Music has the power to move us. It can speak to our minds and hearts and give us the boost we need to finally clean up our homes or confess our feelings to that special someone. It can also join us in our sorrow and help us process all the overwhelming emotions that catch us off guard on a random rainy Wednesday.
The effects tend to be even stronger during live shows, when the artists fuel the crowd with their energy. Or negligible if they botch it.
A few days ago, Reddit user Pinheadbrigade asked everyone to share the worst concert they’ve been to and what made them so terrible, and people did not hold back. Their stories of drunk bands and failing sound systems highlight how memorable these disappointments truly are.
#1
I once saw a triple feature: Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, and Heart.
By God Cheap Trick were bad and their audio mix was even worse. Combine that with 70 year old guys singing about banging young ladies, it just wasn't the vibe for the evening.
Joan Jett was quite good and Heart was phenomenal. Heart ended up bringing out John Bonham's son Jason to play drums for the last half hour of their set so they could do Led Zeppelin covers. I don't think Robert Plant's vocal intensity has held up over the years, but Ann Wilson's voice is so good it was like or better than listening to Plant in his prime.
By God Cheap Trick were bad and their audio mix was even worse. Combine that with 70 year old guys singing about banging young ladies, it just wasn't the vibe for the evening.
Joan Jett was quite good and Heart was phenomenal. Heart ended up bringing out John Bonham's son Jason to play drums for the last half hour of their set so they could do Led Zeppelin covers. I don't think Robert Plant's vocal intensity has held up over the years, but Ann Wilson's voice is so good it was like or better than listening to Plant in his prime.
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#2
James Brown was the headliner one night at a festival in the early 2000s.
He was wasted.
Kept singing the same lines over and over.
He introduced the band at least 5 times.
He just laid down on the stage and didn’t sing for a while.
Terrible concert, funny memories.
He was wasted.
Kept singing the same lines over and over.
He introduced the band at least 5 times.
He just laid down on the stage and didn’t sing for a while.
Terrible concert, funny memories.
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#3
Aerosmith in 2014ish.
Steven Tyler kept forgetting the words and called our city like 5 different (and all wrong) names during the event.
Steven Tyler kept forgetting the words and called our city like 5 different (and all wrong) names during the event.
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#4
I love to tell this one:
Went to see Lightning Hopkins out in the field on a flatbed trailer outside of Fort Worth in 1971. He was so drunk he played three songs, and two of them were the same song.
Went to see Lightning Hopkins out in the field on a flatbed trailer outside of Fort Worth in 1971. He was so drunk he played three songs, and two of them were the same song.
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#5
Bob Dylan in 2014 :( I love him but unfortunately he sounded like Cookie Monster. Can’t imagine it’s improved.
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#6
Oasis early 2000s. They clearly hated each other, played 6 songs, left the stage after 40min.
Edited for typos and also, wow, so many of us out there lol.
Edited for typos and also, wow, so many of us out there lol.
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#7
Joe Cocker. He was so drunk he could barely perform and threw up on stage in the middle of a song.
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#8
2009 American idol runner up tour at Wolf trap. I won tickets and thought "what the hell?"
I wonder if any of them remember me, I was the only one there.
I wonder if any of them remember me, I was the only one there.
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#9
Sir Mix A Lot. The opening act warned us it was going to be terrible, and they were right.
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#10
Modest mouse. They were wasted. Isaac Brock would flub the lyrics every other song and was basically screaming into the mic.
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#11
Six Pence None The Richer in nineties in Austin- lead singer had a melt down and ran off stage during ‘kiss me’ … 😒.
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#12
I’ve worked in a concert venue for the past 20 ish years and have seen almost everyone at least once. Black eyed peas were atrocious, like the truck with their auto tune got lost on the way. Tone deaf.
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#13
The worst act I've seen live is Buckcherry. Their radio length songs were what I enjoyed, but their live version of songs just ran on to the point of "this song should have ended 5 minutes ago.".
Every other artist that I've seen live has been good to great.
Every other artist that I've seen live has been good to great.
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#14
My old band Set on Edge. I'm not kidding. We replaced Sixpence None the Richer at the very last minute because their whole band caught pneumonia, and the show was outside (well, in an enormous barn - basically outside) in late October near Chicago so it was COLDCOLDCOLD and there were 3000+ kids there and we COULD NOT KEEP OUR INSTRUMENTS IN TUNE (or feel our fingers) for the whole set. I have video proof. We stepped off stage - four adults - and cried. Wow, that was bad!
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#15
I saw Deep Purple once and the singer didnt realize his mic was off for half the set.
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#16
Someone got me lil xan tickets for my birthday and it was the worst thing ever.
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#17
Alien Ant Farm. They played Smooth Criminal about 4 times and the entire show was just awful.
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