James Brown in Buenos Aires (Luna Park), i think it was in 1999. Please, please, please, a concert is not a circus, Mr. Brown. It was boring and he tried to present to us all his family.

Without hesitation, hands down: Bob Dylan (a coupla years ago).He came ot to a huge crowd (several thousand) with that stupid "Snidely Whiplash/Errol Flynn" mustache, he and the whole band dressed in some bizarre black western outfits (including cowboy hats). He croaked out about 10 or 12 barely recognizable songs without saying ONE word to the audience the entire night. The entire crowd was absolutely stunned (including myself). Most of the crowd left before he was half through. It was absolutely, unbelievaby bad. The only upside was that I only paid $6 or $12 for tickets and I can say I saw Bob Dylan. Still like his records though.

t-pau in 1988 at the Gloucester Leisure Centre, but we won't go there.....

unfortunately the STONES.. 1976 Halle Muensterland--germany

Interesting thread.

to Duane in Houston - Bob almost never says a word to the crowd and his band almost always dresses in those kind of outfits - and I have grave doubts that EVERYONE was stunned, as most fans are repeat customers who know what to expect and dig Bob every time. I'm sure you were, though.

Worst concert? Depends on what factors - the band's performance, the sound, my "state." Worst performance by a band? I was very disappointed a couple of years ago with a Blues Traveler show I saw in SF. I love their records, but it all sounded the same on stage - the guy is a killer harp player, but he has never learned "nuance."

I can't see how anyone of us can top the Vanilla Ice gig! LOL!

My worst was a concert by Texas in Amsterdam a few years back. I actually went to see the supporting act, Reef, who rocked like hell! But the Heineken Music Hall ws filled with girls who hated the "ugly guitars" and "that macho singer".

Reef was great, but even with a whiskey, leaning on the bar (translation?), the preformance by Texas was horrible... I went home completely drunk and filled with disgust.

E.

The Black Crows at Oakdale in 2002. Chris Robinson kept calling the crowd lame and asking everyone to get up. Than he said it was one of the worse crowds he has played for. They played a really short set and did no encore. There were many boos in the audience. The warm up band was Oasis and they were also booed and people threw things at them. They said good night and @#$%& you as they left the stage.

Steely Dan at the Meadows in Hartford. I had been waiting for a while to see them and they did lots of new and solo stuff which was not good. And they used one of those keyboards that you strap on like a guitar and the sound of it ruined most of the songs.

Worst...Bright Eyes at Spreckles Theatre here in San Diego

Worst Stones gig...Last Wembley gig...only "Bad" Stones gig I've seen.

Randy Hansen, c. '79 - a Jimi Hendrix imitator who literally painted his skin brown and wore an afro wig to look like Hendrix. He was semi-successful at the time, playing only Hendrix songs, and while his playing was alright, the entire experience was horrible. I was only 16 at the time, and drank gallons and gallons of beer with my friends before the show. I ended up puking all over myself and all over the floor...not from the drinking, but because of the horrible show I was witnessing. Robin Trower is a much better Hendrix imitator without the wig make-up.


Runner-up: Mid -'80's. Def Leppard. Completely crap, thats all there is to it. Stands out as one of the worst ever. Lame songs, lame singer, lame everything. Zeppelin wannabe's who never came close to the real deal.

i had to say Phil Collins in 1985
In having seen some 1000 concerts since 1983
that was the only shpw i fell asleep
and i took a bunch of speed!
the only thing that woke me up was
Su Su Su Dee OO

*boring*

Jerry Lee Lewis Amsterdam Paradiso 2004

My worst was my first, David Bowie around 1974, thought I was going to see Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and got Young American- didn't see it coming.

Mick Taylor, 1990 I think was the year, I'll have to look for my ticket stub. Being a Taylor fan for many years after he left the Stones I was very excited to get the change to finally seem him and I was very disappointed. He played with no energy, his solos didn't seem to fit the songs and he just seemed like he didn't want to be there. He also played the same songs he always did and it sounded like it.

Hound Dog, I was at that Steely Dan show in Hartford and I didn't think it was bad at all, certainly not bad as compared to my PRINCE SHOW; I also must say, I've seen Dylan in the 80's with Tom Petty sharing the bill and Petty blew him away! Dylan was GOD AWFUL!!! He turned his back on the crowd, mumbled and muttered through his numbers and I was shocked he STUNK SO BAD!

Brewer & Shipley, Columbia sc 1973.

At least a i remember it...............

Marillion, Oslo 2004.

Just to be clear, I didn't buy tickets for Marillion, but for the warm up-act (friends of mine).

The worst concerts ever was Toto (early 90s) at a festival,
also Xavier Naidoo (or Söhne Mannheims) as support of U2
and Primal Scream (will never take the same as they do this evening)

Ramones sometimes in the eighties i think
also bob dylan when he was into that gospel s***** so boring but he did one accoustic track of it aint me babe which was brilliant but just one track thou.

Some of the best apart from the stones

talking heads at barberalles <birmingham>
weather report
genises
ry cooder
the best was the stones in 73 birmingham odeon with billy preston.

I'm surprised that many people here have stated their worst concert was a Stones show (or Dylan).

Stones, Paris SDF 98 + 2003.

I am kind of surprised at the amount of times Dylan has been mentioned. I guess people's expectations are high for him. He is one of the greats but has been known to be very erratic and selfabsorbed. For some reason Dylan and Springsteen have never excited me that much. The whole lone singer/songwriter is a bit too intellectual for me.
I love bands; the whole idea of a rockband. The Stones are the top of the mountain in that regard. 4 or 5 distinct individuals that come together as one. That is also the reason I play music in a band. I know that there are other musicians on this board and I bet that they agree. The best moments in music can come at any time: at rehearsal, at a poorly attended show. Right after there has been a big argument within the band. You never know...All of the sudden everyhting clicks and the stars align and everyone in the room knows it. That is why sometimes we all say a ceratin boot might be very good. because the Stones are firing on all cylinders and it comes through the grooves. Jumps right at you.

By the same token a band will realize that a ceratin night will be an "off" night and that it just ain't gonna happen. They might just throw in the towel, go through the motions. This will invariably make for a very bad show.

The Who in Milwaukee in 1981. They sucked

U2 PopMart tour at Foxboro Mass. They totally sucked big time played for only about 1 and 1/2 hours and sounded terrible.

1. Springsteen - Born in the USA should have been "Boring" the USA

2. Tom Petty - the Full Moon fever show...

Modern Talking in Hannover, Germany, 2000. Those bastards did not play Cheri Cheri Lady during the regular set and they left the stage without an encore. That was a tremendous disappointment. Ever since that unfortunate evening I consider that act washed-up.

I'm sorry. You won't know this artist. I think his name is Andreas Jonsson or something. He had a couple of hits in Sweden. One was called "Glorious" or something. I went to his concert on Gröna Lund just because a girl I liked wanted to see him. It was embarrassing. I was lying and saying that some stuff sounded good while I was embarrassed to be there.

Rank Outsider, you are very funny....

Bob Dylan - Stuttgart,Liederhalle 1994
he was drunk,stoned or both.
the band didn't know what the maestro was playing and his
bobness didn't know what the band was playing.horrible.

The Stones concerts I couldnt attend in the 70s. OMG - would have loved to be there in hot LA. Or 5th avenue. Or Paris in '76. Australia '73.. Philly in '72. Or at least the '81 tour.

What is a "worst concert experience"? I suppose that suppose to refer to a concert performed by a performer who you happen to like to some degree. So the synonym would be like "most disappointing concert experience". So all the possible rap artists, heavy metal bands, current pop bands, c&w acts, Finnish tango orchestras, and so on, can not be counted here (at least in my case). I just try to avoid to '"experience" events like that.

So the prize for "worst", defined as above, must go to The Rolling Stones, Helsinki Stadium 2003. A huge disappointment, almost embarrassing moment for a hardcore fan of 20 something years, the father of all imaginable autopilot shows.

But Dylan is not far. And Mick Taylor. But in those cases, one is somehow beforehand ready to experience anything between total crap and absolute brilliance. But The Stones just shocked me by showing how mediocre, lousy and uninspiring "The Greatest Rock&Roll Band in THe World" can be. But, remember, only those who matter can really disappoint you.

(And it is not surprising that some of the best concerts moments go mostly to the same names.)

- Doxa