I’m very sad to say this because the man is an absolute hero of mine, but Bowie on the Glass Spider Tour at Cardiff Arms Park in the early 80s. Never have I been so expectant and yet so underwhelmed. It is well known as his nadir and I never got to see him again. Sigh.

I saw that tour at Wembley and was also left very disappointed, he just had no stage presence. Whereas Queen at Wembley about the same time was the best concert I’ve been to, mind you having Status Quo as one of the warm up acts was awesome.

Elton John at the Cornwall Coliseum in the early 80s. He was in his drug using years and he really didn't want to be there. He must have been as glad when it was over as the audience was.

Like the Bowie story, another great shame when an iconic artist fails to deliver. Bernie at the beginning of this thread nominated the Stones at Ashton Gate and I’m hoping he will elaborate on why it was so poor, because what a shock it must have been when the worlds greatest rock band fails to deliver. I guess we all have our off days.

Wasn’t the Cornwall Coliseum an amazing venue? Nothing very large and a bit of a dive really, but right on the shores of Carlyon Bay, it housed some great gigs. I saw Genesis there in their post-Gabriel pomp when they did a Knebworth warm up gig, which was to be a Gabriel benefit gig ironically.

It was pretty surreal to see them there as they had now turned into an arena-only band. It was also the last time I ever saw them perform the iconic and possibly greatest Prog track of all time - Suppers Ready.

Elton John at the Cornwall Coliseum in the early 80s. He was in his drug using years and he really didn't want to be there. He must have been as glad when it was over as the audience was.

I saw that concert, it was a Saturday evening, we had just beaten Wigan 1-0 at Home Park so a quick dash to Bretonside to get the Concert Travel coach. Thought that concert was excellent whereas his concert at Home Park was very dull.

[Alan Turing]

Wembley 1987

Went to see U2, who were brilliant, but the support promised much and failed to deliver:-

Lone Justice (lead singer Maria McKee, who went on to have a solo number one), were ok but her voice got more and more shrieky as the set went on.

The Pogues, only interested in shouting and getting pi$$ed. Bad, in fact really really bad.

Lou Reed, so bad he got booed off!

I've seen quite a few bands who have disappointed because it seems they were going through the motions that night (Manics at the Pavillions, James at the University of East Anglia, Primal Scream also at UEA with Mani more interested in trying to fight the crowd than play).

Most unlistenable would have to be Lou Reed. He was playing at the Festival Hall in London and a friend got free tickets so I went along with high hopes. However, he'd recently done an album with Metallica called Lulu and the set comprised of songs pretty much from that. Just awful.

Most disappointing though would be Bob Dylan last year at Hyde Park in London. It looked like a great line-up, with Neil Young supporting, and he was on form as always. However, Dylan shuffled on, didn't acknowledge the crowd throughout and did the 'live' Dylan trick of free-interpretation of songs. Most of the set was playing the game of guessing what he was actually playing. I'd waited years to see him and it was a shambles.

Think I can only think of three gigs I've walked out of well before the end. Daniel Johnson, Alastair Roberts and Bjorn Again. The latter was one I went to under duress. Having endured the V-Festival with pretty much the worst headliners you could imagine (insipid Coldplay and slap-bass no-talent Red Hot Chilli Peppers), that made me decide I'd never go to a gig again just to be polite and keep someone company.

M

U2 - Wembley 1993.

I couldn't have been more excited, my then girlfriend was in the early stages of her TV career, she invited me to Cardington Hangars near Bedford about a week before the gig, she hadn't said why i should go but went along with her assuring me it would be a fantastic surprise. As soon as we stepped inside i was in heaven, U2 were setting up and testing all their Zoo TV screen's and sounds - it was sensational, there i was in a hangar, with 5 employees, a huge stage, thousands of screens, The Edge and Larry Mullen Junior sound testing - it was like my own personal gig, was fortunate enough to chat to Larry Mullen and just soak it up. It lasted about an hour, but was absolute perfection.
I was buzzing all week, then the night of the gig - PJ Harvey produced the longest and most painful warm ups in the history of music, eventually she left, now for the real stuff - but no, Bono was on one, it was like being in a lecture at University, just when i thought the political and world saving lectures were over, out popped Salman Rushdie (who at the time had a bounty on his head regarding comments about Eastern religons) - we then had to listen to a Bono sycophantic rant about how amazing and brave Salman was. By the time the music got going i felt as though my soul had been removed.

U2 - Wembley 1993.

I couldn't have been more excited, my then girlfriend was in the early stages of her TV career, she invited me to Cardington Hangars near Bedford about a week before the gig, she hadn't said why i should go but went along with her assuring me it would be a fantastic surprise. As soon as we stepped inside i was in heaven, U2 were setting up and testing all their Zoo TV screen's and sounds - it was sensational, there i was in a hangar, with 5 employees, a huge stage, thousands of screens, The Edge and Larry Mullen Junior sound testing - it was like my own personal gig, was fortunate enough to chat to Larry Mullen and just soak it up. It lasted about an hour, but was absolute perfection.
I was buzzing all week, then the night of the gig - PJ Harvey produced the longest and most painful warm ups in the history of music, eventually she left, now for the real stuff - but no, Bono was on one, it was like being in a lecture at University, just when i thought the political and world saving lectures were over, out popped Salman Rushdie (who at the time had a bounty on his head regarding comments about Eastern religons) - we then had to listen to a Bono sycophantic rant about how amazing and brave Salman was. By the time the music got going i felt as though my soul had been removed.

Mmmm. Has there ever been a more pretentious, up his own 4rse rock star than Bono? Something happens to a small minority of them along the way and they start believing they actually are God. Not a rock star in my opinion, but look at how Sam Smith is turning out. An artist of some vocal talent, but wow he’s turning very strange. Compare with say, Rod Stewart who ok has been a jack the lad all his life, but actually can (still) sing, unlike Elton for instance and always seems a bloody nice down to earth bloke. I listened to him being interviewed by Jeremy Vine about his train set of all things. What a legend!

[PL2 3DQ]

Maybe this one ...

I suppose this could count ... I went to see PJ Proby at the ABC (or Odeon) in Plymouth in the early sixties. When I got there it was revealed that PJ Proby had been banned from appearing as he had split his (very tight) trousers the night before in Bristol.

They put in a replacement ... Tom Jones and the Squires. Never heard of them. Six months later "Its not unusual" was Number One in the charts. The rest is history.

Has to be Bob Dylan at the Motorpoint, Cardiff a few years ago. Tried to sing Sinatra songs - yes, with his voice! Even the few of his own classics he did were done in a different key and with a different tempo. His band were all made up in garish matching uniforms and looked like a Mexican street band. He hardly acknowledged the audience. A huge contrast with Leonard Cohen a few years earlier and Patti Smith two years ago. The key difference - humility. The wrong man got the Nobel Prize.

I suppose this could count ... I went to see PJ Proby at the ABC (or Odeon) in Plymouth in the early sixties. When I got there it was revealed that PJ Proby had been banned from appearing as he had split his (very tight) trousers the night before in Bristol.

They put in a replacement ... Tom Jones and the Squires. Never heard of them. Six months later "Its not unusual" was Number One in the charts. The rest is history.

Crikey - that’s ageing you a bit DG! I remember the story about that when I was about nine I think. Major scandal just for splitting his pants!

Has to be Bob Dylan at the Motorpoint, Cardiff a few years ago. Tried to sing Sinatra songs - yes, with his voice! Even the few of his own classics he did were done in a different key and with a different tempo. His band were all made up in garish matching uniforms and looked like a Mexican street band. He hardly acknowledged the audience. A huge contrast with Leonard Cohen a few years earlier and Patti Smith two years ago. The key difference - humility. The wrong man got the Nobel Prize.

I suppose I loved Dylan as much as most. Have never seen him in concert but having read plenty of reviews and just using my own ears on the deterioration of his voice, I’ve never even considered trying to see him for twenty years or more. Can imagine how disappointed you were Keith. Mind you, his spoken voice is bloody terrible, let alone his singing these days. Elton is going the same way and poor old Macca goes off key fairly regularly. The March of time!

Megadeth at the Pavillions. Crap sound and Dave Mustaine couldn’t be arsed.

Was that when Pantera supported them, 92 ish? I was there for that too.