The worst concert you ever attended

[onewyteduck]

Chicago. Saw them, oh, about six weeks before Terry Kath killed himself (77?).
It was absolutely horrible. They were off key & the horns always seemed to be way ahead of everyone else. We left before the end of the show. I haven't been able to listen to Chicago since then. I still want my money back!

The Police. Caught them on the tail end of the Synchronicity tour. Now, from a technical, musical standpoint, they sounded good. But, the vibe (for lack of a better way to describe it) was bad. They didn't want to be there and it was really obvious. It was quite disappointing. Still listen to them though!

[Cail]

Ozzy. Utterly pathetic.

[jelerak]

Boston circa 1987.

It was like watching grass grow. Bad enough it sounded like they must have done the same song over and over (and over) again for 75 minutes or so, but they just stood there. No lateral movement at all whatsoever.

With their outdated afro hair styles, you could have just nailed musical instruments to a variety of overgrown chia pets and played their music via tape over the amps and have gotten the same effect of the concert.

Close second...Stone Temple Pilots...no quality at all to the sound.

[aTOMiC]

Worst: Pretenders. Not because the band wasn't entertaining and pretty much spot on it had everything to do with Chrissie Hynde spending 20 minutes giving us all hell for eating meat. I kept thinking "I'm heading straight to Burger King after this." The funny thing about all that is that I'd be thrilled if technology made it possible to turn soybeans into a 12oz Fillet provided I couldn't tell the difference in taste. I find having to kill animals to eat troubling but if you beat me over the head with it like she did I'm going to react negatively. Can we leave the overt politics for debates and get on with the music please?

[Relayer]

Worst show: Echo and the Bunnymen... they were so drunk it would have been hilarious if they hadn't just sucked.

Worst sound: Aerosmith in 78. I literally could hear nothing but noise.

[Cagliostro]

EL is going to kill me for this, but I think it was the Glass Spider tour from Bowie. The tickets were purchased for me, and I wasn't all that excited, because I am very fond of older Bowie, and not a fan of many of hits. Hunky Dory was an album I was worshipping at the time, and he played nothing from it, and didn't even play anything from Ziggy Stardust. So I only recognized a song or two, and had come to appreciate more intimate concerts much more than huge concerts. My other friends came with us on a road trip and went and saw Hoodoo Gurus in a small place about 45 minutes away, and had a much better time. I would much rather had seen the Hoodoo Gurus, as Bowie only did a couple songs I knew, and they were far from favorites of mine. And I couldn't give a wet slap about all the dancers on stage.

[Cail]

Glass Spider was awesome. I thought it was nice of Peter Frampton to have David Bowie sing on his tour.

[danlo]

Easy Joe Cocker/Foghat Albq. '74. Not Foghat's fault, Cocker came onstage holding two sixpacks of Coors and said, "Hey man, I'm so f---ing high at this high altitude!" His first two songs were ok, but he slurred Hitchcock Railway straight into the ground and had to be be carried offstage. We tryed to hang for Foghat, but my date and I left when the crowd rushed the stage. We were in the 6th row and were being crushed pretty damm hard. In '74 rushing the stage was a very early phenomenon and we weren't used to it, and even though we had heard good things about Foghat they weren't, totally, proven at that point. Damm that Joe Cocker! Reports were that Foghat's show was one of the best act to ever hit town...

[CovenantJr]

Nerf Herder in 2003/2004-ish. Not because Nerf Herder were bad - they weren't, at all - but because they were supported by a godawful local wannabe-Pistols punk band called *ahem* The Wank Sinatras, who just played terrible, tuneless, two-chord covers of Rat Pack songs.

Actually, it's a tie between that and Katatonia (yes, with a K, as opposed to Cerys Matthews' bunch of gimps) at Manchester Bierkeller in about '02 or thereabouts. Ok, a bierkeller probably isn't the best venue for sound quality, but the vocals were turned down so far that they were completely inaudible - and a number of Katatonia's songs are recognisable only by the vocals. The upshot of all this is a fuzzy, muddy, vocally mute mess.

The funny thing about all that is that I'd be thrilled if technology made it possible to turn soybeans into a 12oz Fillet provided I couldn't tell the difference in taste.

Agreed. I'm a vegetarian in principle, but nothing vegetarian tastes like meat. Yet.

[A Gunslinger]

I love me some Bobby Dylan...but MAN..I saw Dylan one time and I swear to the heavens above that he had been captured and replaced by an entity that was somehow comprised of a mix of Burl Ives, Stevie Nicks, Vincent Price and a plate of waffles.

It was so bad...I nearly wept.

[CovenantJr]

I love me some Bobby Dylan...but MAN..I saw Dylan one time and I swear to the heavens above that he had been captured and replaced by an entity that was somehow comprised of a mix of Burl Ives, Stevie Nicks, Vincent Price and a plate of waffles.

It was so bad...I nearly wept.

I don't know Burl Ives, but the mere suggestion of combining Stevie Nicks and Vincent Price makes me weep bitter tears of despair.

[danlo]

Pretenders, one of the last shows at the Civic Center around '83, was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Maybe because Chrissy sang and didn't talk... We we extremely pissed that Sonic Youth cancelled but the opening act-my god!!! Anthrax replaced them and must have put on the worst show they ever did. Fortunately we ran out to the parking lot to toke and make out, but we could still hear their vile offerings.

[sgt.null]

toby keith. a friend brought us. he paid for the tickets. it was dull mostly. the songs sucked, he can't sing and the good ole boy thing is tired. i hated every aspect of the show and most everybody who was in attendance. jingoism ain't fun close up. at least he didn't sing that damn boot in yer ass song.

[danlo]

I lump Keith with Cheney in a catergory you don't want to know, you poor bastard.

[Ki]

as much as i hate to say this, but my most disappointing concert was the last TooL show i saw. the sound was awful, and MJK was barely audible.

[emotional leper]

All who disparage the Area shall be destroyed.

Do shows count, or just concerts?

[Mortice Root]

Bullet Boys/ Faster Pussycat/ Poison.

Posion actually weren't bad, though after what came before, a group of screaming cats in heat would have been an improvement, so my standards were pretty low......

[bloodguard bob]

Worst Experience - M.D.C. (Millions of Dead Cops) '89. Warehouse in City of Commerce, CA. Raided by police in riot gear before the headliners came on stage. The first four bands were fun though.

Worst on the ears - Rolling Stones, 2006, Giants Stadium. Terrible. Mick Jagger's voice, yeesh.

[onewyteduck]

Mick Jagger's voice, yeesh.

I've never seen the Stones live and I think that way!

[Cameraman Jenn]

Worst and yet not horrible concert. Alice in Chains/Metallica/Guns and Roses. Alice in Chains rocked. Metallica RULED. Probably twenty minutes turn around between the two bands. THEN Guns and Roses came on 45 minutes after Metallica had left the stage. They came on and played ONE song, "Welcome to the Jungle." Then they left the stage for another FORTY FIVE MINUTES at which point they brought out a piano and Axl Rose came out and played shite for a freaking HOUR. We left as did most of the stadium and as we exited we heard the band play "Sweet Child of Mine" but it sounded horrible. I want ten bucks back and several hours of my life. I got most of my money's worth with Metallica and AIC. Guns and Roses owes me. Axl Rose needs to be beaten. Granted he is now a pathetic has been who f--ked up and lost the love of his fans and Stephanie Seymour but still. He should suffer. As I suffered while listening to his crap and having a screaming fan yelling, "off the f--king stage you f--king Liberace!" behind my head for an hour. Back in the early nineties 65 was ALOT of money to pay for tickets. I also say, sorry you f--ker dumbass jackass but hot gorgeous supermodels who are WAY out of your league don't date skinny ugly redheaded guys who do heroin. You had the potential and then you blew it. You are an ASS Axl Rose.

I also managed to get to a Tom Petty/Bob Dylan show in DC for a fourth of July concert in which Bob Dylan was so wasted it was pathetic. I was disgusted by Dylan for awhile but then Dylan managed to regain my respect in a small venue concert in Oregon in which he ROCKED THE HOUSE. I was very pleased and having had such a bad Dylan experience I had not bought the tickets but was dragged by a friend. He earned respect. I love him again.