Worst live band you have ever seen

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There was some nu metal band opening for a band I saw. They didn't play any instruments (despite being a rock band), wasted twenty minutes trying to get the laptop they played music through working, sir 45;minute set bitching about the audience's apathy.
 
Sorcerer said:
I have heard a few stories where they play so loud, you can literally walk away with damaged ears from their shows.

It sounds like its way to loud to be enjoyable in any case.

I love the band but not that much.
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Yeah I can't stand when bands play too fucking loud. Especially if they're in a small, enclosed venue. There's a point where music gets so loud, it sounds like complete shit, and it hurts your ears.

I remember I saw one band in one of those little crap venues that's essentially a room with a stage, and it was so loud, my ears were ringing non-stop for for days. It's was horrible.
 
TheCochese said:
That one guy needs to calm the fuck down.

Mine would be Tonic. One of those free concert series in late-90s Atlanta. No range, no energy.

My biggest surprise was NIN. I didn't know how much energy Trent could bring. Holy shit.
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NIN is one of the best bands ever to see live, bar none. I've seen NIN around 6 times now and everytime I was blown away. Trent knows how to put on a damn good show.
 
Radiohead. Seemed to be pissed off the whole time when a plane flew over.
Really let it show in their performance and disinterest. Lost me as a fan.
 
kitchenmotors said:
Have to defend HEALTH, you do realize they're a rock noise band? They're anything but terrible live. I saw them in November of last year and they put on an amazing show. The amount of work put into that "wall of sound guitar nonsense" is a craft. They pull it off really well.

I think people expect something completely different of HEALTH because of that dumb Crystal Castles song. The song is originally a HEALTH song, Crystal Castles remixed it. Not the other way around. Although HEALTH now is veering into pop-influenced territory with their latest album, so their live shows have also changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okq4Rkbl3ig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt654DbT8yk
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I know they're a noise rock band, that's why I said their songs are different than the CC remix and that's fine. My entry point to them just happened to be the Crystal Castles remix from that NIN tour sampler, which yeah I reversed who remixed who. I didn't mean to insult them, but I didn't like when I saw them that long ago. It was just indiscernible and didn't do it for me. The videos you posted don't sound anything like what I remember though.
 
Lulzwagon said:
A Bomb the Music Industry! house show where Jeff was super trashed is one of the BEST shows I've seen! I suppose it could go either way haha
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I would generally agree, but man, this one was bad. Slurred through all the words and you could barely make out any of the notes. It was a total mess. Still, drunk Jeff is hilarious in his own way. He thought I was the guy from The Crow for some reason.
 
uncelestial said:
I've seen them twice and they were absolutely godlike so I have no idea what they could've done to blow it so bad in your mind.
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Did they play obnoxiously loudly intentionally forcing everyone to wear earplugs to muffle the already obfuscated sound?

I'd read all the reviews about them being "amazing" live but I guess their approach just isn't for me.
 
Scott Weiland was at a festival I went to last May. You couldn't understand him. It started pouring rain so everyone left the stadium and there ended up being a larger crowd at the stage Baby Metal was getting ready to play at.
 
The Albatross said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMqZ2PPOLik

:)

Dylan is also embarrassingly bad live these days, but he's also older and so I don't hold it against him.
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I think his band still sounds good.

His voice is gone. That's what 50+ years of constant singing will do. At this point I think people go see him because how many more opportunities are we going to get to see Dylan live? If you go see him and let his voice ruin the experience for you, that's a shame.
 
Sullichin said:
I know they're a noise rock band, that's why I said their songs are different than the CC remix and that's fine. My entry point to them just happened to be the Crystal Castles remix from that NIN tour sampler, which yeah I reversed who remixed who. I didn't mean to insult them, but I didn't like when I saw them that long ago. It was just indiscernible and didn't do it for me. The videos you posted don't sound anything like what I remember though.
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I think their work on the Max Payne 3 soundtrack really influenced the current sound they have, which is great. That soundtrack was really well done and I'm all for a more cohesive sound. But I do also enjoy the disjointed noise that they can also pump out.

You should give DEATH MAGIC a listen though, it's easier to digest. Actually the mix of their noise rock roots and pop structured songs works very well.
 
I saw Boston this last weekend. The sound mixing was kinda bad so it was hard to really make out some of the instruments and the singing.

It was high energy throughout yet I got pretty sleepy.
 
kitchenmotors said:
I think their work on the Max Payne 3 soundtrack really influenced the current sound they have, which is great. That soundtrack was really well done and I'm all for a more cohesive sound. But I do also enjoy the disjointed noise that they can also pump out.

You should give DEATH MAGIC a listen though, it's easier to digest. Actually the mix of their noise rock roots and pop structured songs works very well.
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I'll second this, mainly because of that distorted sound when "STONEFIST" comes on.

It's mainly because of that I went to see them live and STONEFIST is just ridiculous to see live. It was a great live show too, even though my only real reference for the band was DEATH MAGIC.
 
torre_avenue said:
I'll second this, mainly because of that distorted sound when "STONEFIST" comes on.

It's mainly because of that I went to see them live and STONEFIST is just ridiculous to see live. It was a great live show too, even though my only real reference for the band was DEATH MAGIC.
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You should check this out then, it's a making of on the song STONEFIST. It's pretty great to hear them pick it apart and talk about how they constructed the song.

https://soundcloud.com/hrishihirway/song-exploder-health
 
Probably Taking Back Sunday. I really don't like this band but I got free tickets to 2 of their shows because my friend's a huge fan. They were pretty awful and for playing a ton of shows, their singer is super awkward when talking to the crowd. Luckily The Menzingers opened both shows and that band rules.

Also saw Bomb The Music Industry! one time and it was just Jeff and another dude. They depended on an ipod for other music to play... but the ipod broke midway through the set and they had to cut it short.
 
CloudWolf said:
I've seen Metro Station (Miley Cyrus's brother's band), All Time Low, Black Eyed Peas and Ke$ha live. All four were equally terrible.

All American Rejects gets a special mention.
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I saw Metro Station open for either Simple Plan or Fallout Boy a few years back (can't remember which). One of their amps was busted or something so one of their guitarists had to sit it out. It was pretty funny.

I was just tagging along for the concert I wasn't actually a fan of the music.

Simple Plan is actually pretty good live though!
 
Shinedown. The singers voice must of been out or something. He rarely sang and when it did it was terrible. It was one of those, "let the audience sing" shows.
 
Ozzy at some Ozzfest in the 90's. But it had to be a result of constant touring, his voice was fucking awful.

I saw him again at the Ozzfest in Frisco, TX that Metallica headlined, and he sounded fucking great. Was very energetic, voice sounded much better, seemed much more into the crowd. Also, Zakk Wylde played the Star Spangled Banner with his fucking teeth.
 
I used to be in the punk rock scene so I saw plenty of really terrible bands.

If I focus on bands that I like but were terrible live, I'd give it to Interpol for sure. Had all the excitement of The Hall of Presidents.
 
I saw Nickelback when I was like... 13? It was my friends birthday and his parents got us all tickets. Typical rule of thumb, the more pyro a band has, the worst they are.

Strax said:
My Morning Jacket opening for Foo Fighters in 2001 or 2002. They sounded like a Battle Of The Bands semi-finalist in town of 50000 people
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Really? I saw My Morning Jacket open for the Foo Fighters in Edmonton in 2003. I had never even heard of them but I thought they blew away the Foos.
 
Colbie Caillat is pretty bad in person. She is super mellow and has no personality and just drives down the energy level of the whole venue.

EDIT: MAGIC! is ass, too. Truly they are a one-hit wonder.
 
Cake

They were playing a festival and sucked badly, and insulted the audience



The festival was headlined by Nickelback before everyone started to hate on them lol
 
MGMT for me...maybe because I was like 17 and some asshole was clumsy and tripped into me spilling some of his beer on me. Also from what I remember the band wasn't that into it. Maybe they were fried as fuck on something tho
 
Ages ago before the singer died I saw the original line up for Drowning Pool. This was right when Bodies was huge and all over the radio.

It was bad. Really bad. He could barely sing and it was like watching some bad karaoke. He may have sounded great in a studio but live he was just a very bad performer.

I've also seen Foo Fighters twice and both times they absolutely killed it. Dave has a fantastic rapport with the audience and they sound fantastic.
 
I saw pre-Faith fame Limp Bizkit open for Primus on The Brown Album tour.

Terrible. Just terrible.

(Primus was incredible though.)
 
Megalosaro said:
I saw Smash Mouth in Portland Oregon in 1999.

God that was awful. Just terrible. The lead singer was drunk off his as and openly hostile.

I saw Newsboys once too. I was dragged to a weekend long religious retreat and they played during it. It was the worst weekend of my life.
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They opened for Blur when I saw them and they were rubbish. They also slagged off Blur before they came on.
 
MGMT, they were before the main show who was Weezer....

They clearly didn't give a f about the 50 000 person that was at the show. It was a horrible performance...
 
I've been to a lot of concerts, the worst were probably just rando bands at warped tour i don't remember, but here's an interesting one:

saw everclear in 2014 for their summerland tour; total energy, one of the best performances i've seen

saw them in 2015 for their summerland tour; they had no energy, sounded drained and bored as shit, awful performance

sadly summerland isn't coming to cleveland this year but man, that's just a personal testament to how variable shows can go
 
Cmagus said:
Jimmy Eat World, the dude could not sing at all it was terrible.
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That's the first I've heard that Jimmy Eat World have been horrible...

Everytime I have seen them they have been fantastic, the last time was a 29 song setlist from the Futures Anniversary tour and everything was thrown into the performance that night, it probably will sit in the Top 10 of best shows I've seen.

-----

My pick was The Dandy Warhols, they played a +2hr setlist in a small club, no energy at all, they all took a smoke break at various points, many patrons were looking at their watches that night hoping they would just end it asap...

Another for another reason was The Killers, when they first released their first album, they came out and played the album, sans one song that was replaced with a B-side and left... At the time, whilst I wasn't expecting a overly long show, but artists with only one album tend to mix it up abit, so it was a sour taste for a short and expensive show.
 
The Mars Volta.
I was looking forward to seeing them more than the headlining A Perfect Circle.
One of the bands was great live.
It wasn't The Mars Volta.
2 songs in an hour long set, felt like I was playing the beginning of Twilight Princess.
 
Better Than Ezra. The show had no emotion even for a small venue. They sort of just went through motions and then began covering songs from other artists. Maybe they ran out of material? They even played Its Good..twice. Just completely underwhelming all the way round.
 
Bob Dylan. He shuffled out with a big-brimmed cowboy hat on and never looked up the entire show. Never even once saw his face. Mumbled so bad I didn't know what song it was half the time. Ani Difranco opened for him and she completely blew him out of the water.
 
sturgboski said:
I am going to see God is an Astronaut this September and I fear the same sort of show, but screw it, I really want to see them live.
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I've seen GIAA twice and both times they had good energy, crowd was dancing etc, overall good shows. GY!BE on the other hand... I like them and they played well and sounded good but I was tired after a long day and I seriously fell asleep standing up lol. I've never before or since managed to do that but I slept there standing up for quite a while, the performance was just so bland and calm and I was way too tired to stay interested. So my own fault really.

Anal Cunt was pretty bad lol, Seth was completely fucked up and just lay there on the ground and grunted, but it was also pretty amusing so they weren't really the worst in that sense. It was an experience for sure.

The worst I remember seeing in recent times was Ty Dolla Sign at a hip hop festival (saw him while waiting for another act), I only watched a part of the gig but that whole time he was just going on about his bitches in the audience and bitches this and bitches that and got a bunch of girls on stage to grind on him and that seemed to be all there was to it, him looking for girls to take backstage after the gig. It got old real quick. Can't even remember how the music was since it clearly wasn't the point of the show at least during those last 20 mins or so.
 
Zombine said:
Taking Back Sunday is pretty awful live. It's not really an isolated event either. They are super shit tier all the time.
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Ok, so I've only seen them once, and this was in 2002, a few months after Tell All Your Friends had come out. They played a shitty tiny storefront venue in a strip mall. The gap between the barricade and the stage was like a foot, and I made it to the very front. It was one of the best live music experiences I have ever had. I'd been listening to the album all summer, knew every word, and to have them be there a couple of feet in front of me blew my mind. They were putting everything they had into every song, singing and screaming their guts out. 14 years later and I still remember it.

Can't vouch for anything they've done after that, as by the time their 2nd album came out I wasn't listening to emo anymore, and I never saw them live again, but their first album and that concert were both amazing.
 
remember seeing the the used at reading festival sometime in the mid 2000s. fella was breaking down in tears singing "on my own" at 11 30am in bright summer sunshine as everyone stood around eating their breakfast.

something about the whole ambience just made me burst out laughing.

the absolute worst are probably one of the countless numbers of droning indie wank bands who somehow got to support someone decent who i'd already forgotten about nine seconds after they came off stage.
 
CraigerGamer said:
Better Than Ezra. The show had no emotion even for a small venue. They sort of just went through motions and then began covering songs from other artists. Maybe they ran out of material? They even played Its Good..twice. Just completely underwhelming all the way round.
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Could have been the 12 beers I had, but when they played a free show in Raleigh like five years back they were pretty damn good.

Motley Crue is the worst headliner I have ever paid money to see. Vince couldn't sing and Tommy couldn't play drums because he burned himself.
 
Alice in Chains back in 2013 at some festival. No energy and no crowd interaction. The crowd pretty much died when they started playing. There was a lot of energy in the crowd before Alice took the stage.

Deftones is another one. Saw them twice, and the singer was just awful both times.
 
I've only been to 6 concerts and a festival so I only have so many to pull from. But the worst of the seven was easily CHVRCHES. Just... zero energy. None at all. There was no hype in that outdoor setting at all whatsoever. I don't know if it evaporated into the atmosphere or if it just didn't exist to begin with. Mayberry said she was sick at and coming off Coachella so maybe it was an off day. But my uncle said they were the same there. I don't know man. The ticket was cheap and I like their music in my car though.

Start contrast to Florence + The Machine a few weeks later which was a religious experience.
 
Chairlift at bonnaroo one year.

Just awful...lazy and awful

coolasj19 said:
I've only been to 6 concerts and a festival so I only have so many to pull from. But the worst of the seven was easily CHVRCHES. Just... zero energy. None at all. There was no hype in that outdoor setting at all whatsoever. I don't know if it evaporated into the atmosphere or if it just didn't exist to begin with. Mayberry said she was sick at and coming off Coachella so maybe it was an off day. But my uncle said they were the same there. I don't know man. The ticket was cheap and I like their music in my car though.

Start contrast to Florence + The Machine a few weeks later which was a religious experience.
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weird, when i saw them in Raleigh they were amazinngggg
 
¡HarlequinPanic!;208728018 said:
When Johnny Marr joined Modest Mouse I was so goddamn excited.

Worst show I ever been to, Issac apparently sleeps through his live shows.
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Man, i have never known a person disappointed with a Modest Mouse show.
I've seen them several times and every time has been amazing.

Having two drummers just takes the live shows to another level for me
 
Poimandres said:
Did they play obnoxiously loudly intentionally forcing everyone to wear earplugs to muffle the already obfuscated sound?

I'd read all the reviews about them being "amazing" live but I guess their approach just isn't for me.
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Earplugs dont' have to muffle the sound if you get good frequency-neutral ones. MBV plays that loud because they literally want your body to vibrate with the harmonic instruments (bass, guitar); they end their set with a version of "You Made Me Realise" where they all play one chord as loud as they can for 30 minutes at full blast distortion, absolutely overloading the sound system on that one tone. It actually induces another brain state, I swear to you.

That's besides the fact that their sound is amazing and they have so many great tunes. The fact that they're pulling off tracks from Loveless so well is stunning every time.

I can imagine it's not for everybody, so no worries, but for me it was was one of those shows I'll never forget.
 
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