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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask who is the worst performer/group you've seen live?

841 replies

Weston14 · 12/08/2019 01:17

Following on from a (very late-to-the-party) discussion about this year's Glasto with some friends over dinner tonight, where we all decided Lauryn Hill was an absolute let down, who is the worst performer or group you've ever seen live? Especially thinking of people you really liked who let you down here, not just "was dragged to see Take That with DSis and they were shite" Grin

If you're not much of a music fan I suppose this stretches to comedians, actors, poets...anyone who gets up on stage and does a turn.

OP posts:
ScruffGin · 12/08/2019 09:51

@RezCowgirl
Amy Winehouse at Glasto, should have expected it really.

We saw her last performance at Glastonbury, not sure how many she did, but it was pure Winehouse. She came out on stage completely normal, sipping a drink, sang some amazing songs, gradually whatever she'd taken before she came on kicked in, she started struggling with remembering the words, fell over, off stage, punched a member of the audience and got carried off by security... Was the most rock n roll thing I'd ever seen at that point in my life! Grin

Saw meatloaf a few years ago, loved it for the nostalgia but he can't sing anymore, would've loved to have seen him 30 years ago.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 12/08/2019 09:51

Sadly Oasis. I was always gutted I didn't see them at Knebworth, and so excited when they toured again about 10 years ago. But they were awful. Liam Gallagher was out of tune and rude about the venue, it pissed it down, and the crowd turned ugly. A real shame.

Normallyalurker · 12/08/2019 09:55

Another thumbs up for Elbow. Brighton Dome just after they'd won the Mercury Prize. At the front, small venue, moment in time.

Losingthechubrub · 12/08/2019 09:55

Mark Lamarr on a Wednesday night in Hastings. To be fair, he had a tough crowd - he's the type of comedian who excels at ad libs and snarky comebacks, but it was a sober audience of mainly couples, so nobody was really heckling so he had nothing to bounce off. I bet he's awesome in front of a load of rowdy drunks

amusedbush · 12/08/2019 09:56

I saw Jimmy Eat World at T in the Park 2005 and I was so disappointed. Whoever did their sound check should have been fired - the bass was turned up so loud it drowned everything else out and it felt like it was going to burst my bloody eardrums.

HazelBite · 12/08/2019 09:56

The worst in concert Diana Ross, the best Elton John, Billy Joel and the Rag n Bone Man (what a voice!)
The worst comedian I have ever seen was the late Tommy Copper he was completely wasted and slurred all the way through his set. The best was Michael MacKintyre.

pictish · 12/08/2019 09:59

Florence (and the Machine) was a disappointment, simply because I was expecting a lot more pizazz and opulence and stage presence from her. I was surprised by how dull she was. Her voice sounded good but she just sort of stood up there on her own in a plain little outfit, churning them out mechanically, no atmosphere to speak of.

SerendipityJane · 12/08/2019 10:00

Pink Floyd (years ago, in the 90s) were very disappointing. They had no energy at all, and didn't bother to try to connect with audience. It was like watching a bunch of old men reading The Times - and they weren't that old, then.

To be honest that sounds like any Pink Floyd gig - they were never really a high octane beat combo. Lasers, floating pigs, spectacle - yes. But a post graduate version of the Sex Pistols - no.

supersop60 · 12/08/2019 10:00

Arthur Smith.
He came as headliner to our local comedy club. I like him on the telly, but in person was just not funny - tired, cynical humour, and he spent a large proportion of his act reciting poetry about WW1. At the end of what had been a hilarious evening!

cafenoirbiscuit · 12/08/2019 10:02

AC/DC at Wembley. The acoustics were so bad we couldn’t tell which song they were playing. It was literally just white noise. We left halfway through.

shockedballoon · 12/08/2019 10:04

@BrightYellowDaffodil I think it was indeed around 2007, but the Leeds arm of Reading/Leeds.

llangennith · 12/08/2019 10:05

there are few more disappointing phrases in the English language than 'We're going to play you something from our new album'. Roll. Out. The. Hits. People.

Spot on! I rarely go to see live artistes but when I do I want to hear the songs I know. Saw John Denver in Cardiff years ago and while his voice was as good as ever he only sang songs from his latest album. Bored silence from the audience.

Starlingsarebullies · 12/08/2019 10:07

Weirdly Whitney Houston. She was all over the place and talking crap. When she sang it was amazing, but she only sang about 6 songs. The rest of the time she was talking drivel.

Rachelover40 · 12/08/2019 10:07

Time40
Pink Floyd (years ago, in the 90s) were very disappointing. They had no energy at all, and didn't bother to try to connect with audience. It was like watching a bunch of old men reading The Times - and they weren't that old, then.

David Sylvian was so awful that I walked out - really strange choice of songs; I think he was playing new stuff that no one knew, and it wasn't good new stuff.
-

Try this band, they are wonderful! Even Gilmour says they are better than the originals.
www.aussiefloyd.com/

TokyoSushi · 12/08/2019 10:08

I saw Whitney Houston about 18 months before she died, poor Whitney Sad

teachermam · 12/08/2019 10:09

Britney Spears

Tana433 · 12/08/2019 10:11

Disappointed about the bad reviews for Deacon Blue, ive seen them twice now and they were fab both times

fraxion · 12/08/2019 10:11

Try this band, they are wonderful! Even Gilmour says they are better than the originals.
www.aussiefloyd.com/

We saw them before they went big and they were amazing. I'll second Billy Joel in concert, he was outstanding. Elton John was quite good but we were all hammered Grin.

SteelRiver · 12/08/2019 10:12

My first concert was in 1985 and I can honestly sat that, over the years, there hasn't been a bad gig.

spongedog · 12/08/2019 10:13

Elton John. Hop Farm - 2004. Just appalling. It must have been the " I am only playing because I cant afford flowers otherwise" phase. I was beyond disappointed. Still cant bear to see or watch the man on TV.

Tana433 · 12/08/2019 10:13

Slightly worried about the 80s revival concert im going to in November though. Jason Donovan, Five Star and my absolute favourites Hue and Cry.

Allergictoironing · 12/08/2019 10:17

Rush doing the Clockwork Angels tour at the O2. I rarely go to gigs any more as my back can't cope, but took my best friend who is also a massive Rush fan. The sound was appalling, both acoustics and the mixing - OK for much pop & rock, but useless for Prog! BF has seen them before, & said it was the worst he'd ever seen them.

Blue Oyster Cult at Donnington Race Track. Weather was dreadful, pissing down & high winds blasting grit everywhere. The band apologised for the crap gig!

ZZ Top at Milton Keynes Bowl. Had been a great day, and the band before them were Whitesnake who were great & got the whole groud up & singing. Then these 4 very wooden puppets came on stage & they were just BORING, more liveliness and energy if I'd been listening to a downloaded recording using poor headphones. We left part way through, and judging by the time it took to get out of the car park we weren't the only ones.

VanGoghsDog · 12/08/2019 10:19

yes, it was Van Morrison as well. At the Albert Hall. Had really been looking forward to it but Van kept looking at his watch (!) and stayed on stage for around 50 minutes only.

The support act weren't great either.

As a contrast - one of the best gigs ever was David Bowie at Milton Keynes

I was also at both of those (assuming they did one night?).

VM was OK, just grumpy, but he's known for it (didn't see the support act).

Bowie was fab, it was a great gig generally.

I've seen loads of rubbish gigs because I follow a (great!) band but they have some shockingly bad support acts at times, or are at festivals where I see all sorts of dross.

Worst gig was Barry Manilow. To be fair, I hadn't bought tickets as such, it was part of Proms in the Park and it was appalling.

Simply Red at the 02 were awful too. I've seen them three times (none where I bought tickets!), they really do just 'phone it in', no soul, but the 02 was particularly bad.

ginghamtablecloths · 12/08/2019 10:20

Roy Wood at the Albert Hall in Nottingham. Personally he was fine, he is obviously talented and tried very hard but the sound was terrible.

BrainFart · 12/08/2019 10:23

Guns'N'Roses, around 2006/7, in Paris. God.Awful.

I was a huge GNR fan, took the day of the concert and day after off work to prepare and recover. I knew it wasn't the original line-up, but hey ho, I'll take what I can get.

2 hours late starting. All goes well, then comes the dreaded "stuff from the new album" (which hadn't yet been released). Then comes a 5-minute instrumental of the Christina Aguilera song "Fighter" (it was written by the guitarist on stage and clearly "his time"). By the time they finally got back to the classic stuff, every single person was pissed off and nobody was dancing. Most people left before the encore as due to the late start they risked missing their bus / Metro.

Also, another vote for Dylan because you only recognise the song just as it's about to wind up. Still see him every time though, just in case he dies soon after.