Spinoff: Bands you regret seeing live

[Mephistopheles Janx]

In 2015 I had the distinct displeasure of seeing Blues Traveler at Red Rocks for 4th of July. I'd loved Blues Traveler since I was a teenager and the song Hook came out. I loved the album Four. I loved their sister band the Spin Doctors.

Hanson was the opening act. They were garbage just as one might anticipate.

Guster was the middle act and they were FANTASTIC.

Then Blues Traveler hit the stage and I was ready to be 14 again. Instead, the dude forgot a shit ton of lyrics, was constantly out of breath, and to make matters worse... he brought out Rome from "Sublime with Rome" (an abomination before God and man) and STARTED DOING SUBLIME COVERS.

**** John Popper and **** Rome.

[Nickhead]

RATT

by far and away the worst stage show i have ever seen. you could not differentiate between any of the act the sound was so distorted.

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Well, that's the thing: Most "Metal", Active and Classic Rock players can play their asses off, whether it's Megadeth or Alter Bridge or Metallica, AIC, Dream Theater, Rush, Yes, Frampton, etc. and so on, so it would be a huge disappointment to see any of those acts suck ass live but 99.99% of the time, those acts "Meet" my expectations.

Same goes for guys like Satriani, Vai, Joe Bonamassa and Paul Gilbert. Eric Johnson, however, has always been hit or miss, whether it was seeing him "On" at the Uptown Theater back in the 80's or seeing him "Off" at the Hollywood Bowl in 1997. I knew his guitar tech, Jeff Tweedy (not the guy from Wilco), so I had passes, checked out Eric's rig (and massive pedal board) but Eric just wasn't in a good mood and it showed that night.

But even then, I'll take a bad performance over one with massive backing tracks, like Aerosmith. Tyler was always great but the rest of the band just hasn't been able to keep up since the 90's, which is why their live performances are drowned out by their backing tracks.

Joe Perry was always garbage, anyway. Whitford's the far better player. And Glen Ballard couldn't even get their drummer, Joey Kramer, to play in time in the studio so he replaced him with Steve Ferrone.

I'm more into Death style Metal these days. Would love to have seen the band Death live, RIP Chuck. Amon Amarth, Kalmah, Vreid and the like is much more my speed for live shows. Had tickets to see Gojira in KC in about 10 days, but obviously that show got postponed and now canceled. Ticketbastard still hasn't refunded my $$'s, but they said 30 days. They have 3 days before I file a complaint with my CC.

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by alpha_omega

Thanks for all the positive feedback on the live McCartney shows.

I don't know much about it, never been to one of his shows. The reason i asked is....had somebody tell me that his live show sucked. I was skeptical, but i figured this thread was a good way to see if i was right or not.

My mom was a tad young when the beatles came to KC, and her parents wouldnt let her go, so she never got to see them live, nor saw any solo shows.

Fast-forward 45+ years.....last year I surprised her with tickets to McCartney's show at Petco in San Diego for mother's day.

Had really good seats in the row by one of the dugouts, but still far enough away that you end up watching the jumbotrons all night (which I hate).

But that said, what a show. 3 hours, and the guy just plows through his catalog. Doesnt play (for obvious reasons) some of the more harmonized vocals beatles tunes, but hits enough of them to satisfy.

Maybe I'm amazed and Live and Let Die were huge highlights for me.

And of course, Hey Jude.

My mom was on cloud 9 for the next several days!

[alpha_omega]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

My mom was a tad young when the beatles came to KC, and her parents wouldnt let her go, so she never got to see them live, nor saw any solo shows.

Fast-forward 45+ years.....last year I surprised her with tickets to McCartney's show at Petco in San Diego for mother's day.

Had really good seats in the row by one of the dugouts, but still far enough away that you end up watching the jumbotrons all night (which I hate).

But that said, what a show. 3 hours, and the guy just plows through his catalog. Doesnt play (for obvious reasons) some of the more harmonized vocals beatles tunes, but hits enough of them to satisfy.

Maybe I'm amazed and Live and Let Die were huge highlights for me.

And of course, Hey Jude.

My mom was on cloud 9 for the next several days!

Sounds like a great time. And what a great MD gift.

[Demonpenz]

Shout out to a great spin-off thread

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by JD10367

Age is a killer. I'm a big fan of Jethro Tull but the last time I saw Ian Anderson it was like listening to your out-of-tune and out-of-breath grandpa trying to croak some lyrics.

I've seen a shit ton of bands, most of them heavy metal in the mid-80s to early-90s, and luckily I can't think of a single bad band. Probably the closest would be when I saw the band Cake in Syracuse around 1997-1999. The lead singer was very disdainful and picking on the crowd and making fun of them for not being energetic enough (which was ironic since the reason we were like that was because the dude had zero energy or charisma as a lead singer).

Ditto on the above \m/

Cake is not the kind of band you get enthusiastic about - it's chill music to relax to. Frank Sinatra, Leather Sofa, Short Skirt ?? Maybe Going the Distance and Comfort Eagle would get a boost from the crowd but that is pushing it.

[lcarus]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Ditto on the above \m/

Cake is not the kind of band you get enthusiastic about - it's chill music to relax to. Frank Sinatra, Leather Sofa, Short Skirt ?? Maybe Going the Distance and Comfort Eagle would get a boost from the crowd but that is pushing it.

I can almost see all the milquetoast white people lightly hopping up and down to "Going the Distance" in my head lol

[EPodolak]

Originally Posted by DeepPurple

I saw Molly Hatchet in Savannah in '82, it was right after Danny returned from trying his solo career. I heard the record label gave him $300K to record an album in the Bahamas. He spent all the money on drugs and then hired his old high school band to record the album, that's how his solo career went.

In '82 however, he rocked. It was a former Winn Dixie that was converted into a club and they rocked that place. I actually stood at the back wall about 150' from the stage and they sounded perfect, their equipment was too much for a small venue. I saw the original 3 Day Night (all 3 singers) at the same club two weeks earlier and stood 5' in front of Chuck Negron when he sang, they sounded fantastic.

Molly Hatchet only has one original member still alive, even the replacements have died, the singer Phil McCormack, who replaced Danny in 1995 died last year. However they played here where I live in a 850 seat venue in January and I was in the front row and they really rocked. The only oldest members are the guitarist from '87 and the keyboardist from '84. Here they are live about two weeks before i saw them, this is in Germany last December and the new singer is good.

Funny how the Southern bands carry on, even with no original members. "Allman Brothers" with no Allmans, odd.

[GayFrogs]

Earth Wind & Fire...it had like 2 original members and they sounded bland and boring as you could possibly imagine. Compared to how awesome they sounded in their live albums from the 70s when they were wild, it was sad.

[Rain Man]

I went to an REM concert once, and it had two opening bands. The first one was okay, and they played for probably half an hour, long enough that was I ready for them to go. The second one was (if I remember right) Wilco. I didn't really like their music, and they wouldn't leave the stage. They just kept playing and playing and playing, and eventually Michael Stipe came out and chased them off. Their singer said something about them being kicked off the tour, so I guess their plan at revenge was to bore his audience to death with bad music. They blocked the stage for so long that I only heard a half hour or so of REM before my wife needed to go home.

[htismaqe]

Hey Dane, timely.

https://loudwire.com/anthrax-scott-i...backing-tracks

Anthrax's Scott Ian has offered this thoughts on the often controversial topic of rock bands using pre-recorded backing tracks live onstage. The guitarist is not a fan of the practice and even expressed a desire for concert tickets to be obligated by law to note if a band is using pre-recorded elements in their show.

The subject came up during Ian's chat with Joe Bonamassa on the acclaimed blues guitarist's "Live From Nerdville" podcast, which can be heard below. The guitarist prefaced his position by citing examples of when backing tracks are to the benefit of the concert experience.

"I don't wanna sound like an old man, but, I mean, come on. Look, I get it — if it's some kind of giant pop act and giant production, or something like that, or if it's Pink Floyd doing 'The Wall' and there's recorded stuff — voiceovers, whatever, things like that… But I hate going to a show and I just instantly know all the backing vocals are [pre-recorded]," the Anthrax guitarist explained.

"I think Rob Zombie is someone who does it really well, because there's a lot of stuff going on," Ian went on. "You break Rob Zombie down, [and] it's real simple — it's guitar, bass, drums and his vocals. And they could do that fine and play their songs. But if you listen to the records, there's lots of little spoken parts and things from movies and samples, and things like that, so if you're running those tracks, it's great, because it adds an attitude and an atmosphere that isn't there if it's just the guitar, bass, drums and vocals. And I think that's great and that's fine. But if you're faking it, no — I don't buy it."

Taking a stance similar to that of KISS legend Gene Simmons, Ian proposed making these practices transparent by denoting it on the concert ticket, "I think it should actually be — I don't know how it could be a law, but I think it should be printed on a ticket, that for bands that are doing that and [for] shows that are doing that, it should say, '70 percent of the show you're paying $250 for is pre-recorded.'"

"It should say it on the ticket," Ian reaffirmed.

In 2015, KISS bassist and co-vocalist Gene Simmons bemoaned other bands' reliance on pre-recorded tracks, stating, "I have a problem when you charge $100 to see a live show and the artist uses backing tracks. It’s like the ingredients in food, if the first ingredient on the label is sugar that’s at least honest. It should be on every ticket -- you’re paying $100, 30 to 50 per cent of the show is (on) backing tracks and they’ll sing sometimes, sometimes they’ll lip sync. At least be honest. It’s not about backing tracks, it’s about dishonesty."

With concerts out of the picture for now, fans of Scott Ian are eager for some new music. Anthrax have been working on their follow-up to 2016's For All Kings and Motor Sister, which features Ian and his wife Pearl Aday, as well as Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning), John Tempesta (The Cult, ex-Rob Zombie, ex-Testament) and Jim Wilson (ex-Mother Superior, ex-Rollins Band), began recording their new record earlier this year.

I will attest, I’ve seen Rob Zombie live and he does it perfectly. His backing tracks are like movie clips and stuff. He’s not compensating for anything.

[htismaqe]

By the way, my wife saw this and said if there’s one act she’s seen that SHOULD have used backing tracks it was Taylor Swift. She took my girls when they were much younger and apparently Taylor thought it would be a good idea to let the crowd hear her real singing voice. My wife said it was awful.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

By the way, my wife saw this and said if there’s one act she’s seen that SHOULD have used backing tracks it was Taylor Swift. She took my girls when they were much younger and apparently Taylor thought it would be a good idea to let the crowd hear her real singing voice. My wife said it was awful.

Yep.

A friend of mine who lives a few doors up the street is a pop concert video/audio editor that's done the Def Leppard in Vegas set, Brittany Spears, New Orleans Jazz Festival and pretty much everything you see on HDNET concert series. I was at his place a few years back when he was doing the last Brittany concert in 7.1 and NONE of her vocals are in the mix. It's all back up singers and Ghost singers.

That said, I was at Disney a few years ago about a gig (which unfortunately, I had to pass on due to time commitments) but Mandy Moore was in the studio cutting tracks for the (then) upcoming Tangled series and she was freaking amazing. Pitch perfect, knew immediately when the take didn't work and extremely professional, courteous and charming.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I will attest, I’ve seen Rob Zombie live and he does it perfectly. His backing tracks are like movie clips and stuff. He’s not compensating for anything.

Yeah, he's cool and it's part of show, so that's completely different, IMO. When the stage show is built around being in perfect sync with the lights, music and backing track, it's more about that experience and not about whether or not the guitarist plays his solos note-for-note or if the drummer can keep time, etc.

And Anthrax, lol. A very close friend of mine produced a few of their records and all I have to say is that I wouldn't have lasted 60 seconds in that situation. The drummer and bassist are related (uncle to nephew), even though they're roughly the same age. Anyway, they fight like cats and dogs, even in the studio! I've heard stories about bass rigs and drum kits being utterly destroyed by those two nitwits and all kinds of other craziness.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

Ticketbastard still hasn't refunded my $$'s, but they said 30 days. They have 3 days before I file a complaint with my CC.

Bummer, dude. I hope you get your dough back. At least Bon Jovi cancelled his tour, so everyone that purchased a ticket got a full refund.

The Motley Crue/Def Leppard/Poison tour was "postponed", which IMO, was a pretty crappy way to treat fans.