Bad Music Gigs/Concerts that you've been to.

Humbertbear. Interesting you saying about Elton John. Same happened at Birmingham. It seemed more like a personal gig for the first couple of rows close by his piano. Didnt seem interested in rest of audience Was our first time and I swore never again. No charisma Total phone- in gig. Then my son announced he was gonna fly to Cork so see him Well. I had to go too..... He was FABULOUS!! Much smaller venue. Had an absolute blast! I just assumed Birmingham had been an “off” night. Heaven knows we all have them. Interesting that you had same experience in London. Had tickets for O2 this year ?. Hoping he will be OK for next year ( Sorry to digress but love my gigs! Have really missed them this year. The best???? The mighty Springsteen - need stamina for some of his 4 hour marathons ?- and Queen & Adam Lambert. Phenomenal!! )

Elton John toplined at the old Wembley stadium in Midsummer Music in 1974.
There was also Stackridge, Rufus with Chaka Khan , The Eagles, The Beachboys and the Elton.
Hot summer day, all the other bands were brilliant - especially the Beachboys who got everyone singing and dancing.
Elton came on - expected all his flamboyance and amazing costumes etc but no, jeans, t shirt, baseball cap. Only sang songs from his Captain Fantastic album, that hadn't even been released in the UK! None of his hits, not even Rocketman! Left before the encore. Can quite honestly say that his set was the longest 45 minutes ever!

Whitesnake at Hammersmith when David Coverdale had a cold/flu. Basically it was a karaoke concert = sing the song yourself! He was on stage and sang the first few words then we all had to do the rest! People were leaving in angry swarms demanding money back at box office - they should have cancelled. If say a guitarist or drummer was ill they could have got replacement, but the main singer with such a charismatic voice - no-one can replace so should have cancelled! I was so disappointed I could not even listen to a their CD's for 2 yrs afterwards!

Cheryl Crowe (not a fan anyway), very cold outside (December in Aberdeen), very hot inside, when every-one started jumping up and down to 'Every day is a winding road' I felt unwell, had to spend the rest of the gig in the bar!! Ps, first ever concert, think 1963, Caird Hall, Dundee to see Freddie and the Dreamers, supported by a very young band called The Rolling Stones!! Whatever happened to them??

Another disappointment with Van the Man, here! Decades ago, DH took me to a Van Morrison concert in Birmingham. Sadly Van appeared to be drunk and was not "on form". Mumbled his way through songs and staggered about on stage. Not a good look/gig.

Luckily, I've never been to a bad concert. Ive never seen Van Morrison but i have heard some of the same negative comments other have made here. My son too is quite jealous I saw Led Zeppelin back in the early 70s. But i can remember being too young to appreciate them. I was just a teeny bopper at the time. They were just a noise. But i would love to see them now. Bay City Rollers were fun and, at 16, I was smitten. But they weren't gifted musicians. Most surprising was Thin Lizzie. Wasn't particularly a fan. Went with friends. But i will never forget Phil Lynott. He was the most charismatic singer I have ever seen, despite many fab gigs I've been to since. He oozed it. And the concert was fantastic. I was sad when he died.

Elton John at the NEC in Birmingham. With hindsight I think he was most likely off his head on something but it was a waste of hard earned money, very poor.

Back in the 60's, we saw The Beatles several times at various venues in the North West. They were fabulous what you could hear of them above the sound of screaming teens!

ELO in concert in the 70s. My boyfriend now husband decided to surprise me by taking me there but didn’t tell me where we were going. He did tell me to dress up. So I put my highest shoes on, which crippled me, because I thought we were going to a restaurant and only walking from the car to the restaurant.The car park was more than 2 miles away from the venue. The concert itself was great but I had the worst blisters ever to the point where he had to carry me back to the car park.

The best gig was Barry White in Newcastle City Hall. We were 10 rows from the front & he was brilliant, the worst/most disappointing was Stevie Wonder, who I loved from being 15yrs old, at Hyde Park. I was so excited but he was awful imo, Prince had just died & it was like being at a 'wake' We walked out after 30mins not impressed at all

We saw Elton John in Birmingham some years ago. I agree he was uncommunicative and boring. Michael Bublé last year was brilliant. What a showman. Definitely value for money. Involved the audience. Fabulous.

Oh how to choose. Been to so many.
Freddie Mercury tribute at Wembley was very special. I have to say the Stones & Bowie though. Seen both many times & always amazing. Couldn't choose between them.

Saw Beatles too but they were rubbish. Got the impression they really did not want to be there.

I've seen most if the bands mentioned plus a few others but have to agree about Van Mortison. I love his music but he's well known for being curmudgeonly, definitely not a showman and no charisma.
I live near Warwick Castle and last saw him there. Chris Farlowe was the support act and did a great job. Then the lights dimmed and we heard the opening bars of a Van song but couldn't see him. Eventually we spotted his black hat at the back of the stage and he began to sing.
Can't complain about the music but the evening felt somehow flat because of his non interaction with the audience.

We went to a Tamla Motown show with some famous names but it wasn't very good.

I know we are talking about worst shows but I saw Queen twice at an old theatre in Liverpool (unlike the modern huge 'boxes') and they were fantastic. Freddie was wonderful and I remember walking to the station to get the train home and my ears were ringing!

I don't know what you mean by 'wood trucks' JaxJacky can you explain? Most of the time we enjoyed Monsters of Rock. As we lived in Beeston, near Nottingham, we travelled by the ordinary Bartons Bus so transport wasn't a problem.

A good gig was the Eagles at Birmingham 'Hell Freezes Over' tour - I waited decades for them to reform. My poor DH found his enjoyment was spoiled as a man sitting next to him was singing along to all the songs, drowning out all the music from the professionals on stage. I offered to swap seats with him but he manfully refused.

Saw the Beatles in the 60's, no idea if they were good or not as all we heard were screaming fans.

However, best recovery was The Proclaimers at Hawick a few years ago. Can't remember the details but the boys and their gear were separated so the show couldn't start until it all came together.

They were late on but goodness me what a show. Very quick set up and then straight into the gig. The place was jumping and well worth the wait.

Yup. Van Morrison. What a miserable sod. Personality of a turnip.

Another Van Morrison one, in Antwerp a few years ago, he was so obviously drunk he had to get a chair instead of a stool, and slurred so much and forgot words that he could have been anyone.

Good one same place Lenord Cohen, excellent.

I too was there at the Beatles Christmas Show, Hammersmith Odeon and, like you, couldn't hear a word! The only time I can remember being bored (and apologies to all Who fans out there) was seeing The Who perform at Watford. My friend dragged me along because I was never a fan. Although I have to say 'My Generation' was a great record.

Dinahmo

Usually on here we talk about the best concerts or films or whatever that we've seen. We were watching a recording of the Stones Concert in Hyde Park in 2013 which we thought was pretty good. I started thinking about various gigs that we'd been to over the years (partly prompted by the 50th anniversary of the death of Jimi Hendrix) and I realised that some of the ones I remembered the most were the worst ones.

So, I am wondering which were the worst ones that you've been to (and whether others agree or disagree)

To start off - Ike and Tina Turner at Hammersnith. I'd seen them before I met my OH and they were pretty good. But the concert that I'm referring to was after River Deep and so they were more famous. Two shows in one evening, we had tickets for the first. They were over 1/2 hour late in letting us in to the auditorium and the management kept trying to sell us ice creams. Nearly an hour before I & TT came on and they rattled through their playlist very quickly. A definite No No.

And I've just remebered the Beatles Christmas Show, again at Hammersmith. The girls started screaming as soon as they came on and I didn't hear any of the music. Extremely p.....d off!!

I would hereby like to apologise for being one of the screamers at the Hammersmith Odeon Beatles gig! (And if anyone else was also seeing them at Slough Adelphi, Finsbury Park Astoria, Kingston Odeon and many more, I apologise to you as well!)

I saw The Beatles several times. I have no idea whether they were good or not. I didn't care. As an avid fan. I just felt privileged to be there. I still feel that I was lucky to see them. Similarly The Stones, Kinks, many many more.

Worst was Crystal Gale in Llandudno early 2000s I think, she’d totally lost it and should have quit long before.
Best ever was the Drifters in Liverpool 1968/9.

Lots of good ones such as King Crimson in 1972, Hawkwind (three times), Captain Beefheart, too many to mention at festivals like Knebworth and Reading. But one that was memorable for a different reason - I went to see Santana and was really looking forward to it. The support band was Earth, Wind & Fire, whose music wasn't my cup o' tea at the time and I thought they were a surprising choice. Wow! They were fantastic... what a set, and the place was buzzing. After that, Santana were a bit of an anticlimax.

Later good gigs have been the Rolling Stones in Paris, AC/DC in various places, Bon Jovi at Wembley.

I'm sorry I never got to see Prince.

The last gig, and highly enjoyable, was a little known German band called Double Crush Syndrome. My son and I had a cracking night and I'd go and see them again tomorrow. Oh, and a band called Hayseed Dixie. Seen them a few times too. I hope 2021 brings more concert opportunities.

Back in the 70s some friends and I travelled a long way to see Lou Reed only for him to pass out drunk..or worse.. after the first song.
I also went to see the Troggs but after waiting over 3 hours for them to appear I had to leave to get the last bus. Never did get to see them (sighs).