Worst 'all round live' performance by a guitarist you've seen live

richardhomer

Moleman said:

Moominpapa said:

Sorry to say it was a John Martyn gig. I loved his music and was psyched to be there, but he was already well liquored-up when he came on. I don't think he knew where he was and looked & sounded like he was just hoping to make it through the show, When he fucked up the beginning of one of my favourite songs of his because he was drinking beer and needed to  belch, I decided it was time to go and not see one of my musical idols disintegrate any more before my eyes.

Although I was an ardent fan throughout the 1990’s and into the 2000’s, I had to stop seeing the late, great John Martyn after one too many gigs like the one described above. I think that because John never really achieved the level of success in terms of record sales that he arguably should have, he was more or less obliged to tour and play live constantly. I think that sometimes it was a case of one too many gigs for him. There never seemed to be much middle ground with JM live, he was in my experience either blindingly good or else pretty awful. On a good night though, John could be untouchable, plus the guy was wonderfully charismatic in front of an audience.

Agreed. I first saw him in 1981 - in total I may have seen him 30 times - lastly in late 2008, a few weeks before his death.

At his best he was totally untouchable - transcendent performances. At his worst - dire.

And in a way, that was part of the allure. Would it be great, or awful? He was never boringly ‘professional’ - there was a spark and spontaneity about him that was worth seeing. He was also often exceptionally funny.

I met him on four occasions. These meetings pretty much mirrored the gigs - on three he was charm personified - on one utterly obnoxious. There was a particular tuning I knew he used but hadn’t been able to figure out. I asked him after a gig what it was? He happily wrote it out on a CD cover, which he also signed.

A complex (and clearly very flawed) man who had an astonishing talent.....

boogieman

richardhomer said:

Moleman said:

Moominpapa said:

Sorry to say it was a John Martyn gig. I loved his music and was psyched to be there, but he was already well liquored-up when he came on. I don't think he knew where he was and looked & sounded like he was just hoping to make it through the show, When he fucked up the beginning of one of my favourite songs of his because he was drinking beer and needed to  belch, I decided it was time to go and not see one of my musical idols disintegrate any more before my eyes.

Although I was an ardent fan throughout the 1990’s and into the 2000’s, I had to stop seeing the late, great John Martyn after one too many gigs like the one described above. I think that because John never really achieved the level of success in terms of record sales that he arguably should have, he was more or less obliged to tour and play live constantly. I think that sometimes it was a case of one too many gigs for him. There never seemed to be much middle ground with JM live, he was in my experience either blindingly good or else pretty awful. On a good night though, John could be untouchable, plus the guy was wonderfully charismatic in front of an audience.

Agreed. I first saw him in 1981 - in total I may have seen him 30 times - lastly in late 2008, a few weeks before his death.

At his best he was totally untouchable - transcendent performances. At his worst - dire.

And in a way, that was part of the allure. Would it be great, or awful? He was never boringly ‘professional’ - there was a spark and spontaneity about him that was worth seeing. He was also often exceptionally funny.

I met him on four occasions. These meetings pretty much mirrored the gigs - on three he was charm personified - on one utterly obnoxious. There was a particular tuning I knew he used but hadn’t been able to figure out. I asked him after a gig what it was? He happily wrote it out on a CD cover, which he also signed.

A complex (and clearly very flawed) man who had an astonishing talent.....

I saw him some time in the mid 70s, playing at Surrey Uni in Guildford where a mate was doing a degree. JM was so pissed they literally had to prop him up with mic stands at one point. He still played to a standard that I can only dream of. Fabulously talented guy. 

Blueingreen

Philly_Q said:

Blueingreen said:

Kossoff with Free.  Completely out of it, barely played a note. 

springhead said:

Other notable bad live experience was, sadly, Rory Gallagher.  Saw him at the Dominion Theatre, late 80's I think, and he was fantastic.  Second time was couple of years later at the Town and Country and he came on very late and very pissed.  Picking fights with people, grabbing the harmonica from his bemused harp play and playing that instead of guitar.  Awful.  He lasted half a dozen songs and staggered off the stage. 

Although it's a shame to have seen those great players in their decline, it sounds like they were still very memorable occasions, so that's good, in a sad sort of way.

Reminds me of seeing Badlands at the Astoria, not a bad gig but a very odd one.  Ray Gillen (RIP) had quit the band before the tour and supposedly been replaced, but lo and behold there he was - and the rest of the band clearly hated him.  Jake E Lee never looked at him once, and at one point Greg Chaisson, the bass player, stood on the mic lead so Ray had to sing half a song crouched down by Greg's feet.  Uncomfortable viewing.

It was, oddly, an ok gig.  It was the Rabbit/Tetsu line-up from the Heartbreaker album. To be honest I was never a major Kossoff fan so it wasn't like I'd bought my ticket hoping to see a guitar hero and had a massive disappointment.

At the time I was a big Paul Rogers fan and he was the main attraction for me.  Despite Kossoff being out of it the rest of the band were actually on good form, probably pulling out all the stops to cover up for him.  And with the extra keys the guitar was missed less than it would have been with the original line-up.  The songs were there, the vocals were there, and drums bass and keys were enough to support the voice. So I still enjoyed the gig and from what I remember so did most of the audience.  There was no sense of a bad atmosphere and people wanting their money back or anything.  I doubt most people realised Kossoff was actually in serious trouble - we'd just have put it down to rock-star self-indulgence.

Teetonetal

Clapton at the moon and stars festival in Locarno in 2007 I think. Just turgid, boring, disinterested tripe. He didn't play badly, but it was just so dull.  I'd been really looking forward to seeing him as I like enough of his output and he is a living legend.  But yeah, best days firmly behind him.

portobear_65

Chuck Berry at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.

 Absolutely atrocious, he just walked on stage, plugged in to an amp, turned up to deafening, counted in the band he'd never met before or even looked at and launched into an out of tune cacophony of distortion for an hour and a half.

 Probably one of his better latter day gigs!

suitablyswell

rinkydinkron said:

phil_b said:

this is pretty bad

Truly mortifying........so uncomfortable I couldn't watch to end.

Worth it just to see the shots of Sting's reactions.

HerrMetal

Philly_Q said:

On the loudness question, the worst for me was Judas Priest at the Hammersmith Apollo.  It started out OK but my ears just seemed to give up and all I could hear was a bass rumble with a brighter whiny sound over the top which was either the guitar solos or Halford's voice.

My ears were ringing for nearly a week and I started wearing earplugs at gigs after that (although I haven't been to many since).

What year @Philly_Q out of interest?  I saw them in 1983 at Hammersmith and it was the loudest gig I've ever been to. Quiet Riot were support. 

Philly_Q

HerrMetal said:

Philly_Q said:

On the loudness question, the worst for me was Judas Priest at the Hammersmith Apollo.  It started out OK but my ears just seemed to give up and all I could hear was a bass rumble with a brighter whiny sound over the top which was either the guitar solos or Halford's voice.

My ears were ringing for nearly a week and I started wearing earplugs at gigs after that (although I haven't been to many since).

What year @Philly_Q out of interest?  I saw them in 1983 at Hammersmith and it was the loudest gig I've ever been to. Quiet Riot were support. 

Pretty sure it was 2005 - with Scorpions as the support band, which was one of the main reasons I went. 

I think that's the only time I've seen Judas Priest (apart from Monsters of Rock in 1980, also featuring the Scorpions!).

trolley

S'funny reading some. Because I saw Eric Johnson at Holmfirth a few years ago & thought he was excellent. And almost chatty
Worst was probably Robert Fripp on a G3 tour at The Apollo Manchester. He was off-stage behind a curtain making noise. I had no idea when one ended & the other began. I warned a mate who was seeing him a few days later, but he said it was 15 minutes of his life he'd never get back before he left for the bar!

StefB

Philly_Q said:

HerrMetal said:

Philly_Q said:

On the loudness question, the worst for me was Judas Priest at the Hammersmith Apollo.  It started out OK but my ears just seemed to give up and all I could hear was a bass rumble with a brighter whiny sound over the top which was either the guitar solos or Halford's voice.

My ears were ringing for nearly a week and I started wearing earplugs at gigs after that (although I haven't been to many since).

What year @Philly_Q out of interest?  I saw them in 1983 at Hammersmith and it was the loudest gig I've ever been to. Quiet Riot were support. 

Pretty sure it was 2005 - with Scorpions as the support band, which was one of the main reasons I went. 

I think that's the only time I've seen Judas Priest (apart from Monsters of Rock in 1980, also featuring the Scorpions!).

I wish I’d gone to that tour, could have done the Manchester date but I’m not a huge Priest fan and would have gone for the same reason you did. 

Having seen the Scorpions since I’d say it is borderline suicide for any band, no matter how big, asking them to open for you. 

Philly_Q

StefB said:

Having seen the Scorpions since I’d say it is borderline suicide for any band, no matter how big, asking them to open for you. 

They are a killer live band.  Most bands made up of guys in their 60s and 70s, you go to see them out of nostalgia, but the Scorpions are actually still great!  All down to very non-rock'n'roll stuff like staying healthy and simply being professional.

Which isn't to say Judas Priest aren't great live as well, they are... they were just too loud.

Logie

@trolley ;

"Worst was probably Robert Fripp on a G3 tour at The Apollo Manchester. He was off-stage behind a curtain making noise. I had no idea when one ended & the other began. I warned a mate who was seeing him a few days later, but he said it was 15 minutes of his life he'd never get back before he left for the bar!"

Saw him on that tour as well at Bournemouth CIA. Joe did a blinding set and then after a while this film score music came over the PA ( or so we thought ). After about 10 minutes somebody in the audience shouted " we can't fucking see you! " and we realised it was RF. He'd just wandered on to the back of the stage, sat on a chair and started playing. All you could see was the headstock of his guitar poking out from whatever he was sat behind. Weird and turgid at the same time and a total mismatch on a tour that's supposed to be a celebration of guitar.

fendergibson

Unfortunately Gary Moore at the Apollo (I think) for me. He had so much Reverb going on it completely ruined his sound. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. One of my favourite guitarists but he/his sound guy fucked it up totally 

jdgm

Very interesting thread, seems there are some serial offenders here -

Gary Moore. Probably end of the 80s or early 90s I saw him at Surrey Uni. Dreadful, so ridiculously loud you couldn't really hear anything.

I could see Neil Murray hitting his bass and hear the huge crunching noise when he did but I couldn't hear a single musical note.

Albert King; big blues hero at Hammersmith; but 2 numbers in his rented Marshall blew up, and he lost it and started shouting at his band. 

I stayed awhile to see if it would get better - it didn't.

Budddy Guy and Junior Wells, Hammersmith 1979.  Too many support acts ran overtime and they were late on. 2 numbers then Buddy walked off after a steaming version of "Hold That Plane".  So bad there was a whole page in the NME on it the next week wondering how things had gone so wrong.....and this was at a time when the NME was full-on new wave.

And - sadly - Peter Green and the Splinter Group. Farnham Maltings early 2000s.  He should not have been on stage, clearly he didn't want to be there. Nigel Watson took every solo. I left.  I had seen PG twice in my distant youth, 1969 and 1970 back when he was who he really was - if you see what I mean. Very depressing.

Greatape

Bob Mould in Sugar. Huge Bob fan but he was phoning it in. 

Steve Howe at a trade show, more than once. Shadow of his former self. 

TTBZ

Kirk's solo bit in Metallica's Reading set, it was just sloppy and boring. Full on cringe, I don't know why bands still insist on doing that sort of thing. 

russpm

Echo and the Bunnymen played a free gig at Blackburn King Georges Hall a few years back. It attracted an awful crowd of extremely pissed up people vomiting everywhere. Don’t blame the band really as it was horrific. They were flipping awful.