Saw the faces a bunch of times at Capitol in Port Chester, NY. They’d hop out of the car already snookered and well-armed with fortifiers. Always seemed like they were good natured drunks though.
OK, this was the 1970s but I still remember distinctly attending a Joe Cocker concert at the Orpheum theater here in Boston. He was singing a song and as he was reaching for a high note and to this day I could still see his eyes bulging out, and at that moment a roadie comes running out places a cardboard box next to him and he puked in the box. If anyone was at this concert they could back me up in this please let me know
Rita C was interviewed in the Netflix doc. Mad Dogs was an unwieldy tour... four drummers, some 40-odd people. It was hemorrhaging money and Cocker walked away without a nickel. But yes, by all accounts, Cocker is lucky to have survived his own demons.
Bernard Sumner of New Order was totally wasted when I saw New Order in, like, 1984. He kept forgetting lyrics, and couldn't play his guitar, often humping it obscenely. It was awful, and quite disappointing.
Dave Pegg is famous for "always having a drink in his hand", as Tony Iommi once said. This is what Ian Anderson said in a 1994 interview in Caracas: Do you believe in ghosts? "Our bass player sees things all the time. He is very fond of particular drink called Irish draught Guinness. You should get together with him."
Ryan Adams at a Whiskeytown show. I think getting drunk was intentional and part of the act. He played and sang well though.
Check out the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts from The '70s. All in good fun. Brooks, a one-time college professor, was brilliant.
Steven Tyler on the RIAHP Tour in Maine. Ruff shape, very ruff. At least he didn't collapse and end the show as he had before in Maine. Mr. Tyler had a reputation in Maine, you were always taking a chance if the show would finish or not. Of course he righted his ship in later years. Can't count the number of times I've seen Aerosmith. It was a show to show what kind of night you'd get, but when it was on, they were on fire. Even shows I saw on that same tour again were great. They are an American institution.
Gene Clark in San Francisco, I think at the Old Waldorf in 1977. He was playing there for 2 or 3 nights. The San Francisco Chronicle had panned his first show in the series the night before, and IIRC he trashed the review from the stage. It was the first time I saw him, and I was so disappointed. Fortunately he played much better every time I saw him after that. Although here's a footnote: I went to see him and other members of the Byrds Celebration tour several years later, but didn't see him perform that time ... the bands were so late taking the stage that after the first act (the "Flying Burrito Brothers" part of the show) was followed by what seemed like an endless intermission, we left. Alcohol seemed to be part of the problem that night, whether by him or the others, I don't know. But at least some of the musicians weren't showing much regard for the audience. Spanky and Our Gang was the opener at the Old Waldorf show, and they were good.
Another vote for Shane MacGowan. Totally chit-faced when I saw him with Liam Clancy at the Bitter End. The show was filmed and released on DVD in Europe.
Yep, but Cale was one of the more interesting whilst in that condition ...loved most of those crazy shows I saw of his until about ‘84. I did, however, very much enjoy his pristine sober shows which begin in 1987 ( for me The Bottom Line in fall ‘87). Amazing artist.
I've worked with a lot of people like that. Couldn't believe when I discovered the amount of drugs/alcohol some of them were doing, because I never would have guessed from their behavior. For example, I worked with a guy who would do massive amounts of blow, weed, acid, alcohol, assorted pills all at the same time. You couldn't tell aside from the fact that he'd say really weird things sometimes--and it seemed to propel him to amazing levels of energetic, creative excellence as a player. Definitely didn't trust being in a car with him behind the wheel, though, lol
I was also at that UFO gig with my brother. I couldn’t believe what was unfolding in front of my eyes. I’m so glad he seems to have got his **** together and is no longer wasting his very many talents.
Page had quit heroin at that point and as is so often the case, one drug (alcohol) replaced another. My favourite moment in that show * is where he tries to flick ash off the end of his cig and nearly keels over backwards. *Between Whole Lotta Love & Stairway.
I did as well, Red Rocks 1979. He started off with an acoustic set for about 25 minutes, and he was feeling no pain. Then his band came out, give credit to Walsh as he played a great set!
When I saw the Flamin Groovies a few years ago, Chris Wilson was visibly drunk though not enough to derail the show; just a little odd. At one point Cyril Jordan had to fix Chris' guitar. This past year he quit the road to focus on his recovery from alcoholism. Of the 25 or so times I saw Motorhead, just one of them you could tell the booze was affecting Lemmy, with him slurring the words a bit and his chatter a bit weary (not the final years when he struggled every show). And a Jesus Lizard New Years Eve show (1996/7) where David Yow went way more over the top than any other time. (And if you ever saw them, you know that is out there.)
First time I ever saw them, at The Channel, in Boston, my friends and I got to the show way early and were gathered around a table at the back, and there right across from us was Paul. Didn't dare go up to him, and anyway, didn't want to bug him if he just wanted to be by himself. But through the course of the night, during the opener, and in between sets, my friends and I kept running into him in increasing stages of inebriation. I ran into him at one of the bars, and made some mindless chat, another of my friends was at the urinal taking a piss right beside him, asked hi what he thought of the opening band, and Paul slurred, "They were effin' great!!". Still the best show I've ever seen in my life. They were drunk, I was drunk, it was amazing. There''s a not very good audio quality bootleg out there of this show.
I saw Nico in 1979 at the Whisky A Go Go and she was drunk as **** (if not smacked out too), kept slurring words and forgetting lyrics. When someone yelled out a request for "These Days" she called Jackson Browne a "pig". Glad I got to see her once before she passed though...
I've always wondered how Buddy Guy got the reputation for being a great guitarist. Maybe in the studio, but I've seen him 2 or 3 times (not recently) and I don't think I've ever seen him finish a song. He'll just stop playing in the middle of a song and walk off the stage or start a song and then stop the band, Wait! Wait! I can't do that. He also likes to talk a lot about what a great guitarist he is or just run his mouth in general. Well, he's never proved it to me, anyway. He didn't appear drunk when I've seen him, but he obviously didn't give a damn about what kind of show he put on.
