What is your worst concert experience?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by beachboydw, Jul 11, 2013.

  1. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Oh I do know, it's what I was saying :)
     
  2. jason202

    jason202 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    A great show somewhat ruined for me by how loud it was: Guided by Voices on their Classic Lineup reunion tour in 2010, 9:30 Club in DC. Now I'd heard rumors of how loud GBV shows could be and this was my first time seeing them. They sounded great, Bob up there drinking from a bottle of Cuervo, high kicking and all. I'd been going to loud concerts for about 20 years at this point, but man, was I unprepared for this. I'd never been to a show before this one that made my ears physically hurt. I think we made it 3/4 through the show before leaving. My ears rang for well over 24 hours—that had never happened to me before. Definitely some permanent damage, and we were close to the back of the room. I plan on seeing them once again at the Black Cat in a couple of months. I'm currently looking for a proper pair of earplugs. I don't think I'll ever go to a loud show again without them.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2018
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  3. pierogy

    pierogy Forum Resident

    I saw Angel (with Punky Meadows) in November 1975 at the Riviera Theater in Chicago touring behind their debut LP. I didn't care about Angel nor did most of the crowd. The music was uninteresting, the reception was lukewarm at best, and it took forever to dismantle Angel's set decorations. The loudest cheers were when the big backdrop finally came down. So why were we all there? For the headliners - Sparks on their Indiscreet tour! This would be the end of Ron and Russell's glam period and they were beyond sensational. A real feast and famine evening.

    Probably the strangest concert I attended was Roy Harper at the Birchmere in Alexandria VA in September 1998. Roy was completely solo and had been booked into the concert hall. However, ticket sales were so miserable that they moved him into the lobby, where about twenty of us fans got the super intimate treatment and some Q&A. Poor Roy. Lucky us.
     
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  4. Slack Babbath

    Slack Babbath Hit The North...

    Location:
    North Yorkshire
    Sugar - Town And Country Club , London - 1992
    I was a massive Husker Du fan and convinced all my mates that seeing Bob Mould’s new band Sugar live (after buying and listening to their debut lp) was going to be amazing.
    The volume was SO loud that every song was so distorted that that the entire gig for us was ruined . You couldn’t tell what song they were playing . I spent most of the night apologising/being down in the dumps wishing the soundman could hear what we could do he’d sort the levels out !
     
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  5. AlmostHeavenWV

    AlmostHeavenWV The poster formerly known as AlmostHeavenWV

    Location:
    Lancaster UK
    Driving in to Newcastle on Tyne last month to see The Split Squad, and I was involved in my first-ever car accident, meaning that I missed the show, the only one they did in England this year.

    I was at a private Jefferson Starship show in London, where the organiser and those present had subsidised the band's appearance. All the way through, the same people who always seemed to get seats in the front row at JS's regular concerts stood at the front, while a guy in a wheelchair was sat to the side of the room. Just selfishness.
     
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  6. bad_penny

    bad_penny Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn
    Two come to mind.

    Pink Floyd - Momentary Lapse of Reason tour at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. I think I remember hating every minute of it and couldn't wait for the show to end. Couldn't leave because I was with friends and we weren't all seated together. I knew I should have gone to see Gaye Bykers on Acid that night instead.

    Tool - Berkeley Square in 1992 or 1993. Friends convinced me to go. I should have known better. I'm still not sure what people see in this band.
     
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  7. Veggie Boy

    Veggie Boy still trudgin'

    Location:
    Central Canada
    The Black Crows some time around 2006. I guess ticket sales weren't as strong as was anticipated. They moved the stage forward so the venue didn't seem as vacant as it would otherwise. The Crowes probably didn't like weak ticket sales and pretty much ignored the audience that was in attendance. They fulfilled their contractual obligation and played but the band pretty much stood in a circle and performed like it was a rehearsal session. Lost all respect for the Black Crowes after that.
     
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  8. Paul b

    Paul b Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Saw Traffic somewhere around 1972 at The Academy of Music in NYC. Chris Wood could not stand up, eventually slouching on the piano bench and then falling over a few times, once almost off the stage. He had to leave mid-show. The band was pretty unhinged from that and the show was terrible.
    My memory is that Winwood was on WNEW-FM radio the following day and promised a free show next time they toured because of the prior night's debacle. Don't believe they toured again with Chris Wood after that.
     
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  9. highway chile

    highway chile I know it goes a little deeper than that.

    Location:
    Lawrence, Kansas
    Interesting. What was the date or venue of the show, if you don't mind sharing?
     
  10. anonsequitur

    anonsequitur Forum Resident

    Location:
    CA
    Primus in Petaluma, CA. Probably the 1990 Frizzle Fry tour.
    While standing near the stage pre-show, security saw my audio recording equipment. They wouldn't let me stay in the venue with my recording device on me, so I just bailed, missing the entire concert.
     
  11. rikki nadir

    rikki nadir Gentleman Thug

    Location:
    London, UK
    I was at that show too. I remember it well!

    I started out standing in front of the stage before showtime and for twenty minutes I had to put up with some guy's girlfriend complaining that other people, including me, were tall and moving into her line of sight. Eventually I turned to her and said 'we are all situated in the mosh pit - if you think any 'sight line' you might have is going to last more than fifteen seconds of the first song you are very much sadly mistaken'.

    The imbecile boyfriend then tried to start a fight with me, cut short by the lights going down and the first number 'A Good Idea' - sure enough, everyone in front of the stage moved about three feet to the left, then six feet to the right, repeatedly to the beat. As I caught my last sight of the two stunned lovers I shouted 'so long, arseholes - enjoy the show!'

    As you said, it was ridiculously loud. Whole songs came and went without any clue what they were, and I knew the album well by then. I moved throughout the venue, ending up in the upstairs gallery with earplugs, where the sound improved a little bit. I went down front for the last few numbers, and as we all left the venue the general feeling was that the gig was a rank disaster because of the high sound level. Heartbreakingly, one guy I spoke to on the way out said the previous time he saw Bob Mould, touring Black Sheets of Rain (which I love) with Anton Fier on drums, the sound was perfect.

    Incidentally, a Graham Parker show I saw around the same time at the Town and C0untry Club was similarly so loud we walked out - a soundman with specific views on volume levels who went on to pursue a career in CD mastering, perhaps?
     
  12. A6mzero

    A6mzero One foot in the grave, one foot on the pedal

    Location:
    Spartanburg sc
    Outdoor concert at Memorial Stadium in the summer of 72 . I can’t remember all the bands those were the days whe you could see 7 or 8 great acts for 5 bucks(sigh). I do know Dr.John was the headliner along with The Ike n Tina Turner Revue, Uriah Heep, the Doobies (long before they turned to sap with M.McDonald), ZZ Top and the rest are lost to history. A big thunderstorm comes up 2 or 3 hours in and the promoters decide its a good idea to try and put 10,000 people into an arena next to the stadium which held at best 3,000. Everyone is scrambling to try to get in and some fencing was knocked down and next thing I know Charlottes finest appears and are putting the billy clubs to kids left and right . After fortuitously avoiding getting my skull cracked I somehow made it into the facility but had to listen to the rest of the show out in the concourse with only occasional glimpses of the bands.
     
  13. pscreed

    pscreed Upstanding Member

    Location:
    Land of the Free
    December 3, 1979

    Walter Adams Jr. 22 Trotwood OH

    Peter Bowes 18 Wyoming OH

    Connie Sue Burns 21 Miamisburg OH

    Jacqueline Eckerle 15 Finneytown OH

    David Heck 19 Highland Heights KY

    Teva Rae Ladd 27 Newtown OH

    Karen Morrison 15 Finneytown OH

    Stephan Preston 19 Finneytown OH

    Philip Snyder 20 Franklin OH

    Bryan Wagner 17 Fort Thomas KY

    James Warmoth 21 Franklin OH
     
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2018
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  14. Mark B.

    Mark B. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Concord, NC
    Never heard this story before. How did they think the Grady Cole Center would hold everyone at an event at Memorial Stadium? Just crazy.
     
  15. chewy

    chewy Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Coast USA
    Wait wait, so the show, moved from the stadium- and they moved it, the same day, like during the concert- to the adjacent arena? That sounds insane, even not on drugs-
     
  16. Veggie Boy

    Veggie Boy still trudgin'

    Location:
    Central Canada
    Black Crowes MTS Centre Winnipeg (about 16-17,000 seat venue). around 2006 or 2007
     
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  17. antonkk

    antonkk Senior Member

    Location:
    moscow
    KISS last year's concert in Moscow. I love the band dearly but Paul couldn't even talk not to mention sing. It was beyond painful, it was torture and I had my share of "bad voice" concerts.
     
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  18. breakingglass

    breakingglass Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Big Black
     
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  19. A6mzero

    A6mzero One foot in the grave, one foot on the pedal

    Location:
    Spartanburg sc
    It was Park Center which was used for wrestling and small events althiugh I saw Black Oak Arkansas there’re 2, MTB, Poco,Quicksilver,Foghat,Jamesgang(Tommy Bolin had just replaced JW) and ZZ Top. It is no longer there. Yep moved the concert lock,stock, and barrel right In the middle of the event.
     
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  20. cgw

    cgw Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Question - Is the sound level, esp. at the medium venues, determined by venue board operators or band personnel?
     
  21. mr. k

    mr. k Master of the Rummage (retired)

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Back in the mid 80's, I sneaked into a rock festival in Belgium (by clambering through barbed wire) to hear Lou Reed (with Robert Quine) and Simple Minds. Clambering back out again, one of my hands sank deep into a human turd. Serves me right, I suppose.
     
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  22. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    I had exactly the same experience. Sounds like the Temples In Flames tour? Roger McGuinn opened and, though he wasn't great, he was the best thing about the concert.
     
  23. Input details
     
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  24. cgw

    cgw Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Serves you right for not just walking out the gate when you were in?
     
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  25. rikki nadir

    rikki nadir Gentleman Thug

    Location:
    London, UK
    Now THAT, Sir, is and was a can of worms indeed!

    Some artists tour with a soundperson. Sometimes that soundperson is allowed full access to the hallowed PA. Sometimes the artist brings their own PA and soundperson, many times both of these are allowed to operate without undue interference from the host venue. Sometimes not.

    My experience comes from the early and mid-nineties, of course, when I was promoting artists - everything may have changed since then, hopefully for the better.

    Incidentally, I found this about the venue we were discussing above, in a Guardian review article:

    The gig venue guide: The Forum, London

     

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