BigMikeH77 0 #1 February 22, 2014 Worst: Eric Clapton. I had 11th row floor seats. He played a roughly one-hour set, went through the motions, then left. No heart whatsoever. Best: Boy George. Yes, THAT Boy George. Very small venue of less than 1,500 people. Put on a great show, and it was more like a jam session. Who knew? I'm sure there are a few I can't remember also, but those are the ones that stand out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airdvr 196 #2 February 22, 2014 Definitely Floyd's Animals tour was the best. I know this runs counter to what most of you like here but Kenny Chesney is also a great concert and on my list of bests. I can't think of a bad concert...at least none I can recall . Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,089 #3 February 22, 2014 I'm not sure I can name a worst, but there have been a couple of bests. Mothers of Invention in 1973 were incredible -- played a full set, and then just kept jamming on the stage for who knows how long after. Janis Ian in about 2004 on a small stage here in Houston. She was stunning, had me and my then-boyfriend both teary-eyed with one of her songs. Just incredible. Wendy P.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weaverd 0 #4 February 22, 2014 Worst: KISS Best: Our Lady Peace Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #5 February 22, 2014 BigMikeH77Worst: Eric Clapton. I had 11th row floor seats. He played a roughly one-hour set, went through the motions, then left. No heart whatsoever. I had worse seats, but yes. Totally agree. I was BORED at Clapton's show. Short. Little by way of performance or heart. "Dude. Make a mistake. Do something besides stand there." Compared with the second-best guitarist I ever saw - his former bandmate Steve Winwood (yes, THAT Stevie Winwood. Blew me away how good he was). Tied for worst? Kansas. I can't explain why but I thought they sucked. Best - Billy Joel. On a joint bill with Elton John and Billy just wiped the floor with everyone I'd ever seen. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LuckyMcSwervy 0 #6 February 22, 2014 BEST: Kid Rock, June 2011, Borgata Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City WORST: Patti LaBelle, 1990?, Golden Nugget (I think), Atlantic City She was a bitch.Always be kinder than you feel. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tink1717 2 #7 February 22, 2014 Best: Rush, 86. I swear that one of the tracks on "A Show Of Hands" was one that I was at. Captial Centre, Wash. D.C. Worst: Heart, 89, Bad Animals tour. Shitty seats, shitty sound, Ann was so sick she should have just lip sync'd it. And far too many bugs. Best part about the show was the show in the parking lot with the drunks getting it on in the back of an 86 RX-7. Didn't think that was possible.Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off. -The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!) AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #8 February 23, 2014 wmw999 I'm not sure I can name a worst, but there have been a couple of bests. Mothers of Invention in 1973 were incredible -- played a full set, and then just kept jamming on the stage for who knows how long after. Saw them in 73 and 74 in high school, amazingly great band, amazing weird/arcane songs, right? Would love to see them again, but of course Frank left us years ago. Worst? Hmm, maybe Uriah Heep in the late 70's. Not much of a band to start with, just going thru the motions. We walked out. Eric Clapton in the late 70's was a bit of a disappointment. Rehab blues, maybe? Vskydiver and I love the Drop Kick Murphys. Seen 'em half a dozen times. But one time was in a new venue with crap sound. Very disappointing. Next year, though, same venue but new sound guys, great show. And we loved them in Boston over St. Paddy's. Nice double set for the home town crowd. Great show. One of my favorites recently was a double set by the Melvins at Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma. SRO 15 feet from the stage with no warm up bands to suffer thru, the 4 piece set up with Dale and Coady on drums. Played most of my and Vskydiver's favorites. Had a hotel room within crawling distance so I was free to drink my way thru the entire show. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GD64 1 #9 February 23, 2014 Best....Lynyrd Skynyrd Band. Went from the "sunset loose load" directly to the stage front and center, with about 15-20 of us all in "max track" mode before the band came out. So we all decided to "top the tanks off" and WOW! No warm up band, early to middle 70's. The band lined up their guitars across the front of the stage and started playing and out comes a short guy" with the hair colored yellow" and looks at us..... than spits tobacco at us, smiles and break into "give me 3 steps". Worst....Van Morrison at the Celebrity Theatre in PHX in 70's. Fell off his stool a few times and "nodded". Strung out to the max on junk! Didn't even play "brown-eyed girl"! Everyone should have got a refund after that non-performance. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #10 February 23, 2014 GD64 Best....Lynyrd Skynyrd Band. No warm up band, early to middle 70's. Saw them as warm up band in the early 70's. We didn't even know how to pronounce their name, but they rocked the roof off. Quote Worst....Van Morrison at the Celebrity Theatre in PHX in 70's. Didn't even play "brown-eyed girl"! Everyone should have got a refund after that non-performance. Some bands and performers have a signature song like that. They should always play it, no matter how tired they may be of it. Last time we saw the Bouncing Souls they didn't play "Kate is Great", for crying out loud. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GD64 1 #11 February 23, 2014 No "Kate is Great" what the......... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #12 February 23, 2014 GD64 No "Kate is Great" what the......... Yep, WTF, right? Still a good show. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimjumper 25 #13 February 23, 2014 Best: As strange as it sounds, KODO, a Japanese Taiko Drum team. They create an event not just music. Worst: Either Pat Benatar at the Del Mar Fair in CA, or Molly Hatchet in SLC about '78. Walked out on both. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Southern_Man 0 #14 February 23, 2014 Worst: Dylan. saw him in college, poor sound, looked disinterested, couldn't understand a single word he said. Best: boy, that's hard, I've seen a lot of great shows. Bryan Adams put on a surprisingly good show (full of energy). I loved the times I saw the Grateful Dead. Grace Potter is my current favorite and puts on an amazing show. Glad I saw the Rolling Stones when I did (also college). Most memorable small show was seeing Dave Matthews Band play an outdoor show at the UVa amphitheater with ~100 people there."What if there were no hypothetical questions?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GD64 1 #15 February 23, 2014 Dylan.......looked disinterested, couldn't understand a single word he said. Describes every Dylan concert I've been to Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #16 February 23, 2014 Back when I could still sort of hear (before what was left of my hearing took a nose dive to the deep abyss last summer)... Actually it's been 15 years since the last concert I attended, but the best sound, and the outdoor venue (in Pelham, AL) had a lot to do with that, was Def Leppard. EVERYBODY was jamming and singing along to Rock of Ages, Women, Photograph, Hysteria, Armageddon It, etc... It was a really good concert. I learned NEVER to go to a concert at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center arena. The acoustics are HORRIBLE. I saw Van Halen and AC/DC there and could hardly make out the songs from way back in the upper deck. They put on good shows, just that the sound sucked. "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shotgun 1 #17 February 23, 2014 Best used to be a toss-up between The Who and Nine Inch Nails. But I think over the years the NIN Downward Spiral tour stands out as the best concert. (From the concert-viewer perspective; concert "experiences" might be another story. ;) Mind you, I already thought that album was a masterpiece, so seeing it brought to life by the creator(s?) was particularly mesmerizing. I don't know about worst. KISS and Faster Pussycat are the first bands that come to mind, but I think in both of those cases it was a sound problem that didn't necessarily reflect on the band. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonstark 8 #18 February 23, 2014 Best/Worst was in 1973. The Who at Madison Square Garden. At that time it was regarded as the loudest concert in history. It was amazing but excruciating. Worst/Worst was Bow Wow Wow in 1982 or 3 on Orlando. -UGH- jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #19 February 23, 2014 Best : was my first ever concert .. Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon : Stoke 1974 Worst : John Martyn .. he was drunk or high (or both) almost fell off stage....... took a break for ages .. so I walked out.... "how are heroes are now fallen" (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydiver30960 0 #20 February 23, 2014 JohnMitchell Vskydiver and I love the Drop Kick Murphys. Seen 'em half a dozen times. But one time was in a new venue with crap sound. Very disappointing. Next year, though, same venue but new sound guys, great show. And we loved them in Boston over St. Paddy's. Nice double set for the home town crowd. Great show. I LOVE the Murphys. I'm learning the bagpipes; each day I work through all the marches and jigs that I'm SUPPOSED to be be learning, look behind me to make sure my Pipe Major didn't sneak into the house, and then break out Fields of Athenry and the Spicy McHaggis Jig. They're both a long way off, but someday... Seeing them, in BOSTON, on St. Paddy's Day must have been in...sane. OK, keeping it on topic: Best: Dropkick Murphys in the Rialto theater, Tucson, Spring 2013. Yeah, you saw this coming. Small venue, new album, great show, their first show in ten years in Tucson. Even with just being pigeonholed in the LAST row, we still had a blast. Worst: Count Basie Orchestra, some time around 1996. It was actually a good show, but... They came to Virginia Tech, and the girl I had a MASSIVE crush on loved them. I got tickets and asked her to go with me; she didn't know they were going to be in town and so didn't have time to get her own tickets; in hindsight I'd bet it's the only reason she agreed to go out with me. GOD, I absolutely crashed and burned on that night. It was, WITHOUT QUESTION, the most painful and awkward date of my life, and it was ALL my fault. As I alluded to above, I'm pretty sure she wanted nothing to do with me, but good LORD I sure sealed the deal with that night. So, although the band was great, that will forever go down in my memory as the worst concert I've ever been to. Elvisio "Haven't thought about her in years" Rodriguez Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #21 February 23, 2014 I've seen a lot of great shows, so it's hard to pick a "best" but I'd put the Lyle Lovett shows I've seen up there with just about anyone, especially when he has his Large Band. Worst - probably the first I ever went to on my own as a teen, which was the Beach Boys in 1985. Let's just say not a good point in their career to see them. They lip synched. Fortunately it didn't put me off live performance and I was able to see lots of great shows over my life that have more than redeemed the live concert experience!"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
craddock 0 #22 February 23, 2014 Best- Billy and Elton coming out of the floor with their Grands faced off back to back. Covered each others songs. Duets. Billy dancing on Elton's Yamaha. Great seats at a great venue. Worst- STP. I walked out and took a shower. Scott was a mess. This was right after he left/kickout out of velver revolver and went on tour with STP. High as a kite. Couldn't sing or barely remember the lyrics. That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #23 February 23, 2014 craddock Worst- STP. I walked out and took a shower. Scott was a mess. This was right after he left/kickout out of velver revolver and went on tour with STP. High as a kite. Couldn't sing or barely remember the lyrics. I was lucky enough to catch them during a brief moment of lucidity/sobriety, in November 1996 in Chapel Hill, NC. Great show ... when he's sober(ish) he's a great performer."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,029 #24 February 23, 2014 Best: Atlanta Rhythm Section. Not only did they play to the crowd, they played long and well. Worst: Three Dog Night - circa 1993. They just did not have their shit together, played horribly and then cut the set short.Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roostnureye 2 #25 February 23, 2014 BEST: TED NUGET and the Damn Yankees ted came out swinging on a tarzan rope, landing on the stage to pick up a crossbow with a flaming arrow, then shot a sadam image on a target with crosshairs on him. worst:Filter in 1995 in miami arena, it was on Trents Reznors birthday. Filter opened and SUUUCKED!!! then NIN came on and Trent was soo fucking wasted he was just causing feedback on the mic, then trew the mic and just crowd surfed for 20min+ but looking back, it was probably one of the most epic NIN shows ive been too.Flock University FWC / ZFlock B.A.S.E. 1580 Aussie BASE 121 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites