Who were the drunkest performers you saw on stage?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by spencer1, Sep 26, 2019.

  1. screechmartin

    screechmartin Senior Member

    Location:
    British Columbia
    Chris Spedding playing with John Cale at a club in Victoria BC somewhere in the mid 1980's. I was very close to the stage and could see Cale was worried that Spedding---swaying back and forth---was just going to fall over. I was worried too, but nonetheless, Spedding played beautifully. It was a wonderful show.
     
  2. Kassonica

    Kassonica Forum Resident

    I was mixing a american touring band who should remain nameless, setting up for the gig in the afternoon, the singer and tour manager turn up, the singer was cradling a beer like a baby, "walked" up to the stage, I introduced myself and told him I'd be mixing the show (sold out) he could hardly walk, he asked where he could lie down, I told him I'd find out if the rooms were ready, but said there was a couch over in the chill out section if he needed to "rest" he thanked me, and shuffled over, sized up the old leather couch (not sure if he was seeing double or triple at this point) and fell on to it, still cradling the beer... Passed out....

    Was lead upstairs by tour manager later...

    Ok fast forward a few hours, support bands are finished, nearly time for the main "act", singer still passed out, due to hit the stage in 20 minutes, tour manager goes up to room, wakes said singer up (as best he could) proceeds to push a E into his mouth, gives him a line of coke, singer staying to wake up, asks for a drink, gets handed a bottle of vodka, proceeds to drink about a 3rd of the bottle in one go....

    Downstairs rest of band now on stage, crowd getting testy, the singer, runs through the crowd like a maniac, jumps on stage, band launch into 1st song, venue erupts in absolute mayhem......

    PS, on another tour one of my soundy mates was mixing the same band, singer walks into venue in afternoon, goes behind bar, put mouth under beer tap, turns tap on, waiting till bar staff come out and stop him....

    There are other stories but I'll leave them for another time
     
  3. Leroyd

    Leroyd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    John Martyn many years ago. Many including myself left and got a refund. Witnessing a genius slaughtered by alcohol was too much. I also saw him in top form and he was terrific.
     
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  4. Gordon Crisp

    Gordon Crisp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    OK you need to divulge some names so I can celebrate this man.
     
  5. abzach

    abzach Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Shane Macgowan with The Pogues - they had to lead him on and of stage, just sad.
     
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  6. Greenalishi

    Greenalishi Birds Aren’t Real

    Location:
    San Francisco
  7. Deek57

    Deek57 Forum Resident

    Faces 9/12/73, they were almost an hour late onstage, played just over an hour, defo looked like they had been on the sauce, then they were seen off by the safety curtain coming down.
     
  8. Ghost of Ziggy

    Ghost of Ziggy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hell
    I didn’t see the tour apart from the video, but I always suspected Bono drank through much of the Zoo Tv tour due to change in his character and he became generally more likeable and looser for a few years.
     
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  9. Kassonica

    Kassonica Forum Resident

    I’ll give you a hint.

    He was located in a Mexican jail and had to be bailed and then smuggled over the border for a tour.
     
  10. tomd

    tomd Senior Member

    Location:
    Brighton,Colorado
    Julian Casablancas of The Strokes at the Phoenix concert of the Is This It? tour.Couldn’t believe he made it through the whole concert.
     
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  11. Technocentral

    Technocentral Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    A mate saw The Popes with his girlfriend, they were up front, Mc Gowan puked on his GF then a guy in the audience pissed on the back of his trousers.
     
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  12. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI


    Go to around 23:35. In the 80's I saw a ton of bands with Jack on stage. I remember Tommy Lee downed a whole bottle at once but I assumed it was tea because I thought there was just no way someone could do that.
     
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  13. Koptapad

    Koptapad Forum Resident

    I was there too.

    It was Alvin Lee & Company
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2019
  14. Remy

    Remy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    REM
    Radio City Music Hall NYC

    Sometime in the 80’s. I could be wrong, but Michael Stipe was all over the place. At least the Monkey Riding the bicycle was a cool T-shirt.
     
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  15. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

  16. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

    Gordon Lightfoot, 1975. He staggered on, spent a minute cussing out the audience, staggered off. End of show.
     
  17. detroit muscle

    detroit muscle MIA

    Location:
    UK
    Damian Rice supporting Counting Crows. Absolutely dreadful.
     
  18. BwanaBob

    BwanaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    I hope someone out there can fill in the blank on this one.
    I went to school at Binghamton University (SUNY Binghamton as it was known then). Sometime between 1979 and 1981 they booked this jazz drummer legend from the 40's-50's (whose name is escaping me). He was set to play in this cavernous room in the Student Union. At that time I didn't have much interest in that kind of music so I didn't buy a ticket (it supposedly sold-out). But I did find myself in the Union that night (the campus pub was in the same building. I decided to call it a real early night and went to catch a bus. I passed one of the doors to the concert "room". You could peek thru the crack int between the two doors. I see this older guy sitting like a lummox behind a very rudimentary drum kit. He seems to be just staring at it. Then he does a rim-shot. More silence. Hits a cymbal. It's all over the place. He's wobbling. Then he falls over. I walk away shaking my head. As I'm waiting for the bus, there was a surge of seemingly pissed off people who were leaving the show which had ended (very) early and suddenly. I doubt it lasted 20 minutes. I had a friend who worked for the campus concert commission (the promoters) who told me the guy starting puking back stage and it stunk of beer.

    I'm still trying to figure out who it could have been. If the Binghamton University campus paper ever gets its act together and digitizes all its back issues I'll kill an afternoon trying to find the ad for the concert; I'm quite sure they did not review the show for fear of embarrassing the act and the concert commission for obviously not doing their due diligence with this guy.

    Someone suggested Art Blakey but I cannot corroborate that.
     
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  19. Lk4605

    Lk4605 Forum Resident

    Location:
    France Marseille
    Van Morrison with Them at the Paris Olympia 1966/67....
     
  20. JackOfAllTrades

    JackOfAllTrades It's only my opinion

    Location:
    Bristol, UK
    Phil Mogg of UFO - seems to be 'well-oiled' every show
     
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  21. malco49

    malco49 Forum Resident

    i was gonna say johnny thunders but i am pretty sure it was not alcohol that had so impaired. unless there was booze involved and you saw him drinking etc.
     
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  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Probably Jimmy Barnes, not that you would know it. He went through 1 or 2 bottles of vodka a night, but always had it together and knocked it out of the park.
     
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  23. Terry

    Terry Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee
    The Replacements, UWM Milwaukee, the concert now featured in the just released box set. Paul stumbled into the mens room right before the concert, and there I stood. He seemed a tad embarrassed.
     
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  24. Terry

    Terry Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee
    I saw him a few months before he died, and I don't believe he was drunk. At one point he laid down and sparked up a joint, which I found rather charming. Great show.
     
  25. benny

    benny Senior Member

    Location:
    South Florida
    George Carlin 1974 - he was so drunk/high that he couldn’t finish anything he started. He also had a can of beer that he kept flicking the ashes of his cigarette into and then drinking from.
     
    anth67, MortSahlFan, Remy and 9 others like this.

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