worst concert experience?

[Jaguar]

Originally posted by Itouchmyself:
  My vote would be being about 12 years old and convincing my mom to take me to go see The Tubes, as it was the only way I could get to go.  
 
 Sitting through the Mondo Bondage theatrics and the rape scene that was part of Mr. Hate while next to my mom scarred me for life.

Ah, that explains your screenname.

[killsaly]

Originally posted by sweetcell:
  i'm sure someone will regale us shortly with stories of the horror that was being denied entry to this summer's radiohead show at nissan, due to the monsoon conditions and road closures.  i spent 3 hours tailgating inside a small car with 5 other folks, waiting for show time.  left there cold and soaked to the bone.
 
 RH really haven't had any luck playing in DC: tibet freedom fest = canceled by lightening, bull run = flooding, nissan'08 = more flooding... as one of the band members wrote on their website, "what's next - locusts?!?".

that would be one fo mine.  I had people back out, and had to sit in my car by myself for hours.  And the people who were buying my extras ended up bailing and going home.  Thank goodness I got the NJ refund tickets, though i wasnt able to go and only was able to seel two of them.

[killsaly]

Originally posted by killsaly:
   

Originally posted by sweetcell:
  i'm sure someone will regale us shortly with stories of the horror that was being denied entry to this summer's radiohead show at nissan, due to the monsoon conditions and road closures.  i spent 3 hours tailgating inside a small car with 5 other folks, waiting for show time.  left there cold and soaked to the bone.
 
 RH really haven't had any luck playing in DC: tibet freedom fest = canceled by lightening, bull run = flooding, nissan'08 = more flooding... as one of the band members wrote on their website, "what's next - locusts?!?".

that would be one fo mine.  I had people back out, and had to sit in my car by myself for hours.  And the people who were buying my extras ended up bailing and going home.  Thank goodness I got the NJ refund tickets, though i wasnt able to go and only was able to sell two of them. [/b]

[joiedevivre2006]

Mine would have to be seeing Flogging Molly at the Norva in Norfolk, VA. I only went because my other roommates were going and I didn't want to be alone in the apartment.
 
 Their music really isn't my thing to begin with, the opening bands were really bad, not to mention spilled beer and a VERY crowded place. Felt like I was going to suffocate.

[Frank Gallagher]

Originally posted by Arthwys:
  And I forgot to mention that the trees caught on fire.  Not sure how they managed that, because of the deluge going on, but lightning struck the trees we had been standing beneath in order to get out from under the relentless sun only a few hours earlier.

Make that whiney arsed dumb fucks...I thought everyone knew that you should never stand under a tree during a storm...HELLO!!!

[Arthwys]

Originally posted by Ever Circling Skeletal Family:
   

Originally posted by Arthwys:
  And I forgot to mention that the trees caught on fire.  Not sure how they managed that, because of the deluge going on, but lightning struck the trees we had been standing beneath in order to get out from under the relentless sun only a few hours earlier.

Make that whiney arsed dumb fucks...I thought everyone knew that you should never stand under a tree during a storm...HELLO!!! [/b]

No no, you have the chronology all wrong...here's a breakdown:
 
 1. Arrive at 9:30am
 2. Sun beats down remorselessly upon you for 6 hours straight.  During this period take shifts w/ friends standing under trees for some shade.
 3. 3:30pm gates open right about the time it starts sprinkling a bit
 4. 4-5pm, rain harder than I ever hope to see again in my life
 5. 5pm, told to get back in cars
 6. 6:30pm, crazy people running through rain back to gate, we go too, Thatguy is shirtless and tells us it's been canceled.
 7.  As we walk through the knee deep water to our car, we notice that at some point, lightning has struck the trees we had been using for shade, and they are now on fire.
 8.  8:30pm, thinking perhaps that Radiohead will show up at 9:30 club and do a free show (ala after tibet freedom), we arrive at 9:30 club only be told the basement is flooded and the club is closed.

[xneverwherex]

Originally posted by bearman:
  For me it was unlucky concert #13, Ned's Atomic Dustbin at the Metro in November of 1992. In the grand scheme of things, it SHOULD have been a great evening. I hung out with the band beforehand, and the crowd was really pumped for the show. My 2 friends Colleen and Erin were right up front, I was just behind them by a couple people. The band came out and during the first song "Suave and Suffocated" (kind of ironic looking back), there was a massive crowd surge and I went down like a ton of bricks because we were SO packed in and there was nowhere to move. A bunch of people landed on me, and I was face down on the floor, getting stepped on, kicked, and what blew me away was how there was ZERO oxygen down towards the floor. I felt like I was drowning. My glasses broke (and I'm blind without them) but after what seemed like forever I finally managed to force my way back on my feet and I staggered away to the back where people looked at me like I was crazy. My friends never even saw what happened to me, but I had bruises and footprints all over me. To this day, I cannot stand it when there's too many people around me. I have a bootleg of the show because it was broadcast on WXRT at a later point, and you can actually hear people screaming (thankfully not me) right at the beginning when people started falling on top of each other. Ned's shows always had a bit of a knucklehead factor, but that night just plain sucked. It was not fun.

insanity... i have nightmares from carter USM and EMF from seeing them at UC Davis when i was in high school. There was this huge surge to the stage and the place went crazy. Some guy saw me about to get stampeded and yanked me out of the way. But whenever I see crowds like that i start having panic attacks.
 
 I remembered that when I saw Neds and was nowhere near the stage. The place was mayhem.
 
 Speaking of Neds - a friend is proposing a trip to London to see them over there. Will you be making it?

[kosmo vinyl]

i finally unearthed a really buried worst concert experience...
 
 it was a late 90s show with Television... At the last minute the show was moved from a theater to this dumpy bar, which turned out to be packed to the gills and the band was stuffed into the corner on this tiny stage.   And to add insult to injury, the band performed their entire set while right next to the stage one of those tacky LED display bars scrolled drink specials..  Needless to say it was a miserable situation in which to witness a legendary band I was really looking forward to seeing and they turned in a very lackluster performance...
 
 i also remember a Paul Westerberg show where he was completely wasted... at one point he abruptly left the stage which cause his very confused band to fill on the spot until he returned...

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by kosmo:
 
 i also remember a Paul Westerberg show where he was completely wasted... at one point he abruptly left the stage which cause his very confused band to fill on the spot until he returned...

he's no bob pollard. . .there were shows where between songs or towards the end of songs when he didn't have anything to sing, he'd just sit on the drum riser and look like he was about to pass out. . .then, when the next song started, he get up and be ready to go all over again. . .just slurring a bit more each time.
 
 saw frank black in austin just before "teenager of the year" was released. . .finished his rather short set, came out, played one song and walked off the stage while the band finished that song. . .band stayed on the stage waiting for him to come back out, each one of them alternating looks between the crowd and off to the side of the stage to see what's going on...after about 3 minutes, the band sort of shrugged their shoulders and walked off the stage.
 
 there were a number of miserable concert experiences in austin, but they had nothing to do with the performers; rather, the lack of air conditioning coupled with humidity and no air movement created a very stifling environment, no matter how much i may have enjoyed the performance.

[Sir HC]

Originally posted by kosmo:
  i finally unearthed a really buried worst concert experience...
 
 it was a late 90s show with Television... At the last minute the show was moved from a theater to this dumpy bar, which turned out to be packed to the gills and the band was stuffed into the corner on this tiny stage.   And to add insult to injury, the band performed their entire set while right next to the stage one of those tacky LED display bars scrolled drink specials..  Needless to say it was a miserable situation in which to witness a legendary band I was really looking forward to seeing and they turned in a very lackluster performance...
 
 i also remember a Paul Westerberg show where he was completely wasted... at one point he abruptly left the stage which cause his very confused band to fill on the spot until he returned...

For drunkness there was a Jesus and Mary Chain show where Jim finished two beers during one song.  For GBV I have to say when I saw them, there were the "super drunks" in the band and the two that kept it two 2-3 beers for the set so that they could keep the beat.

[bearman🐻]

Ned's in London is SOOOOO tempting, but alas, I think I'm done with my major travel for the year with the exception of the holidays!

[jamesbreeden]

S. Malkmus @ the 9:30 club a few years ago.  He came onstage and announced that he just had pork chops at Florida Avenue Grill.  And he played like someone with a stomach full of pork chops.  Lots of guitar noodling and a lack of good songs.  Total waste of time.

[Mobius]

i saw phish once

[hijinksandsue]

Does almost getting killed at an Elvis Costello concert qualify?
 
 I am pretty sure it was spring of 1981 (definitely warm weather my senior year so conceivably fall of 1980), cut school for the day to go hang with a friend outside the club in West Hartford so we could get a good spot for the show. It was called the Hard Rock Cafe but this was before the chain and copyright.
 
 We were first on line (no big shock, weekday in Hartford), hung out, got into the venue early and took our spots at the stage. Stage was a little high so for me, being short, I was just about upper chest level but comfortable enough to be able to lean on my arms on the edge of the stage.
 
 Chatted with the road crew and security guys as they set stuff up. Blah blah blah. Place gets more and more and more and more crowded and there is no sign of the Man yet. And as it gets later the crowd gets more restless (and drunk).
 
 Finally ... and he's still not there ... someone thinks the show is starting and this huge crush begins from the back (remember this is GA) ... think the Who in Cincinnati but obviously on a smaller scale.
 
 But that smaller scale doesn't make me feel better since the entire crowd is crushing me into the apron of the stage, and has lifted my little 5-2 frame up off the floor just enough that it is literally crushing my ribs and windpipe with the rows and rows of drunk people rushing the EMPTY stage.
 
 I can't make a sound and I'm blacking out. Luckily one of the roadies I had made friends with earlier happened to come out on stage and saw me turning blue and rescued me and pulled me up onto the stage. I wasn't quite unconscious yet but I wasn't far off.
 
 I turned down medical treatment because like z bozo I wanted to see the show. And at least I still got my first row spot back. How much would that have sucked if I'd died AND lost my spot???

[Vas Deferens]

He hasn't changed. I like the recorded stuff, but live is something else.
 
   

Originally posted by dontmfme:
  S. Malkmus @ the 9:30 club a few years ago.  He came onstage and announced that he just had pork chops at Florida Avenue Grill.  And he played like someone with a stomach full of pork chops.  Lots of guitar noodling and a lack of good songs.  Total waste of time.