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Worst Concerts You Have Attended ??

I just left a remark about a favorite band of mine back in the day - April Wine - that I saw in concert and was disappointed. Could have been that it was an off night for them, or maybe they were never good in concert. Maybe the lead guitarist had too much to drink? April Wine was not the worst, however. I remember Neil Young in the 1990's who was on his one-man acoustic show type of tour that many artists were taking advantage of (perhaps for financial reasons) during that time. While a friend of I had near front row seats at Desert Sky Pavilion (now Ak-Chin) in Pheonix, the crowd was just roused up into a frenzy by the warm-up band (James) and here comes Neil and his guitar/harmonica. Wow, what a sonic letdown. I remember getting up and leaving and feeling Neil's glaring eyes on us as we ushered out. I think, to this day, he probably still remembers me. We all can remember the great live concerts we attended, but what were the worst and why?
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layton64
28 posts
 
Led Zeppelin 1973, Sydney Australia, 100,000 people, band totally wasted, stumbling around, sound awful. Jimmie Page excellent in studio but live a disaster.

Best concert, Frank Zappa, Mothers of Invention, Sydney Australia 1970 something, 40 minutes tuning up the band, sound absolutely clear, balanced and easy to hear everything going on; Zappa a true professional.
riz1
42 posts
 
ZZ Top, Felt Forum NYC.  Derringer opened and put on one whale of a show.  ZZ Top follows, actually said something like "we're in New York City!  We're going to play all night long!!"  Then proceeded to play a whopping 37 minutes with no encore.

+1 on the Zappa note above -- we attended five or six years running of his Halloween shows in NYC.  What a blast!  Imagine the costumes and crowd, and Zappa and his band were always tight.  The play acting that went along with "Titties and Beer" still sticks in my mind lol
desktopguy
373 posts
 
Not a concert, a musical play: Les Miserables, a show by the touring (not Broadway) company at West Point's Eisenhower Theater. I suspected it would be bad music, but went because we were with another couple who professed great anticipation of this musical. 

It was a very well produced, sung, and acted show--but the music, at least to my ears, was spectacularly bad. No redeeming features & not a single memorable note of music. I slunk down in my chair and thought about anything but that show.

Actually was rather shocked to find at intermission that my wife and the other couple absolutely shared my opinion (that rarely happens). We left immediately and went out drinking. 
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jjgasp
64 posts
 
A few different acts at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival over the years.  Bonnie Raitt with a completely shot voice, with the backup singers constantly jumping in mid verse to try and bail her out; Eric Clapton totally mailing it in after receiving the highest appearance fee given to any musician to perform there; and Macy Gray singing with Galactic and being so f***ed up they sent her back to her trailer and had one of the backup singers finish the set. 
discnik
161 posts
 
Atlanta Pop Festival, July 4th & 5th 1969...the music and bands were good, but it was over 100 degrees on both days. Held at the Atlanta International Raceway (NASCAR venue) on the infield and the heat from the huge racetrack baked the crowd. Firetrucks were called in to spray as many people as possible due to the number that were passing out. I had spent the summer working construction, so it didn't bother me to that extent.
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