    
    Jim C.
    

>    The best way to go is just buy the front row...

Even if that were possible, it wouldn't guarantee anything. I've been 
to plenty of shows where a crowd was allowed to stand up in front of the 
stage the whole time. I always felt bad for the people (myself included
more often than not) who spent a lot of money to get seats up front.

Barry

   >> ....i think bit*hing about a situation without offering any logical 
   >> suggestions is the best way to go...................;').........../k

	You can't offer any "logical suggestions" (except that people
	don't act like selfish idiots), which isn't going to happen,
	now that it's so popular for everyone to stand up.  That doesn't
	mean you can't comment on it, just like everyone else is
	commenting on bad performances, in this topic.  Are they supposed
	to have a "logical suggestion" to remedy every situation?

> Everyone standing up the whole time, at their seats, is relatively new.

>>New? Hardly. I think it might be something you only start to notice when 
>>you get good floor seats.

	No, as I said, it's _relatively_ new for everyone to be forced
	to stand up.  It has nothing to do with having floor seats.
	It's an observation I've made of a change that has occurred
	over the past couple of decades.

    ...re: .104...yeah, i know...i was just kiddin' around.......give it a
    try sometime!!............;')).............................../k

  >>  ...re: .104...yeah, i know...i was just kiddin' around.......give it a
  >>  try sometime!!............;')).............................../k

	If you knew me, you'd know you don't have to instruct me
	on kidding around.  But you don't, so, sorry about taking the
	"bit*hing" thing seriously.

    	OK....back to the topic.
    
    The worst shows I've ever seen:
    
    1) Deep Purple, House of the Blue Light Tour
    2) Yes, Union Tour
    3) Boston, the night they played Buffalo- but they were great in
    Rochester about three months before

    
    	I don't suppose anyone would remember them but they were an
    "anarchy" band - called Crass.
    
    	They played thier guitars with gloves on - 
    I asked them about this after the concert - arguing that they couldn't 
    call themselves a band or  musicians.
                             

Van Halen, opening for Black Sabbath, days after the release of their (VH's) first album.
Utterly unintelligible vocals, made the Cape Cod Colosseum sound even worse than it usually did.

I couldn't tell how well they were playing...

    
    Without a doubt, the worst concert I've witnessed was Joan Baez at
    Dartmouth College in maybe 78' or 79' (the years all blur together as I
    get older).  She was in one of her very angry bash the monied elite
    moods, and spent most of the concert lecturing the Dartmouth students
    on why they were such scum (which left very little time for her to
    actually sing).  Plus, she had a fairly large band with horns and
    backup singers which didn't fit with her folky ballards at all.  I actually
    left in disgust before the concert ended, but I was told later that she 
    did an acappella rendition of Amazing Grace as an encore that was
    excellent (that she got to do an encore was a minor miracle since she
    was booed earlier in the evening while bad-mouthing her audience).
    
    I have avoided Joan Baez concerts (and albums) ever since.
    
    Al_who_at_one_time_really_liked_her
                                                                  
       

    
    I wonder if Holly Near (San Francisco's own Limosine-Liberal Folkie)
    has a lot of cognitive dissonance about her monied background.
    
    BTW, Anyone know of Grandaddy left Baez a trust fund too?
    
    -Ed
    

The worst concert I ever saw was one I didn't see.

I had tickets for ELO in 1978 when they were doing their spaceship tour.  We had
been psyching ourselves for the show for over a month.  I lived in Burlington Vt
and the show was in Montreal.  We were all set to leave on Saturday morning when
they announced that the show was cancelled due to "tax problems".  Why they had
to wait until the day of the show to figure out there was a problem was beyond
me.

I never bought an ELO album, cassette or CD because of that.  Although I did
catch myself enjoying them on the radio this week playing Fire on High...

Tim

> I had tickets for ELO in 1978 when they were doing their spaceship tour.

I saw them at Boston Garden, 9/27/78. I was less than impressed with 
the group performance and the sound was very muddy, worse than average
considering how bad the Garden acoustics are.

The highlights were the violin and cello solos that included some 
classical pieces, including Flight of the Bumblebee, and some material 
from West Side Story.

Barry

    ELO's "Out of the Blue" spaceship tour was rumor laden. The stage set
    was rather impressive. I saw the show in Pontiac, Michigan at the
    Silverdome. As I recall there was quite an uproar about the show really
    being live. Accusations were made about Hugh McDowells cello role being
    taped, as well as other band members taped play. It seemed Hugh had a
    rough time remaining "vertical" after some barley. I think this might
    have been the precusor to the "Minni Vinilli" shows. I think some ELO
    concert go'ers even sued to be re-imbursed for their tickets.
    
    The GOOD NEWS of the show was that HEART opened the show. The "heart
    sisters", along with Randy California (formerly from Spirit) put on
    quite a performance.
    
    
    		fred deady
    		wbc::deady

    re .115
    
    Is it true, did Randy California do some touring with Heart?
    I know Mark Andes, also from Spirit, was bassist in Heart for awhile
    (and probably still is) so this makes sense.  Wish I'd seen em
    
    /rick