ruby wrote:sun0)))))))))))))))

saw them at the blowhole's wire festival. a half hour of one note. christ, i'm never getting that time back.

I've seen Sunn0))) twice, and thought they were great both times. First time they played for about an hour and ten minutes, second time was 50 minutes I think. But then I love Earth as well, not to mention Alvin Lucier, Phil Niblock etc.

The actual worst band I ever saw was whatever band that supported Superchunk in Manchester last time they were in the UK. I don't remember their name, which is a shame because it might prove useful in avoiding them in future.

Oh, and Marzuraan. Although they were comically bad, so at least I could laugh.

I put on a show for Arab on Radar, and I didn't think they were so hot. Also either they or the guys that organized the tour were lying to each other, and they tried to get a lot more money than they were promised.

alex wrote:

n-eight wrote:Arab on Radar.
Saw them at Michigan Fest 2002. Terrible. There were a few other really bad bands but I remember AoR being especially shitty.

Huh, that's fascinating. I saw the tape of that festival and I don't think I've ever witnessed a group of bands playing together where one band's performance so completely nullifies the existence of all the others. I've actually considered that the tape should be shown to all new bands in their orientation as a sort of gauntlet.

I figured the expression on the people's faces in the front row must mean they smelled bad or something. I guess that wouldn't explain all the people plugging their ears. So why didn't you like it? Who did you rate in that cringefest?

Maybe their performance wasn't bad for them, but I was disappointed. I had never heard them before and my friend kept saying, "wait 'til you see them, they're awesome." Then they started playing and it was a big letdown for me.

So maybe they weren't the worst band of the fest, but they were the biggest letdown for me personally. There were a lot more performances that weekend where I was expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised.

I am sad to say that the worst live performance I have ever seen was a drunk (or under the influence) Dick Dale performing "unplugged" a couple of years ago. It was perhaps the saddest thing I have ever seen. No scratch that, my GF made me go see Foghat at the MN State Fair. Not something that should be attempted after gorging on corn dogs and cheese curds all day.

a sundress wrote:i worked as a bouncer for a couple of years at bogarts in cincinnati, smack dab in the middle of the ska craze.

it was horribly depressing. every week, less than jake or goldfinger or (insert stupid ska band here) would come thru and ruin my week.

but, fugazi was suprisingly bad. i was semi excited, but well past my fugazi phase. they were uninspired, looked bored, and fucked up waiting room.
ian couldnt keep the tempo up and it was quite boring to watch. maybe it was an off night.

but blond redhead opened and they were amazing.


king diamond, very awful.
limp biscuit, i dont have to tell you.
clutch, terrible and unbeleivably boring.
everclear, i'd piss on them if i could

and there is this band i saw on hbo's reverb with les claypool, stuart copeland and that guy from phish that kind of looks like eric clapton. i dont remember their name, but it was honestly the most attrocious thing i have ever seen. i fucking hate les claypool.

i also have to agree on the polyphonic spree and the darkness.
very very stupid.

your insane man...i think Clutch is a great live band...

the worst show i've seen is probably Unsane at the Southgate House

all my friends raved about them so i went and ended up sitting up in the balcony getting hammered with like 2 people...

fucking horrible band...makes Snapcase and Hatebreed look good

(note: this is just an as-is cut & paste from an e-mail I sent to a friend a while back, describing the shittiness... )

This was sometime in 1995 in 'Dripping Springs' Texas at some weekend hippie camp-out called 'DrumQuest'

Fruchter and Hank and I went to this. Basically some kook* out there had all this land and got half-organized and put up a half-way decent stage, some showers, bathrooms, camping space, big rock firepits, places for people to set up vending**, etc. There were a LOT of people there - probably 50% mellow hippie, 25% slightly more edgy crazy tattoo/piercing people***, and 25% curious on-lookers (me and my broad stereotypes here). Oh yeah, and the whole thing was 'clothing optional'****... so like some of it was organized, like certain times they would have concerts on the main stage*****, other times everyone was just hanging out and doing "drum circles", etc. (seeing as it was "DrumQuest" and all). (OK, I promise, no more asterisks)

So anyways... some GENIUS had actually booked Earth at this thing... so you got all sorts of hippies, etc. wanting to see these rhythm-centric acts, and then Earth comes on... 3 guys sitting in plastic lawnchairs playing drone guitar jams. What was extra weird was there was this 4th guy standing and playing guitar over the top of their drone-stuff. This guy looked like a caricature of a "Mullet Guy" (chain wallet and all) and just kept throwing all these recognizable classic rock licks (literally stolen Hendrix, Zeppelin, etc. - like he had no attention span, hopping from one poorly-ripped-off riff to another and he must have thought this was his moment to display his flashy licks for the chicks or something) over the top of their artsy-fartsy guitar thing. The crowd was ready to riot - this was probably the worst thing I think I have ever seen on a stage in my whole life. You never heard so many peace-lovin' hippies turn evil and BOO in your whole life. It was AWKWARD, it was so bad.

So after they got removed from the stage, I actually struck up a conversation with this chick up front named Amy about the performance. I was trying to be kind and was actually thinking that in a different setting, I might have enjoyed what the 3 guys were doing, but that the 4th assclown was just too much. Turns out she was the girlfriend of the Dylan guy (I guess Earth is like his baby or something) and she said something like "Yeah, that 4th guy is the son of the guy who owns all this land, and we were more or less told (not asked) that he was going to 'jam' with them." We talked for a bit longer, and she gave me a free copy of their current CD at the time ("Phase 3: Thrones and Dominions" or something like that). She said she was the little girl on the cover photo (holding like eggs or pebbles or something in her hand). I still have that CD, but I really can't remember much about what it sounds like - I just never could get into it. But it has been a while, maybe if I pull it out now and listen, I will have a different impression... I'll give that a try sometime when I'm REALLY BORED.

One other really funny part of that weekend was when I said the hell with it, got away from everyone I knew, and found a half-way secluded swimming hole and tried sunbathing nude for a while. There were birds chirping, trees blowing in the wind, hippies playing drums off in the distance, etc... sort of serene... then someone got in their van nearby and cranked up its CD player, thus drowning out everything else. You could never guess in a million years what CD it was, so I'll tell you... 'Two Nuns and a Pack Mule' by Rapeman. I didn't see that one coming. So I laid there and rocked out to the whole Rapeman CD and got a terrible sunburn on my bum. (This did not turn out to be as bad as you might think, since I met that gal Gina there, and she was very kind to me over the next few weeks with the lotion and the "TLC"). But yeah, I laughed and couldn't help but think that some other guest had had just about enough "hippie-ness" and needed to blare some Rapeman as the afternoon's antidote.

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* I remember the kook's name was Ron, and we saw him walking around a few times. Since this was really his shindig, he obviously got surrounded by the best ladies, the best drugs, etc. but he took it a step further I think by walking around in a flowing white gown, all messiah-like. It was pretty funny.

** including rattlesnake meat - not something you see everyday

*** some dude there performed an "Oh Kee Pah" (?) ceremony - where he stuck these large gauge piercings in his chest
and then attached rope to them and hung from them in a trance until the stuff literally ripped through his flesh - eek

**** this, of course, had its good points and its very BAD points

***** Crash Worship was the main headliner of the thing - they freaked me out a bit, but given my state at the time... y'know

The worst was Badly Drawn Boy, 4 years ago at the Paradise in Boston. He seemed really f*cked up, played 1 or 2 actual songs and spent the rest of the hour playing with a vocoder.

Very close second was Fishbone 6-7 years ago at the Haunt in Ithaca. I'm not sure how I decided to go to that show considering I never listened to them. The singer was really messed up and spent the majority of the show making really horrible noises with a theremin.

whilst wokring at some shithole in melbourne i was subjected to the violent femmes and white stripes (and countless hours of banging trace and 80 classic hits). All traumas that i hope every day to forget for all eternity. De La Sole were worthwhile though (and The RZA wasnt).

steve malkmus and the jicks. opening for radiohead. even they weren't into it. someone should take that band out.

white ocatve, cursive, sorry about dresden, city of caterpillar. all at one show too. it was soooooooo fuckin' boring. i hate when rock bands don't.

i saw black eyes once. i think they rated an E for effort.

i've seen q and not u suck it up a million times. a band should just not take that long to set up. and why does everyone need a keyboard?

greg wrote:What, no Cat Power?
Friends of mine who are big fans describe what seems to me like a test of endurance. I think her music is alright but fuck if I'm spending $20 for that.

my friend saw cat power (solo) at a rooftop party a few nights ago and said she put on the best show he's seen in awhile.

i dunno.

slowriot wrote:

greg wrote:What, no Cat Power?
Friends of mine who are big fans describe what seems to me like a test of endurance. I think her music is alright but fuck if I'm spending $20 for that.

my friend saw cat power (solo) at a rooftop party a few nights ago and said she put on the best show he's seen in awhile.

i dunno.

I saw Cat Power in a tiny shed in London six years or so ago and she was superb; otherworldly blues crooningly gorgeous.
I also saw her at ATP in March this year, where she stumbled onstage, mumbled something like 'i'm sorry, i'm really out of it' and wailed her way through one of the most appalling sets i've ever seen.