Group who (massively) disappointed live
Discussion
With reference to the variance, the sound team have a huge effect. I’ve played in bands for ages and the sound differed hugely based on where we were and who was running everything. Granted this was at very amateur level where you’d expect the variance and professional teams used to handling major acts shouldn’t experience it but stadiums and the like are designed for watching, not hearing, so I think it’s to be expected that there will be variance and inevitably some will be disappointed by the same band that others are blown away by with exactly the same input from the band themselves.
I saw Prince play at Earls Court in '92. I was very much looking forward to it but the sound was awful, truly bad, with echos off the walls making the tight timing sound sound like mush.
Had to listen to a recorded message before it started saying 'don't buy the Black album' - too late, and judging by them, most of the audience would already have it
Had to listen to a recorded message before it started saying 'don't buy the Black album' - too late, and judging by them, most of the audience would already have it
Kilkerran said:
First time seeing Metallica was at Download when Lars was taken ill. Played a short Metallica by numbers set and were all done in an hour. Contrast that to a couple of years later. Went with low expectations, two and a half hour set, Master of Puppets played in full. Different band all together. Suppose all bands have off days.
at least they showed.Nine inch nails at the docklands 2000 IIRC - pulled out and the promoter replaced them with ash.
Muppet007 said:
mike80 said:
Slipknot. Don't know why, just wasn't particularly good.
Agreed. Went to see them in London 2020, the display was OK but the audio was dreadful. 
Tbh. A lot of sound is due to the venue and the sound guys.
andySC said:
Cocteau Twins. In my top 5 favourite bands. On record they are a joy to my ears. Not at Leeds Uni in around 1994. The sound was great but Liz’s vocal delivery was (...more) bizarre. I wanted to hear the songs I love not the trills & screeching. 15 minutes in & I’d had enough & left.
They were certainly more hit and miss in the 90's. I saw them a few times in the early 80's and they were fantastic. Just the three of them and the tape machine (with the drum track) centre stage.I saw Jools Hollands Big Band at Belvoir Castle and they were superb, excellent sound balance, one of the most enjoyable shows I have seen.
Next time I went along they were in the City Hall, Hull and the sound was appalling, very disappointing.
Friends went to the previous night in Skegness and reported the same experience.
Next time I went along they were in the City Hall, Hull and the sound was appalling, very disappointing.
Friends went to the previous night in Skegness and reported the same experience.
Eminem Milton Keynes, June 2003. Not a great fan then, nor now but the wife was a big fan.
He was utterly dire, you got the feeling he was just running through the motions, just not into it at all, even the wife said he was crap, I think it was a time in his personal life when it wasn't all roses, saw him many years later where he headlined Reading, he was head and shoulders better.
He was utterly dire, you got the feeling he was just running through the motions, just not into it at all, even the wife said he was crap, I think it was a time in his personal life when it wasn't all roses, saw him many years later where he headlined Reading, he was head and shoulders better.
I've seen Manic Street Preachers a couple of times. I'll listen to their albums but live they just bore me.
Nobody I know has ever seen a good U2 stadium show.
Wife dragged me to Goldfrapp at Hammersmith some years ago. We might as well have stayed at home for the effort she (Alison Goldfrapp, not SWMBO) put into interacting with the audience.
Sigur Ros have been slagged off in this thread for being pipe and slippers but I saw them at Ally Pally and it was about the most intense experience of my life. An immersive sound experience. Utterly brilliant. And Elbow at Bestival promoting Seldom Seen Kid were charismatic and charming but I doubt if any of their other albums would suit a large venue; they seem to suit more intimate places.
Nobody I know has ever seen a good U2 stadium show.
Wife dragged me to Goldfrapp at Hammersmith some years ago. We might as well have stayed at home for the effort she (Alison Goldfrapp, not SWMBO) put into interacting with the audience.
Sigur Ros have been slagged off in this thread for being pipe and slippers but I saw them at Ally Pally and it was about the most intense experience of my life. An immersive sound experience. Utterly brilliant. And Elbow at Bestival promoting Seldom Seen Kid were charismatic and charming but I doubt if any of their other albums would suit a large venue; they seem to suit more intimate places.
HTP99 said:
Eminem Milton Keynes, June 2003. Not a great fan then, nor now but the wife was a big fan.
He was utterly dire, you got the feeling he was just running through the motions, just not into it at all, even the wife said he was crap, I think it was a time in his personal life when it wasn't all roses, saw him many years later where he headlined Reading, he was head and shoulders better.
Was the the gog where he came in on a fairground big wheel? If so I was there too. We were about 11 miles away from the stage. He was utterly dire, you got the feeling he was just running through the motions, just not into it at all, even the wife said he was crap, I think it was a time in his personal life when it wasn't all roses, saw him many years later where he headlined Reading, he was head and shoulders better.
mac96 said:
The Pogues. Too pissed to perform, and to make it worse a bored audience divided itself into religious camps chucking abuse at each other. Only audience I have been in where I felt in danger.
We left.
The Pogues at Reading, 1989. Magowan fell off the stage half way through the first song and didn't reappear.We left.
Dylan at the NEC about 12 years ago. So dull, obviously not enjoying it.
Echobelly, not long before they split. Just going through the motions, competent playing and singing, but again, obviously really not wanting to be on stage.
Turn7 said:
motorizer said:
The Cult for me as well, sloppy and wooden as if they hadn't practised, and Ian Astbury was in a sulk.
Saw them Wembley Arena for Sonic Temple, they were pretty good I thought.....Hub said:
Split up for a bit due to drugs but re-formed some time ago and still going, albeit with smaller fanbase.
Saw them in 2012 at IOW festival and they were brilliant.Saw them again in 2019 at the Ipswich Ed Sheehan gigs twice and again thought they were brilliant
Most disappointing for me was Clapton at Hyde Park in 2019. I’d heard he wasn’t the most interesting performer and it’s true. It just felt like he never went out of 4th gear. Definitely more suited to a smaller setup perhaps.
I've seen a few howlers, the Courteeners in Hyde Park were very very poor but the one which really sticks out for me was Glasvegas, who played support ( I use the term extremely loosely) to Oasis at the Roundhouse some time 10 years or more back. I was uncharacteristically early to the venue (because MrsC was with me and wanted to see/hear it all) and Glasvegas were just woeful. I could sit here all night posting adjectives about how bad they were but I'd probably end up being banned. The female drummer in particular, who had clearly been given the night off from her regular job as an all-in wrestler, was whacking away at the skins as if she believed she was in a blacksmith's shop trying to make tin foil out of an RSJ. I seem to recall a look of despair on the lead singer's face, he was trying to give it a decent shot but was surrounded by utter incompetents who may as well have been playing along to whatever band they were listening to on their in-ears - and they clearly weren't all listening to the same band or even the same style of music.
The only consolation I can draw is that it wasn't a massive disappointment as I didn't go to see them in the first place anyway!
The only consolation I can draw is that it wasn't a massive disappointment as I didn't go to see them in the first place anyway!
Gassing Station | Music | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff