I’ve never been much of a one for live gigs but those I have been to have generally been a letdown.

I was disappointed with Peter Gabriel at the NEC in 1987. We were sat in tiered seating quite a way from the stage and the music had to compete with the constant whine and hum of the air conditioning fans. This was a day or two after seeing Genesis (with Paul Young supporting) at Roundhay Park, Leeds. The sound quality was pretty rubbish there too but I guess that was in the open air which is a bit of an excuse.

Morrissey at the Pavilions a couple of years ago was also somewhat spoiled by poor/fuzzy sound quality.

You were very unlucky with Genesis and Gabriel. I must have seen Genesis a dozen or more times and apart from the very early days when Mellotrons could be very temperamental, the sound has always been amazing. Ditto Gabriel. Open air gigs can be very hit and miss though, especially at park type venues where the sound can drift. The other thing you miss out on in open air gigs is the amazing light show that bands like Genesis, Floyd etc. used to put on, or at least until the last hour anyway!

The Pavilions can be crap, that’s for sure. Don’t know why, but the acoustics often aren’t great there. Sometimes you actually wonder WTF the guys on the mixing desk are actually listening to!
I’ve always had a real buzz from live music though, but really prefer smaller 2-3000 iconic venues like Sheffield City Hall and similar. Unfortunately since the advent of arena/stadium gigs, the major bands generally don’t play the smaller venues anymore which is a great pity.

Would love to have seen the Flaming Lips.

Saw them at the Eden project a few years back. They were great

Brilliant venue. Saw Elbow there on a beautiful evening. Fantastic.

Hey, we're all digressing, this is supposed to be about disappointing gigs

Eden used to have a great booking policy. Saw Doves there twice, Magic Numbers, Flaming Lips and Sigur Ros. Then it all went very bland indeed. They changes tack and appeared to go for middle of the road stuff they could charge a higher ticket price for. Damn shame.

Would love to have seen the Flaming Lips.

Saw them at the Eden project a few years back. They were great

Brilliant venue. Saw Elbow there on a beautiful evening. Fantastic.

Hey, we're all digressing, this is supposed to be about disappointing gigs

Eden used to have a great booking policy. Saw Doves there twice, Magic Numbers, Flaming Lips and Sigur Ros. Then it all went very bland indeed. They changes tack and appeared to go for middle of the road stuff they could charge a higher ticket price for. Damn shame.

Hi FODG - wouldnt really have described Elbow as MOR at least at that time. They worked hard for absolutely years to get anywhere. Jimi Goodwin supported them at Eden too

Been trying to think of an answer for this thread. I used to work for Van Dike (the promoter) at the Guildhall for a while, so I saw quite a few gigs that I may not have chosen to go to. So here is a selection of disappointment...

Genesis... fell asleep. I love prog, but for some reason never got into them, or Yes for that matter.
Queen... just crap.
Argent... ditto.
Golden Earring... every song sounded like Radar Love.
Dr Hook & the Medicine Show... my own fault, didn't realise they were C&W.

Dr. H were at the Fiesta I believe. I'm sure there were some other bad ones, also at Woods. That band that sang 'They Shoot Horses' were very uninspiring I seem to remember.

On the subject of sound, The Pavilions is awful if anyone slightly heavy is playing. Saw Machine Head there and, despite their best efforts, it was just white noise to me.

I mustn't grumble though, I saw some superb stuff over the years and sometimes, just for a split second, I think of a band and I can smell the atmosphere from the time... particularly the Van Dike Club!!

Been trying to think of an answer for this thread. I used to work for Van Dike (the promoter) at the Guildhall for a while, so I saw quite a few gigs that I may not have chosen to go to. So here is a selection of disappointment...

Genesis... fell asleep. I love prog, but for some reason never got into them, or Yes for that matter.
Queen... just crap.
Argent... ditto.
Golden Earring... every song sounded like Radar Love.
Dr Hook & the Medicine Show... my own fault, didn't realise they were C&W.

Dr. H were at the Fiesta I believe. I'm sure there were some other bad ones, also at Woods. That band that sang 'They Shoot Horses' were very uninspiring I seem to remember.

On the subject of sound, The Pavilions is awful if anyone slightly heavy is playing. Saw Machine Head there and, despite their best efforts, it was just white noise to me.

I mustn't grumble though, I saw some superb stuff over the years and sometimes, just for a split second, I think of a band and I can smell the atmosphere from the time... particularly the Van Dike Club!!

That’s painful for me to read LP, especially the Genesis bit. I’m allowing for some poetic licence when you said you fell asleep It’s just a matter of personal taste isn’t it? Try as I might, I have never been able to get into Jethro Tull for instance. My current wife has always said she hates them, but she actually thinks they’re something to do with Jethro the comedian!!

And there you go Owly, it is all about taste. I love Tull (and Jethro the comedian can be quite hilarious too).

I can understand you liking Genesis, they were/are good musicians after all. Just not my cup of tea. But how things like Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep ever got to the top of the charts is really beyond me!!

Each to their own though and that is what makes music so fascinating.

********In case any of you on this thread have missed it, there’s another thread on Terraces and Opinions, called The Gig You Wish You’d Gone To, which already has some good posts. ******

Would love to have seen the Flaming Lips.

Saw them at the Eden project a few years back. They were great

Brilliant venue. Saw Elbow there on a beautiful evening. Fantastic.

Hey, we're all digressing, this is supposed to be about disappointing gigs

Eden used to have a great booking policy. Saw Doves there twice, Magic Numbers, Flaming Lips and Sigur Ros. Then it all went very bland indeed. They changes tack and appeared to go for middle of the road stuff they could charge a higher ticket price for. Damn shame.

Hi FODG - wouldnt really have described Elbow as MOR at least at that time. They worked hard for absolutely years to get anywhere. Jimi Goodwin supported them at Eden too

No, I’d put Elbow in the ‘bloody good’ booking camp. Love them. Saw them with Jimi Goodwin at the NEC. Just can’t remember a gig that I last wanted to see there. Elbow was probably it but could make it.

Split Enz with the Finn brothers were superb...very disappointed with Crowded House at the Pavillions, very flat. Pavillions is a poor venue for accoustics. Never keen on outdoor venues. The Specials are always good, a mate of mine went to school with Terry Hall.

Split Enz with the Finn brothers were superb...very disappointed with Crowded House at the Pavillions, very flat. Pavillions is a poor venue for accoustics. Never keen on outdoor venues. The Specials are always good, a mate of mine went to school with Terry Hall.

Six months in a leaky boat is a song I’ve always loved (Split Enz). Always wondered if the reference to ‘Didn’t stop the Cavalier' was about HMS Cavalier. They were a bit unlucky with the song in the UK because the BBC took it off Radio 1/2 playlists when it was released, as they thought it would be bad for morale in the Navy. The Falklands conflict had just broken out. As Ex-RN myself, I would have thought Jack would have loved it!

Have come late to this thread and I didnt realise how many disappointing gigs I had been to until some of the posts on here made me think about it. Was never a great concert goer until I lived in Madrid and it was so easy and cheap to see some top names.
Have to concur with David Bowie Glass Spider Tour at the Vicente Calderon- all theatre and no music.

Van Morrison was an eejit. Saw him at the Rockodromo which is an open air amphitheatre in a huge country park on the outskirts of Madrid. 60,000 there so the concert was being relayed on big screens either side of the stage but after opening song Van the man decided he didn’t like the video cameraman being on stage so he walked off and refused to come back on until the cameraman was removed. Only about 5-6,000 at the front could see anything.

My flatmate at the time worked for Warner Brothers and was often charged with looking after touring artists. She got me a ticket to see James Brown who kept disappearing off stage mid song. She explained after that he’d just had some new dentures fitted which kept slipping and he didn’t want to lose them into the audience.

May 15 is the feast day of Madrid’s patron saint and one time the fiestas coincided with local elections. In a blatant attempt to buy votes, the city council subsidised a series of concerts so I went to see Tina Turner for 500ptas (about £2.50) She had no interaction with the crowd at the Rockodromo whatsoever but perhaps she suffered in comparison to seeing Genesis (Invisible Hand) supported by Paul Young. Phil Collinswas masterful in his interactions even though he couldn’t speak Spanish. Sting could and he was worth seeing.

Going through the motions/ cba nominations go to UB40 and Elton John

Have come late to this thread and I didnt realise how many disappointing gigs I had been to until some of the posts on here made me think about it. Was never a great concert goer until I lived in Madrid and it was so easy and cheap to see some top names.
Have to concur with David Bowie Glass Spider Tour at the Vicente Calderon- all theatre and no music.

Van Morrison was an eejit. Saw him at the Rockodromo which is an open air amphitheatre in a huge country park on the outskirts of Madrid. 60,000 there so the concert was being relayed on big screens either side of the stage but after opening song Van the man decided he didn’t like the video cameraman being on stage so he walked off and refused to come back on until the cameraman was removed. Only about 5-6,000 at the front could see anything.

My flatmate at the time worked for Warner Brothers and was often charged with looking after touring artists. She got me a ticket to see James Brown who kept disappearing off stage mid song. She explained after that he’d just had some new dentures fitted which kept slipping and he didn’t want to lose them into the audience.

May 15 is the feast day of Madrid’s patron saint and one time the fiestas coincided with local elections. In a blatant attempt to buy votes, the city council subsidised a series of concerts so I went to see Tina Turner for 500ptas (about £2.50) She had no interaction with the crowd at the Rockodromo whatsoever but perhaps she suffered in comparison to seeing Genesis (Invisible Hand) supported by Paul Young. Phil Collinswas masterful in his interactions even though he couldn’t speak Spanish. Sting could and he was worth seeing.

Going through the motions/ cba nominations go to UB40 and Elton John

Some good stories there milkman. Shame about Tina. Never saw her but always thought she was great. I did read somewhere that she was a right royal diva though. Phil Collins, despite his detractors, has always been a great frontman with cheeky patter. Poor bloke is not too well nowadays, so it will be interesting to see how he does on the Genesis reunion tour next year. No drums unfortunately. He was an outstanding drummer and his duets with Chester Thompson, which you would have seen on the Invisible Touch tour during Los Endos, were incredible.

And there you go Owly, it is all about taste. I love Tull (and Jethro the comedian can be quite hilarious too).

I can understand you liking Genesis, they were/are good musicians after all. Just not my cup of tea. But how things like Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep ever got to the top of the charts is really beyond me!!

Each to their own though and that is what makes music so fascinating.

Exactly. I liked the occasional Tull track, but could never get to grips with a full album.

I’ve been waiting to see if anybody says that Middle of the Road was their favourite ever band! Singer was a stunner though wasn’t she? Very irritating nasal vocals though