Went to a free festival at Wicken Fen near Cambridge. I think they had all the power for the stage going through a 13 amp socket. The power kept going off and eventually the first band shouted abuse at the roadies and downed tools. We stayed for another hour before they gave up completely. We didn't care, it was a nice sunny day and we had plenty of cans...
A few years ago me and friends and family were sat in a bar in Benidorm having a relaxing pint. All of a sudden this band came on and started singing songs by Westlife and Boyzone. Need I say more - that is 45 minutes of my life I will never get back.
Also in Sheffield in the late 90's - not exactly a concert, but a "guest appearance" at a ropey student night by Brian Harvey from East 17. He was as crap as you'd expect, and as coked up as you'd expect. What started out as a bit of banter from the audience quickly descended into flying water bottles, and Brian Harvey having to be stopped by security from kicking off on a punter. Musically it was absolutely horrendous, but entertainment-wise it was fcking awesome!
Killing Joke - Leadmill 1983. Really hot night and the venue was cramped and sweaty. The band were dripping in it too. After a few songs, the drummer chucked his sticks down and stomped off, quickly followed by the others. The roadies hastily rigged up some huge cooling fans and the band came back on and started up again, but the fans must have overloaded the circuits, cos everything went off. That was that. Jon Anderson - Sheffield City Hall 1980(?) Not a bad concert per se, but after my previous experiences of punk or metal gigs, it felt a bit odd to have the whole audience remain seated and clapping politely after each song.
Reading Festival, stoned, me and a mate went to the big tent to catch Kylie, just out of interest and because its Kylie. Was truly awful, none of the numerous band were really playing and she sounded awful. Left after 10 minutes.
I might have known you'd crop up on this one. How about that Ramones concert you dragged me to see in London? Didn't really know their stuff and the music was so loud i literally couldn't distinguish one song from another. In the midst of it all the audience were ripping the seats out at the back and passing them forward over everyone's heads to be dumped at the front. Git.
Sigue Sigue Sputnik in Birmingham 1986, just as Love Missile F1-11 hit the charts, their total lack of ability was exposed in a truly shocking 25 minute set.
Listen, grandad. They were the Ramones. You weren't supposed to distinguish one song from the other. Why did I ever bother? Did you ever pay me for the ticket, by the way?
This would be mine as well, about 5th or 6th time seeing them. Utterly dull, we were stood near the front and everyone around looked properly bored. Even for the encore nobody in the seats stood up. Waste of the best part of £80. Honourable mention for Thunder at Manchester Apollo early 90’s(?). Not a bad gig as such, but they stopped mid song, put the spotlight on me and asked why I wasn’t singing along. Mortified. I’d only gone as my sister was a massive fan so didn’t know too much of their stuff. Danny the singer winked & apologised once the lights went back down. I quite like them now!
Pop Will Eat Itself. Sheffield Octagon 94 or 95. Just before they split up. Played badly for about 35 minutes then stormed off. No encore. Seen them loads of other times, and the Reformation gig was one of the best I've ever been too.
Ah man, sorry I feel for you. Although at least you got to see them. It would have probably been a lot better if you'd have been on your own and not feeling guilty for the others! As you can guess from my moniker here I'm a massive fan. I got into them after hearing they supported Radiohead and buying the Rainmaker single around 95/96. So first gig of theirs I saw was the cockpit in Leeds touring Good morning Spider around 98 I think and it was absolutely amazing. When they were playing with the double bassist. I got to meet Mark after the show and said something really dumb like 'I play your songs!' and asked about him being in a wheelchair the year before etc . He was utterly gracious, especially to say he must have been tired after the gig. Like the archetypal southern gentleman, politely asking where to find food. Then saw them cockpit again around 2000 for It's a wonderful world, and amazingly they played the leadmill on my birthday, I think maybe 2006? Which was just a brilliant night. So great live when not caught in snow drifts! I was so sad when he died, so young. Probably the saddest at a rock death
My worst gig was Tindersticks in Liverpool around 2016. Like a chuffing library full of arsey chin-stroking wonkers.
Primal Scream Bradford 89, Glastonbury 92 and Leeds 94. They didn't turn up to the Bradford gig. At Glastonbury we were packed in that tight the sound just sailed over our heads, it was library quiet. In Leeds Bobby was that pissed he could barely stand up and they played a whopping 25 minutes of horse wnak. I didn't bother with them again.