Groups who were surprisingly good live...
Discussion
thewarlock said:
Turn7 said:
Their last few albums have been a bit 'meh' for me, but by god do they put on a good show!
O/T I saw them when they headlined Leeds Festival a couple of years ago. They were great, but jaysus the crowd were dead. Kids nowadays...
Lots and lots of really fantastic concerts, but surprisingly good? I'm going to say Jools Holland as I went in with low expectations but it was a really fun night.
Surprisingly even better than expected; Seasick Steve
Lots and lots of really fantastic concerts, but surprisingly good? I'm going to say Jools Holland as I went in with low expectations but it was a really fun night.
Surprisingly even better than expected; Seasick Steve
I went to see Madness a few times, they were 'ok'. However they had Ian Dury and the Blockheads who were supporting at one gig and they were flipping amazing. It seemed like they were able to get a seemingly indifferent crowd absolutely rocking, they were really, really good! I think Squeeze were on the same bill and they were also pretty decent
stinkyspanner said:
I went to see Madness a few times, they were 'ok'. However they had Ian Dury and the Blockheads who were supporting at one gig and they were flipping amazing. It seemed like they were able to get a seemingly indifferent crowd absolutely rocking, they were really, really good! I think Squeeze were on the same bill and they were also pretty decent
Always wanted to see Squeeze, but never managed to. I watched a gig on YT they played outdoors, in what looked like a market square or something.Great performance.
PrinceRupert said:
The Editors were very good. They didn't engage with the audience much but what a show.
I'd echo this - I went to see them in Southampton a few years ago and they were excellent.Siouxsie and the Banshees always stick in my mind - It was early 80s, we only really went because they were the band on the day after a couple of friends and I returned from a holiday in the Lake District and we thought it'd round the week out nicely. They were excellent and Siouxsie was a totally spellbinding performer - I don't think I've never seen anyone better in that respect.
Not a group, but Edwin Starr was great - Only saw him because he was the 'act' at a club 18-30 reunion party and I only went to that because a mate had been on a club 18-30 holiday!
M
crofty1984 said:
Rod200SX said:
On that note, Guns N Roses, but the 00's era. Saw them in 2006 in Glasgow, whenever I mention it to anyone they rant about it not being without slash etc but it was a tremendous show. Though I remember that there was posters dotted about the SECC due to Axl's reputation for being late, stating that if folk missed their transport links etc due to delays, to speak to the staff for assistance 
I've seen various post-2001 GnR lineups and they've always put on a good show. Including the reunited line up (which was a great show as you can imagine, but the sound at Slaine Castle wasn't very good.Limp Bizkit (don't laugh). We saw them back in 2000 (I think) as Nu-Metal kids and enjoyed it as you'd imagine. But then 10 years later me and my mates went back to the Leeds Festival for old time's sake and Limp Bizkit were on (I think the second stage?) and we went to see them with a kind of ironic nostalgia for how silly we were as kids/mild curiosity. Bugger me, they rocked the place. No "Here's our new conceptual pan pipe album in full" Just a case of knowing what you're known for, doing it well and delivering what people wanted to hear. Cue us all singing along to songs we'd not even thought about for years and having a great time.
Similarly the non-Lynott line up of Thin Lizzy. They supported GnR one year as the guitarist is/was in both (I hope they paid him overtime!) . Not that I expected them to be bad, but it was one of those gigs where you're reminded of all the great songs they'd written that you'd forgotten about.
Limp Bizkit, I've seen them twice (I think, maybe just once but I get mixed up) since 2010 and they put on a great show. I'm a pretty big Lb fan so was properly up my street but it was properly bouncing!
Another one for me is Enter Shikari, I was a teen when they became popular but they weren't really my jam, was more in to heavy metal. So dismissed them for years, but went with a few friends to see them at a local place in 2013-2014 and holy crap, it was wild. Guitarist climbing along the ceiling rafters, whole place jumping about, massive energy! Listened to them quite a lot after that and whilst I'm still not big on their early stuff, the later albums have a good brit-punk sort of vibe.
Talking of non-original lineups, I saw the Blockheads 2 or 3 years ago in our local town venue with about 100 other people.
They were brilliant - No sense of 'Tiny audience, not worth the trouble', they gave it their all and (to my uncultured ears) sounded like very proficient musicians.
To be fair, I think the lineup (Sans Ian Dury, of course) was pretty much original and the singer was a pretty decent stand-in (as Russell is in 'From The Jam') - A great evening's entertainment that definitely deserved a bigger audience.
M
They were brilliant - No sense of 'Tiny audience, not worth the trouble', they gave it their all and (to my uncultured ears) sounded like very proficient musicians.
To be fair, I think the lineup (Sans Ian Dury, of course) was pretty much original and the singer was a pretty decent stand-in (as Russell is in 'From The Jam') - A great evening's entertainment that definitely deserved a bigger audience.
M
PrinceRupert said:
The Editors were very good. They didn't engage with the audience much but what a show.
Agree, saw them at a festival in Holland somewhere and they were really good- helped by the stage being in what was essentially a massive circus tent and the sound was really clear. Ended up buying a couple of their albums in a record shop in the Hague on the way home.Took my Dad to see a prog rock night a few years back as my mum refused to go
but the "headliners" were Focus, and they properly blew me away, the guitar player they had with them at the time was incredible. Really tight musicianship and you could tell they were enjoying the gig.I’ve been going to live gigs for many years and have a wide range of music interests. Maybe I’m easily pleased but I’ve rarely been disappointed. I went see Noah and the Whale a few years ago at York Barbican as my brother wanted to go. I wasn’t enthusiastic but they were brilliant. Similar thing happened with The Darkness at the same venue a couple of years ago, great show.
marcosgt said:
Talking of non-original lineups, I saw the Blockheads 2 or 3 years ago in our local town venue with about 100 other people.
They were brilliant - No sense of 'Tiny audience, not worth the trouble', they gave it their all and (to my uncultured ears) sounded like very proficient musicians.
To be fair, I think the lineup (Sans Ian Dury, of course) was pretty much original and the singer was a pretty decent stand-in (as Russell is in 'From The Jam') - A great evening's entertainment that definitely deserved a bigger audience.
M
I saw Ian Dury and the Blockheads and The Jam a few times back in the day and they were both excellent.They were brilliant - No sense of 'Tiny audience, not worth the trouble', they gave it their all and (to my uncultured ears) sounded like very proficient musicians.
To be fair, I think the lineup (Sans Ian Dury, of course) was pretty much original and the singer was a pretty decent stand-in (as Russell is in 'From The Jam') - A great evening's entertainment that definitely deserved a bigger audience.
M
I saw From the Jam just before lockdown too - they were great and the audience looked just like an older / balder version of the Jams audience from the late 70's... same clothes and everything
Roofless Toothless said:
The Tremeloes.
Yikes, are they still touring ?A few years back a mate, die hard heavy rock dude, dragged reluctantly along to see Hot Chocolate by the wife
said it was a cracking gig, he knew all the songs , and entered into the groove by throwing some nifty disco shapes
on the floor [ not really sure what he meant by that last bit ].
Squeeze, at the Indigo 02.
Was a bit meh, but went to see the support really, Heaven 17
Squeeze blew me away from start to finish, was a complete continuous set, just a total wall of sound assault on my senses, with so much energy and perfection all the wag through. Really sharp and tight performance.
Midge Ure also played a local free festival in our town a while back. Thought he might have held back as most of the locals were pissed laying on the grass, but he gave it his all, and was superb start to finish
Was a bit meh, but went to see the support really, Heaven 17
Squeeze blew me away from start to finish, was a complete continuous set, just a total wall of sound assault on my senses, with so much energy and perfection all the wag through. Really sharp and tight performance.
Midge Ure also played a local free festival in our town a while back. Thought he might have held back as most of the locals were pissed laying on the grass, but he gave it his all, and was superb start to finish
Was at Let's Rock Wales a few years ago.
From the Jam were excellent.
Midge Ure superb-much, much better than I thought he would be,
but the surprise was Tony Hadley-he was absolutely superb! I've heard him sing live on TV where he's been hit and miss-but this time he was absolutely fantastic.
From the Jam were excellent.
Midge Ure superb-much, much better than I thought he would be,
but the surprise was Tony Hadley-he was absolutely superb! I've heard him sing live on TV where he's been hit and miss-but this time he was absolutely fantastic.
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