Bands that suck at performing live

[Matty35]

This is also evident on their albums. I could never understand the brief Slash craze in the early 90s. I mean, he does play with soul and that is the single most important thing to me but his excecution even on the studio stuff come across very hackneyed and lacking taste.

So glad someone else has noticed!
Ive got nothing against Slash hes written some great stuff but hes no guitar legend!

 

[JimJam]

I came across this old thread and I will say something about Aerosmith. They may have improved over the years but I saw them twice in the '70s and they were a major disappointment each time. In a less forgiving mood I would say they flat out sucked.

The first time, they opened for Sabbath at Madison Square Garden in 1975, the year of Toys in the Attic for cryin' out loud. They seemed overwhelmed by the size of the venue, not ready for prime time. The second time was the following year, this time headlining at the Garden. They still couldn't cut it! Sounded ragged and out of their league, a band of ***-wees, despite this being the year of Rocks.

 

[Aero]

The Jesus and Mary Chain was one of my favorite bands back in the late 80s and early 90s. However, when I saw them live back then, I remember it was one of the worst shows I've seen and I was pretty disappointed.

 

[Vader]

Count me as another big time disappointed Aerosmith fan. Saw them open for Dio in the early 80s ....they were terrible. My brother in law told the same about a 70s concert he saw of theirs.

I got dragged out to see Dragonforce..... they were the worst crap live act ever.
Probably didn't help that I was already unimpressed w/ them before seeing them live

 

[Jonny Come Lately]

I know someone elsewhere on the web who would say R.E.M. - I think she went to one of their shows on the Monster tour circa 1994-95 having enjoyed their studio music but said that Michael Stipe came off as arrogant and distant live, reading the lyrics he'd written off a stand and then throwing the sheets into the audience. I don't think she's felt the same way since.

I myself think Coldplay are somewhat overrated as a live band - most of the praise they get for their live performances seems to focus on the show which are mostly gimmicks which don't carry any particular relevance to the music but their actual performances have some pretty major reservations in my view - Chris Martin always sounds a bit strained when singing live, without being an expert it sounds like he can hit the high notes in the studio but cannot do so reliably for the shows and they overuse backing tracks, fine for a bubblegum pop singer but very questionable for a live band.

The sad thing is in the early days they were able to play without the gimmicks and backing tracks, even allowing for the limitations of Martin's voice this beats the studio version IMO:

A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Live 2003


By contrast more recent hits like Paradise and Viva La Vida from what I've seen are essentially reliant on backing tracks for the very prominent string or synthesiser sounds, which I think is artificial.

I guess you could say I'm missing the point with the more recent shows, and I'd concede you'd probably be right to some extent, but when I compare it to what they did between 1999-2003 I have to feel disappointed with their lack of musical progress.

 

[the ferret]

The most disappointing band I've seen live in recent years were The Temperance Movement. Their debut album was excellent so I was really up for the show but they were just awful. Phil Campbell who sounds so soulful on record was so busy mincing around the stage he could barely hold a tune & the volume was cranked so high that any other subtlety was lost. So entirely crap, I can't bring myself to listen to the album anymore.

 

[gguerra]

For me it was Van Halen in 1982. Worst performance ever. They were wasted as it was David Lee Roth's birthday. They couldn't even finish a song and would stop in the middle of it. They would blab and then blab some more. Then start to play again. This went on all night. First and last time for me.

 

[JimJam]

^^^
That kind of experience, the Van Halen concert, would really piss me off. You pay your money, make the effort to attend the concert, and you expect effort from the band. That concert sounds too awful to be excused as an "off" night.

Count me as another big time disappointed Aerosmith fan. Saw them open for Dio in the early 80s ....they were terrible. My brother in law told the same about a 70s concert he saw of theirs.

I got dragged out to see Dragonforce..... they were the worst crap live act ever.
Probably didn't help that I was already unimpressed w/ them before seeing them live

Good grief, i'd like to think Aerosmith eventually got their live act together. I'm surprised they were opening for Dio and not headlining.

The first rock concert i ever attended was pretty awful. George Harrison on his 'Dark Horse' tour at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, NY, around late 1974 or early '75. What a snooze fest. Harrison's voice was shot and the band was "professional" in the blandest way. Billy Preston was in the band and performed two or three of his hits. He would bring up the energy level during his songs and everyone would get excited. He'd finish his song and when Harrison got back to his songs you could feel all the energy deflating.

 

[Cinder]

H.I.M or should I say Ville Valo, their lead singer. CDs are great but apart from being visually enjoyable he pretty much sucked at the gig I saw and as it was my first one at the time I was very disappointed

 

[Iconzero]

I've seen a few that suck live, but one that bothered me was Aerosmith. Late 80's or so. One of the worst live shows ever. Not because of the music but Steven Tyler's vocals on stage can NEVER match what he does in the studio. The reason for this is that the studio vocals are HEAVILY editted, cut and pasted, spliced, diced and over produced.

Don't get me wrong, I love me some Aerosmith, but on that day I realized that I'd probably never spend another dollar on Aerosmith tickets. That was about 20 years ago, so I'd probably go back on that thought and perhaps see them again if they toured, but my expectations would be fairly low, at least for Tyler's vocals, definitely not for his stage presence

I saw Aerosmith at Download in 2010, they sounded great, vocals were fine.
Maybe Steven Tyler was still coughing out the drugs in the 80's?