Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

End of Year Frivolity


Hutton

Recommended Posts

Just for laughs. Have you ever been to a gig that didn't live up to your expectation? Was the live performance distant from your well-loved Vinyl/Cassette/CD?  C'mon folks!  And a very happy new year to you all. May 2023 bring you good things!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went to see Oscar Peterson play at Symphony Hall in Brum back in 2006.  He was quite old and frail by that point, but the first tune showed he still had it. Or so we thought.  
 

Then the second tune went well, but then he played the first tune again. Then the second again. Then back to the first again. His band were looking increasingly confused, leaning across to try to speak to him. It he waved them away. All in all, across two sets he played about four or five different  tunes, with lots of them repeated multiple times in each set. In reality it was a shame, he probably shouldn’t have been gigging by that point and rather than seeing an aging master we saw someone who was able to perform but was so unmoored he didn’t know what he was playing. It was quite sad. 

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sting... The 'My Songs' thing he did at the Palladium this year. Postponed twice due to Covid, and not really worth the wait. Just absolutely flat. A situation not improved by having to sit through an awful, pretty girl 3 piece, and his son banging out non-songs with zero aplomb beforehand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hawkwind in the mid 90's at Cardiff University. I used to see them often - I loved the show element, lights, sound effects etc - and my first originals band was looking to do something similar. But they started going off and on this particular night they were awful. There were three support bands on and all three were much better at doing what Hawkwind used to do really well. Hawkwind came on and it was bland, flat, uninteresting. It sound like they were jamming a lot of the time, but were bored as well. It was the last gig of theirs I went to see. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sisters of Mercy, 1990. Oof. 

 

Elliot Smith, touring Figure 8, drowning himself and his songs in distortion. (Grandaddy, around the same time, same venue, best gig I've ever been to. The crowd were seemingly in a state of universal bliss. Mr Singer said at one point, yeah this is something for us too.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Mission in Leeds this year, Mr Hussey was drunk and arrogant, the sound was really poor and the set felt totally flat...always loved the Mission but that was the last time I will be bothering to see them if the singer can't be bothered to put on a decent show, I had friends that went to Nottingham and London and all said it would be the last time they would bother going to see them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This may be heresey but I was very disappointed in Muse at Wembley (Resistance tour).  Oft cited as the greatest live band on the planet the show was a bit sterile, and they played the music exactly as it is on the recordings.  I might as well have stayed at home and listened to the CD. 

 

RHCPs at the O2 Stratford was also disappointing but more because the venue is all wrong.  I was seated at the back and so far away from the stage the band were virtually invisible and it was far too quiet.  I refuse to go there ever again to see music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve seen Wishbone Ash more than any other band and I’ve never been anything other than underwhelmed. 

Rory Gallagher at the Hammersmith Odeon in the ‘70s was poor as the sound was appealing to point of nausea inducing.

 

UFO, also at the Hammersmith, with Tonka Chapman were underwhelming and I may have left early. Similarly, Def Leppard, again Hammersmith, left me somewhat disappointed, despite boing in love with Hysteria at the time (same tour).

 

It might seem that the most common factor here is the venue, but I’ve seen some crackers at the Odeon/Apollo and it still remains my favourite venue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Nicko said:

This may be heresey but I was very disappointed in Muse at Wembley (Resistance tour).  Oft cited as the greatest live band on the planet the show was a bit sterile, and they played the music exactly as it is on the recordings.  I might as well have stayed at home and listened to the CD. 

 

RHCPs at the O2 Stratford was also disappointing but more because the venue is all wrong.  I was seated at the back and so far away from the stage the band were virtually invisible and it was far too quiet.  I refuse to go there ever again to see music.

Had a similar experience with Van Morrison. Got to see him twice in two weeks. First time stunning, second time, as you said, was like listening to a CD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Doors Of The 21st Century at Wembley Arena some years ago. Terrible. 

Ray Manzarek was a snarky tool, the drummer had a kit so big as to give Neil Peart a run for his money and insisted on playing all of it all the time, and the bass player played the sh!itest slap solo I've ever heard bang in the middle of LA Woman which they all played horribly wrong. At one point it sounded like Ray, Robbie and the bass player were all at different parts of the tune.

Ian Astbury who was doing Jim's thing was outstanding though, the best thing about it.

 

No wonder John Densmore sued their derrières to cease and desist!

Edited by miles'tone
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Franticsmurf said:

Hawkwind in the mid 90's at Cardiff University. I used to see them often - I loved the show element, lights, sound effects etc - and my first originals band was looking to do something similar. But they started going off and on this particular night they were awful. There were three support bands on and all three were much better at doing what Hawkwind used to do really well. Hawkwind came on and it was bland, flat, uninteresting. It sound like they were jamming a lot of the time, but were bored as well. It was the last gig of theirs I went to see. 

 

Reminds me of seeing them in Stevenage.  It felt like they were all tripping,  hour long solos and going off on tangents. 

 

Wish they'd shared the acid. 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Nicko said:

This may be heresey but I was very disappointed in Muse at Wembley (Resistance tour).  Oft cited as the greatest live band on the planet the show was a bit sterile, and they played the music exactly as it is on the recordings.  I might as well have stayed at home and listened to the CD. 

 

RHCPs at the O2 Stratford was also disappointing but more because the venue is all wrong.  I was seated at the back and so far away from the stage the band were virtually invisible and it was far too quiet.  I refuse to go there ever again to see music.


I’ve seen both and I thought both sucked. My GF at the time paid for golden circle tickets so we were a few metres from the stage for RHCP. Was just dire. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Garbage a couple of years back. 

The band were great, but the venue got changed to Bristol City football club. Which was basically a long corridor under a stand. I had to stand at the back (which felt like 100 yards away from the stage), and thankfully I'm over 6' because if I'd been any shorter i would have spent the whole evening staring at someone's back. The sound was so loud it was painful and so echoey due to the concrete walls. 

I'd waited years to see them i was so disappointed. 

 

And the worse part was, being a Rovers fan, I had to spend the whole evening at the City ground! 

 

Edited by Buddster
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Feeder (whom I like a lot) in about 2008. Incredibly loud and distorted. Couldn't make anything out. Just a wall of noise. Saw Grant Nicholas on his solo tour a few years later - fantastic (small hall in Shepherd's Bush, standing just behind his family - his kids had come to see dad play). Even worse were The Kinks in the Royal Albert Hall, early noughties: again the issue was volume. They were so loud they were virtually heavy metal. Impossible to hear anything and completely unnecessary. I'd taken my wife and kid along. To save their ears I walked us out. One of the best gigs: Sigur Ros at Wembley Arena - crystal clear.

 

Edit: weirdest gig: Leslie West and Corky Laing billed as Mountain at Sutton United FC. They were playing in the hospitality suite and Corky manned the merch stall after. Leslie kicked off by saying: "Good evening, London - this is London right?" He was right to question it. After the gig I saw him standing on his own by his dormobile in the car park. Ever the fanboy, rushed up to him and said, "Your live album [1993?] is the best live album I've ever heard" (which it is). He did what you hope all rock stars will do: shook my hand and said, "Thanks. Peace, man." Didn't wash my hand for a fortnight (except after going to the loo, obviously). 

Edited by Kitsto
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Black Sabbath at the New Street Odeon in Birmingham in '77 or '78. They were fine, but a friend who had seen them the night before told me that the support band (whose name he didn't mention) was brilliant. So I watched the support band - a band called Tanzder Youth, who were unlistenably bad. Went to the bar a couple of numbers in.

 

I saw the friend a day or two later and commented that the support band were cr@p (stupid bloody filter thing).  No, he said, a fantastic band, brilliant guitarist - Van Halen, their name was. Bah.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 31/12/2022 at 12:11, Jakester said:

Went to see Oscar Peterson play at Symphony Hall in Brum back in 2006.  He was quite old and frail by that point, but the first tune showed he still had it. Or so we thought.  
 

Then the second tune went well, but then he played the first tune again. Then the second again. Then back to the first again. His band were looking increasingly confused, leaning across to try to speak to him. It he waved them away. All in all, across two sets he played about four or five different  tunes, with lots of them repeated multiple times in each set. In reality it was a shame, he probably shouldn’t have been gigging by that point and rather than seeing an aging master we saw someone who was able to perform but was so unmoored he didn’t know what he was playing. It was quite sad. 

Must be the curse of Symphony Hall. I went to see Tony Bennett a couple of years ago and he sang the same song twice. Otherwise great though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Kitsto said:

Edit: weirdest gig: Leslie West and Corky Laing billed as Mountain at Sutton United FC.

That'll be the Boom Boom Club run by Pete Feenstra. Hosts lots of older name artists - Focus, Walter Trout, Mick Taylor etc. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, ezbass said:

I’ve seen Wishbone Ash more than any other band and I’ve never been anything other than underwhelmed.

 

So why have you seen them so many times?

 

23 hours ago, Roger2611 said:

The Mission in Leeds this year, Mr Hussey was drunk and arrogant, the sound was really poor and the set felt totally flat...always loved the Mission but that was the last time I will be bothering to see them if the singer can't be bothered to put on a decent show

 

I went to see them in london a few years ago, I had seen them many times before and they have always been good, but this time he was ranting about the audience not being appreciative enough and it was generally just very flat and lifeless. I haven't bothered going back since

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...