Groups who were surprisingly good live...

[HappyMidget]

P!nk - Wife dragged me along to the O2 in 2009 to see her. Absolutely blown away. So much energy and was apprehensive when I heard the opening bars for Bohemian Rhapsody playing, but she properly nailed it.

[Boringvolvodriver]

stevebrookman said:

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.

Was at Let’s Rock Leeds - also very impressed with From the Jam although Big Country were the band that impressed me the most.

As an aside Andy Bell was garbage- not helped by the fact that it was pretty obvious that he had enjoyed the bar a tad too much!

[Cotty]

The Australian Pink Floyd Show, more frequently referred to as the Australian Pink Floyd.
Pink Floyd tribute band formed in 1988 in Adelaide, South Australia.

Saw them at the O2 about 8 years ago and they were really good for a tribute band

[Athlon]

The Specials re-union gig at the Apollo in Manchester before they all fell out again! Wow, raised the roof and a non stop assault from start to finish!
Afterwards we all just stood around in silence in the car park soaking wet with set then someone just said " fk me!!" and we all just cheered!

UB40 the tour before Ali left, that was a superb gig, the one after was terrible, they should have given us our money back!

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in Indy USA, what a gig, the musicianship of every member of that band live was something else, unforgettable.

Was not Was opened for Dire Straights (who were very average but I think they were done by then) and were epic, stole the show!

[anonymous-user]

Khruangbin took me by surprise. I hadn’t heard of them and they were on the set. Both guitarists were on point.

[abzmike]

Kid Creole and the Coconuts... Was at a Microsoft conference in Nice 2001ish... (yes it was jolly...) and they were the act for the party night. Free bar and a bunch of IT nerds but they were bloody brilliant.

[irocfan]

I was never much of a Prince fan tbh and couldn't understand the fuss. I then saw him at a small gig (1,200 people)... WOW!!! The guy was fking amazing and worth every plaudit

[paulguitar]

irocfan said:

I was never much of a Prince fan tbh and couldn't understand the fuss. I then saw him at a small gig (1,200 people)... WOW!!! The guy was fking amazing and worth every plaudit

Unbelievably talented. Love him lightly berating the audience here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r967lcA_rR8

[johnymac]

I don't know if "Groups who were surprisingly good" is appropriate but the original Slade line up were fantastic live. Unexpectedly they held the audience at the 1979 or 1980 Reading festival in the palms of their hands. A friend of mine went and told me at the time that he couldn't believe how good they were - especially as the crowd were nothing like Slade's target audience.

[TCEvo]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Beck (I’ve said this before in other threads).

Really did not expect his music to translate to an open air gig but it was one of the best live sets I’ve ever seen. Totally blew away the headline act (the verve).

I saw him play a set someway down the bill at the Reading Festival years ago - he was brilliant, and I wasn't a fan then; sun shining, drink in hand & Loser blasting out was cool.

[Pothole]

psi310398 said:

I’ve always found the various incarnations of John Otway and/or Wild Willie Barrett and their various backing bands to be much more fun and higher quality than I had any right to expect, not least as I have had the dubious benefit of experiencing the acts some twenty times since the early 80s. A bit hit and miss but the hits are good and the misses quickly forgiven. And the atmosphere at the gigs is great.

Only 20? You've not really tried, have you? Otway had a residency at The Cricketers (near The Oval) in the mid 80s and a mate and I went every week one summer/autumn. I think we must have seen at last a dozen shows that year, along with a WWB solo show in Hayes (Middx) area somewhere. I've seen Otway at least 2 dozen times since, too. Never a dull moment from the Aylesbury boy. (apparently he's doing Facebook live gigs weekly now...)

[anonymous-user]

Pothole said:

Otway had a residency at The Cricketers (near The Oval) in the mid 80s and a mate and I went every week one summer/autumn. I've seen Otway at least 2 dozen times since, too. Never a dull moment from the Aylesbury boy....

...who's lived in Wandsworth for more than a quarter of a century.

Question: Does he,
A) Scrabble around the stage after the show collecting his shirt buttons, or
B) Buy them in bulk?
and
C) Who sews them on?

Having seen the spectacle of the Mad, Bad and Dangerous tour - which one was Otway?
Check out the book: "I did it Otway" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Did-Otway-Rolls-Greatest-...
Check out the DVD: "Rock n Roll's Greatest Failure" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Rolls-Greatest-Failu...

[popeyewhite]

Surprisingly good live

KISS - blew my socks off
Status Quo - (back in the day) don't know how they did it, but atmosphere was amazing
Thin Lizzy - danced the night away
The Temperance Movement - expected something quite mundane, they put on the show of their lives
Happy Mondays -

OP - what about groups that were surprisingly poor live...?

[Johnnytheboy]

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Different thread.

[Pothole]

popeyewhite said:

Surprisingly good live

KISS - blew my socks off
Status Quo - (back in the day) don't know how they did it, but atmosphere was amazing
Thin Lizzy - danced the night away
The Temperance Movement - expected something quite mundane, they put on the show of their lives
Happy Mondays -

OP - what about groups that were surprisingly poor live...?

Cutting Crew

[popeyewhite]

Johnnytheboy said:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Different thread.

Thanks

[marcosgt]

abzmike said:

Kid Creole and the Coconuts... Was at a Microsoft conference in Nice 2001ish... (yes it was jolly...) and they were the act for the party night. Free bar and a bunch of IT nerds but they were bloody brilliant.

I saw them a couple of times back in the early 80s - Less of a gig and more of a party, brilliant both times.

Funnily enough I was watching the 'Greatest Hits of the 80s' on Channel 5 recently and said to my wife that "You never left a Kid Creole gig anything but happy".

The only thing I've experienced similar has been Caro Emerald.

M