I don’t know when the show you’re talking about was performed but starting in I think 1979 Phil Collins went on a couple year drunk bender with his buddy John Martyn. Both of their marriages had fallen apart and look out! A pretty wonderful sad beautiful John Martyn album resulted with Collins all over it.
When the film came out, Lemmy (still sort of a cult star in the US) got a lot of attention as the one intelligent, articulate speaker in the film. Just your basic Keith Richards-style world wisdom, but among all the others he came off like Stephen Hawking.
I seem to recall Phil did get a bit sauced, during the Japan leg of the 1978 tour, but nothing way out there. That must’ve been right in the middle of the divorce
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Keith Moon yet, as there are quite a few posts from Boston here. I saw The Who at the old Boston Garden in what I think was the winter of 1975. After the opening act played, a smoldering fire broke out in some old padded loge seats that delayed The Who coming out for over an hour. Rumor has it that Keith spent that time downing shots in the "Iron Horse Saloon" in the Boston Garden lobby. When they finally started their sold out show, Keith played horribly in the opener "I Can't Explain" and then passed out head first into his drum kit 30 seconds into the next song "Substitute". The Who were clearly embarrassed and said they would make the show up. Roger Daltry said to the crowd "You don't want to kill Keith Moon do you?". When the crowd screamed back "YES!!!" Pete Townsend said "F uck You Boston!" and walked off the stage. Definitely the most disappointing concert I've ever been to. The Who did make up the show at the end of their tour on April Fools Day, and honored the ticket stub from that disaster concert. Keith was sober and The Who played out of their minds the entire night, the best rock show I have ever witnessed. At the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again" they smashed everything that was on the stage; guitars, amps and drums. They all went nuts, except for John Entwistle, who just calmly walked off the stage with his Alembic bass!
too young to remember the details, but was there when both Sly Stone and Joe Cocker didn't get through their opening numbers for a show up here
All I know is that when I flipped off Jason Newsted in 1988, he smiled and tossed the contents of his beer at me. Then I gave him the thumbs up, and everything was cool.
Layne Staley (Alice in Chains) with Sepultura & Ozzy Osbourne (AIC was the 2nd band) in Clemson, SC in 1992. Layne was in a wheelchair swigging from a bottle of Jack Daniels the entire show. He was so wasted and was climbing up the lighting rigs and was a complete mess. Was tough to watch.
Taime Downe of Faster Pussycat. But that's probably about as stunning (a revelation) as Chris Holmes pouring down vodka.
I saw Rickie Lee Jones, bless her heart, at the Berkeley Community Theater in '82 touring for "Pirates." She had a bottle of Jack on the piano and downed it throughout the show. By the end of it, it had turned into some sort of Judy Garland psychodrama with a weird sexual overtone being as Rickie was basically in a negligee. It tore me up. I was affected by it for a couple of weeks. And I saw The Pogues headline the London Fleadh over Van Morrison, Nanci Griffith and others at Finsbury Park in 1991. Shane was so blotto, he was useless. Not a surprise, I guess, but this was beyond what you might expect. Saw Stan Getz at the Keystone Korner in the mid-70's and he was in no shape to be on stage. I went with my dad and it wasn't what we had hoped for.
Not exactly blithering drunk, but I did see Pete Hamill of Van der Graff Generator, spend a lot of his show in St. Louis one night, snorting something off the fretboard of his guitar...in the basement of a church.
As far as offstage goes: I met Lemmy after the Mötorhead ‘Bastards’ tour gig in Zürich Switzerland back in the early nineties. I was playing my pianobar gig and the band all came in so the hotel closed the bar to the public in order for them and yours truly to continue drinking and carrying on into the wee small hours. They’d clearly played their nuts off and were knackered, but all still great fun, with Lemmy in particular the perfect gentleman - drinking like a champion to be sure - but polite, 100% composed, funny, requesting songs and wouldn’t let me out of the bar until 4am and without all signing their new album for me... which I’ve still got, of course
Yikes! Hammill's not exactly a goody two shoes, but I can't imagine that he of all people would do coke onstage. If nothing else, it would make his material even tougher to sing.
i think maybe Elvis Costello when he got drunk and said some racist remarks about Ray Charles and James Brown then it got to the press. Probably hurt him in terms of publicity etc
Kim Deal in 1997. It was billed as The Breeders but only the drummer remained from the "Last Splash" era. They played a lot of unfinished songs and Kim would just bray "LA LA LA LA!" in place of incomplete lyrics. Then she tried to jam her mike stand into a monitor. I love Kim but it was rough.
I remember that scene, I don't think I've ever seen a musician as messed up as that, not even in the Woodstock movie. I kept thinking that Joplin looks positively normal and surprisingly quiet next to Danko, who can barely open his eyes and/or stand up.
Not a musician (although he did release records): Sam Kinison. At the Comedy Club in LA. Came in, unannounced, around 12 or so am. This was at the height of his fame. The crowd goes crazy. Within half an hour, almost everyone had left--before Kinison left the stage. He was drunk and exceedingly unfunny.
