Bands that didn't meet my expectation live

[David Loving]

Years ago I walked out of a Moody Blues concert. Couldn't stand them.

 

[Mjazz]

To my huge surprise: Herbie Hancock. Went to a concert 4 or 5 years ago, theatre venue. The volume was threshold-of-madness deafening; the bass wasn't just chest-thumping, it was like receiving aggressive CPR; his Fazioli was mic'd and amped in such a way that it didn't even sound like an acoustic piano, more like some cheesy clavinet patch; and the setlist was wall-to-wall funk.

 

Great musicianship, of course, but a thoroughly unenjoyable experience.

[LX88]

The Neville Brothers.

 

They had Aaron Neville lip synching to his hits.They even had him singing with Linda Ronstadt, but obviously she wasn't there.

 

You could tell by the quality of sound that it wasn't live, and Aaron had a habit of pulling the mike too far away so that the sound level was obviously not being produced live. And his lip synch timing was off.

 

This was the first time I had ever experienced such a thing.

 

Also...it was a long time ago but the only time I ever saw Jimi Hendrix was an off night. He played Portland, and from reading several biographies it was obvious that he had partied in Seattle ( with family and old friends) too heavily the night before.

[elif]

Susan Tedeschi. Saw her a while ago and was incredibly dull.

Also, as Tedeschi/Trucks. We didn't make to the incredibly boring part. We stood up and walked out after one song with fingers-in-ears.

[Josh Paxton]

Leon Russell, twice. Once was a solo gig during his phase of playing a CP-80 MIDI'd to a couple refrigerator-sized racks full of modules, where he had a different percussion sound mapped to each note in the left-hand range. 'Nuff said. The other was a band gig a few years later, and the band sounded fine, but the sound was EQ'd so that the high-mids were painfully, piercingly loud. I later heard that it was because Leon insisted on having it EQ'd that way, because that's how it sounds good to him because he's so deaf.

[Mark Zeger]

Return to Forever touring for Musicmagic with Gayle Moran (now Corea) on far too many vocals. After wearing out my Romantic Warrior LP, both the concert and the album were a letdown.

 

Susan Tedeschi. Saw her a while ago and was incredibly dull.

Also, as Tedeschi/Trucks. We didn't make to the incredibly boring part. We stood up and walked out after one song with fingers-in-ears.

Ive also found them very dull but I think its more a matter of my music preferences rather than their musicianship.

[Doerfler]

Ive also found them very dull but I think its more a matter of my music preferences rather than their musicianship.

 

would have to agree here. The entire band are top notch musicians. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, however.

[Outkaster]

Leon Russell, twice. Once was a solo gig during his phase of playing a CP-80 MIDI'd to a couple refrigerator-sized racks full of modules, where he had a different percussion sound mapped to each note in the left-hand range. 'Nuff said. The other was a band gig a few years later, and the band sounded fine, but the sound was EQ'd so that the high-mids were painfully, piercingly loud. I later heard that it was because Leon insisted on having it EQ'd that way, because that's how it sounds good to him because he's so deaf.

 

Interestingly enough I opened for him 16 years ago and I remember that rig but I think I he was using some Alesis 88 key as a controller.

[GRollins]

I've written elsewhere about how I accidentally ended up seeing Return To Forever on the Romantic Warrior tour. Mind boggling.

 

Then Chick went and fired everyone and started over with a new musical direction. What the hell was he thinking? I've read that Al DiMeola and Stanley Clarke were gobsmacked. (Don't know what Lenny White's reaction was.) Here he had the world by the tail and...he went and changed the formula? Why? WTF, dude?

 

Of course, as time went on, it because apparent that this was a very "Chick" thing to do. Every couple of years he veers off in some unpredictable new direction. Reinvents himself. Sometimes better. Sometimes worse.

 

But still...man, I wish they'd mined that vein a little longer.

 

And, no, I've never really warmed to Gayle's singing. Doesn't do a thing for me.

 

Grey

[Joe Muscara]

Huh - I love TTB. One of my favorite rock bands now, especially since Feat are winding down (still doing small runs once in a while) and Richie is gone.

[Doerfler]

Huh - I love TTB. One of my favorite rock bands now,

 

we had actually discussed in another thread having the MAKCH at a TT Band concert. Logistically difficult, but the idea was put forward. I'm still going anyway.

[PianoMan51]

Susan Tedeschi. Saw her a while ago and was incredibly dull.

Also, as Tedeschi/Trucks. We didn't make to the incredibly boring part. We stood up and walked out after one song with fingers-in-ears.

 

Same thing here, but the music was great. The volume made my old ears bleed. When my wife and I walked outside the barrier of the amphitheater after the third song we could finally hear what they were playing.

 

I have a bass player friend who was at the same performance. Too loud? What do you mean? ;-)

[Doberfort]

Jethro Tull. I was a big fan until I heard them live back in early 80's. They started their tour in Norway and their concert sounded like they were doing the rehearsals for the tour on stage. I later read somehwere that it was in fact exactly what they did. Then I heard Jethro Tull again on their 40th annivarsery tour, and they sounded even worse. It was absolutely pathetic. Martin Barre looked bored and the keyboardplayer sounded like he had a bad day on office and the sounds he had in his soft-synth setup sounded anemic. Not to mention Ian Anderson. His once so good voice was not present, to say it least.

 

Then the second band that really disapointed me was Yes back in 2011. We decided to go home when they played Owner of a lonely heart so bad that any decent cover band would have done it better.

[El Lobo]

Leon Russell ... the band sounded fine, but the sound was EQ'd so that the high-mids were painfully, piercingly loud. I later heard that it was because Leon insisted on having it EQ'd that way, because that's how it sounds good to him because he's so deaf.

My brother (a musician and recording engineer) saw Leon Russell in Santa Barbara several years ago. He said it was the worst sound he'd ever heard in a big-time show like that. He couldn't understand how top pro players, sound system and engineers, in a fancy concert venue would stand for such awful sound. That Leon Russell liked it that way might explain it.

[Iconoclast]

The first time I saw Dream Theater they blew me away. Falling into Infinity tour. They were no where near as huge as they are now.

 

The second time was the very first SFAM performance. Still amazing.

 

Then the down hill slide of predictable metal wankery.

 

Seen them 5 times total and I really doubt that I'll ever go see them again.

 

Twice I've ended up more impressed with their warmup bands (Spocks Beard and Porcupine Tree) than I was with DT.

[hurricane hugo]

[font:Comic Sans MS]Slayer.

 

Couldn't stand 'em, but I knew I'd have to put up with them if I was going to have a good spot for Anthrax and Megadeth. Add in the fact that I missed most of Alice In Chains' set, and I was already super pissed before Slayer even came on.

 

Well, Slayer came out and kicked my ass up and down all around the venue. F-ing incredible set; made me a fan. [/font]

[LX88]

Regarding Leon Russell

 

I heard him in 1995 (?) or so. He was playing small bars in Oregon.

 

There were so few people there that I was able to literally stand next to him as he played.

 

He had some weird midi thing inside of a gutted grand piano case but it didn't matter.

 

The thing that got me was how effortlessly he played. It was seemed that his playing was coming from some subconscious part of his brain. Completely nonchalant.

 

Because it appeared that he didn't give a damn, it made it all the more intriguing. Youv'e heard this term " effortless mastery"?. Leon was the most glaring example I have ever seen.

 

The material was a bunch of old honky tonk tunes. All I can say is, you should have been there.

[Dave Bryce]

Michael McDonald.

 

Saw Toto open for him at the Greek a few years back. Toto was beyond belief - just blew me away. Then, on came Mike...and he couldn't hit high notes for beans. Not sure if he was sick or what...but he was just not on at all. It was embarrassing. People were actually leaving in droves.

 

dB

[zxcvbnm098]

Michael McDonald.

 

Saw Toto open for him at the Greek a few years back. Toto was beyond belief - just blew me away. Then, on came Mike...and he couldn't hit high notes for beans. Not sure if he was sick or what...but he was just not on at all. It was embarrassing. People were actually leaving in droves.

 

dB

 

So interesting..I guess we all have our bad nights. I saw him two years ago and he was excellent. Great rapport with the audience, voice sounded great.

[Doerfler]

[font:Comic Sans MS]Slayer.

 

Couldn't stand 'em, but I knew I'd have to put up with them if I was going to have a good spot for Anthrax and Megadeth. Add in the fact that I missed most of Alice In Chains' set, and I was already super pissed before Slayer even came on.

 

Well, Slayer came out and kicked my ass up and down all around the venue. F-ing incredible set; made me a fan. [/font]

 

[MotiDave]

Michael McDonald.

 

Saw Toto open for him at the Greek a few years back. Toto was beyond belief - just blew me away. Then, on came Mike...and he couldn't hit high notes for beans. Not sure if he was sick or what...but he was just not on at all. It was embarrassing. People were actually leaving in droves.

 

dB

 

So interesting..I guess we all have our bad nights. I saw him two years ago and he was excellent. Great rapport with the audience, voice sounded great.

 

I still havent forgiven him for turning the Doobie Bros into yacht rock.

[MotiDave]

Jethro Tull. I was a big fan until I heard them live back in early 80's. They started their tour in Norway and their concert sounded like they were doing the rehearsals for the tour on stage. I later read somehwere that it was in fact exactly what they did. Then I heard Jethro Tull again on their 40th annivarsery tour, and they sounded even worse. It was absolutely pathetic. Martin Barre looked bored and the keyboardplayer sounded like he had a bad day on office and the sounds he had in his soft-synth setup sounded anemic. Not to mention Ian Anderson. His once so good voice was not present, to say it least.

 

Then the second band that really disapointed me was Yes back in 2011. We decided to go home when they played Owner of a lonely heart so bad that any decent cover band would have done it better.

I feel fortunate to have seen Yes in the mid-70s. Fantastic. They were direct support for Tull, following Santana. Tull sounded great but it was their Bungle in the Jungle tour, an album I didnt fancy. Anticlimactic for me after Yes it all its grandest glory.

[Doerfler]

I feel fortunate to have seen Yes in the mid-70s. Fantastic.

 

wonder what year that was. My first large mega stadium concert ever was Yes headlining the "Bicentennial Tour" summer 1976. I was 15 years old. Yes was doing round 2 of the Relayer tour with Patrick Moraz on keys. Didn't suck. Some guy named Peter Frampton played before them doing the "Frampton Comes Alive" tour, and some guy named Gary Wright played before him doing the "Dream Weaver" tour. There were 2 other bands prior to those guys. Those were the days.

[Synthaholic]

Al Di Meola, mid 90s. Just awful, but it wasnt necessarily his fault. It was the first night of a new tour with a new band. They sucked. Maybe it was his fault for not rehearsing them more. When youre apologizing to the audience...

 

Nick Gilder (Hot Child In The City) opening for Foreigner (Double Vision tour) at Madison Square Garden. So bad. A lot of prancing. Constant stream of boos. NO ONE was there to see him.

 

I agree with the Boston criticism. I saw them in May, 1979 at the Rock Super Bowl VII headlining, but the Doobie Brothers blew them away (Minute By Minute tour), and newbie AC/DC stole the entire night, as opening act. Felt bad for Poco having to follow them. Boston was listless.

 

Van Halen, in Mobile, Alabama, around 1985. David Lee Roth was drunk, carrying a bottle of whiskey throughout the show, sitting on the edge of the stage, half-"singing", half-talking the vocals. It was evident that Eddie was pissed.

 

Contrary to others experience, I saw Jethro Tull on July 31, 1976 at Tampa Stadium and they were fantastic (Too Old to Rock and Roll tour), and Ian Anderson was spot on. They headlined over Robin Trower (not my thing) and Point Blank, a last minute fill-in because Johnny and Edgar Winter cancelled. There were a lot of angry fans.

[GRollins]

Actually, come to think of it, Black Sabbath in Charlotte on the Master of Reality tour was pretty bad. Tony Iommi was drunk/high/something--so far out of it that he could barely play. Not a stellar night for them.

 

I've seen a number of bands that were just too damned loud: Santana (Caravanserai tour) was the absolute worst and until recently my all-time too-loud champ. And mind you, that was back when I was younger and thought my ears would last forever. You can blame the guys on the board if you want, but does the band not have a say in how loud they're playing?

 

I saw Yes a number of times in the early- to mid-70s and they were fantastic every time. The last tour I saw was Relayer. I must say that Moraz wasn't my cup of tea, but they still put on a good show. For those who get off on such things (I'm neutral), all the Roger Dean fiberglass pod thingies on stage were working fine that night. I heard that they malfunctioned a lot on other tour dates. After that, their musical changes left me cold so I quit going to see them.

 

Ditto Tull. Up through Passion Play they were excellent. Didn't see them afterwards, so I have no opinion.

 

Grey

[MotiDave]

I feel fortunate to have seen Yes in the mid-70s. Fantastic.

 

wonder what year that was. My first large mega stadium concert ever was Yes headlining the "Bicentennial Tour" summer 1976. I was 15 years old. Yes was doing round 2 of the Relayer tour with Patrick Moraz on keys. Didn't suck. Some guy named Peter Frampton played before them doing the "Frampton Comes Alive" tour, and some guy named Gary Wright played before him doing the "Dream Weaver" tour. There were 2 other bands prior to those guys. Those were the days.

It was 75, Ric was on keys. Glorious cape and jaw dropping music

 

By the time Frampton made it through SD i think was 77 (??) on the ..Comes Alive tour and by then he was the biggest album in the world and stadium headliner. I saw the show, it was great so doesnt belong in this thread - albeit a stadium show is more of an event than a musical experience. That show was packed with bands, I can remember 5 bands but there were more: Frampton, Nugent, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Pat Travers. that was a great festival day. Those really were the days in a way ... more freedom, it was a peaceful rebellion. Nowadays get that many people unrestricted in a spot and therell be a riot, stabbings, ... mayhem.

[hurricane hugo]

[font:Comic Sans MS]

Cowboy NQ: I saw Cherone Halen twice on that tour, and the 2nd time (late August 1998) was far and away the best VH gig I ever saw. Holy crap, were they ON that night!

 

All y'all complaining about various Steely Dan gigs: should've seen the 1996 tour. Saw them 6 times between '93 and '08, including the tour kickoff show in Detroit in '93, and that '96 show was f-ing burning. Only the 2003 show was even in the same league.

 

Thinking about some of the other comments, and...maybe it matters when you see them on a given tour. My 1st Yes show was the 90125 tour; the band had maybe 9 or 10 gigs to go, and they were loose as hell. When they did the old songs, it was a party - and when they did the 90125 songs, it was as close as a prog gig gets to gospel. All those teens who'd just discovered the band were singing along to all of those songs and waving their arms in the air. That night was magic.

 

One last thing: if you think Rush, Santana and Maiden were too loud, don't ever go to see Ministry.[/font]

[MAJUSCULE]

[font:Comic Sans MS]

One last thing: if you think Rush, Santana and Maiden were too loud, don't ever go to see Ministry.[/font]

 

Or Merzbow.

[area51recording]

Michael McDonald.

 

Saw Toto open for him at the Greek a few years back. Toto was beyond belief - just blew me away. Then, on came Mike...and he couldn't hit high notes for beans. Not sure if he was sick or what...but he was just not on at all. It was embarrassing. People were actually leaving in droves.

 

dB

 

So interesting..I guess we all have our bad nights. I saw him two years ago and he was excellent. Great rapport with the audience, voice sounded great.

 

I still havent forgiven him for turning the Doobie Bros into yacht rock.

 

I prefer to think of the MM effect on the Doobies as turning them into Steely Dan Lite...

[zxcvbnm098]

Michael McDonald.

 

Saw Toto open for him at the Greek a few years back. Toto was beyond belief - just blew me away. Then, on came Mike...and he couldn't hit high notes for beans. Not sure if he was sick or what...but he was just not on at all. It was embarrassing. People were actually leaving in droves.

 

dB

 

So interesting..I guess we all have our bad nights. I saw him two years ago and he was excellent. Great rapport with the audience, voice sounded great.

 

I still havent forgiven him for turning the Doobie Bros into yacht rock.

 

I prefer to think of the MM effect on the Doobies as turning them into Steely Dan Lite...

 

I'd agree with that, and not in a bad way. I LOVED SD in the late 70's, and loved the MM version (and the previous incarnation) of the Doobies as well.