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

Guns N’ Roses at Wembley Stadium 1991. The perfect example of dross.
I first saw GN’R at Donnington Monsters of Rock (now called ‘Download’) in 1988. They had recently burst onto the scene with Appetite for Destruction and they were amazing. Totally fresh, mega hungry and full of energy. Basically they blew the place away.
Fast forward three years and by now one of the biggest bands on the planet, they were beyond s**t. Apart from Slash (who looked pretty embarrassed by the rest of his bandmates) they couldn’t be bothered. I’m pretty sure Axl was as high as a kite. The whole gig was an embarrassment.
If it wasn’t for Nine Inch Nails (one of the support acts) the whole thing would have been a waste of time.

Derek & the Dominos (Eric Clapton) back in 1969 'ish at the Van Dike Club, Plymouth. Clapton couldn't be arsed throughout (stoned?) and just seemed to strum along on rhythm guitar.

Derek & the Dominos (Eric Clapton) back in 1969 'ish at the Van Dike Club, Plymouth. Clapton couldn't be arsed throughout (stoned?) and just seemed to strum along on rhythm guitar.

Same as when I saw him nearly 20 years later in Poole. He must have been on some heavy gear!

Derek & the Dominos (Eric Clapton) back in 1969 'ish at the Van Dike Club, Plymouth. Clapton couldn't be arsed throughout (stoned?) and just seemed to strum along on rhythm guitar.

Same as when I saw him nearly 20 years later in Poole. He must have been on some heavy gear!

I don't know about back in 1969, but he was famously a heroin addict for many years. That might explain it!

When I started the Ten best gigs ever thread I listed David Bowie on his Ziggy tour at Torquay Town Hall in June 1973 as one of my best, but in a way it was also one of the most disappointing. The sound was atrocious (we looked at each other in horror when they started playing) and they were on for barely 70 minutes with no encore, which was very brief by the standards of the day. Mind you, it was almost at the end of a ridiculously gruelling tour, often including two shows in a day (as that day - we were at the evening show) so in retrospect I don't suppose we were going to get two hours. (But if only the Guildhall had been free...) Tour dates

I did a bootleg recording (which I still have somewhere) and I remember one of my friends shouting "Rip-off!" into my duffle bag/recording device at the end. But hey, it was David Bowie on his Ziggy tour - gotta be top ten regardless!

Derek & the Dominos (Eric Clapton) back in 1969 'ish at the Van Dike Club, Plymouth. Clapton couldn't be arsed throughout (stoned?) and just seemed to strum along on rhythm guitar.

Same as when I saw him nearly 20 years later in Poole. He must have been on some heavy gear!

I don't know about back in 1969, but he was famously a heroin addict for many years. That might explain it!

When I started the Ten best gigs ever thread I listed David Bowie on his Ziggy tour at Torquay Town Hall in June 1973 as one of my best, but in a way it was also one of the most disappointing. The sound was atrocious (we looked at each other in horror when they started playing) and they were on for barely 70 minutes with no encore, which was very brief by the standards of the day. Mind you, it was almost at the end of a ridiculously gruelling tour, often including two shows in a day (as that day - we were at the evening show) so in retrospect I don't suppose we were going to get two hours. (But if only the Guildhall had been free...) Tour dates

I did a bootleg recording (which I still have somewhere) and I remember one of my friends shouting "Rip-off!" into my duffle bag/recording device at the end. But hey, it was David Bowie on his Ziggy tour - gotta be top ten regardless!

Blimey, that tape must be worth something if it’s even remotely identifiable as Bowie.

It's listenable, and identifiable. It's exactly the same as the Hammersmith Odeon farewell gig minus Jacques Brel's My Death, which I think he did only at that last show. I just need to find it...

It's listenable, and identifiable. It's exactly the same as the Hammersmith Odeon farewell gig minus Jacques Brel's My Death, which I think he did only at that last show. I just need to find it...

I really would have thought that would be worth money to a collector. Add a few noughts on if it was from the Hammersmith 'genocide' gig!

It's listenable, and identifiable. It's exactly the same as the Hammersmith Odeon farewell gig minus Jacques Brel's My Death, which I think he did only at that last show. I just need to find it...

I really would have thought that would be worth money to a collector. Add a few noughts on if it was from the Hammersmith 'genocide' gig!

But anyone can get hold of the Hammersmith video and music legally. My bootleg may be truly unique! (But I doubt that I was the only one in the place with a sneaky tape recorder in my bag. I do remember being bloody terrified walking in past "security", though.)

It's listenable, and identifiable. It's exactly the same as the Hammersmith Odeon farewell gig minus Jacques Brel's My Death, which I think he did only at that last show. I just need to find it...

I really would have thought that would be worth money to a collector. Add a few noughts on if it was from the Hammersmith 'genocide' gig!

But anyone can get hold of the Hammersmith video and music legally. My bootleg may be truly unique! (But I doubt that I was the only one in the place with a sneaky tape recorder in my bag. I do remember being bloody terrified walking in past "security", though.)

Actually, that’s a good point. 'Bowie Live on the English Riviera' has a certain rarity to it
Yeah, back in the day you would have been well and truly hauled out on your arse if they’d caught you. Now, everybody’s that busy recording they don’t actually watch the gig most of the time. It’s the strangest development in gig going and it must be bloody frustrating to the performers, as well as those who actually want to watch the show. Im totally with the performers who ban it.

Bearing in mind the sound quality and the location, maybe I could call it Ziggy Stardust - Live and Fawlty.

The La’s, Bangor Uni, 1989-ish. There She Goes had just hit the charts and they had to go record TOTP instead, apparently. They never turned up, no one told the SU, we stood around expectantly for a hour then went to the pub.

What were you doing at Bangor Uni 1989ish? I was there from 1987 until 1992. Marine Science.

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.