Live Performances Gone Awry

Philo,

I was there, too. But The Who left me cold that night (pun intended as it was well below zero outside). Lots of recorded accompaniement to Quadraphenia. Different strokes, I guess.

Other Michigan disasters:

Patti Smith's band gets snowed in and she does a solo acapella poetry reading instead of a concert.

Sly Stone shows up 4 hours late for a concert and sleepwalks thru it.

I brought a date to a Talking Heads show one Friday night only to find that it had taken place the night before. (I guess that one's on me.)

In New York:

Van Morrison played a pissed-off, 35 minute set at Jones Beach.

Chris Wood (Traffic) was so stoned at a NY Academy of Music show that he lost his sax mid-solo. He was swaying left to right and it just flew from his hands.

A fist fight in the crowd at a new wave/punk show at CBGB (The Shirst, maybe)spilled onto the stage and took out the drum kit.

Beer bottles were also hurled at opening act Michael Quattro at an ELP concert in Jersey City. He tried to catch them in the top he was wearing.

Those come to mind quickly, so I guess that I've had my share of bad moments.

Marty

Did anybody else see Lucinda Williams read her own lyrics off a sheet of paper on Austin City Limits while she mumbled/sang? Bazaaro.

On the other hand, it has always amazed me how some artists, Jerry Garcia comes to mind, can remember 1000's of song lyrics on the fly, while playing an instrument and under the influence.

No George "No Show Jones" Jones stories?

Saw The Dead, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty in the Akron Rubber Bowl in 1986, literally days before Jerry went into his infamous "diabetic coma." I am as big a deadhead as anyone, but in response to Lokie above, Jerry DID NOT remember any of the song lyrics for any song that night. He bumbled and stumbled through the performance but what did I know--I was still in high school then. Of course, after that I saw many great shows in the late 80s/early 90s.

Anyone have any Replacements stories--they were notorious for drunken, messy, but occasionally inspirational live shows.

Joni Mitchell on acid at the Hollywood Bowl in the late 70's. She sang beautifully and had poetic lyrics. Unfortunately, the lyrics were not from any of her songs and came from whatever alternative reality her mind had drifted off to. She was seeing things and babbling. In the 80's at the Beacon theater in New York I saw Gene Loves Jezebel where one of the twin brothers (the lead singer) was so whacked out that he could not stand up. Really a cultural treat because at the time he was dressed in a diaphanous black dress with pearls.

I recall a concert I attended in NYC in the late 60s where Tim Buckley got sick halfway through his set and left; I can only speculate on what caused it, but I think we all have a pretty good idea. I was at three concerts where he was to perform within a year, finally got a full performance in the last one I attended (I believe at the Fillmore East, but it may have been a Schaeffer concert in the Park).