Who were the drunkest performers you saw on stage?

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

  1. Dondy

    Dondy Forumaniac

    Jefferson Starship at the June 17, 1978 Loreley Festival. AFAIK, Gracie was terribly sozzled and started swearing at the audience so the band had to stop the show. Havoc broke loose and the band's equipment was destroyed and/or stolen. Next night in Hamburg Grace was out.
     
  2. Blastproof

    Blastproof Senior Member

    Location:
    Mid-Atlantic USA
    Me too. Grand Rapids, 2004.
     
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  3. JJAM

    JJAM Forum Resident

    Location:
    South East
    Only just noticed this topic and am not surprised to see Shane mentioned so often. That's me playing the whistle there - was in the Popes for 4 years. However, this wasn't down to drink. Shane bought a hash cake the night before - and by that, I mean a whole big hash cake, not just a bit of it. He had half of it the night before and the rest was his breakfast, hence this "interesting" midday performance. Fun times :)
     
  4. JJAM

    JJAM Forum Resident

    Location:
    South East
    I saw John Martyn twice, the last time being a few months before he passed away. He was clearly pissed, but it didn't hamper his playing, which was just astounding (especially when he came back for an encore and just performed solo, without band).
     
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  5. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    I wasn't there, although I almost caught a show from the tour, but Robert Smith, who claimed never went on stage sober, was often COMPLETELY drunk (and by his standards that's quite something) in the summer of 98. The band wasn't in a good place, he wasn't sure if they had any future. It resulted in more chaotic and sloppier performances.

    Robert is laying down on stage at the start of this actually. There's no close shot, on purpose I assume.And interestingly, he starts singing what would become "Watching Me Fall" on "Bloodflowers" instead of the actual lyrics of "Untitled". Probably because he tripped over and fell? :D
    Also, anybody familiar with The Cure's live performances will hear that Robert's guitar playing is quite shaky here.

     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2020
  6. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    And this is, by most people's admission, possibly the worst show they ever played in 98. Same festival tour.Robert was even more in a state than at the Bizarre fest.

     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2020
  7. The Hermit

    The Hermit Wavin' that magick glowstick since 1976

    You're right, it was Phil Carlo... I had reservations about it being Benji LeFevre because he worked for Percy not Pagey, but I simply was misremembering and couldn't think who else it was... that was from Barney Hoskyns' definitive Trampled Under Foot bio, but I've long since lost my copy (when I moved from the UK to another country) so couldn't verify... my bad and thanks for the correction!

    I don't think the new multi-track-sourced live album would have been the (justifiably) legendary Japan '71 shows as Page has already, and publicly, ruled that out for the foreseeable future... I'm thinking it may have been Montreux '71 but has it ever been confirmed that show was multi-tracked, wasn't there a picture of a reel from those shows posted a while ago on the official Zeppelin forum?

    I've heard that promoter Claude Nobs had a tendency to record shows, but never heard it confirmed that Zeppelin's two shows on Aug 7-8 that year were multi-tracked... that would certainly be interesting for sure but they're not the strongest shows they have in the vaults, they were a little rusty still after a couple of months off, and Montreux certainly wouldn't have the commercial cache of, say, Earl's Court '75... which (aside from Percy's voice problems for the first couple of songs each night) were Zeppelin at the very height of their imperial phase... I'd buy that live set in a New York minute if released!!!

    P.S. you say the "Far East" shows got leaked, Japan '71? Multi-track or soundboard?
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2020
  8. flaxton

    flaxton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Uk
    Just before they pla
    yed Knebworth. Was so disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing Grace.
     
  9. cwd

    cwd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Clarksville, TN
    Not music but have to throw this in...Vlade Divac with the Kings playing the Lakers in a Memphis exhibition preseason game. He looked drunk as f^&* and throwing the ball out near me (we had great seats) he smelled like a brewery.
     
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  10. JJAM

    JJAM Forum Resident

    Location:
    South East
    Christ. He's giving Shane MacGowan a run for his money there.

    It's a strange one being drunk on stage. There's a very thin line between feeling pissed but in control and overstepping the mark. I haven't been drunk on a gig in years. Definitely something you can deal with better when you're young.

    I know very few artists/acts who don't suffer from nerves before a gig. And there is always a generous rider in the dressing room to help with that...
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2020
  11. Mayor Of Filey

    Mayor Of Filey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leeds, UK
    Great venue. And talking of drunk performers I saw The Fall there and they were magnificent on that night.
     
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  12. jomo48

    jomo48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Davis CA, USA
    The most impaired performer I've ever seen was Gregg Allman with the Allman Bros Band at the Concord Pavilion. Lucky he was seated and had a keyboard to lean against. I'm reasonably sure, though, that this wasn't an alcohol related problem.
     
  13. Mayor Of Filey

    Mayor Of Filey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leeds, UK
    Saw Jason & The Scorchers at Leeds Astoria around Lost & Found (1985-ish) and it's in the top 10 of all the shows I've ever seen. True artists are not as you or I. It can be a terrible journey but without the drink/drugs we wouldn't have the work of Mark E Smith, Shane MacGowan and countless others who would have lived that way regardless and we would have missed out on the music.
     
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  14. Yawndave

    Yawndave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Santa Clara CA
    Another vote for The Kinks...Winterland '74--really sloppy. Rest of the show was pretty great though with Aerosmith and Climax Blues Band as the openers.

    Jody Porter appeared to be pretty wasted at a couple of Fountains of Wayne shows that I saw.
     
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  15. M2225

    M2225 Nebulus 7 intergalaxy eclipse

    Location:
    Helsinki, Finland
    Probably myself, I played drums in a band 1994-2001 and hit an all time low downing a 0.5l whiskey as warmup before one of our final gigs. We were supposed to play 2 sets, after set 1 was done, the singer told the audience the gig was over (I think I fell off the drumstool at some point). Prior to that gig it was usually the singer who was the most wasted, but the rest of us did ok. Played 120 gigs with that setup so 1 disaster out of 120 is not that bad? Haven't seen any major acts drunk to the point it would affect live peformance. Saw Suede live in 1997, doubt Brett was sober, he was throwing microphne stands into the crowd.
     
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  16. Overthehillsandfaraway

    Overthehillsandfaraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Not sure if multis or SBD, it's been mentioned on the official forums recently. On the "whatever happened to the promised live album" thread. Properly should've said "speculated as leaked", as there's no direct evidence they were leaked. But they must've come from somewhere.
     
  17. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    There's this book written by a fan who followed them around at the time and he had to help Robert go to the bathroom at the hotel that night (as, of course, they kept drinking after the show). There were a couple of times when he just saw him throw up, getting off the bus for example. Must have been a strange experience as a fan.

    Nirvana was drunk during that European tour they did with Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr in the summer of 91. Krist Novoselic said the tour was crazy because, when he used to be the only drunk before, that time, Kurt and Dave also joined in...So it was pretty wild, especially as they were opening up and had a lot of time on their hands.

    They played good shows but this is the very one where I hear the alcohol induced sloppiness vibe. lol. Krist has never played so sloppy. He's most of the time a very solid player.
    Dave even thanks "the alcohol" between two songs.

     
    Last edited: May 1, 2020
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  18. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I'm sure that they played some good gigs sometime but they were terrible the night I saw them.
     
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  19. imthetxman

    imthetxman HardMediaMan

    Location:
    USA
    Saw the Black Crowes May 18, 1991 at the old Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee. Chris Robinson could barely stand.
     
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  20. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

    Location:
    CoCoCo, Ca
    Im sure Built to Spill remember their gig at Slims in the early 2000’s better than I do...good thing I had the front of the stage to prop me up there. Apparently I kept calling out for Freebird and was too pissed to notice they were actually playing it.
     
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  21. Achn2b

    Achn2b Forum Resident

    Location:
    N. Conway, NH
    Was that 1986? I was at that show. Kept running into Paul all night before they hit the stage, and he was definitely feeling no pain.

    Still a brilliant show.
     
  22. apb

    apb Game on!

    Location:
    DC
    I recall seeing The Pogues at the old 930 Club around 1986. MacGowan had what appeared to be a magnum sized bottle of white wine in one hand and a cigarette in the hand that he used to hold the mike stand. He held onto that mike stand for dear life.
     
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  23. JohnQVD

    JohnQVD bought too many records this week

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    The Janitors Against Apartheid: They topped a seven-band bill on Easter Sunday in 1996. The guitar player was walking around an hour or two before they played carrying a glass full of brown liquid. The sax player/vocalist stopped him and asked what he was drinking. “Jack Daniels.” “Jack Daniels and what?” “Ice.” “Oh ****, I have to catch up.”

    The guitar player was so hammered he could barely stand. At one point, he pulled the knobs off of his guitar. He also managed to work the jack loose so it started cutting out. One of the times it came back, he started bowing down to it. Eventually, they found some poor sod from one of the other bands to lend him a guitar. He spent a good bit of time playing to the back corner of the stage. The sax player wasn’t in quite as bad of shape, but was still pretty lit up. The alto player (Mike, the one who split to join Skankin’ Pickle at the end of the tour) looked pissed the whole set.

    I don’t think I ever saw Blanks 77 play sober. But the show that stands out the most, we were as drunk as the band. Or worse, in one case.

    Once I saw George Carlin and his timing was off. I found out later from a stagehand friend that his flight got cancelled and he spent some quality time that afternoon getting trashed in the airport bar while the road manager found alternate transportation.

    The other one that comes to mind is Murphy’s Law. The first of two occasions I saw the band drunk was in 1994 (in Rochester, NY). The entire band except for the singer, Jimmy, quit in 1993. The bass player came back for part of 1994, and was at this particular show, along with a new guitarist and drummer. We were right up front. The band brought out their rider (case of Bud) and threw it on the stage. During the first song, “Beer Bath,” one of my friends grabbed Jimmy’s beer and doused him with it. One of the road crew off at the far end of the stage motioned for him to come over. He walked over, thinking he was going to get a telling off. The guy pulled a beer out of the case and handed it to him. Another song or so in, Jimmy came over with a beer and started pouring it on us. They figured out within a couple of songs that the group I came with were the only people anywhere near the front of the stage that were of legal drinking age, so they spent the set giving us beers and we all got trashed together. By the end of the show, we had them making songs up on stage. It was great.

    The second time was in Miami in 2007 or 2008. The venue, Churchill’s, had a tough time getting people on stage in a timely manner. I don’t think Murphy’s Law went on until 3:00 AM. They were drunk. The audience was drunk. There were fights. I think we may have left before they finished.
     
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  24. Wildgift

    Wildgift This is the modern world that I've heard about...

    Location:
    Stamford, CT
    I was there too!! What a show!
     
  25. vinyl diehard

    vinyl diehard Two-Channel Forever

    David Wilcox.
     
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