Ever regret going to a concert?

[Nogoodnamesleft]

A couple come to mind. But easily the top of the list was a music festival circa 1992.

I went to see Social Distortion who were headlining Saturday night. The rest of the bands played beyond their allotted time and by the time Social Distortion came on, they did about 7 songs before it was lights out due to a nearby airport restriction.

The camping was appalling and dangerous. Aside from waking up thinking it's raining only to discover it's people using the tent fly as a urinal, the toilet situation was beyond anything I've ever seen, the water cisterns were emptied Saturday night after the concert for a drunk driving "mud bog" competition between the tents, the trash, smell, putrid behaviour... I haven't done a multi day music festival since and probably won't unless it's in Europe where I hope people are a little more civilized.

 

[DekeDog]

Clapton in Charlotte around 2005. We had seats in the nose bleed section and hardly heard the concert at all, people talking and not listening.

 

[bholder]

Yes. Iris Dement. Insanely talented artist. Whose stylings are insanely incompatible with my ears. I simply couldn't take it and had to leave. I felt bad.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

I saw Ozzy twice on the same tour. The first show was a warm up gig, at a club in Toronto. Somehow, I scored a ticket. It was an incredible show. Geezer Butler played bass, Vinnie Appice was on drums, and some young hotshot, well-versed in Iommian theory on guitar. The set was all classic Sabbath! Ozzy looked fit! Almost ripped! He was sober! His voice was perfect, he hit every note!

Fast-forward to the end of the tour, and I’m sitting in the amphitheater, watching him and Zack and co. Ozzy was fat! He was unintelligible! Slurred his words! Band had to adjust tempo to stay with him! Vocal tracks play when he isn’t singing! My impression is left deflated.

A friend of mine saw him a few years ago and said the show was awesome - the next day he looked at video he shot from his phone, and Ozzy wasn't even singing in key. I guess my friend got caught up in the excitement of the concert, the loud volume levels, etc., which can mask a terrible performance.

I saw him during the "No More Tours" tour, he seemed physically fit, energetic, and sounded great. Then about 7 years later I saw him perform with Black Sabbath, the all original lineup, and this was the Ozzy from The Osbourne's TV show. Hunched over, unintelligible, everything you saw on the TV show.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Got dragged to Billy Joel. He opened with she’s got a way. Just got worse from there. Horrible night!

A British friend of mine got dragged to a Barry Manilow concert by his (now former) wife. When he got into the auditorium, he told her he was going to hang out at the pub across the street. When he got into the pub, it was filled with about 30 other guys who did exactly the same thing.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Janes Addiction at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA, 1990-ish. The Buck Pets opened and me and my buddy had no idea who they were and were bored to tears by their music. Then JA came on and played for less than 15 minutes before Perry Farrell threw a fit and stormed off the stage, followed by the other 3 guys. The band never came back on and everyone booed for 10 or 15 min until an announcer finally said the show was over as the house lights came up. The crowd finally filtered out the doors, where a large number of people gathered around the band's bus, doing what an intoxicated, angry crowd does. As we were leaving we could see people rocking the bus back and forth and banging on it. Such a bummer.

I saw GnR do a similar thing around that time, early 1990's. They played one song in front of a stadium crowd, then Axl Rose got upset for who knows what reason, and walked off stage. This left the other band members trying to figure out what to do, Duff McKagan sang a couple of songs and sounded great, then they were out of material. It's legit a stupid blues jam, and then slash went into a sloppy on a company to guitar solo. Finally Axl Rose came out, threw a mic stand, and said "shut up" to the crowd that was now booing him. He performed the rest of the show sitting in the drum riser.

I think the early 1990's was the last time a band could get away with something like this. Actually, they may have been a bit late, because the crowd wasn't having any of it. The days of Led Zeppelin coming out and playing 3 hours late are over.

 

[Chester P Squier]

I've never traveled far to hear music. Maybe an hour or so tops. Oops! Correction: A few years ago, my wife discovered that the US portion of Joan Baez's farewell tour was finishing up at a New York theater where I used to usher. So for old time's sake, we went down, stayed with friends, saw the show, did some happy hanging out, and came home. Great time had all 'round.

And I once traveled from here to Cincinnati to buy a guitar. Definitely worth the trip!

My wife and I traveled from SE Louisiana to Dallas to see Paul McCartney. Took the plane. Met my brother and his wife there, who drove there from NE Louisiana.

Saw McCartney again a few years later, in Bossier City Louisiana. We drove to abovementioned brother's house and rode with them to the concert. Our other brother had driven up with one his daughters also, but we didn't get to talk with him. He got better seats than we did.

But we didn't regret either concert.

 

[DekeDog]

A British friend of mine got dragged to a Barry Manilow concert by his (now former) wife. When he got into the auditorium, he told her he was going to hang out at the pub across the street. When he got into the pub, it was filled with about 30 other guys who did exactly the same thing.

 

[doof]

A few years ago, my favourite indie band was opening for another band in a city 2 hours away from me. This was in Canada in the winter. I got off work at 5, decided the weather was ok enough to go, and took off. Along the way, the weather got much, much worse. White-out conditions, which meant driving slowly. I eventually got to the venue just in time to see the band I wanted to see play the final song of their encore. I stuck around long enough to talk to the singer at their merch table, then left to drive back home. I got home around 3 am and was up for work at 6:30.

That was a concert I could have done without.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

PS -

As I said above in post 159, I don't generally travel for for concerts. I have traveled a bit for festivals, though:

Woodstock, 1969, Bethel, New York
Strawberry Fields, Bowmanville, Ontario, 1970
Watkins Glen, New York, 1973

And I thought of another concert I did drive a few hours to see: Grateful Dead, Highgate, Vemont, 1995. Hadn't been to one of their shows since Pigpen died, and I figured, how much longer would they be around?

(Apparently they still are, but I wouldn't cross the street to hear John Mayer.)

 

[SacDAve]

Ray Charles me and my wife saw him Tahoe or Reno can't remember It was so bad after his first set the place emptied out. I was so disappointed seeing a legend It was just bad on every level.

 

[stxrus]

I remember going, the second time, to a Sly and The Family Stone concert that sucked beyond belief.

The first show, two years before, was fantastic. Actually amazing. So much energy and spot on musicianship.
The next show was a train wreck from the get go. When Sly got on stage he was having trouble standing and leaned heavily on the keyboard as a crutch. Finally they brought out a chair so he could sit. Sly couldn’t sing much less be coherent in speaking.

After the, I think, fourth tune he was helped off stage. The band tried to keep playing but by this point everyone was fed up and started heading to the exits. Twenty minutes in and the hall was empty

I did date a gal in the late 80s that wanted to see someone I had never heard of nor can I remember. I was so out of place I almost wished for death to get away from the experience. We never went out again, go figure