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

Jennifer Lopez was also horrible, no passion

Guns'n Roses in 2011 and maroon 5

Four of us, all rather naive student teachers, decided to travel to London in the early 70s see a group chart topping at the time (cant even remember their name now). The gig was advertised in Melody Maker and turned out to be in the nether regions of the East End of London in a falling down hall. Hundreds of people crammed in, there were no arrangement for an aisle or any means of exiting and it was hotter than hell. The band were three hours late taking to the stage, and two audience members fainted, which eventually prompted some of the crowd to make a raid on the small bar for some water. In the face of large numbers of angry people the bartender walked off shouting help yourself and the drinks were 'liberated' and passed around. About half a dozen audience members then decided to strip naked, climb up on the stage and dance. Eventually the concert took place, but lo and behold by the time it finished in the early hours all the public transport had stopped running and we had no money for a cab, no map and no idea how to get to Kings Cross. With the wisdom of youth we decided to hitch hike and tramped through dodgy streets in inadequate clothing with our thumbs out. We were highly fortunate to get picked up by a Times jounalist who told us off in no uncertain terms. Arriving at KX we found the trains had all departed and tried to sleep on the station benches only to be moved on about every half hour by the police. Thank goodness my own children never indulged in such lunacy (or not that I know about anyway).

Where do I start. Van Morrison at Birmingham hippodrome. Katherine Jenkins and Icelandic singer Thor? Nottingham royal centre. Riverdance Apollo London. Neil sedaka Dionne Warwick NRC My 1st husband and I attended many gigs

The only bad concert I’ve been to was Amy whinehouse at NIA in Birmingham. We waited over an hour for her to appear, when she did, she was drunk. She sounded terrible and carried in drinking. We left before the end, but my son stayed, he said the audience started booing her. She started to slag them off. Tried to get my money back, but no chance because she’d turned up.
Such a shame because I do think she was a great talent. ?

The first gig I went to was Gary Glitter and the Glitter Band when I was 17. It was in a small hall somewhere in Cornwall. He poured a glass of water over himself after the first song, because he was hot. He then picked up the microphone and got a shock off it. He walked off when people laughed and that was the end of the gig! I was very disappointed at the time, but now feel really creepy thinking about it as we were all quite youngish teenagers!

I’ve been lucky enough to go to a lot of gigs and see many of the acts mentioned on here. I thought I’d never been to a bad one, but came across an old letter the other day where I’d written that Lindisfarne at our Student Union were rubbish. No further details given.

Eric Clapton gave a good performance, but was totally incommunicative, not even deigning to let us know that the friendly guy who joined him on a couple of numbers was the great Paul Carrick. Arthur Brown very nearly set the small local venue on fire (more exciting than bad!). George Michael arrived an hour and a half late then gave us the best gig I’ve ever been to (I’m just glad we were staying over and didn’t have to miss the end, as many did).

The person I regret not seeing was Leonard Cohen. I’m so envious of those of you who did.

The first gig I ever went to was The Bonzo Dog Doohdah Band! Remember them? They were a bit mad, but a lot of fun!
The worst was at the Toby Jug in Tolworth. I can’t even remember who the band were, but it was a very small venue and jam packed and the only place my boyfriend and I could find to sit was right in front of and on a level with the huge amplifiers. We had to leave way before the end because we thought we would go deaf! Luckily, no lasting damage was done.

Like someone previously I also saw Whitney Houston and she was so bad people were walking out. It was a real shame as she obviously needed help. She was ranting and raving and her voice couldn't hit the high notes and she was stumbling around the stage. It was not long before she died and we felt so sorry for her.

I love that anecdote, Kamiso! What an eejit.

Bluecat My DH has always been. Bob Dylan fan. He has seen him live twice and said it was pretty awful.

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Both of my girls were metalheads in their teens and I am rather fond of it myself. I took one of them to see Motorhead but the band were not very good. Metallica, on the other hand, was excellent. My eldest daughter went with her boyfriend to see Megadeth but said that they were boring. The support band, Pantera, was much better.

The same daughter says that the worst performance she has ever heard was by Bob Dylan. The whole family drove for 2 days to see him perform at an open air venue, and they were very excited. They were so disappointed. They said the performance was dire. The songs were unrecognisable, sung in a style which my daughter could only describe as French nightclub style. They only recognised a Dylan classic when they managed to catch a familiar phrase. His interaction with the audience was minimal and he just walked offstage at the end, without a word. People were sitting on the grass and my daughter noticed that several people around them had fallen asleep.

She was disappointed, as she was brought up on Dylan music - I was a fan. I wish I had seen him in his prime. At least I saw Leonard Cohen, who was mesmerising.

OH had the misfortune to drive Van Morrison not long before he (OH) retired. He would say something to the PA sitting next to him, the PA then phoned the person sitting next to OH who relayed the message to my OH then the response was relayed back in the same way. OH was told that he was not to speak to his nibs under any circumstance. OH watched him perform his repertoire from the wings but had to leave 15 minutes before the end as VM’s car was being sent to the theatre but he didn’t know how to get to the motorway. OH was asked to start his vehicle so that VM could follow him but he would have a meltdown if he was kept waiting even a few seconds. What a plonker! OH was asked to drive him again but decided he was busy that night! Shame as OH really liked his music.

Stephenmarra We saw John Martyn who was always a favourite of mine just a couple of months before he died.He was huge had lost his leg was drinking on stage ...I say stage but it was a tiny venue with about 60 people .It was magic ,I'll never forget it and he sat in the hotel bar for ages swapping stories with us after it ,He wasn't the young blond god I first saw when I was 17 but the performance still makes me smile

Peewitt52 I saw The Troggs perform on a farm trailer when I did a holiday job at The Royal Show at Stoneleigh. It would have been around 68 or 69 I think. Just remember they wore white jeans and bright yellow shirts. Good music but not great lookers which was important at the time.

I went with a friend to see the Stones at Roundhay? Park in Leeds. We traveled up from London and, sat on a slope with other people of our age (30 somethings) It was a beautiful afternoon but the concert was ruined because of the difference between the speed at which sound and light traveled.

There were several marshalls organising the cars arriving at the concert but they disappeared before the end leaving hundreds of cars trying to drive off the parking area straight on the road. We caught a bus back to the centre but left it half 1/2 hour of going nowhere to walk back to the station. Luckily B Rail held the train back so we managed to get to London in the early hours and then walked home to Brixton.

No more big venues for me after that.

Missdeke, I was at that 86 Knebworth concert too, thanks for the memory. I remember wondering what Cliff Richard in his pink jacket was doing at a rock concert.
Highlight for me was Pink Floyd, after a long hot sunny day they lit up the sky with their light show and just as their set finished it began to rain and there was a rush to leave in the pitch dark as 120,000 people tried to funnel out through one farm gate and across the fields to the car park.
Funnily enough, I don't remember Elton John at all that day although I've seen his Christmas show at the Hammersmith Odeon and he was great at that.

All the mentions of Van Morrison has triggered a memory of an appalling gig of his at the Edinburgh Playhouse. I think I’d wiped it from my memory. Same as most other people’s experiences, he sang half-heartedly for 30 minutes and then disappeared, never to be seen again. Grumpy git. I see he’s a Covid denier now. ?

We saw Queen in the 70’s. Sitting nine rows back with Freddie on stage in his tight harlequin cat suit left nothing to the imagination.

Worst was always a gamble John Martyn at Newcastle University, drunk as a skunk f'ing and blinding, spent more time snapping and changing strings on his Guitar than getting through his set. Still love his work though.

One of the best was the "Who Put The Boot In" tour Parkhead 1976 I think
Scorching hot day and to my shame a never heard of for me The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
absolutely nailed it.

My friend and I were the envy of the sixth form - we had tickets to see The Beatles. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep the night before, but sadly all we did was SEE The Beatles - from the moment the curtain went up the screaming started and we didn't hear a note. We had no idea what they sang and played, and spent the whole time trying to stay on our feet with hysterical girls pushing and shoving.

Ps best gigs ever Leonard Cohen’s last ones in London. He related wonderfully with even stadium size audiences

I saw the Who at Hammersmith when I was 8 months pregnant with son no 1. They were very good but it was SO loud I piled everyone’s coats onto my stomach to protect the baby. Said baby now makes a good living in the music world and I think it was that concert which did it!

Been to a few that weren't great but the one that sticks in my mind is a Jools Holland Big Band concert in Malvern. he was great BUT nothing happened until about 90 mins after start time then some slow clapping a relation of his appeared on stage with a keyboard played one or two songs and then cleared off. An official then came on stage to say there would now be an intermission!!! Uproar in the theatre but after a 15-20 min break the band finally appeared with no word of apology. They were very good though.

Good grief! Not 1664! I'm not that old ???

Dinahmo I too saw the Beatles. It was 1963 or 1664 at the Liverpool Empire. The screaming was awful and we didn't hear anything but that.