Greatest live disappointment

Pink Floyd 1977 - Jeppessen Stadium on the University of Houston campus. It drizzled steadily for most of the show, and the inflatable pig malfunctioned and had to hasten an early retreat, to the disappointment of thousands of ravenous dogs. All of Animals, all of Wish You Were Here, "Speak to Me/Breath," "On the Run," "Time," “Money," and "Us and Them." But the real disappointment came when the show ended and throngs of sheep herded the stage, throwing bottles at the roadies!

The music that night was superb! Their legendary 360 degree sound system was undaunted by the moisture. The light shows, animation, and pyrotechnics were phenomenal. Even with a plastic garbage bag draped from my shoulders I was perfectly entertained. I suppose my point is that the audience has ruined more concert experiences for me than the performers. Ian Anderson said once that he purposely fashioned the introduction to A Passion Play to be full-throttle, in-your-face loud because he hated dealing with the rudeness of concert goers (they even played the “middle bit” of Thick as a Brick on the 1973 tour to avoid the softer acoustic beginning). I’m serious, folks! I really became disenchanted with the whole concert-going experience due to the behavior of the audience.

Edited by Ronnie Pilgrim - November 16 2010 at 12:38

Hawkwise wrote: "disenchanted with the whole concert-going experience due to the behavior of the audience. " As someone who has lived in Europe and North America i have come  find the audience here North America not as good as the once in Europe   ether at huge gig or at little gigs in Pubs or Bars ,  I Have been to a good few local gigs here in Southern Ontario found the audience rather  ignorant they seem to spend more time talking and making a noise and in  some instance making more noise than the band on the stage. i resiliently went to one gig where really nice blues band playing and most the audience spent the whole time with there back to the stage.  in my experience European audiences are far more receptive of Artist than i have found here in North America .

Not always, I'm afraid.

When The The came on to play at Six Of The Best (the Gabriel/Genesis reunion), a ton of bottles simultaneously hit the stage. Lots of rock fans most unhappy with what they perceived as New Romantic crap.

When I saw Yeggles at Deeside, half of the crowd continually shouted at the band to get Trevor Horn & Geoff Downes off the stage, and bring on Anderson & Wakeman from behind the stage. The other half merely walked out and went to the pub at the top of the hill.

Two shows stand out as particularly disappointing. I had the opportunity to see Dylan in a relatively small venue in 1996, and was quite excited at the prospect, but he gave the most lack-lustre performance I have ever seen. Zero audience rapport, basically seemed as though he didn't give a damn. After the show, a friend of mine commented, :I didn't realize Bob Dylan was dead."

The other one was the Stones in 1989 in Toronto. Their performances were not bad, but even 20 years ago, they were basically a museum act verging on self-parody. The kicker--and I do not remember what song this happened during--was the sudden appearance, at either side of the stage, of huge inflatable plastic masturbating women, Seriously, about four stories high. It was embarrassing just to be there.

Pink Floyd without Roger Waters. Lacked something, but I can't put my finger on it.

Edited by hobocamp - November 16 2010 at 14:38

Marillion's first gig of the Brave tour at St Davids Hall ,Cardiff. I was quite keen to see Steve Hogarth. The sound quality was dreadfull even taking into consideration it was a live show and I just didn't like the album anyway. Big let down.

Cosmiclawnmower wrote: Having seen bands and artists like Hawkwind, VDGG & Peter Hammill, Roy Harper, Man and Pink Fairies many times in many situations over the years seemed to make the fact that one night they would be spell-binding, the next truely awful, just part of the course and not a cause for dissapointment. ....

Edited by moshkito - November 16 2010 at 15:39

in 37 years of practical life as an ex.pilot ( i'm 57 now ) i've been to a hundreds of live performances & gigs . some of them were live , and the others through videos , all around the world . but what was really surprising to me was ( a night to remember ) by the three davids that i really liked ! this night was crossing my red lines as the nightmare that i couldn't dream of ! i really like David Bowie , but he has nothing to do on this stage . not even David Crosby ( the blues man hiding behind Nash & Young ) they're both great in their field . but to let them perform these masterpieces in a funny ways !!!!wow , the third David let this happens , it was a wrong move , wrong people , wrong timing , but in the right place !! i've seen it once , it's more than enough , only Echoes , deserves much credit in this DVD . Richard (rip)
may God bless your soul !!

popski3125 wrote: In the seventies it seemed that every concert always opened with a support act that was at best poor, and with the exception of Squeeze have left a complete blank on my memory. When Squeeze were a support act, it was the first time I'd seen a drummer counting throughout the songs. I remember one support 'act' playing in complete silence after he explained that he wouldn't be paid unless he played.   The upside was that the main act was always so,so much better.

Rasvamakkara wrote: Pain of Salvation on the Scarsick tour is my biggest live dissappointment. I'm not a fan of Scarsick, so the setlist was far from perfect for me, but that wasn't the only problem. I thought the music sounded forced and lacked the emotion I was expecting from a PoS concert. The problem may have been in my end, for many girls were crying pretty much every time Gildenlöw opened his mouth. The concert also included the biggest anti-climax I've ever witnessed: in the end of Undertow where the song grows bigger and bigger until it reaches the climax, they suddenly cut it short and switched to acapella. The concert wasn't a complete disaster though, I did enjoy some moments, but I was expecting much more.

Oops! Pushed "Post Reply" before I'd written anything! Excuse me!