Johnny Winter in later years.We were so excited going and we sat in front row as I'd seen his earlier amazing shows. It was so bad he seemed almost catatonic and they had to help him off his chair at the end-so disappointing and sad to watch.
joe cocker-in the 70's in a sold out arena-he was so bad he slurred his words and could hardly stand,(kept waiting for that awesome woodstock perfrmance) found out later he drank 24 beer just before show-really bad & disrespectful.
T-rex-the hype was so strong and they all bounced outta backstage so stoned & disjointed-sounded like a bunch of noise & amateur hour-reminded me of sly stone & his stoned out band. The big highlight though was the surprise opening act doobie bros but we really expected a special show from t-rex. who knew
ac/dc-last tour-I was so excited to catch their new tour but I walked out Early as the singer was totally offkey singing & it was so loud I thought my ear would start bleeding-the vocals were really bad & I kept looking at the crowd but they seemed ecstatic. Most of crowd seemed oblivious but there was also lots of beer spilling around and the hype was so high.The guy sitting in front of me had a beer spilled totally over his head by some guy passing in front of me.
found out later the poor singer had lost most of his hearing sadly which explained the off key & he couldn't even hear himself. The band replaced him on the tour later that month.Pretty sad actually-I really like the singer.
of course then theres all the 'honorable mentions' like standing beside the stage for Black Sabbath & watching the drummer puke on his drums for 10 minutes while he's playing-digusting; or the main guitarist who missed the concert cause he's in jail-disappointing; or the band who played only 40 minutes disrespecting the crowd; or the lead vocalist who lost his voice...but they were only bad shows
Fortunately for every one of these really bad ones theres 50 good shows but it would've been nice to know ahead of time.
[Edited on 8/8/2018 by bettyhynes]
Most recent- Jeff Beck. Bucket list show that sucked butt.
Crappy hip hop singer as well as a horrible "performance" by Jimmy Hall
BB King, one of his last tours.
He did Thrill is Gone twice, didn't seem to realize it was a repeat.
Buddy Guy opened both those shows at CMAC and was the highlight each evening even though his is the same show every night.
We walked out on beck.
Also walked out on jj grey & mofro at the Syracuse BluesFest.
Too many garbage stories between songs, I didn't care if his grandma loved this number, it was awful.
We gave them five songs and each was worse than the one before.
At least that was a free show.
The last time I wasted an evening with marshall tucker.
Took both sons to this freebie Taste of Syracuse concert.
Played the Boston concert on the way in, told them it would be NOTHING like what they were hearing in the car.
It was even worse than I expected.
Saw a couple Dickey clunkers where he was either pissed at his tech people or was just flat out off key, out of tune, "medicated".
Last time he played the NY State Fair he didn't even do an hour, let alone the 90 minutes it was supposed to be.
Hoping this year's fair show will be better.
Other than that I've been pretty lucky over the years.
I took my oldest son to see Johnny Winter headline the Syracuse BluesFest one year.
Even in declining health Johnny did a good job, my son was impressed and we both enjoyed the show.
Robert Cray opening for Steve Winwood. Boring and just went through the motions. Fortunately his set was 45 minutes. Steve came out and the gig was a blast!
Dickey a few years back. Total cluster from the get-go. Left early because I didn't want to hear ER butchered. That being said, he and his band performed at a different venue the next day and nailed it big time.
Such is life!
Deep Purple, Slaves and Masters tour, Bushnell Theater in Hartford CT. It was a lame album and Joe Lynn Turner is not my fave, but I had high hopes. They started with the song "Burn" and it was great, but the evening swiftly devolved to numerous attempts to have audience singalongs, plus mostly halfhearted solos from Blackmore, Who was so uninterested that he eventually walked offstage in the middle of a solo. My pals wanted to leave, but I made them stay.
A few bands I've seen were doomed by bad sound systems: Tesla, Cinderella, Heaven & He'll. The latter was the worst because I was so eager to see them, but even sitting at the back of the arena, my ears were almost bleeding. My pal wanted to leave. But I made him stay.
I'm a bad pal.
1. Nickelback
2. Velvet Revolver
1972, Hollywood Bowl. I was 17. Now here is a somewhat odd bill for you: Black Sabbath, Gentle Giant, Captain Beyond.
Now let me say first that Captain Beyond was ANYTHING but disappointing! My buddy and I had never heard of them. They walked out and played their entire first record, maybe a 40 minute set, and blew the entire crowd away, standing ovation at the end. I had the record within a week.
It got a lot worse from there. Gentle Giant if you don't know was very much a prog rock English band, very unusual time signatures and harmonies. Quite out there and more than that, they just did NOT belong on what otherwise was very much a hard rock bill. The crowd (NOT us) was embarrassingly rude and obnoxious towards them; at one point some assh*le actually lit a cherry bomb. The band stopped and one of the band members actually said in his thick English accent, "Bloody disrespectful BAST*RDS." I could not disagree with him.
Then of course the band we came to see, Sabbath. I was a huge Sabbath freak and at 17 it was my second time seeing them. I couldn't say they were bad, but they did a 45 minute set, walked off and never returned. Of course the crowd was booing. Someone came up to the mike and announced, "I'm sorry people. Tony Iommi is vomiting backstage. The show is over." Wow. I found out later that poor Tony had a nervous breakdown at this show. Sabbath were on their way upwards, being pushed relentlessly by their promoters, and of course were on a grueling touring/recording cycle. I guess at this point it became a bit much for Iommi.
Overall the night was not a total loss because I was introduced to Captain Beyond. They could have been huge but they were on Capricorn which of course was pushing Southern Rock including you know who. CB never got much help from them and the band was history within I think a couple of years. I heard that singer Rod Evans, who was Deep Purple's first vocalist ("Hush"), became an x-ray technician.
I will always consider that first record, "Captain Beyond", to be a classic and by the way it was produced by Johnny Sandlin. The sound is amazing, still holds up to this day, and Johnny said in his book, "They were great." If you don't have that record you need to get it.
The Allman Brothers were terrible at the Atlanta baseball stadium in 1974. I saw several of their 1973 shows promoting Brothers and Sisters and while not the same band as the unequaled original lineup, the Chuck/Lamar band was really bringing it when I saw them in 1973. Southbound and very long Ramblin Man absolutely smoked at each show. Whipping Post and You Don't Love Me were powerful.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's music to me is not as sophisticated and nuanced as several ABB originals but LS was high energy and party to the sunrise and they let it fly that night in Atlanta. Free Brid was 15 minutes of standing next to a Space Shuttle launch. But being a huge ABB fan ( I still am) I was confident the brothers would rock that stadium to the ground with better songs to a good extent. Ronnie even set the stage to hand it off to the Allmans when he dedicated Free Brid to Duane and Berry.
But what actually happen was so shocking to me. So unexpected. Lynyrd Skynyrd actually took the title of the top southern band from the Allman Brothers in Atlanta, Georgia that night. The brothers were as bad as the Joe Cocker show I saw months earlier when he mumbled, blew the words on several songs then finally vomited all over his shirt and the stage and quit after just 6 songs.
The Allmans were all over the place. Miscue after miscue. Gregg also mumbled and blew lyrics, sang to early in places and Chuck Leavell who seemed okay and had to cover for everybody at times would improvise on the piano to cover for the few times Gregg didn't sing at all when he was suppose to. The band got a little better toward the end and Chuck was in good form on Jessica and on Southbound.
Lamar Williams didn't play most of the show. A fill in base player I think from Grinderswitch took his place and understandably was shaky on songs like Jessica. I remember Dickey avoided some of his solos so Chuck covered and for a period seemed to have a wemmt towel over his face while playing behind the drummers.
I left shocked and perplexed. I felt embarrassed for the band which was the number one band in America then because of Brothers and Sisters selling millions of copies and being number one on Billboard for 5 weeks. Something LS never did and of course the brothers never did again. Pink Floyd or the Stones would have never had such a bad show so what happened?
Beginning the next day amid the bad reviews and some noting how LS took the southern rock crown from the Allman Brothers and actually kept it as the brothers seem to unravel after that night as we all know. Win Loose or Draw and it's problems and Gregg and Cher and Scooter and the break up in 1976. The word that got out from Capricorn was embarrassment by the band and someone dosed the band with bad drugs. The affects on band members who used contributed to what happened and was the reason Lamar Williams had to be replaced on the fly which made the performance even worse because of a fill in bass player.
The stadium was packed. I'm sure others here probably were there. Anybody remember that night in Atlanta in 1974?
most recent was Dickey set at The Beacon. The show started off with the too short Devon and Duane 3 song set . Dreams and Multicolored Lady were outstanding and the crowd definitely showed their appreciation. There clearly was a Beacon buzz in the air. Doug Gray of Marshall Tucker managed to destroy the buzz as soon as he said hello to the crowd . Still the other Tucker players overcame Doug's disheartening interruptions and pulled off a satisfying set.
Dickey didn't hit the stage till around 10:30 after some lengthy technical issues with Mike's gear ( Isn't that what sound check is for? ) . Pedro finally joined the band and picked up his bass several minutes after the rest of the band ( what the heck was he doing?) . The idea of a Hot Lanta opening was brilliant in concept only. Sloppy play, missed cues , shitty Dickey notes and the beginning of what ended being a very disappointing set for The Dickey Bett's Band.
Dickey and crew made up for The Beacon set with a very satisfying appearance at Peachfest the following Sunday . The only disappointment was the lack of any Brother collaborations with Dickey, Oteill and Warren all on site on the same day . A nice Southbound at the end of Dickey's set with Warren and Oteill joining in would have been the appropriate finish to Dickey's fine set. Mike Kach has raised his level to the point where you look forward to anything he does on the stage. His vocals and keyboard work were outstanding.
Yes at Jones Beach 2004. Can't say the band itself was bad, just hard to tell because the sound was positively awful. Dream Theater, on the other hand, had the sound dialed in and blew them away. Really disappointed, was expecting so much more since I saw such a killer show at MSG just 3 months prior.
Diana Ross at Radio City 95. Dragged there by a friend her voice was shot and couldn't finish the show.
Paul Simon Greenwich Town Party 2012 bored to tears left before it ended.
[Edited on 8/6/2018 by hankpipes]
Red Hot Chili Peppers, One Hot Minute Tour. It was a rescheduled date because Anthony Kiedis fell and hurt his leg, he was still hurt and used a cane. Dave Navarro looked like he would rather be anywhere else doing anything else. They played as fast as they could, 70 minutes total. Come to find out later that Navarro and the rest of the band weren't even speaking and they couldn't wait to fire him. It's the one and only time I've ever seen backstage drama onstage so obviously.
AC/DC, Stiff Upper Lip Tour. The first half of the show was awesome, then Brian Johnson's voice went out. Like, completely. Ugh.
Cypress Hill. Same beat for every song for 45 minutes.
Helmet. Same beat for every song for 45 minutes.
On the Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral Tour, Marilyn Manson was one of the openers. The music was absolutely awful, but the visual spectacle of a guy in white face paint wearing a Girl Scout dress and a two foot long artificial, um, well, it was a bit of a distraction.
Everclear. Didn't get it. At all. Still don't!
Eric Clapton, September 74. It was my 16th b-day, I was sitting in the 9th row of Nassau Coliseum. The guy just couldn't play. During his solo in Badge he just dropped his hands and shook his head
Allman Brothers, March 76 - The wheels were coming off. Dicky was great, the band had no energy
The Allman Brothers were terrible at the Atlanta baseball stadium in 1974.
Saw the band shortly thereafter in New Haven. Long delay before the band started and then, when the lights go down and the band comes out, they open with Statesboro and there is no Dickey on stage! They just play a rhythm right through where his solo was supposed to be. About two thirds of the way through the song he eventually makes an appearance. What gives? Did they not realize what was going on or was this deliberate on Dickey's part? Rest of the show felt like the band was just going through the motions.
All in all have been pretty fortunate with the shows I've seen. Did witness the Mahivishnu Orchestra getting seriously disrespected at Stony Brook as an opener for the Kinks in 1972. Not exactly an ideal pairing. BTW, Yes was sandwiched in between.
I would include the following under disappointing; due to high expectations.
Neil Young's Greendale tour was a love it or hate it phenomenon for most. Later for me. About 10K people at Jones Beach were waiting for the classics; mouths agape like when they sing "Springtime for Hitler" in the Producers. The 4 or 5 songs from the old stuff played for an encore couldn't revive a very catatonic audience.
(btw Neil was also responsible for two of my top ten memorable concerts)
I would include the following under disappointing; due to high expectations.
Neil Young's Greendale tour was a love it or hate it phenomenon for most. Later for me. About 10K people at Jones Beach were waiting for the classics; mouths agape like when they sing "Springtime for Hitler" in the Producers. The 4 or 5 songs from the old stuff played for an encore couldn't revive a very catatonic audience.
(btw Neil was also responsible for two of my top ten memorable concerts)
I also saw a Neil Young show that tour, in Camden, and it was as you described. I had seen CSNY and that show was great, and I knew they would play some of the greendale songs but my friends and I went in not knowing what they were like at all. I like plays, but Neil should let professionals stick to writing songs and putting on plays/stage productions, and just play his songs everyone came there to hear instead.
The worst Allmans show I went to was 3/27/09. Jimmy Hall wasn't that bad at first but it got tiresome hearing him on the rest of the songs he was a guest on. Kid Rock should have never been invited as a guest on stage. Yes I know he and Warren Haynes are buddies and probably partied a lot together, but it was a total joke and everyone was left wondering why he was a guest. Also, it would have been cool had Derek and Warren actually played on free bird that night with the guitar parts, but it didn't happen and I'm not even a huge Skynyrd fan.
moe. they opened up for the Allmans in Philadelphia at Penn's Landing, and my friends and I sat through them. It was basically the ultimate jamband wankery, corny, and their songs sounded basically just like they do on their studio CDs without any improvisation. I can't believe some of their fans go to see them literally 100s of times? We went to the Scranton show later on that summer tour and skipped them and drak beer in the lot instead.
Phish 11/25/2009. I grew up loving phish and going to some great 1.0 shows and a few great 2.0 shows in the summer of 2003 with friends-I totally skipped 2004 as the band was completely strung out and out of control with hard drugs and playing horribly. Unfortunately compared to the first night the second night's show on 11/25/09 was boring, lacked energy, and is one major reason why I no longer go to see phish live since I don't like phish 3.0 or cash grab phish. Don't get me wrong, the show was fun at the time and had some good moments, but it's nothing I re-listen to with AUDS or soundboards of other shows from other bands I went to see, including phish 1.0 shows. I'm really glad I saw phish when they were in their prime and at their best.
[Edited on 8/6/2018 by The_Newt]
moe. they opened up for the Allmans in Philadelphia at Penn's Landing, and my friends and I sat through them. It was basically the ultimate jamband wankery, corny, and their songs sounded basically just like they do on their studio CDs without any improvisation. I can't believe some of their fans go to see them literally 100s of times? We went to the Scranton show later on that summer tour and skipped them and drak beer in the lot instead.
My one and only ABB show was that tour, saw moe. open up for them in Cinci and it was terrible, had never really listened to them before but your description hit the nail on the head.
Morrissey, he was headlining one of the nights of Riot Fest a couple years ago and he came out late and wouldn't play until all the food vendors closed. I chose to ignore that but the music was boring. Same year at Riot Fest the Flaming Lips played and I was stoked to see them. They just sucked. Figuring it was them having an off night I went to check them out again at a an indoor venue and it still wasn't good.
Bob Seger was disappointing last fall. Heard his music a lot growing up so I thought it would be a fun show to see. His sax player sounded like Kenny G and some of the things Bob did where kind of cheesy.
moe. they opened up for the Allmans in Philadelphia at Penn's Landing, and my friends and I sat through them. It was basically the ultimate jamband wankery, corny, and their songs sounded basically just like they do on their studio CDs without any improvisation. I can't believe some of their fans go to see them literally 100s of times? We went to the Scranton show later on that summer tour and skipped them and drak beer in the lot instead.
My one and only ABB show was that tour, saw moe. open up for them in Cinci and it was terrible, had never really listened to them before but your description hit the nail on the head.
Yup, saw that Jones Beach, wish I stayed in the parking lot and hung out for that opener.
I would include the following under disappointing; due to high expectations.
Neil Young's Greendale tour was a love it or hate it phenomenon for most. Later for me. About 10K people at Jones Beach were waiting for the classics; mouths agape like when they sing "Springtime for Hitler" in the Producers. The 4 or 5 songs from the old stuff played for an encore couldn't revive a very catatonic audience.
(btw Neil was also responsible for two of my top ten memorable concerts)
I caught his Greendale tour at Radio City and was on the "loved it" side of the fence. But it didn't take long to realize there were many who didn't. Neil even told someone he was free to leave if he didn't like it. At least the "haters" got a 3+ hour show where the entire second set and encore Neil & Crazy Horse torched the place with many classics.
The worst Allmans show I went to was 3/27/09. Jimmy Hall wasn't that bad at first but it got tiresome hearing him on the rest of the songs he was a guest on. Kid Rock should have never been invited as a guest on stage. Yes I know he and Warren Haynes are buddies and probably partied a lot together, but it was a total joke and everyone was left wondering why he was a guest. Also, it would have been cool had Derek and Warren actually played on free bird that night with the guitar parts, but it didn't happen and I'm not even a huge Skynyrd fan.
I remember watching this on Moogis. Kid Rock's "make some racket!" trying to pump the crowd up was more than enough to walk away from the computer for a little bit.
I'm shocked someone didn't enjoy a J.J. Grey show.
My worst for this list would be seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers follow the Foo Fighters in Chattanooga in 2002. The Foos opened and were on fire and the Peppers just went though the motions.
I've been to a couple of Widespread Panic shows (both on the 2009 tour with the ABB) where I would have enjoyed the show except for their fans.
[Edited on 8/6/2018 by WarEagleRK]
I would include the following under disappointing; due to high expectations.
Neil Young's Greendale tour was a love it or hate it phenomenon for most. Later for me. About 10K people at Jones Beach were waiting for the classics; mouths agape like when they sing "Springtime for Hitler" in the Producers. The 4 or 5 songs from the old stuff played for an encore couldn't revive a very catatonic audience.
(btw Neil was also responsible for two of my top ten memorable concerts)
I caught his Greendale tour at Radio City and was on the "loved it" side of the fence. But it didn't take long to realize there were many who didn't. Neil even told someone he was free to leave if he didn't like it. At least the "haters" got a 3+ hour show where the entire second set and encore Neil & Crazy Horse torched the place with many classics.
If that was during an ABB Beacon run, I was there. Early to mid 2000s I want to say? I got there when the show had already started and there were all these props on stage. I thought it was odd, but okay.
Second set was all Crazy Horse. Quite the segue. From one thing to another for sure.
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
I didn't go to to it but I got play by play from a Neil die hard who saw his Greendale show at Chastain Park. The show went on sale before Greendale was released with no indication it was a theme show. The Chastain crowd would be a greatest hits type corporate crowd to start with and known to be chatty. People are grumbling and complaining in the concession and bathroom lines. At one point, Neil pulls out the acoustic but his guitar is not plugged in / silent. People start yelling to him at the stage about the situation. He stops the action, bitches at the crowd and says he's never playing Atlanta again.
He ends wtih 3-4 Crazy Horse classics but it was not enough to save the night. Even my buddy who liked Greendale said it was uncomfortable.
As with any Neil show, I have to know something about that tour before I'd commit. I've lucked up and only seen 4-5 great Neil shows (including 1 with CSNY about 17 years ago).
My worst was one that didn't really have high expectations to start with. Went to see Motley Crew about 10-12 years ago. Went with some college buds just to have a good time and enjoy some cheezy 80s hard rock. Their sound was horrendous. Loud, heavy bass, couldn't understand lyrics, lots of bass drum.
After an hour, they take an odd intermission that lasts 45 minutes then 3 of them come back on to announce that Neal broke his leg on stage (we didn't see it somehow) and that they hoped everyone understood the show was over and not to riot! They were begging. People were well behaved and exited.
My buddy who got the tix was actually a Motley Crew fan and he took the refund instead of the reschedule.
We still had a fun guys night out but that horrible.
I would include the following under disappointing; due to high expectations.
Neil Young's Greendale tour was a love it or hate it phenomenon for most. Later for me. About 10K people at Jones Beach were waiting for the classics; mouths agape like when they sing "Springtime for Hitler" in the Producers. The 4 or 5 songs from the old stuff played for an encore couldn't revive a very catatonic audience.
(btw Neil was also responsible for two of my top ten memorable concerts)
I caught his Greendale tour at Radio City and was on the "loved it" side of the fence. But it didn't take long to realize there were many who didn't. Neil even told someone he was free to leave if he didn't like it. At least the "haters" got a 3+ hour show where the entire second set and encore Neil & Crazy Horse torched the place with many classics.
I saw four shows that tour and really enjoyed them. The Radio City show was toward the end of the tour where they went full blast with the second set. Remember the great thing about Neil is he is unpredictable, I don’t want to just see the hits with him. He is a special artist.
ABB at the Gorge in George, Wa in 1997.
I took 10 people that worked for me. The volume was so ear crushing loud almost everyone left after 4 or 5 songs.
Turned me off to seeing the ABB live for 5 years until a good friend told me the Beacon shows were volume pleasing. I still have no idea why Dicky insisted on such volume levels?
Did not mean to apply everyone in the crowd. I meant everyone in my group.
Still bitter about it because it was my one & only time to see Jack Pearson.
I guess I'm lucky, but there's only 1 performer that's dissapointed us. I hate to even say it but Neil Young was not good both times we saw him. The 1st was with the blue notes and the second was solo. Probably my fault to hope for Crazy Horse or CSNY tunes, but we couldn't take it and left early both times. Probably my fault for hoping for older tunes, but based on all the shows we've attended, these were the most dissappointing.
As an aside, we saw Little Feat open for the Headliner Jimmy Buffet at the Mann in 88 or 89. Little Feat played an unbeliveable set. Jimmy Buffet put us to sleep and we all left together after 9 of hist songs. Ironically, one of the best times we had at the Mann thanks to Little Feat.
If that was during an ABB Beacon run, I was there. Early to mid 2000s I want to say? I got there when the show had already started and there were all these props on stage. I thought it was odd, but okay.
Second set was all Crazy Horse. Quite the segue. From one thing to another for sure.
2004 Beacon season
Deep Purple with Nazareth at Illinois State University. Nazareth was ok, but loud. Deep Purple came on and it was so loud and distorted that you couldn't even tell what song they were playing. This was right after Blackmore left. Couldn't even tell they were playing Smoke on the Water..... only concert I have been to where haif the crowd left before the show was 2/3 over................
Also a most disappointed - Guns and Roses. Bought tickets for my brother for his birthday. This was the Use Your Illusion tour ... at their peak, IMHO............ on my way to the show, and I hear on the radio that GNR had cancelled. Seems the police were going to arrest Axl for an incident at a show in St. Louis. This was the 2nd of 2 shows in Chicago - GNR decided to skip town to avoid the police. Later on the incident was settled - and it was no big deal. My brother is still pissed to this day..........
Kind of a fun thread for a disappointing topic. Interesting to hear everyone's take on various bands. My thoughts on some of the bands mentioned:
JJ Grey & Mofro - I LOVE this band. Going to see them in two says at Wrigley in Chicago with Blackberry Smoke. Saw them open for TTB a few months ago. They were very good. Not great but really good.
Johnny Winter - I agree with how he was toward the end. I saw him with James Cotton at The Chicago Blues Festival at the end and it was frankly, sad. James Cotton hadn't been able to sing for a while so that was bad too.
BB King - Yeah, he certainly went downhill toward the end of his life. But I truly admire any of the greats that perform until the end. No retirement for them. Especially the blues greats.
Robert Cray - I've heard the same thing from a couple of friends that saw him live. Boring. It doesn't surprise me really. I have a couple of his CDs and I enjoy them on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee.
Deep Purple - I've seen them twice, the first was in 1985 in Flint, MI. It was at an outdoor high school football stadium. My first concert as a budding teen. Loudest thing I've ever heard. Even with it being outdoors. Blackfoot opened. They were great.
ABB - The only bad show out of the 80 plus times I have seen them was in September, 2004 in Rockford, IL. I couldn't believe how bad they were. This on the heels of the night before in Rosemont, IL, which was perhaps the best show I've ever seen of them. I swear at Rockford the Rocking Horse went on for half of the show. Bought the Instant Live before the show. Never took it out of the package. I gave it to someone of this site years ago.
Neil Young - I don't care what he is playing, I'll go to it. That's one of the things I like about him; you never know what he will do. That Greendale show I saw was worth it just for the second set with Crazy Horse. My favorite Neil show was about 20 years ago. Steve Earle opened. Neil opened with "Hey Hey My My" and closed with "My MY Hey Hey".
I guess I can understand wanting to know what he is playing on any given tour, but like I said, whatever he does I'll take it!
Worst show? This one is easy. About 25 years ago at a Bad Company show, this band opened for them, Oriental Spas. Worst thing I've ever heard and I've been to tons of shows. Fortunately I was able to go out into the lobby of the State Theater in Detroit to somewhat get away from it. One of those things you just don't forget.
😉
[Edited on 8/8/2018 by Lee]
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
I would include the following under disappointing; due to high expectations.
Neil Young's Greendale tour was a love it or hate it phenomenon for most. Later for me. About 10K people at Jones Beach were waiting for the classics; mouths agape like when they sing "Springtime for Hitler" in the Producers. The 4 or 5 songs from the old stuff played for an encore couldn't revive a very catatonic audience.
(btw Neil was also responsible for two of my top ten memorable concerts)
I caught his Greendale tour at Radio City and was on the "loved it" side of the fence. But it didn't take long to realize there were many who didn't. Neil even told someone he was free to leave if he didn't like it. At least the "haters" got a 3+ hour show where the entire second set and encore Neil & Crazy Horse torched the place with many classics.
I saw four shows that tour and really enjoyed them. The Radio City show was toward the end of the tour where they went full blast with the second set. Remember the great thing about Neil is he is unpredictable, I don’t want to just see the hits with him. He is a special artist.
Hated Greendale, but agree re: Neil being special. As Forrest Gump said: "Neil is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get." When people booed/walked out during Greendale Neil basically said doing the same thing all the time is "like dying."
So I always try to reserach ahead of time. Chrome Dreams II Tour 2007 was really good; solo tour 2008 was great; Neil at Carnegie Hall 2014 a top ten moment
And re: CSNY I took my son when he was about 13-14. He said he never realized that it was basically "Neil young and 3 other guys"
