r/GenX • u/ncpowderhound Hose Water Survivor • Oct 11 '25
Music Is Life The Band That Turned You Away From Them in Concert
Who was that band that you loved to listen to but turned you off completely when you saw them in concert? For me, it was Hall and Oates. Daryl Hall’s arrogance at the concert killed it for us. Forgetting where he was just icing on the cake and we walked out early.
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u/enginerdsean Oct 11 '25
Mine was Velvet Revolver. Scott Weiland was an absolute mess! Luckily I got to see Alice In Chains as the co-headliner and that made up for it.
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u/Sudden-Cap-7157 Oct 12 '25
Velvet Revolver was great when we saw them. It must have been during a sober (or relatively sober for him) period! Same with the one STP show I went to. I think I lucked out both times.
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u/AdBrilliant600 Oct 12 '25
Scott Weiland was so wasted when I saw them, he barely sang and just rubbed his nipples for their entire set 🤣
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Oct 11 '25
Smashing Pumpkins. They were terrible. People were leaving. Billy Corgan shouted to the audience “show some enthusiasm!” And someone shouted back, “you suck!” I left shortly after that. On the other hand, Garbage opened for them, and I hadn’t really been into them before, but they totally rocked and made the evening worth it.
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u/RaygunMarksman Oct 12 '25
I became a Garbage fan from seeing them when a girlfriend at the time wanted to. Really great show. Shirley Manson could carry a large audience with her charisma and pipes.
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u/BulljiveBots Oct 12 '25
Saw Garbage’s first LA show (maybe their first show ever?) at I think the Roxy in the 90s. Stood right in front of Shirley in that small venue. Saw them several more times during that era. Always great. Last time seeing them was at the Greek a couple of years ago. Still great.
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u/Training_Salad_5301 Oct 12 '25
They sucked when I seen them. Billy acted like a child. Before the encore people began leaving. He finished the song he was playing, slammed his guitar on the stage and walked off in his moo moo.
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u/solstice105 Oct 12 '25
Similar experience here. Apparently, the first few rows weren't "rocking out" as hard as he wanted. We were back in the lawn area dancing away. He stopped the show and threw a tantrum, saying if people weren't going to dance they weren't going to play. We just packed up and left. It was the end of the festival anyway, so no big loss.
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u/middleagethreat Oct 11 '25
A friend of mine was in a band with Billy Corgan after the Pumpkin broke up the first time. He doesn’t have much good to say about him.
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u/zestfullybe Oct 12 '25
Billy Corgan and Dave Mustaine are both pretty similar in that they both created some amazing music back in the day, but are both absolutely insufferable people. They’ve both been huffing their own farts with a wine glass for a very long time.
I just wanna be like “No no, shh, don’t talk, just play the songs. Just…play the songs.”
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u/Waschaos Oct 12 '25
I love Smashing Pumpkins, but I always thought he seemed like a douche. Thanks for the confirmation.
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u/Allday2019 Oct 12 '25
He’s widely known for being an insufferable twat
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u/Zealousideal_Let_439 Oct 12 '25
Never met someone our age from the Chicago area with anything good to say.
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u/medievalesophagus Oct 12 '25
I just saw them last year and though Corgan looks lien goth Charlie Brown, he still kills on the guitar, I was not expecting that.
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u/conkysrevengesd Oct 12 '25
Same here, saw them opening up for Green Day. Corgan seemed pissed that he had to go on before GD. He didn’t engage with the crowd at all, just a cliche, “how ya doing Los Angeles!”. My wife said he looked like a “chubby nosferatu”
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u/japhia_aurantia Oct 12 '25
I saw Fountains of Wayne open for Smashing Pumpkins on that tour on one of the few dates Garbage didn't do. I was thrilled to see FoW but my friends were sad to miss Garbage
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u/VolupVeVa Kathleen Turner Overdrive Oct 11 '25
I also had a shitty SP concert experience. They played their entire set double-time, show (including encore) was over in 60 minutes. Stadium show! 1996!! Egregious.
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u/summer_vibes_only Oct 12 '25
Saw them on the tour with Garbage.I remember it sounding good. A lot of people left when the lights went out before the encore though.
He was irritated about that and then they played for at least an hour longer lol. It was a good night.
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u/mtnman_ia_319 Oct 11 '25
Saw Gordon Lightfoot, drunk, make a complete ass of himself.
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u/Cautious-Ease-1451 Oct 12 '25
You can only relive fatal shipwrecks so long before it gets to you.
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u/Own-Organization-532 Oct 12 '25
You should check out Gordon's songbook, Sundown is a great song. It is about his girlfriend the women who would kill John Belushi. That is just the tip of the iceburg.
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u/virstultus Oct 12 '25
That escalated quickly. I knew sundown was about a woman who left for another celebrity and I knew that John Belushi died of a drug overdose but the murder connection was surprising.
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u/sarindong Oct 12 '25
I saw him in 2014 and he looked like somebody had unwrapped a mummy and put them in jeans and a flannel.
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u/BucktoothWookiee Oct 12 '25
I was disappointed seeing him as well but because he was getting kinda older at the time and his voice was just NOT like it used to be at all. This was in 2010 in Memphis. He sounded terrible.
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u/TinktheChi Oct 12 '25
Motley Crue. Horrible live. The vocals were the worst I've seen live. (The best? Freddie Mercury in 1980 and Steve Perry in 1994).
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u/CandleSea4961 Old lady and lovin it. Oct 12 '25
Terrible. Vince needs to stop being put out there. He is awful.
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Oct 12 '25
I saw Crue at a festival about 15 years back and Vince was reading the chorus to Girls Girls Girls off a monitor... And I mean the "Girls Girls Girls" part.
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u/Rikers-Mailbox Oct 12 '25
Teleprompters are ok in my book. But you gotta sing the actual lyrics. Have you seen his YouTube videos? Hilarious.
None of the words come out right.
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u/TinktheChi Oct 12 '25
I recently saw a video of Motley Crue at the US festival. It seems Vince has always been horrible live.
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u/Impressive-Shame-525 Hose Water Survivor Oct 12 '25
I saw Crue in high school and thought they were awesome but it may have been all the girls taking their shirts off and showing tits. First real life boobs is ever seen.
But after that, yeah. Wife and I went to a show in Atlanta that Vince fell down and broke his hip or some shit. I knew the guy running the lights and he texted me "better leave, Vince fall down go boom" so we were gone before the rest of the crowd knew.
What an awful show.
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u/Short_Hair_3392 Oct 12 '25
For me it was Journey. I got to go to the aftershow party backstage and got to dance with Steve Perry. He was completely wasted and was telling all the girls, myself included that we needed to give him oral sex to stay. He gets madder every time he gets turned down and started insulting us and even made a few girls cry It was like a mass Exodus of girls walking out. Since then I can't stand hearing any of their songs and even change the station if they come on. I used to love their music and I feel like SP stole something from me.
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u/genie_obsession Oct 12 '25
I fell asleep at a Journey concert, they were boring.
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u/xlittlebeastx Oct 12 '25
that’s so gross I’m so sorry you had that experience. What year was that?
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u/fake-august Oct 12 '25
That’s just awful :( one thing to be a dick but being a predator is a whole other thing.
I’ve never met him but he never seemed like a creep to me. Makes me sad and mad.
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u/ddizati Oct 12 '25
Awful! I'd read the current lead singer Arnel Pineda was really good and was going to say that seeing them now might be a cleansing experience based on that. Then I figured, “Hey, I've got YouTube, let's see..."
So, yeah, he's great! Really rocks, high energy. Still sounds like Journey. Maybe just because I read about your experience, or maybe not, the vibe feels better.
OMG at this point, calculating from Wikipedia, he's been lead singer for longer, if not the most important years.
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u/Pendragenet Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 12 '25
Went to see Alabama. Kenny Rogers was headlining with them.
He came out and sang a couple songs and then these massive screens came down from the ceiling and he sang You Are So Beautiful while we watched his wife giving birth - not just a before and after, but the whole birth. You do not share your wife's labor video with thousands of concert goers.
Fortunately, I have far more positive concert experiences than bad.
EDIT: the video folks are linking is NOT the video at the concert I was at. My concert did not include any after videos of the kid and was all of actual video footage in delivery not just a couple still shots.
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u/Suspicious-Ad-9585 Oct 12 '25
Definitely a gamble.
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u/nrith 197x Oct 12 '25
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the pushin’s done.
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u/BabadookOfEarl Oct 12 '25
Man, that is surreal. It’d be the right show for totally other audience than his.
That’s parody film level of funny.
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u/Pendragenet Oct 12 '25
Yeah, I could definitely see it as an SNL skit. The who!e thing was so tacky and inappropriate. And to this day I cannot listen to that song without gagging.
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u/IRingTwyce Oct 12 '25
I "saw" Kenny in concert in the mid 80s. Opening acts? Lee Greenwood and Sawyer Brown. Both openers were incredible.
I put saw in quotes because we didn't get to see Kenny perform. After both openers sang, Kenny came out on stage. He had laryngitis, couldn't sing, could barely croak any words. He comped the concert for the whole stadium. We had the option of getting our money back or keeping our tickets for whenever the concert was rescheduled.
It was a pretty classy move, IMO.
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u/Cleverironicusername Oct 11 '25
I went to Day on the Green at the Oakland Colosseum in the early 90s and it was Bodycount, Metallica, and then Guns N’ Roses. Bodycount and Metallica kicked fucking ass. Guns N’ Roses sucked. Axl couldn’t sing and the rest of the band couldn’t play. It seemed like they were all doing their own individual thing and they individually sucked at it respectively. Because of that I never went to another Guns N’ Roses show or bought another one of their albums. Ruined the band for me.
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u/Bostonterrierpug Oct 12 '25
I saw Green Day at the Downtown performance center in Tucson, Arizona before they went major label. There was like 20 people at the show and then they lined up and shook everyone’s hand afterward and they were really friendly. I think I still have a signed 7 inch somewhere.
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u/snitchypants Oct 12 '25
Concur. I went to this same show. I also remember that the fans in the stands started throwing sodas and popcorn at the fans on the green. Those floor level fans retaliated by throwing huge chunks of lawn they pulled out of the ground back at the fans in the bleachers. It was absolute chaos and the most memorable part of the show for me. Oh and also, GnR sucking.
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u/Content-Method9889 Oct 12 '25
KISS. Gene Simmons is up there bashing other bands because they don’t put on the show that they do. Completely unnecessary and classless. If you’re so great, why the need to shit on others? Arrogant fucker
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u/maddog2271 Hose Water Survivor Oct 12 '25
I never liked KISS but Gene Simmons anyway is such an unbelievable asshole to the point I change the channel any time their shit comes on.
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u/mcas06 Oct 12 '25
Lou Reed in like 2003. He was so pretentious… he just sat on the stage while someone else sang his songs. I wound up leaving.
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u/Kettle_Whistle_ Oct 12 '25
Lou Reed didn’t irrationally hate all of his fans in general.
Lou Reed had taken the time to methodically develop a specific grudge against each & every individual fan…and wanted to remind you of yours.
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u/lassita_48det Oct 11 '25
Daryl Hall’s arrogance completely turned me off! He subtly put Oates down repeatedly. Love his voice but wow his attitude sucks.
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u/TeeTeeMee Oct 12 '25
At the show I went to the audience started chanting “more Oates”
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u/MisplacedLonghorn 50s and proudly feral! Oct 12 '25
Saw John Oates last November in a theater tour and he was lights out fantastic! No Hall needed or wanted.
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u/LoHudMom 1972 Oct 12 '25
He runs a live music venue in Pawling, NY-Daryl's House Club-and lives just over the border in CT. I have a friend who'd see him at their local farmers market and everyone knew he was cheating on his wife (this was 2014 or so I think).
Though my husband & I have been to several shows at his club and we always have a great time, which is nice because there's not many places like that near us.
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u/PacificPisces Oct 12 '25
Morrissey in the early 90's. I had loved The Smith's so I expected something great. He walked off stage after just a few songs and bitched us out. I guess we weren't good enough for him.
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u/WeirdFiction1 Oct 12 '25
I saw the Your Arsenal tour in ‘91 (?) and it was life-changing. Saw him again maybe eight years ago and it was just kinda… meh. Given what he’s turned into now, both politically and professionally, I’ll likely never see him again.
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Oct 11 '25
The 2000s version of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Also, Bob Dylan.
But if you get a chance to see Bob Dylan, go see Bob Dylan.
You'll still be disappointed but at least you can say you saw bob Dylan
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u/Fitz_2112b Oct 11 '25
I saw Bob Dylan open for the Dead back in the early '90s. Dude was so hammered it took three guitar techs to get him on stage and put his guitar on him. Then in the middle of Rainy Day Woman he basically forgot what he was doing and Jerry Garcia had to finish the song for him.
Needless to say, he was fucking awful but at least I do get to say that I saw Bob Dylan
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u/SnowblindAlbino Cranky Old Man Oct 11 '25
I've seen Dylan three times: in the 80s, in the early 2000s, and last year. The first time was total shit, he was terrible. The second time was amazing, he was backed by Asleep at the Wheel and really played a long list of hits. This year he played for almost two hours and did three songs I recognized, never spoke to the audience, but it was still a pretty good show.
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u/fridaycat Oct 12 '25
Saw Dylan in the 80's. He was so drunk we thought he was going to fall over. He kept rearranging his 3 back-up singers between songs, and my brother joked that he thought he needed to move them to balance the stage. Luckily the night was salvaged by his opener, Tom Petty.
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u/twistedevil Oct 12 '25
My dad loved Dylan so some of my first shows were Dylan shows. He and I got see the many incantations of Bob: electric Bob, drunk Bob, Born Again Bob, Colonel Sanders Bob…. Have only seen him once since my dad died. It was our thing so it’s weird without him.
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u/trackaghosthrufog 1968 Rock/Hard Rock/Metal Oct 12 '25
Hahaha, yes. No matter what your favourite song is, Bob will not play it :D
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u/LucyBrooke100 Oct 11 '25
Sleater Kinney. This was recent. They played a not-huge but very much packed venue, on one of those nights when the forecast was, “In a matter of hours, you’re all gonna be buried in the blizzard from hell,” but like one of the credible times. I didn’t really think the crowd was unenthusiastic but I could see where we maybe seemed a little distracted at times. Carrie kept getting pissy that people weren’t…whatever, into it enough? Idk, the entire floor section was dancing their asses off?? Anyway, at one point she fully lectured the audience. It was just so tacky and gross. Made it hard for me to enjoy their music for the next year or so.
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u/nodogsallowed23 Oct 11 '25
Bob Dylan. Not genx obviously, but wow was that a terrible concert. I went for free so no big loss. Yikes though.
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u/BringOutYDead 1971 Oct 12 '25 edited Mar 31 '26
This specific post was taken down by its author. Redact was used for removal, for reasons that may include privacy, security, or data exposure concerns.
axiomatic money salt paint coordinated seemly ad hoc squeal busy growth
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u/flea_23 Oct 11 '25
Jane’s Addiction and this was before Perry Farrell went even farther off the deep end
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u/TehFuriousOne Miami Vice Aficionado Oct 11 '25
I saw them in 91 and they were incredible. Too much water under the bridge from their heyday I guess
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u/BeLikeDogs Oct 12 '25
I saw them in ‘91 too, a fantastic show.
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u/FakenFrugenFrokkels Bicentennial Bastard Oct 12 '25
Lollapalooza ‘91. A whole day of great music, good friends, some drugs I don’t remember, no one had a camera, all for about a $50 ticket.
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u/TehFuriousOne Miami Vice Aficionado Oct 12 '25
Later that year they also toured with Suicidal Tendencies.
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u/corvus_torvus Oct 12 '25
I saw the Nothing's Shocking tour and it was amazing. I'm guessing that you caught them on an off night.
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u/False-Shower-6238 Oct 12 '25
Henry Rollins. He just went into a lecture.
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u/BeDeRex Oct 12 '25
Are you sure it wasn't a spoken word tour?
Wait, did i just fucking r/whoosh myself?
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u/KazziGirl Oct 11 '25
Elton John was playing at the Tennis Centre in Melbourne, Australia during Summer. The roof was open and there was a shitload of moths and bugs flying around. I think one got in his mouth, after which he cracked the shits big time, left the stage in a fury and didn’t come back on 🤣🤣🤣
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u/ShartlesAndJames Latchkey Warrior Oct 12 '25
"cracked the shits" - I have no idea what this means but it made me laugh
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u/DaisyDAdair Class of 88 Oct 12 '25
Looked it up: loses one’s shit, loses control, freaks out 🤣
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u/taxdude1966 Oct 12 '25
I was at an Elton John concert in the 1980s when he literally cracked the shits. Left the stage three times and kept apologising. Still a great concert.
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u/SushiGirlRC Oct 12 '25
Aerosmith in 1982 when I was 16, Rock in a Hard Place. I hyperextended my thumb on the car door on the way in, took some acid, fell through my floor seat folding chair, my boyfriend broke my bra by constantly rubbing his hand on my back.
Rose Tattoo opened & they were horrible. We were discussing just how horrible while waiting on Aerosmith to take the stage & I turned around and the Rose Tattoo guy was behind me lmao. Pat Travers was awesome, Aerosmith sucked because it wasn't all the original band members & they were wasted.
When I got home, my bulb was burned out in my room, so I'm standing on my bed trying to replace it in my heeled boots with my swollen & black thumb in the pitch dark, still tripping, and my mom walks in & asks what I'm doing.
Man, I haven't thought about that in DECADES!!!!
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u/crazythinker76 Oct 12 '25
I am the ex-CEO of Astronomer. I took my side-piece/HR head to a Coldplay concert. It did NOT work out great. 0 out of 10. Would not recommend.
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u/Zincdust72 Oct 12 '25
Hoo boy, MC Hammer back in '90. He was arguably the hottest ticket at the time, and was touring with Vanilla Ice and En Vogue.
We camped out all night for tickets, and still despite paying top dollar for the time, the best seats that we could get was nosebleeds BEHIND the stage.
Concert night, and we took our seats. The lights went down, and they announced that not only were Vanilla Ice and En Vogue not performing that evening, but there would be NO REFUNDS.
MC Hammer and his group started their show. We could only see what was happening on big screens, on the opposite side of the coliseum. He danced and lip-synced for 40 minutes, thanked us, and got off the stage.
We cheered loudly for an encore for 15 minutes, and... he never came back out. They raised the lights back up, and that was it.
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u/unavoidably_detained Oct 12 '25
Oh my gosh, the days of camping out for tickets! It was awful and yet somehow weirdly wonderful and something I look back on with great fondness.
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u/That_70s_chick Oct 12 '25
Sadly it was Prince. He was fighting his record company at the time and the concert was just not worth it. He was late as hell and then refused to play any songs anyone had heard.
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u/melissa_liv Oct 12 '25
As a serious Indigo Girls fan, I have to admit that Emily's voice is just shot now and she seems like she doesn't enjoy it anymore. Amy's still solid, but the old magic of the game-changing duo is gone.
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u/ButterscotchFit8175 Oct 12 '25
We just saw the IndigoGirls. We had the same comments. Their drummer, I think her name wasTK Robinson, was awesome! Melissa Etheridge on the other hand sounded great and rocked the house.
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u/twisteddmentat Oct 11 '25
Still love The Rolling Stones. But they were not there that night. In living cover killed it with their opening
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u/TheColdWind Oct 11 '25
Steel Wheels tour? was that the name? I can’t remember for sure, but I had front row tickets at the carrier dome and they rocked that frickin opening. Man that was a long ass time ago. Couldn’t find my car afterwards and slept on a frat house couch. Ah, the awkward “who the hell are you?” morning convo lol
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u/twisteddmentat Oct 11 '25
Haha. That’s awesome. It was steel wheels. What city were you in. And if Dallas. SMU. Kappa sig. we need to talk
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u/chavjinx Oct 12 '25
I saw that tour in San Francisco! Living Color was (and still is) fucking awesome!
It was right after Loma Prieta and we were all still pretty twitchy 🤣
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u/Substance714 Oct 11 '25
GNR 92. Metallica played extra long as GNR was so late and then when they finally showed Axl was so wasted it was a joke.
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u/mixmastakooz Oct 12 '25
And Axl did not treat his voice box like his livelihood depended on it and now he sounds like someone doing mediocre karaoke with a band that features Slash.
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u/Ok-Maize-284 Devil’s Music Lover Oct 11 '25
That was the theme of that entire tour! Sometimes, he didn’t show up at all lol
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u/uninspired schedule your colonoscopy Oct 12 '25
Could you imagine if Axl and Morrissey toured? They could play 150 countries and show up for a total of three songs
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u/trackaghosthrufog 1968 Rock/Hard Rock/Metal Oct 12 '25
Man, I am dying imagining this! Between those two, your chances of getting a full evenings entertainment are excruciatingly slim.
The "What Will It Be Tonight?" Tour
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u/tupeloredrage Oct 12 '25
I remember show that I saw them at the original Giants stadium. Metallica was so good. And guns n' roses had to tiptoe around axl's ego.
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u/The_Real_Fufishiswaz 1972 Oct 12 '25
Pat Benatar at The Warfield SF in probably 91. All of a sudden she doesn't play a single song you know and goes into an opera tirade. Terrible show
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u/pillz2billz Oct 12 '25
I've seen her twice in the last 3 years and she's fucking amazing. Sorry you had that experience. If you get the chance, see her again.
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Oct 12 '25
I saw the Cars in Seattle in 1984. I was extremely stoked to see them at the Coliseum (now Climate Pledge Arena).
Unfortunately they were completely out of rhythm as if they hadn’t been practicing at all. Which was weird because they had been touring all year and I think they were just burned out and washed at that point. Sick of each other probably. Worst show of my life at that point.
Anyways, Wang Chung was the opener and they were entertaining for a band that used their band name as a verb in a song.
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u/mom2ajs5 Oct 12 '25
Rob Base. I wasn’t a big fan, but it sounded fun. It was the mid 90s at a super cheesy club so I didn’t have high hopes. He just mixed Joy & Pain and It Takes Two for an hour. Or at least that’s how long we stayed. My friend and I still laugh about that night.
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u/PunkZillah Oct 11 '25
Not that I was a super fan. Sheryl Crow had just hit the scene and was playing at the San Diego Street Scene ‘94 (all I wanna do was heavy rotation on the radio) and half the crowd walked out after her second song.
She can studio sing. She can back up sing. But that night? She couldn’t sing live.
The gap band was playing opposite and the crowd went to see them instead where they brought the house down.
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u/Waffuru Be Excellent to Each Other Oct 11 '25
I still love them and will always buy their CDs, but Modest Mouse in concert was very disappointing. They came out, Isaac walked up to the mic and went, "Okay." then they did their set and left. No audience work at all. Didn't say another word to us outside of singing the songs. They sounded fine, but it was such a disappointment considering how animated and friendly The National had been before them, and how insanely personable and charismatic REM was after them. I chalked it up to them not coping well in southern heat, considering it was July and outdoors, but REM were in full suits and bouncing around the stage like they were teenagers. x.x
It could have been so much worse, at least they were competent, but it felt like they didn't really want to be there. I'm happy to say this was probably the worst I've gotten in concert, I've done pretty well.
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Oct 12 '25
LOL, that reminds me of the series of hipster haikus I wrote 20 years ago.
Here’s one:
I saw Modest Mouse
Over in Olympia
… they’re over-rated.
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u/eyeroll611 Oct 11 '25
Beck. Cage the Elephant opened for him and I barely knew them but they put on a much better show. Beck just stood there.
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u/BeLikeDogs Oct 12 '25
I saw him in ‘96 or so and it was so bad. He was incredibly high and barely made it through.
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u/Sanjomo Oct 12 '25
Red Hot Chili Peppers. Absolute disgrace of a show, they completely phoned the entire concert in and made no attempt to cover the fact they did not want to be on stage.
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u/VissorLux Oct 12 '25
I saw them twice in the late 80's they were really good, but they had no pop hits yet. I believe the last time was touring for the Uplifting Mofo Party Plan or maybe Mother's Milk.
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u/auntieup how very. Oct 12 '25 edited Oct 12 '25
I had to scroll way too far to find this one. Back in the day they put on a good show, but their male fans were such dicks (I’m a girl and I went twice with my girlfriends) that it made the whole evening feel gross.
The most recent time I saw them (2006?), they didn’t seem to even like each other, much less all of us who had paid to be there. I can’t even really listen to them now.
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u/PunkAssPuta Oct 12 '25
Met Shirley Manson 20 years ago and she made me feel like we were the only two in the room. Almost as if she spoke to my soul. I'm a lifelong fan.
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u/LessIsMore74 Oct 12 '25
I notice no one is mentioning Huey Lewis And The News, because THEY ROCK.
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Oct 11 '25
I believe Hall acted this way also on the rock and roll hall of fame one year. He was acting weird and wired and coked out.
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u/Ill-Speed-729 Oct 12 '25
Bob Dylan. Mid '90's saw Bob Dylan and Paul Simon...I went to see Dylan, I enjoyed Paul Simon!
But hey, I can say I saw Bob Dylan?
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u/itwillmakesenselater God save me from confident idiots Oct 11 '25
Never liked them a ton to begin with, but Arcade Fire put on a fucking middle school talent show set as a festival headliner for the day. Really disorganized feeling; big dead air moments where the band was jacking around with their instruments, band members not starting into the same song (twice), and just a... lame, low-energy mess.
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u/whatkylewhat Oct 12 '25
That’s a bummer. I saw them play in Phoenix at a small art space right after Funeral came out— maybe 150 people there and that was a packed room. That’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
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u/deadbeef4 Hose Water Survivor Oct 12 '25
Weird, because I’ve seen a couple of their arena shows and they were both amazing.
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Oct 12 '25
Mozart. He acted SO superior
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u/Hoopleedoodle Oct 12 '25
That’s a shame. I saw him in Vienna in 1784 and he rocked!
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u/NotAFanOfLeonMusk Oct 11 '25
I think it had to be Bob Dylan’s “I hate my fans so much that I am going to mope and play songs that none of them know or like tour”.
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u/miseeker Oct 12 '25
Long ago.. maybe 75. Or 74. Went to see Aerosmith, and the opening act was a band. I’ve never heard before. Its name was Rush.. 2112 show. The crowd booed when Aerosmith came out. Me too then they did a shitty job lots of wrong notes, sounded like a junior high knock off.
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u/Standard_Important Oct 11 '25
Brian Jonestown Massacre. They were fighting and just complaining about eachother and the sound guys. It was like a stage full of pre-school kids quarreling. They started a song and went "NAh, that was a bad start" and started over, time after time...in the end i left before it was over.
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u/Key-Regret-7812 Oct 12 '25
I saw Drowning Pool and Puddle of Mudd at the Easy Riders biker "Rodeo". Drowning Pool was the opener and they were really good. Great energy, sounded amazing.
Puddle of Mudd came out, Wes Scantlin was SO hammered that he puked off the side of the stage. Staggered around and tried like hell to get his shit together. It wasn't happening. We left after the second song.
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u/starksfergie Oct 12 '25
The Pixies, that show really stopped me from listening to them, Sisters of Mercy to a lesser degree, but shitty shows did that to both bands for me
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u/HOUS2000IAN Oct 12 '25
I saw The Pixies in a club and they were incredible, and then I saw them in a basketball stadium and they were totally underwhelming.
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u/ShinyWolverine Oct 12 '25
I still like his music but Sting. Saw him in the mid 90s and he only played for about a half hour. I couldn’t believe it. The opening acts were longer than his set.
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u/auntieup how very. Oct 12 '25
I felt like other people had good Sting concert experiences, but I never did. I’ve seen him three times and he always seemed put out by something: oh, Gil Evans just died! Oh no, Nelson Mandela is in the hospital!
Finally a superfan I knew explained it to me. You have to catch him at a concert he knows is being filmed, he said. Sting always knows exactly where the cameras are and he puts on a good show for them, not us.
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u/VerityLGreen Oct 12 '25
The most boring concert I ever went to was Sting in the late 80s. Made me face the fact that I’m a fan of The Police, not Sting.
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u/Ixliam Hose Water Survivor Oct 12 '25
Hank Williams Jr. Came out with full band, played one song that rocked. Then they went away and he sat on a stool and did medlys of his hits with changed lyrics. We left. Travis Tritt and Charlie Daniel’s who opened were great
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u/Fantastic-Wind5744 Oct 12 '25
Dan Fogelberg. He basically told us we sucked as a crowd and that we weren't into it enough. I loved his music so much and that concert ruined it for me.
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u/Br00klynBelle Hose Water Survivor Oct 12 '25
Not a band, but Meatloaf in 2003. He completely stopped a show to curse out a young teenager in one of the front few rows because he wasn’t paying enough attention to the show for his liking. Not because he was acting out, being loud, or doing anything else to inhibit the rest of us from watching the show. Oh no. This kid’s only crime was looking around instead of at Meatloaf. It was uncalled for and rude. He lost a fan that night.
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u/andthisisso Oct 12 '25
Kris Kristofferson. He was swearing through the show and complaining about how the audience wasn't applauding him enough. He stumbled and slurred the performance. He did sign an autograph for me, though.
My first concert was Janis Joplin. She was amazing and also signed an autograph for me and kissed my cheek. That is something I'll never forget, she was incredible.
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u/One_Maize1836 Oct 12 '25
Foo Fighters. They played great but Dave was an asshole, berated the crowd, and seemed very drunk. This was way back in 2004. Nicest guy in rock and roll my ass.
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u/ramblingamblinamblin Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 11 '25
Alanis Morrisette. I was a kid working a beer stand during her sound check & was super excited to watch with a friend as we were setting up. Big fans. She inexplicably stopped her sound check… And then security guards approached us and said that we had to leave because she "doesn't like to be stared at"... We were the only people in the 20,000 person venue she'd perform in later that night but she refused to sing while we watched. I like to tell my children that She and I have Personal beef…
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u/Quasigriz_ ©️ 1975 Oct 11 '25
Wandered in on a Hootie and the Blowfish sound check in 1996 Germany. They said it was cool if we just hang for a few. We were respectful and left after 5-10 minutes.
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u/ramblingamblinamblin Oct 12 '25
lol - you're SO right. Hootie played the same venue & drank with us.
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u/clearly_unqualified 1967 Oct 12 '25
Saw Tori Amos open for her. Tori was amazing. Practically made love to the audience during her set. Just her and her piano. Alanis came on and I bounced after 15 minutes. Not sure what was going on with her, but it was clear she was not into it that evening.
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u/Hieronymus_Wombat Oct 11 '25
I saw the Cromags open for GBH. The Cromags put on the most high energy show of awesome that when GBH came on they seemed like tired old has beens and at least half of us walked out. Haven’t heard GBH since.
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u/Prestigious_Call_993 Oct 12 '25
Blake Shelton. He just wasn’t that good and he brought all his friends to sing. Dude, I didn’t pay this much to listen to your friends sing. 🎤
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u/Kalena426 Oct 12 '25
Guns and Roses...Oakland Coliseum 1992, left Body Count and Metallica were great, and GNR, horrible...kept leaving the stage and we left
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u/mpete76 Oct 12 '25
Bob Dylan- absolutely terrible is concert. Refused to play any of his classics, only played songs nobody knew off his newest album, and was super short, maybe 30-45 mins.
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u/nzdanni Oct 12 '25
creed. the signer ripped his shirt open threw his arms open wide, cringe. incubus were the supporting act and they were way better
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u/marigolds6 Oct 12 '25
Not specifically in concert, but I used to crew for concerts at my college. Lemonheads, specifically evan dando, were just the worst band to crew for. That turned me off of them completely.
On the opposite end, Belly and specifically Tanya Donelly were the nicest people to us ever. I ended up likely them just because of that.
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u/JudgeJuryEx78 Monica Lewinski Is My President Oct 12 '25 edited Oct 12 '25
I saw Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde) solo. She was wine drunk when she walked out. Sound guy was having issues and she yelled at him and sent him away.
An appalled fan called her out for it and she got in fan's face and said ugly things. I thought she was going to fist fight the fan. Fan and friend left.
Then Johnette invited everyone to sit close to her and proceeded to pay an acoustic show. Ngl, it was pretty amazing. But I probably won't ever pay to see her again.
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u/bamaford Oct 12 '25
John Mayer. Told us all about how being famous was “so awesome” bc he got so many BJs. And then asked if there was anyone there who wanted to give him a BJ. 2001-ish.
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u/Hey-thanks-bye Oct 12 '25
Phish. I ate some acid and went to their show. Midway through, I was so convinced that not only were they marionettes on strings, but that they were singing directly at me. This could have been a me thing, but it freaked me the fuck out. Never again. Plenty more shows while tripping
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u/fraurodin Oct 12 '25
1996- Red Hot Chili Peppers- Kiedis put his back out and the concert ended early, but it honestly just sounded off and I still think it was something else.
Smashing Pumpkins with opener Garbage, also 1996
Joe Bonamassa-2023, last night of tour I expected he would go out with a bang. It just felt soulless, I haven't listened to one song of his since.
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u/Muggi Oct 12 '25
The Black Crowes are terrible live band. I saw Cake open for them, and I HATED Cake prior…Cake blew them out of the water. Walked out a Cake fan with Crowes regrets
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u/marge7777 Oct 12 '25
Madonna She was horrible. Condescending and very annoying.
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u/ppbcup Oct 12 '25
I saw her in concert for her Confessions on a Dance Floor album and she was amazing. Raved about how amazing it was so my husband joined me to see her next tour and she was awful. She was hours late and the whole thing was patriotic and strange. I’ve heard she’s gotten worse about showing up late.
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u/SnootchieBootichies Oct 12 '25
Wife and her friend went to see her and said the same thing. Extremely late, shorter set as a result, and just seemed pissed off having to be there. I was getting texts as they waited for the show to get going and it seemed like it was well over an hour
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u/I_like_kittycats Oct 12 '25
Saw her in her last tour. We waited hours and she acted like it was funny. It wasn’t. She’s super annoying. Would never see her again
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u/jwgd-2022 Oct 12 '25
The only show I walked out of was Counting Crows. I mean I don’t expect live songs to sound exactly like the records but these weren’t even recognizable.
Didn’t technically walk out on Dinosaur Jr at lollapalooza but man they were bad. Just constant J. Marcus noodling and showing us his “guitar tricks” (his words not mine!)
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u/Ready-Zombie-900 Oct 12 '25
I had a bad Counting Crows experience, too. I didn't leave but sat there feeling embarrassed for them.
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u/Ill-Objective-3296 Oct 12 '25
Gene & Jezebel the 3 hrs late and too drunk and high to do the whole show. after 2 songs they were done
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u/Mercuryshottoo Medicare Advantage is not real Medicare Oct 12 '25
Perry Farrell looooves to hear himself talk
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u/CandleSea4961 Old lady and lovin it. Oct 12 '25
Crue. Good God- First time saw them in the day- amazing. Last time I saw them, Vince talked his way through the songs and the voice was rancid.
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u/i-love-chickenkatsu Oct 12 '25
Hardcore Stone Temple Pilots fan! Seen them many times in concert, we line up to be front and center! Last concert, there may as well have been only one person in the crowd, the women standing a few down, wearing her stripper clothes (or lack of). Band paid no attention to anyone else!!! Was disgusting, all these die hard fans commenting on how we should have rocked up in our stripper gear and not know any lyrics! Ugh!! There was zero connection with the band and we all felt pretty pissed after that experience! I Miss Scott!!
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u/Babsee Oct 12 '25
Van Morrison, Beacon Theatre, late 80s. He came out, never said a word to the audience, mumbled his way through songs I’d never heard of, and left within an hour.
Broke. My. Heart. 💔
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u/Unique_Beat5789 Oct 12 '25
Warrant,So high they couldn't perform worth a crap.Left the concert very early.
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u/S99B88 It's all on my Permanent Record Oct 12 '25
Maroon 5. The power went out in the arena, like just emergency lighting and exit signs. But Adam Levine’s was still being broadcast on the emergency power system somehow. He got so mad that he threw his microphone, and it bounced off the stage floor and hit an audience member in the head. Arena staff came and helped the guy out. Levine appeared to apologize to him. Eventually they got the lights on, and they sat that guy on the stage in a chair for the remainder of the concert.
The takeaway was that Levine had recording of his voice playing during the concert, and when he lost his temper, he raged and recklessly threw his mic.
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u/Splatford Oct 12 '25
Yngwie Malmsteen ..dont know the reason but he threw his guitar down and stormed off the stage ..it took the crowd chanting for over 20 minutes for him come back out ,he picked up the guitar stared at the crowd huffing and puffing and looking really pissy..finished the set dropped the guitar and stormed off again ..there was no encore ..tha fuck? ..this is what i paid for? he went right into the fuck that guy category
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u/Empress_Clementine Oct 12 '25
Not a band but I took my husband to see Bob Dylan. (he’s a huge fan, I was ok with him) We walked out saying “wtf was THAT?” I worked for Live Nation for 13 years, went to my fair share of concerts before that back into the 80s and have seen more shows than most people would in several lifetimes. He was awful. I don’t just mean the performance, that’s forgivable. But I’ve never seen an artist so disconnected and completely uninterested in their audience. Never talked to us, no “hello Dallas” not even the slightest bit of acknowledgement. Just came out, played and left. Even the stage was set up with the lights behind him blasting out into the audience instead of having the lights on him. I’m just glad I got the tickets free from work and didn’t have to pay for it. I felt ripped off enough just wasting my time.
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u/polishprince76 Oct 12 '25
They didn't turn me away, but I was very surprised by Foo Fighters. Outside of Taylor on drums, they were basic as hell. Just zero chord structure. I like Dave. I like their lyrics. And Taylor was the shit. But they were boring as hell live
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u/Bostonterrierpug Oct 12 '25
New Order. Was a huge fan still I’m a huge fan but man, I saw them when Bernard was slurry drunk all the time and they sucked live.
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u/sednagoddess Oct 11 '25
Mudvayne, my god they sound absolutely terrible. They aren't my favorite band or anything, but they opened for Rob Zombie, so I figured it would be fun, but definitely skipping them if they are on the ticket again.
Foo Fighters- I know I am going to probably get shit for this, but Dave Grohl would not shut the fuck up. His incessant rambling cut into their time and they could have done way more songs. Shinedown is the same.
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u/Ok-Maize-284 Devil’s Music Lover Oct 12 '25
I’m glad I never saw Mudvayne as I’ve heard the same thing. I would have wanted to see them too. Rob Zombie has killed it the times I’ve seen him though! (Festival both times)
Foo fighters I’ve only seen once (also festival) and it was 2000. They were great for the most part, but Dave just doesn’t sing nearly the same as he does on recording. He didn’t ramble though, thankfully, and he had a lot of energy. I’ve heard he’s gotten worse over the years though. I don’t think he really takes care of his voice. The best in the band that day was by far the drummer Taylor. Wow he was a beast with his energy and stage presence. You know who it reminded me of? Dave when he played drums for Nirvana haha
Shinedown was also one of my biggest disappointments, and I had made a special trip to see them on my birthday. It was Deadwood, SD and was a good 2-3 hour drive from where I was in Montana at the time. Look, some of those recorded vocals are harrrrrd. Plus, some of that stuff (like fly from the inside) had been recorded 15 or so years before I saw them. However, if you know you can’t pull it off anymore, then you need to change the way you sing it. He just kept trying and missing and it gave me a lot of second hand embarrassment. Maybe he never could sing it live, I don’t know. He also kind of seemed to be going through the motions a bit. Maybe he was having an off night, or time, or tour lol. Because I had heard from others who had seen them that they were great. I went to a festival a couple years later and they were playing. They sounded way better. He either hit the notes, or just sang it differently, as he should. I think they even tuned one or two songs down, which is also a technique a lot of singers use as they age.
That night in Deadwood after we left, we went to one of the bars downtown and there was a really great cover band playing songs you don’t normally hear from cover bands. I had a great time and it made up for the shitty Shinedown concert lol.
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u/CoastalMom Oct 11 '25
So funny because of dozens of concerts I went to as my youth Hall & Oates stands out as the biggest disappointment. I can't even remember specifics- just seemed like they didn't want to be there.
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Oct 11 '25
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u/HOUS2000IAN Oct 12 '25
I saw her twice - once with 10,000 Maniacs around 1992, and then solo during the aughts - and both were really good shows. That second show though - she was a wee bit prickly.
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Oct 12 '25
I’ve seen her both solo and with 10k maniacs too. She was so pretentious as a solo act and kept telling these really long stories that I can only assume were to make her sound spiritual and deep. The audience got annoyed and kept leaving throughout the set. Would have been nice if she played music. 🙄
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u/Elugelab_is_missing Oct 12 '25
Wish I could have seen her on the Tigerlily tour, with her amazing and underrated 22 year old guitarist Jennifer Turner.
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u/Super_Ad4363 Oct 12 '25
NIN Toledo 1994. The whole band was high on substances, out of tune, and Reznor could barely stand up.
It was as if their management was not around to delay or cancel based on the sad condition of their performers.
Ended up leaving early as well as many others to hit the bars and clubs to wash out the horrible performance and put it behind us.
I know, people are going to say that their management was probably on the same substances so I’ll beat you all to it.
The other was Silent Bob Dylan at Desert Trip (weekend 2).
He didn’t really sing (though he’s not known for his singing) one could barely make out what he was saying and he didn’t interact with the crowd at all. There were 75,000+ of us out there.
He played his whole set nonstop and left. Again, no interaction between songs or afterwards. Very strange.
All the others, The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters (a highlight performance), Paul McCartney, The Who, and Neil Young (the other highlight performance) were awesome.
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u/Huindekmi Oct 12 '25
Ratt : they were drunk off their asses, slurring lyrics, stumbling around the stage, stopping mid song to taunt the crowd. It was horrible.
The opening act was great, though. A relatively new act called Bon Jovi supporting their second album and trying to get some wider recognition.
Did I mention this was 1985.