The most FUCK YOU concert you ever attended from a normally non FUCK YOU band. Tell me it.

( here's the thread for posterity: mr bungle broke up :( )

it's a great, great story indeed, but you'd be hard-pressed to describe either bungle or melvins as non-fuck-you bands...

I was gonna say!

It's relative. Sure, to many, both bands are confrontational, but this was an instance where the headliners specifically set out to make the audience miserable (outside those who would "get it" I guess.)

And I wouldn't really call either band a "FUCK YOU" band at all to be honest. Just because they have/had a tense demeanor onstage and growl a lot, that doesn't mean FU at all -- to me anyway.

My impression of Bungle is definitely influenced by me getting my elbow hyper-extended in the mosh pit when I saw them (on that same tour! Grotus was great) but their entire stage demeanor seemed to be firmly in the "we are entertaining ourselves, come along with us if you'd like or fuck off, we don't care" vein.

yeah, but it's not like they're GG Allin where they're the type of band to always dare you to attend -- that's the line I'm trying to explain.

Like, I want hear one-off stories about bands or band members "snapping" and doing something relatively impolite live because they're in a bad mood, or they hate the audience that night, or the promoter just fucked them over, or all of the above or something like that.

Detroit Cobras' singer always seem not to give two craps whether anyone's in the club or whether they're enjoying themselves. My experience seeing 'em, anyway. They're dang good, though.

get what you're saying...I was thinking fuck you in a deliberately provovative sense.

that certainly applied to bungle on the DV tour - playing morricone and bollywood covers, ballads and virtually all of their exceedingly strange (and impeccable) new album for a crowd desperate to skank along to 'girls of porn'. but no, no tunes from the debut were played.

certainly when I saw them on that tour the audience was mighty pissed off...and the band seemed to get off on it.

I might have told this story before but my wife is a huge Blasters fan and so we went to see Dave Alvin play at the Harmony Bar. He was having major issues with the sound guy and also, seemingly, with his band -- he kept swearing and everyone and snarling and stuff -- so he took it all out on us. Every single solo was as loud and metallic as I have ever heard anyone play in any genre, and he beat the crap out of his guitar. Unfortunately, my wife is very short so we had to stand up front. One of her ears was bleeding when we left, and we think she might have sustained some permanent hearing loss.

Dave Alvin?

I saw the detroit cobras throw a douche out who was flipping them off the entire show

I went to see "The Byrds" in a 'taste stage' situation, and it was, like the drummer and a guy who had been in the Flying Burrito Bros. at one point.
Good concert, but quite a few people were like "That's not Jim McGuinn!"!!!

this is bar far the most FUCK YOU i've seen from an artist.

Behold, Keith Jarrett:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BB9mMABRM0c

Re: Detroit Cobras- I might have mentioned this on another thread, but I heard a story about how a guy kept trying to crawl up on stage, so the singer did the whole show sitting on him or something. I've never actually heard that band but that's pretty awesome.

My contibution: Saw The Secrets, a Pastels-type twee band from my hometown, get into a shoving match with a promoter once. That was hilarious.

OMG that Keith Jarrett link

"We'll stop playing and leave the goddam city"

No one wants your soul, douchebag

can't recall anything too extreme, but there are many examples of an artist/band denying a song request. most recently, i saw Tom Waits in Houston last weekend. some guy kept yelling out for "16 Shells..." in between songs.

Tom's response?

"I thought I told you to wait in the car."

That's one hell of a jacket on Keith Jarret.

*t

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck5srO6S-qI

Does this count? (Jay-Z doing "Wonderwall" at Glasto)

My Bloody Valentine were really loud...

Shawn, dude, drinks are on me.

Chuck Berry. Nuff said.

haha @ the Jay-Z vid

That's one hell of a jacket on Keith Jarret.

-- Mike Dixn, Sunday, 29 June 2008 02:20 (5 hours ago) Link

it's a goddamn vest.

And I wouldn't really call either band a "FUCK YOU" band at all to be honest. Just because they have/had a tense demeanor onstage and growl a lot, that doesn't mean FU at all -- to me anyway.

A few of my friends met King Buzzo and Dale after a show in Dublin a while ago, and apparently they (the Melvins, obv.) were absolute teddy bears. The same cannot be said of my same friends' post-show confrontation with Mastodon, however.

Okay woah woah woah. Someone here saw Chuck Berry? *double take*

Reverend, check your email. Thanks.

Re: Detroit Cobras. Saw them open for X in Boston earlier this year, during the Celtics-Pistons series. When they came out someone yelled "Go Pistons!" and the singer responded, "Hmmm ... drinking, fucking or watching sports. Fuck sports."

Though Miles Hunt was certainly an abusive, smarmy fucker onstage at times, I'd never call The Wonder Stuff at "fuck you" band. That said, they played at the long-lost Marquee on Way, Way West 21st Street in the early 90s, and it was one of the ugliest scenes imaginable. Due to a scheduling conflict, Pylon and The Wonder Stuff were booked to play the same night -- so they simply merged the two (making the `Stuff the de facto headliners -- you may all feel free to debate the merit of that decision). The opening band for those two was Too Much Joy. They played, and they were fine. Pylon came on and -- quite rightly -- played a full set, much to the chagrin of both the Wonder Stuff and their acolytes in the crowd. The Wonder Stuff don't come on until WAY late, act like dicks and submit a fifteen minute set. "Bye Bye, New York, That's All YA GET!" quoth Miles. The band leaves the stage. Crowd stirs angrily. Miles' brother/roadie comes out. "Congratulations, New York, YOU FUCKED IT UP!" he shouts. From the back of the room comes a beer bottle, spinning dramatically. It hits the drum riser, barely missing Miles' brothers, shattering glass everywhere. No, Hunt, fuck YOU!

It was not a happy scene.

I saw the Sugarcubes at the Latin Quarter in Detroit in the late-80's...about 4 songs in, somebody threw something on stage that hit Einar in the face...he yelled for the band to stop, had the house lights turned on, and started cussing out the crowd...English wasn't his first language, but he wanted the crowd to understand him, so he rants forth, stuttering and stammering (because he's REALLY pissed off) "f-f-f-uck y-you, De-troit!...this is the w-w-w-w-orst city we-we-ve e-e-e-ver played!"...of course it must suck to get hit by something when you're on stage and totally defenseless, so I got his anger and felt really bad for him, but many in the crowd didn't, and they start giving it back to him...this demented call-and-response went on for about 5 minutes or so, and I was worried that more shit woul dget thrown on stage...I was worried for Bjork...she was so delicate!...he pulled the band off the stage, effectively ending the night...people gradually filed out, and since I was in the balcony, I was among the last to leave...by this time there were only about 30 of us still in the hall, and Einar came back on stage and starts it up again, reminding us that Detroit sucked, that the Sugarcubes would never play our town again...of course the thrower was probably long gone by that point...and I don't think they ever did play in our sucky city again...

I don't think Bjork's that delicate actually.

Anyway, Zeni Geva, 1995, middle of the bill in London with another Japanese band (I forget the name) and Alice Donut headlining. Apparently their van had been stolen in Poland earlier in the tour but they'd carried on, despite losing a lot of custom-built amps etc. Dunno if it was that or some London bullshit they'd had to deal with, but they played 15 minutes (half of which was one riff hammered out over and over again) and stormed off, pausing only for the drummer to spit mightily into the crowd. Kind of annoying as a lot of people were there just to see them, myself included, but I heard they'd done the same thing at at least one of the other UK shows so who knows what it was all about. Seems a long way to come to play for 15 minutes really.

I don't think Bjork's that delicate actually.

Yeah, just ask that reporter in Singapore.

Haha!

I agree that Bungle aren't necessarily the best example -- I was imagining Lawrence Welk fucking animals on stage or something.

Chuck is still touring, Bimble.

yes but Alex in NYC is back this is reason for celebration!

I love goth if you love goth, peace

Fiona Apple, Roseland, New York, March 2000. (Pretty easy to google. It was a lot more entertaining than if she actually would have sung her songs, I think.)

Yeah, I saw Chuck Berry around 1984 in Worcester, MA. He did about 8 of the hits and walked off the stage, 20 minutes tops. Followed by the crowd clapping and stomping for an encore. After 15 minutes of that, the theater started chanting "What the Fuck, Chuck!" but gave up after at least another 10 minutes of that. I'm sure he was in his motel room already.

(peeing on someone)

Fiona Apple, Roseland, New York, March 2000

not so much a FUCK YOU concert as a meltdown though, amirite?

Well, the audience was sure saying "fuck you" to Fiona a lot! (And I'm sure she was at least thinking "fuck you" to the soundman a few times.)

hahaha, right right.

savannah peed on someone???

Reverend, check your email. Thanks.

-- Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Sunday, June 29, 2008 4:59 AM (Sunday, June 29, 2008 4:59 AM) Bookmark Link

Got it. Check yours.

I wasn't there, but srsly:

The first German show of Jefferson Starship’s 1978 European tour ended in a riot when mercurial singer Grace Slick couldn’t play due, she insisted, to an upset stomach. The next night, Slick pepped herself up by drinking the entire contents of her hotel minibar before arriving at Hamburg’s Congress Centrum. When not fondling guitarist Craig Chaquico, Slick mimicked a Nazi goose-step, asked the audience “Who won the war?” and gave the “Heil Hitler” salute. Stumbling into the crowd, she reportedly groped several female onlookers before jamming her finger up a man’s nose. “I’m in Germany and I’m gonna get back at them for Dachau,” she later explained. Recorded for German TV, the concert was never broadcast, and Slick left the band immediately afterwards.
Shame Scale (9 out of 10)

This doesn't really belong on this thread, but I saw Chuck Berry in Virginia once, and he was great -- even played verses of a couple requests during his encore. The governor was there that night, and Chuck was very pleased. He mentioned it a couple of times.

Slick left the band immediately afterwards.

she did? she was in any number of their 80s songs though, like "We Built This City"

indeed, and that city was built with rock and roll, if memory serves...

a city built on rock and roll is structurally unsound

in fact, rock and roll is the perfect substrate for earthquake-prone regions...the "rock" provides a solid foundation upon which to build, and the "roll" allows for lateral movement, which resists seismic forces...

Sigur Rós, September 21, 2001, Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass. A FUCK YOU performance that has been enough for me to resent them ever since.

In short, they answered the question - just how far up one's own arse are you to sing in a "made-up" language?

The long form of the story goes something along the lines of HI DERE's impression of Mr. Bungle up-thread, namely: "we are entertaining ourselves, come along with us if you'd like or fuck off, we don't care" a posture best embodied by their palpable indifference to the audience's presence, including, but not limited to, turning their backs to us for a majority of the "performance" (which resulted in, regardless of our seats in the first few rows, my then-fiancée-now-wife and I leaving well before their encore).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/detector-1.jpg

Noodle Vague in full knee-jerk Sigur Ros ILMer defense shockah.

"You can't say that about them, they're my friends!" - insert sad face emoticon.

if it makes you feel any better, he dismissively accused me of liking Belle and Sebastian after I said I didn't like Steely Dan.

not that it is surprising at all.

but seeing pere ubu was the single most uncomfortable show experience i've ever had.

When I saw Sebadoh at Avalon circa Bakesale Lou Barlow was pissed about everything, angry that the set was short so the club could clear the house and reopen as a dance club later that night, angry that he couldn't get his guitar to work right, angry that he was swearing about all that while his parents were in the audience. When he smashed his guitar he pretty much at the same time apologized for the cliche.

angry that the set was short so the club could clear the house and reopen as a dance club later that night

Always have a bad opening act before the headliner.

but seeing pere ubu was the single most uncomfortable show experience i've ever had.

-- M@tt He1ges0n

You can't say that about them, they're my friends! insert sad face emoticon.

actually we talked with the drummer dude who seemed like a great guy.

and the keyboard dude sold us CDs even though dave thomas had told him that he was supposed to refuse to sell any merch.

it was all dave thomas. the band carried on remarkably well in spite of how DT was acting. i felt very bad for them.

if it makes you feel any better, he dismissively accused me of liking Belle and Sebastian after I said I didn't like Steely Dan.

The bit where I explained what I was getting at was a waste of time to type then?

^^^ posts that effortlessly sum up the spirit of ILM

lol you expected res to read what you wrote

I can only put my naivety down to being cruelly hungover.

SQUASH THE BEEF

it was all dave thomas. the band carried on remarkably well in spite of how DT was acting. i felt very bad for them.

apparently david thomas is always a ray of fucking sunshine. a friend of mine saw pere ubu in the late 90s, and some seemingly benign exchange between thomas and a band member caused the band member to chuckle. thomas said to the band member, "don't you EVER laugh at me on stage!" and he was serious.

When I saw Pere Ubu a couple years ago Thomas was kind of standoffish and quiet and he had to sit down for most of the show, but nothing like what I'd been led to expect from stories like those upthread. During the encore, he said it was one of the most enjoyable shows he'd played.

a posture best embodied by their palpable indifference to the audience's presence, including, but not limited to, turning their backs to us for a majority of the "performance"

Exactly what the fuck were you expecting?

handjobs galore

kneejerk Sigur Ros ILMer board defense lawyers^^^

lol didn't Lush do the back-turning thing, too, and everyone thought it was HAWTT because it was LADEEZ?

(note: you couldn't get me to a Sigur Ros concert without violence)

I am a secret Sigur Ros liker but it's hardly the point here, which is "OMG I went to see this band and they behaved exactly like they are famous for doing I was so outraged"

you couldn't get me to a Sigur Ros concert without violence

Without the ability for you to commit violence on them or just violence in general?

(If the former, please allow me to assist.)

Miles Davis and Mark Smith, both renowned for palpable indifference to the audience's presence, including, but not limited to, turning their backs to us for a majority of the "performance" but why is theirs chalked up as dedication to craft while less favored artists get slagged for the same behavior?

"less favored" might be a clue here

Or he'd heard about those Sigur Ros gigs were the band breakdances and juggles for 2 hours.

For those of you who have the Celebrities At Their Worst series, what concert is the one where Freddie Hubbard threw down and started screaming in tears "YOU WHITE MOTHERFUCKERS!" several times?

Also, YSI??

Never mind, found it.

http://www.bigozine2.com/archive/ARrarities06/ARsrgraz.html

At the end of Track 01 on that page

Sonny Rollins
Graz 1966 [no label, 1CD]
Live in Graz, Austria, November 12, 1966

I guess that the Anschluss Anniversary Festival must not have been very congenial.

I don't suppose the Austrian police cell where he spent the night was very congenial either.

I saw a Pantera show in Houston when I was in high school that got pretty nutty. The two opening groups played their sets and there was an extremely long gap between the second act (Wrathchild America) and Pantera. They finally came on to do their show. About four songs into their set the PA system dies, so they are just playing out of their amps. They tried to keep playing, but eventually got extremely frustrated. The singer was going nuts, yelling at the sound guys and stuff, and tells the crowd to come up on stage with them. There were probably forty people dancing around on stage with them while they played through their amsp, fights starting in the crowd, and the house lights were on. My friend and I decided to get the fuck out of dodge, as the redneck crowd was getting angrier and a riot seemed likely. Never saw anything on the news about it the next day so I guess people must have just gone home peacefully.

I saw The Colour Field.

Terry seemed a bit tetchy.

The crowd even sang happy birthday as well.

No pleasing some people.

hey, a four line haiku!

When I saw Pere Ubu a couple years ago Thomas was kind of standoffish and quiet and he had to sit down for most of the show, but nothing like what I'd been led to expect from stories like those upthread. During the encore, he said it was one of the most enjoyable shows he'd played.

I also saw Pere Ubu a year or so ago, just before the last album came out, but he was a bit more animated on stage, engaging the crowd even. Must have been in a good mood. But even so, he's intense as fuck, isn't he?

Famous?

Really?

In 2001?

Fresh off the success of a grand total of eight stateside gigs Sigur Ros was already "OMG" famous for behaving as they did?

Daaam!

Just when I considered myself relatively well-informed, the omniscient Noodle Vague rains on my parade. May I kiss your ring, your Holiness?

To answer the query exactly what the fuck were you expecting from Sigur Ros, in 2001, eight whole gigs into introducing themselves, live, to stateside audiences.

Well, reading between the dense lines of what I wrote upthread, I'd say my expectations were then as they would be now (no matter who the band is, or how much Eurocentric press precedes them): something other than what we got.

Maybe something somewhere between the two seemingly adjacent ROFL extremes of flipping us the bird and breakin' (and/or jugglin').