bands you stopped liking after you saw them live

I was dragged to another show of theirs 3 years later. They added a 2nd guitarist and that made all the difference in the world. 1000 times better, and I liked them again.

they started out w/ a very minimal 8 min. drone and then the guitarist's stuff crapped out when he was supposed to come in and he stopped the show and said 'wait, lets start over'. so they started over and played that entire intro again. in between, he said a bunch of stuff like 'who booked this show, anyway? oh well, i guess you're all here' (this was at SXSW)

went from medium interest to zero. we left somewhere in the middle of the 2nd intro

For me, it's the Decemberists. Saw them twice and, both times, I couldn't stand their insipid stage banter, their contrived coyness, their twee-er than thou tweeness, or just about anything else about them. I haven't been able to listen to them since.

I almost stopped liking Ghostface after a really shitty show. Then I remembered I've never really been to a GOOD hip-hop show.

Way too much tedious and self-regarding muso jamming. Dunno why I was expecting anything else, given Kyuss' well-documented love of TEH JAM, but God, it was boring.

However, the first time I saw them, some shirtless lunatic evaded security, leapt on stage and then dived towards the crowd, falling shirt and landing face-first on the security barrier with a sickening dropped-watermelon crunchy splat. Which livened up the show no end, let me tell you.

Horrifying stagediving accidents during otherwise interminable shows: C or D?

Temporarily: Bob Dylan, right after Down in the Groove release. (Redeemed himself in Tupelo a couple of years ago.)

Saw them in 1998 and they became one of my favorite bands for years.

Saw them after Amore del Tropico or whatever came out and I walked out halfway through the set.

I'm still moderatley interested in the new album.

I would have grown out of Deftones, anyway, but at one time I played _White Pony_ to death (I hadn't discovered the Melvins yet). I should've guessed they were unspeakably bad live. So horrid. No sense of dynamics, no spontaneity, nothing at all except piles of horrible distortion and the worst professional singing performances I've ever seen.

Also: Lambchop. The only show I've ever slept through.

I'm pretty sure Seth Putnam has sung this before

Autechre. After Untilted came out they played a terribly dull show. Repetitive arhythmic beats tweaked by small increments and the odd cacophonous peak palyed to a near pitch dark venue almost sounds like something I would find interesting - it wasn't. I left after an hour or so of their set. I've only recently started listening to them again.

a junior high version of myself liked the Dave Matthews Band at one point. it became very clear that i had made a mistake when i saw them live (shudder)

can't listen to Hail to the Thief after seeing Radiohead and all associated douchebag fans at alpine valley. though seeing them in Grant Park is still one of my favorite concerts

Apparently, real Decemberists shows are not much better.

they really need to re-evaluate their live approach. i've seen them twice now, and I couldn't even summon the interest to illegally download bitter tea.. it's like, "let's take the intricacies and dynamics of our song structures, the beauty of our melodies, and all the varied sounds that make us so unique and wonderful, and instead just have eleanore shout our stupid lyrics over an incessant, 45-minute drum pummel and occasionally let Matt demonstrate how utterly adquate he is as a guitarist." such a shame-- although the last time i saw them i was really drunk (like, nearly falling-asleep-standing-up drunk) and told matt afterwards at the merch booth 'awesome job,' anyway.

Fan Modine put on one of the most stage-struck shows I've ever witnessed (aside from my own) at a Grimsey Records showcase in '99. Chris Brokaw from Come was on guitar, but I think Gordon (Zacharias) did more sweating than singing. That qualifies as "Bands you pitied after you saw them live," though, not "stopped liking."

This thread could also dovetail with prior "Bands/artists you liked until you realized they were assholes" thread(s), in which case I'd rope in The Magnetic Fields as the principal example.

For some strange reason, mainstream female soloists have done badly out of this. Macy Gray (dear Lord, what WERE we thinking), Alicia Keys, Beth Orton, Nanci Griffith. And also My Morning Jacket, but I accept it might have been a bad night. (MIGHT have been.)

OTMFM!!! Also the way he kept humping the lamptop or at least that's what it looked like from where I was standing.

Anyway, to answer the question... Seeing Four Tet is definitely a deadly dull experience. Still can't listen to him without getting boring flashbacks.

Also, I saw Beck on a whim recently, and I'd never really been a fan, but I thought the show would be fun. It was maybe the worst concert I've ever been to in my life. I nearly walked out. It was just so self-consciously staged and "fun" in a terribly overbearing way. All wacky dancing and puppets and whatnot. YOU WILL HAVE FUN. FUN. FUN. But they all kind of seemed like they wanted to kill themselves. It was really bizarre. It was especially a disappointment after Jamie Lidell as the support act.

Lawd save us from grateful-to-be-here bands.

i can't bear to say more as it still infuriates/upsets me to my very core, but i'll just say 'glastobury 1993' and be done with it.

Still can't listen to him without getting boring flashbacks I listen to him and the boredom has nothing to do with flashbacks :)

Also the way he kept humping the lamptop or at least that's what it looked like from where I was standing.

There was humping a-plenty on this occasion too.

oh?
cool.
i'll pass anyway, thanks!

-- latebloomer aka 'the sun'

If you mean that weird thing where you find yourself analysing too much because there is a band you really like -on stage- -right now- and you must must must take it all in as you might never see it again and then you kind of feel "hang on, am I being underwhelmed by this not blowing my mind all the time?" and "it would be nice to stop and go for a cup of tea at some point here" then yes, it happens to me quite a bit.

The new answer: A few years ago, I went to see Leon Russell in Santa Cruz. I had always loved Leon Russell's music, mostly from listening to my mom's copy of 1970's Leon Russell. At this concert, just like Boston, he made no attempts at all to connect with the audience. He just launched into note perfect renditions of his songs but with no emotion at all. We left after the first set and I felt like my big statue of Leon Russell had just been pulled over in front of me. Very disappointing.
(I still love his and Bonnie Bramlett's Superstar!)

Ditto.

Seeing them at All Tomorrow's Parties in Long Beach a couple of years ago was particularly heinous. They'd finish a pretty, sad pop song, and then the Marty guy would scream into the mic things like "Yo, Dog, We here in the LBC! Snoop Dizzle and The Shizzins! LBC, Muthafucka!" in an exaggerated accent. The songwriter would stand there awkwardly (though seemingly amused) as the other guy would riff on things like "Funny Hip Hop Voices" and "Lord of the Rings." It totally and completely turned me off of the band.

I have to say that Dinosaur Jr. was terrible live. First of all, J Mascis is a total dick with no personality, unless his personality is being a dickhead. Second, it was incredibly loud. I mean dangerously loud. I've never been to a show that loud, and I'm young and I have been to a lot of shows. I saw some college girl actually start crying. It was so loud that you couldn't make out the instruments, and you couldn't even understand which song they were playing. Interestingly enough, one of my friends fell asleep standing up at that show. And he's a huge Dinosaur Jr. fan.

that's probably otm.
Half the bands I see don't seem to know how to put on a good show and that's why I quit going to these newbie indie gigs.

Isis seconded. Boring awful droneage. Though, I can't say I was a big fan in the first place, but now I just won't listen to them.
Bloc Party seconded. They were such a disappointment, I guess because this was before all the hype and the "Helicopter" sampling and I didn't really know much about them except for the fact that their songs were fun and the drumming was pretty good. But their show was so dreadful. For them I always refer back to this review on TMT: "They suck live. And because of that, in my eyes, they basically now suck. Good album be damned, Bloc Party sucks more than anything has ever sucked before."

Architecture in Helsinki. Meh.
And I can't take the Liars at all, now. too much satan for me.

Also, Black Heart Procession thirded. I paid 12 bucks to see them with the Castanets. The Castanets never showed, and 2 of the 5 BHP members were missing. All the singer could say was "guess they had somewhere better to be". Thanks for coming to our show tonight, we piss all over your town!

-- mox twelve

I think I had the opposite reaction. I only really liked their most recent album and even then wasn't particularly blown away by it but after seeing them live I was converted.

I don't get this sentiment (and others like it on this thread). If you're not going to like a band's music because you find someone to be an ass, you'd be eliminating most, if not all, of the greats. Who gives a fuck if they aren't very nice people? Why does it affect your appreciate of their work? To extend it to other domains, many, if not the majority, of great painters, writers, filmmakers, etc were probably assholes. But, you know, Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole (even if his behavior was as assholish as it can be).

Besides, the dude from Islands doesn't even come off that way. He actually seems to want to perform. What I find intolerable in live acts is when they seem to not want to be there and have disdain for their audience. But that's something else.

Maybe in your town. Out here he was more interested in talking down to us "kids" than playing. I secretly enjoy that brand of arrogance when the rockstar has the music to back it up...

But kornrulez got there first.

Meek Mill

four tet bored ppl itt 13 years ago, and did the same to me the other night. so samey blah

I don't know if seeing Devo killed my interest in them but it was around the same time. The band was the classic lineup plus the newer drummer but only the drummer had any energy. Mark M especially seemed to be going through the motions

Broken Social Scene made me loathe them after a hideously overlong self-indulgent gig about 13 years ago. The whole audience seemed to be checking their watches.

another vote for destroyer. one reason might be that the tracks i like from the albums are usually very long and often instrummentals and he doesn't play them live at least not when i saw him. to be honest they are not very concert compatible. most striking example: the laziest river.

Swans. I was a big fan up to the 1997 "farewell" tour, wasn't overexcited by the 2010 reunion and what remained of my interest soon evaporated after seeing a couple of shows at which I was increasingly irritated by the overlong, formless "epics" and Gira's increasingly messianic demeanour.

gah @ increasingly x2

Believe it or not The Cure on the "Wild Mood Swings" tour. Longtime fan and had seen them several times over the years prior beginning in '85 but wow...this was awful: an arena in New Jersey, a crowd full of pre-teen Hot Topic goths and their parents, Robert Smith in a NJ Devils jersey (!!) drunk out of his gourd running through a bunch of stuff I had and still have little interest in. It was a birthday gift ticket and I was waiting for * at least* a little pre-"Wish" action but it wasn't happening. I split early and didn't listen to them again until maybe 10 years ago.

Mercury Rev. I was going off them anyway but seeing their preening prissy preciousness in the flesh was the last straw.

Was this pre- or post-Deserter's Songs?

Definitely post!

Saw a Palace Brothers gig at the Borderline in London in '94, not 100% his fault but he was so purposefully quiet and weedy and the crowd were hugely rude and chatty that the whole thing was completely surreal. Took over a decade to realise I liked his music.

I still like Lloyd Cole, but my liking for him took a definite nosedive after I'd seen him live a couple of times, with his arrogant between-song banter and unfunny attempts at humour.

The other thing about Mercury Rev is they were supported by Flaming Lips - before everybody got bored with their shtick - and I've never seen an act so comprehensively upstaged by their support ever.

Disagree with a bunch of these, who live shows I've really enjoyed (Cake, Olivia Tremor Control, The Fall).

But I definitely have a few bands whose albums I stopped enjoying completely because of the live show:
- Slint - jesus what a slog that show was
- The Go Team - that Thunder Lightning album did not work live at all
- Four Tet - stopped going to laptop shows after this
- That band who sings "on every occasion, i'll be ready for a funeral"

Real Estate and Alvvays are the exceptions to rule here. Both shows were inexcusably dull, but it hasn't stopped me from loving the albums.

Cloudland Canyon. The first time I saw them live the lead guy got pissed off for some unknown reason and they cut their set short after like 3 songs. The second time I saw them one of their synths broke and they again cut the set short because they didn’t know how to get it working again.

lol @ Broken Social Scene. I caught a "secret" bar show in Toronto not too long after Craig's experience... so we were there for long and indulgent and I enjoyed it... however I'm not sure I've listened to them a single second since. It was just enough of that for my life. Also I think soon after there was that teen romance movie where the plot was based around making it to their show? Could've been partly this too.

Can't really think of a more direct answer on this topic. It's more typical that I'd get into a new band that has great live shows and get turned off by their first album.

From reading thread, got to stick up for Deerhoof - one of the best acts I've ever seen!

Buffalo Tom (especially after support act Bettie Serveert was great)

Can't really think of any offhand but can remember being put up in Wolverhampton after a Galaxy 500 gig (I think, could be a different occasion but I think that fits timeline) & the person putting me up's flatmate came back from the Chills show at another venue in town. I think they proceeded to destroy their Chills records but may have stopped just short of.

After seeing Pink Floyd in 1987 (the first post-Waters tour) I didn't listen to their albums for years.

I also quite liked Deerhoof live. One of the least showy bands I've seen but captivating in their simplicity, and they played super tight

I've always been too broke to splurge on gigs so I've convinced myself, Glenn Gould-style, that recorded music is generally superior to the live experience anyway. Besides, I tend to dislike communal events (dance, opera and theatre are simply not for me, give or take a few works) and prefer one-on-one interactions with aesthetic objects. Now that those brief caveats are out of the way, I've rarely been disappointed with live performances by musicians who operate in non-song-oriented genres (classical, jazz, 'avant', etc.), perhaps because their art is generally less reliant on recording mediums to begin with. Basically, if my sole reason for going to a gig is to hear the already-familiar alongside a crowd of randos, I'd rather stick to my couch, although classical music is an interesting exception in that the acoustics make enough of a difference to justify the ticket price (I'm also just more of a fan, I guess).

I wasn't a massive fan, but I haven't listened to the Pixies since I saw them less-than-phone-it-in in 1990. From what I've read, this was/is apparently typical of Pixies shows.

In 1994, I couldn't wait to see Evan Parker. Based on the recordings I'd heard, I expected his sound to completely fill the room; it barely made it past the first three rows. (He redeemed himself somewhat two nights later with a brilliant soprano duo with Roscoe Mitchell.)

It took me many years to warm up to Pavement again after seeing them on the Crooked Rain tour

Neil Young after seeing Greendale live with actors. Man that was trash.

I wasn't a massive fan, but I haven't listened to the Pixies since I saw them less-than-phone-it-in in 1990. From what I've read, this was/is apparently typical of Pixies shows.

I was never a big fan either, and/but I saw them that same year, opening for Jane's Addiction, and I have absolutely no memory of their performance at all.

War on Drugs seemed rote and withdrawn after an intense opening set by Hop Along

It took me many years to warm up to Pavement again after seeing them on the Crooked Rain tour

Seeing them on that tour cooled me on them forever. I've never heard anything they put out afterward.

I had an underwhelming experience seeing them live as well but not so bad as to keep me from listening to the new recordings as they arrived.

Camera Obscura played the adelphi in about 2006/07 on the one hot day a year we get in Hull. and Tracyanne spent the whole gig complaining about the sound, the temperature, the microphones smelling bad. don't think I've listened to the records since.

Fear Factory, for a few years Burton C. Bell's screaming technique is totally wrong, so he's usually hoarse midway through the show, with his voice cracking. It happened at two separate shows of his that I saw, so every time I listened, I kept hearing his voice crack in my head.

then I got over it.

Garcia Peoples

Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1985. Only really knew of him through the Bowie connection and the rumors that his live shows were concussive like a Texan version of The Blasters. Meh. Uninspired directionless - not even "Voodoo Child" with Mitch Mitchell himself guesting on drums could spike up the energy. Best part of the show was having Bonnie Raitt opening.

I’d be interested in hearing more about how fans of Pavement’s records were turned off to the band after seeing them play in the CR era.

I’ve been to my fair share of bad shows but I honestly can’t wrap my head around the idea of liking a band and then hating their live show so much that you’d instantly start being less interested in listening to their studio records.

Yo la tengo around 96...James just stop playing those three notes

Slint - jesus what a slog that show was

Susan Alcorn. If she released a new album tomorrow I'd probably still check it out (does that count?) but that was one of the dullest shows I've ever seen.

Winged Victory for the Sullen was also a big disappointment. I haven't gone back to their records since.

Yo la tengo around 96...James just stop playing those three notes

Robbie Fulks. Not that I was a big fan or anything, but people like him, and I had a good time at one of his New Year's shows. But he was playing before my band at a small town festival, and seemed maybe a little drunk and picked up our sousaphone player's instrument and was running around playing it for some dumb comedy routine, and ever since my position is "fuck that guy".

"Stopped liking" is a bit of a stretch, but if you were at Knebworth in 1976 and didn't feel insulted by The Rolling Stones, then you've got different operating parameters to me, 10cc looked like they were parachuted in from Strawberry Studios to play live for the first time ever and I couldn't really appreciate Skynyrd as I honestly thought I was battling heatstroke.
Those were the days.

I saw Super Furry Animals around 2004 and felt old and out of place, despite only being 25 or so. When the band came out for an encore in eponymous costumes and the audience chanted something, it seemed to me that I was among ardent worshippers and that I didn't get the ritual. I never listened to SFA much after that.

I was enchanted by Kero Kero Bonito's Bonito Generation and made the trip from Minneapolis to Chicago to see them last year. This was another occasion where I felt too old, but then I was 40 so maybe in some sense I was. There was this mock-machismo in the audience, and the tall blond bass player for the opening act conducted the audience's applause like he was Bugs Bunny — I couldn't believe an audience would support such dickery. KKB weren't bad, though the big-rock element was at times obnoxious in live performance; the audience killed it for me, though. As it happens, KKB involved a stuffed animal in their set, too. Maybe stuffed animals in a rock show it can bring out the wrong kind of people?

I was still considering going last night when they came through Minneapolis, wondering if the crowd might be better. It sold out, so I was spared the trouble.

If you’re into an act enough this doesn’t exist

I saw the Detroit Cobras in Morgantown, West Virginia and they definitely thought (wrongly) they were too cool to be there.

Slint - jesus what a slog that show was

Saw em on one of their reunion tours and they were A+ imo. Remember the sound being particularly well mixed. Crisp and punchy.
― circa1916

I remember my main issue being the amount of time they were taking between songs. They'd play a seven minute song, then spend the next seven minutes tuning their guitars, just allowing any momentum they had built to dissipate, and finally the silences got so uncomfortable that some joker would yell out "freebird!" or some other inanity. It just left so much blank space to ponder why I ever liked their songs in the first place.

If you’re into an act enough this doesn’t exist

― calstars, Sunday, October 20, 2019 9:42 PM bookmarkflaglink

Take it to the Bands you stopped LOVING thread

Great idea for a thread, the kind of thing that happens to everyone sooner or later. (except calstars)

Titus Andronicus for me - I loved & played the hell out of everything up through The Monitor, but saw them around that time and the show totally soured me. Patrick Stickles' onstage schtick was just ridiculously annoying to me, corny messianic rockstar moves and super affected punk rock posturing, like making a big show out of ostentatiously slurring every lyric to the point where every song was just him moaning blah-blah nonsense noises. At the time I thought those first two records were incredible feats of lyric-writing and I couldnt understand why they would take their strongest element out of the mix like that. When combined with the crowd, largely macho jock dudes who screamed with joy every time someone onstage took a drink of beer, it all just seemed very childish, like being at a dumb frat kegger, and they just sounded silly to me ever since.

I’d be interested in hearing more about how fans of Pavement’s records were turned off to the band after seeing them play in the CR era.

― drunk on hot toddies (morrisp), Sunday, 20 October 2019 23:31 (yesterday) link

I walked out after a handful of songs, which no one in the band seemed to know how to play and Malkmus was peak aloof/bored with the whole affair, it was deeply off-putting at the time. I think it would bother me less now.

I saw a Mike Watt show that he has since apologized for that was beyond embarrassing, he was falling down drunk & I was such a huge fan it took a long time for me to get back on the boat, as it were.

Shouts tho to Nels Cline who attempted to single-handedly save the show through guitar heroics and he almost did, man was he fucking pissed.

"Alvvays" I just saw them open for the National and I loved them live. Maybe it's me, or maybe it was the show.

Here's one: Squarepusher. Man that was boring.

Warpaint

If you’re into an act enough this doesn’t exist

― calstars, Sunday, October 20, 2019 9:42 PM bookmarkflaglink

Take it to the Bands you stopped LOVING thread

Didn't really affect my appreciation of his records, but I was really excited to see Shlohmo after Bad Vibes came out, and he played a pre-recorded dj set. It was awkward, but did kinda have an idgaf punk rock vibe too I guess.

wasn't overexcited by the 2010 reunion and what remained of my interest soon evaporated after seeing a couple of shows at which I was increasingly irritated by the overlong, formless "epics" and Gira's increasingly messianic demeanour.

ha, I think I saw them in 2011, and me and my friend actually left in the middle of the show. I was texting with a friend having an emotional crisis and my friend was so irritated with the show itself, she was like, "fuck this, this is horrible, let's go to a bar." and I was totally fine w/that.

but I was fairly lukewarm on them (Swans) prior. ... C@lvin Johnson on the other hand ... though that was more about him being a jerk to me, personally, as the venue manager/booker.

Sigur Rós

The Police, their first show of the reunion tour 2007-2008.
i don’t mind when a track plays randomly here and there but i don’t think i ever consiously put on any albums ever since.

Warpaint

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

First time I saw them, left three songs into the set (in part because Cate Le Bon had been so transcendent opening). Saw them at a festival last year and they were great and I look forward to seeing them again.

back on the boat

;)

What’s bad about warpaint live? Stella rules

HEALTH. Felt like they were faking it the whole night

yeah i saw alvvays last year and thought they were super tight with some decent patter - but i also barely go to shows anymore so maybe my sensors are less finely tuned.

mine was Modest Mouse in Milwaukee in 2007. my buddies and I had been fans since middle school so this was a pretty big moment. of course at that point Mouse were sort of a different band, they'd kicked the alcoholism and assholery but that was what made them interesting (at least, when you're young you find that sort of thing fascinating). I dunno, just wasn't feeling it and I don't know if the band was either. Didn't help that it was at Eagles Ballroom where every band sounds like shit thanks to the 40 foot ceiling. had an epiphany mid-show that the bulk of Modest Mouse album titles were just dumb contradictions that could only sound deep to a middle schooler. in retrospect it probably wasn't a bad show and they did play a number of classics but I just felt like I was done with the band then.

(I did like "Satellite Skin" a lot, though)

Built to Spill. I always liked Keep it Like a SEcret and Perfect from Now on, but when I finally saw them (not even sure when, it was probably about 14 or 15 years ago) they were a goddamned wanky jam band and I hated them.

Haha, so true. I wasn't a superfan when I saw Built To Spill, but I found the corny jam quality fairly offputting.

Whitney. Jocks on drugs, with the lead singer seemingly perpetually on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Really obnoxious stage patter, too. It just all rubbed me the wrong way

wire

the whole thing was grim

really? when did you see them? they've always been fantastic live when I've seen them. even with the new guitarist.

Animal Collective. Actually I don't and never really did like them, but seeing them live made me dislike them even more.

Royal Trux. Wasn't a huge fan, but what a mess. Ariel Pink.

I can agree with some of the "should I bother with live music at all" comments above. These days I spend a lot of time at gigs both slightly enjoying the music but also thinking about when I can leave.

Animal Collective. Actually I don't and never really did like them, but seeing them live made me dislike them even more.

― akm, Tuesday, October 22, 2019 12:16 PM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Oh god, I was so bored at their show in south street seaport however many years ago...

its such a bummer when this happens in general, i really hate the feeling

Damon and Naomi. Both of them whiney and complaining through their whole set.

These days I spend a lot of time at gigs both slightly enjoying the music but also thinking about when I can leave.

glad to hear it isn't just me

for me these days: home listening + early bedtime >>> live shows, 99% of the time

I want to go see Tool when they come play over here but I'm going to hate their fans so much I'll probably blame the band so I think I'll just stay at home.

calstars at 10:23 21 Oct 19

What’s bad about warpaint live? Stella rules

I mean, this was opening for Nick Cave, so bigger place and it felt like the sound mix was not doing them any favors

but overall, they just kind of sounded like shit? the mysterious murky vibe I loved came off as muddled and just...bleh

though it's quite possible they improved or it was a bad night or the mixed sucked (though Bad Seeds sounded great)

I've never been to an actual Warpaint show, but I've watched tons on youtube and they have plenty of great shows. But I can also see how if they were having an off-night, it would all kinda fall apart.

i mentioned this on the albini thread recently, but major assholery from him at a shellac show a few years ago made it p much impossible for me to enjoy any of his stuff since

Damon and Naomi. Both of them whiney and complaining through their whole set.

awww, i saw them years back playing in a basement bar and it was a really lovely experience, magical almost

One that's actually kind of a funny memory in hindsight for how ridiculous it was is The Duchess and the Duke (does anybody remember them?). The guy was incredibly drunk & nasty & berating the crowd for being too noisy, despite the fact that he was playing unamplified and the super-respectful crowd was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The set ended when he ended up falling asleep onstage while singing a song, mid-verse. Never seen anything like it.

a friend of mine saw warpaint several years ago and he said he really hated their live set, it was jammy and lame. I never got to see them until they opened for Depeche Mode and they suffered the same problem mentioned above: murky bad sound, but it was in a bloody arena so not really their fault.

whats wrong with 'jammy'

It can be kind of dull if you aren't into that kind of thing

Richard Ashcroft.

I mean, it was probably a really good gig if you like him, I was sort of ambivalent to him solo, was OK with his Verve stuff. But. To me it was interminably boring. The highlight was Liam G wandering on during the tenth minute of Richard's "New York" song. I can't help thinking Liam was thinking the same thing.

i mentioned this on the albini thread recently, but major assholery from him at a shellac show a few years ago made it p much impossible for me to enjoy any of his stuff since

― “Hakuna Matata,” a nihilist philosophy (One Eye Open), Tuesday, October 22, 2019 10:10 AM (two hours ago)

steve albini was acting like an arsehole? can't believe this

Not sure warpaint has the chops to be jammy , much less in a good way. Theresa in particular looked like she had just picked up a guitar for the first time about a week before I saw them back on the s/t tour

Sorry I meant “the fool” tour almost ten years ago damn

Completely forgot that the first concert I ever saw was an example of this: U2 on the Popmart tour. Technical issues meant the show started almost two hours late, our seats were so far back that it felt like I was watching a music video rather than a live band. The crowd was not into any of the new songs and I realized that Pop really sucked. Quickly after that I turned on them, All That You Can't Leave Behind was their first album I didn't purchase. Coincidentally I went through a reappreciation phase about ten years later when I saw them the second time. Pop doesn't really suck, it just half sucks

After i saw Odd Future Wolf in 2010 I only ever listened to Earl Sweatshirt once after that.

I was bored by the show to where I questioned if I liked them as much as I thought.

but I think it had more to do with the fact that some young kid behind me in line saw my Wu shirt and snidely said "oh wow, Wu-Tang was all the way back in the 90s!" and hip as I tried to feel the rest of the night, I felt like Colonel Sanders attending a high school dance.

The trick to feeling young again isn't going to shows by [current year] artists. It's attending classical concerts.

i really liked the dutchess and the duke the couple of times i saw them. yeah, they were drunk but they totally didn't fall asleep; they had issues, for sure. but they laid down an almost "exile" vibe. those records will be rediscovered some day. (xpost)

damon and naomi were fantastic when i saw them. charming too. though even that wasn't enough to actually get me to listen to their records.

xp: wire played mostly pretty average new stuff and really seemed like they didn't want to be there, it's somehow retroactively made listening to their 70s albums more boring to me.

The Mars Volta in 2003. Incredibly boring, I never got to appreciate their albums since.

The trick to feeling young again isn't going to shows by [current year] artists. It's attending classical concerts.

― pomenitul, Wednesday, October 23, 2019 5:47 AM bookmarkflaglink

Or jazz clubs.

or, in 2019, p much any rock act that isn't a festival headliner

I was bored by the show to where I questioned if I liked them as much as I thought.

Its interesting to me how many of these stories dont involve the band playing an awful show or saying/doing something bad, but just being boring enough that it provides a moment to hit pause and closely reexamine your fandom

I'm not sure this has ever actually happened to me.

Even bands who were terrible live, Pavement being the most obvious one, I just didn't bother going to see them live unless they happened to be playing a festival I was at and there was nothing else on. didn't really change liking the records at all. but I'm having a hard time thinking of times when I've seen a band and they acted like arseholes rather than just being shit

more likely to be the opposite for me, bands whose records I was lukewarm on then I saw them live and it started making sense

oh there was Perfect Pussy, whose records I haven't actually heard, but I was going to listen to them, then I saw them live and they were deliberately playing really badly for some reason, just totally fucking around, the singer wasn't even bothering to sing into the mike, so there were absolutely zero vocals audible at all. I dunno if maybe the sound people or venue had pissed them off or something, but no reason to take it out on the audience, who seemed really enthusiastic to see them and everyone round me was confused why they were doing it. Never bothered with them after that

I'm not sure this has ever actually happened to me.

Same! I've seen some dreadful concerts (Sebadoh w/ a ranting Lou Barlow storming off after 1.5 song to never come back [it took me three hours to get there, plus a night in a hostel, it was done after five minutes lol]. Primal Scream who were 2 hours late and just put on a tape. Ariel Pink because they couldn't play for shit) but I didn't stop liking any of them, or not because of the concert anyway. I even forgave Lou Barlow :)

My nomination is actually the same as the very first band mentioned on this thread. I was a big Bright Eyes fan around 2002-4. Even though I didn't quite love I'm Wide Awake as much as everyone else seemed to, I still went to see them headline the John Peel stage at Glastonbury 05. Conor Oberst was in a terrible mood sulking all the way through it. Seemed like he was definitely on something too. He played nothing but songs from Digital Ash (no-one in that tent was there for that) and ranted in between songs which included him slagging off John Peel several times. That went down about as well as you'd expect. I sold all my CDs not long after that. I could never enjoy his voice again without thinking of that embarrassing performance that really was like witnessing teenager having a massive strop.

took me a very long time to be able to listen to anything by sisters of mercy after i saw them back in the 00s.
after an hour of seeing absolutely nothing but smoke i gave up and went home.
could have been a cd player via the PA system, we genuinely could not see anything the whole time.

Its interesting to me how many of these stories dont involve the band playing an awful show or saying/doing something bad, but just being boring enough that it provides a moment to hit pause and closely reexamine your fandom

kinda depends where you live I guess - if you're away from the major hubs like LA, Chicago, and NY then you don't usually get to see the stuff you're currently into. a lot of the shows I see are bands I was heavily into years ago and haven't really listened to since.

Frankie Rose

Suicide opening for Grinderman, Kentish Town Forum. I enjoyed the occasional spin of their albums before the concert, but never wanted to go near them after that. They were just incredibly dull and played way too loud.

Jesus and Mary Chain, the first time they reformed at Brixton was terrible as well and put me off listening to them for a good while. Just boring, with none of the energy or vibe of their albums coming across at all.

Sebadoh w/ a ranting Lou Barlow storming off after 1.5 song to never come back

Where/when was this??

Doornroosje, Nijmegen (The Netherlands), probably in '97/'98/'99? I can't remember the exact year. Tried to google it to find it and see that he's playing there in just three days from now! :)

_hip as I tried to feel the rest of the night, I felt like Colonel Sanders attending a high school dance.

― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal_

Me at the bar

I could never enjoy his voice again without thinking of that embarrassing performance that really was like witnessing teenager having a massive strop.

― kitchen person, Wednesday, October 23, 2019 11:13 AM (forty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

How awful that something could cause you to associate Conor Oberst's vocal delivery with that of a whiny teenager. How unthinkable.

_ I'm not sure this has ever actually happened to me._

Same. Records are documents, shows are a different animal. Sure some bands have no presence, are less skilled than you would assume, storm off stage...who cares. Maybe it’s just being in their presence for awhile that is what I expect and not a lot more

Feel that there could be an interesting adjunct thread for folks that have shared a bill alongside asshole musicians with the same outcome.

How awful that something could cause you to associate Conor Oberst's vocal delivery with that of a whiny teenager. How unthinkable.

― Evan,

Haha, true. I guess when I got into them I was still heavily in my teen angst phase (leading into my remarkably different early 20s angsty phase) and I thought his voice was raw, emotional and spoke to me in some way. Seeing him on stage behaving like that really made see how embarrassing his whole shtick was. I still wasn't out of that phase in 2005 and had some rough years ahead, but I often thought to myself as long as I'm coming across better than Conor Oberst at Glastonbury I must be doing ok.

Remember sitting down to watch Bright Eyes pre-Wilco at Glastonbury 2004, the first band of the day in the glorious sun at first ever visit to the festival. This is going to be amazing, I thought, being full of youthful excitement for simply being there, despite having never heard a note of his music. Very quickly formed the opinion that CO was the worst person in music at that moment in time.

Needless to say I wasn't at his set the following year, but I was told he referred to John Peel as being "a cokehead, just like myself"

Garcia Peoples

― alpine static, Sunday, October 20, 2019 10:05 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Gotta say I wasn't expecting to see that answer. I've never seen them live myself, but I've heard a lot of very, very good sets they've played. Usually I hear the opposite, folks weren't into them at all until they saw them live.

took me a very long time to be able to listen to anything by sisters of mercy after i saw them back in the 00s.
after an hour of seeing absolutely nothing but smoke i gave up and went home.
could have been a cd player via the PA system, we genuinely could not see anything the whole time.

You’d think I would give Ariel Pink another chance after a decade or so has passed since I saw him perform but nope, he was that bad

The Mars Volta in 2003. Incredibly boring, I never got to appreciate their albums since.

Nothing to add to this, probably the most tedious attempts at jamming I've ever witnessed and I've seen Phish

The Roots were booked to play the state university I went to in 2000. When I went, there was no Questlove or Black Thought; just Dice Raw, some hype men and replacement players.

Nearly all bands I've ever seen live, I pretty much stop listening to. Something to do with being subjected to music in that way for 90-120 minutes feels like it's absolutely my fill of that noise for a long long time

90-120 minutes? Most bands I've seen haven't played that long, it certainly would be the exception rather than the rule.

Yeah, most bands I see play 60-75 minutes. 90-120 if the band's headlining an arena, but club shows are substantially shorter than that.

Bands you stopped licking

In my experience 90 mins is the norm.

Yeah 90 minutes of licking, tops

re: Sisters Of Mercy, I don’t think the point ever was that you’d be able see ‘real’ artists playing ‘real’ music. I’ve been to two of those ‘let’s pump the room full of smoke and turn everything up to eleven’ shows and absolutely loved the experience, esp the flashes of Eldridge weaving in and out of the fog, hollering away.

Lol omar