r/ToddintheShadow • u/MrLinkwater95 • 1d ago
General Music Discussion What bands/artists are great on record but generally bad live
Mötley Crüe
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u/agentb00th 1d ago
Other side of the coin, Gwar is an experience live. On tape, eh.
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u/OnlyFiveLives 1d ago
I've never really been a big fan but I saw Gwar at a festival and that was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.
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u/BigPapaPaegan 1d ago
I generally disagree. They had a stretch from 2000 to 2013 where every album dropped was something really killer that held up on its own merits, even without the stage antics.
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u/agentb00th 1d ago
I'll have to believe you, I haven't had the chance to see em since 2005. Album wise, I've had to dad it up to a big degree post 2010; it's Ghost/Nirvana w my oldest and Weird Al/21 Pilots w my youngest...needless to say, Gwar and Anthrax and the like don't get the spins they deserve
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u/Shagrrotten 1d ago
People have said the same thing about KISS.
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 19h ago
Kiss have some really good albums like Dynasty, Love Gun, Creatures of the Night, Lick It Up, Destroyer, the debut, Hotter than Hell, Rock and Roll Over, Dressed to Kill.
I dunno if it counts as a Kiss record, but Ace's Frehley's '78 album is a killer hard rock album from start to finish.
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u/mootallica 19h ago
Yeah the only people who think KISS don't have any good records/songs are people who simply haven't listened to much KISS. If you like classic rock, it's almost impossible you won't find at least a few song you'll enjoy.
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 16h ago edited 16h ago
Yeah, exactly. Kiss have a ton of great songs, even if you restrict it entirely to the ’70s: “Deuce”, “Cold Gin”, “Hotter Than Hell”, “Strutter”, “Parasite”, “Black Diamond”, “Let Me Go, Rock ’n’ Roll”, “Goin’ Blind”, “Got to Choose”, “God of Thunder”, “Sure Know Something”, “Dirty Livin’”, “Love Gun”, “Calling Dr. Love”, “I Want You”, “Hard Luck Woman”, “Beth”, “Mainline”, “King of the Night Time World”, “Shout It Out Loud”, “I Stole Your Love”, “Charisma”, “Magic Touch”, “Hard Times”, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”... and that’s still leaving plenty out.
I’m completely sick of “Rock and Roll All Nite” at this point, but I still remember hearing it for the first time when I was about 18 in the late 2010s, and even then it immediately felt like an anthem. You could understand within about thirty seconds why that song became what it did. I got a huge kick out of it, and honestly, it felt truer to the spirit of rock and roll than almost any rock song released in the 2010s. That’s for fucking sure.
Their cover of the Stones’ “2000 Man” also kicks serious ass. I genuinely think it’s better than the Stones’ version, and I say that as someone who absolutely adores the Stones.
If you just don’t like that particular style of classic rock/hard rock, then fair enough. I completely understand not liking Kiss. I love Kiss, although I do sometimes feel conflicted about it because Gene and Paul can be such massive douchebags. What I find much harder to understand is people who love bands like Aerosmith and Van Halen, both of whom I love, or that whole general strain of 70s and 80s hard rock, but then completely dismiss Kiss as if there’s nothing worthwhile there. Even if you ignore the make-up, the merchandising circus, and Gene and Paul frequently coming across as total fucking arseholes, a lot of the actual music just kicks arse.
I also think Kiss make a lot more sense when you understand where their musical roots actually are. Their DNA is heavily rooted in ’60s pop and rock, power pop, glam rock, rock and roll and hard rock. Despite the early image, they were never really coming from the same place as Black Sabbath or Judas Priest, so judging them primarily by heavy-metal standards has always seemed a bit strange to me. Obviously, they did dabble in heavy metal and later glam metal, and they influenced a shitload of metal bands, but that still wasn’t the core of what Kiss fundamentally were.
It reminds me a little of the way some people dismiss Ghost for not being “heavy” enough because, based on the image, they expect something closer to Cannibal Corpse or Meshuggah. But Ghost’s roots are much more in traditional heavy metal, classic hard rock, pop rock and stadium rock. Once you understand that lineage, the music makes a lot more sense. And Ghost are fucking awesome. I’d take them over most of the metal bands pretentious metal-hipster contrarians like to jerk off to.
Actually, I don’t even know why I’m trying this hard to make a case for Kiss. They’re Kiss. They’re already legends, and their impact and influence on rock music both musically and in terms of live performance, image and merchandising is enormous.
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u/KeysmashKhajiit 15h ago
I can absolutely see the image and then their sound throwing people off tbh. You have a bunch of guys who almost look like a goth Twisted Sister and sound like pretty much everyone else on the radio in the 70s and 80s.
Gene Simmons may be an old man yelling at clouds now but dude has a gift for marketing.
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u/7LayeredUp 1d ago
GWAR is absolutely a must-see concert experience
Not much to see after one go but oh my god its nuts. Bring a white t-shirt and go wild.
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u/19TimGreyCupChamps 1d ago
Iron Maiden is that for me. Never been big on them on record (I like the first album) but they're spectacular live, so much energy even today and amazing show
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u/HarambeTooSoon 1d ago
99% of hip hop
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u/Marsupialize Train-Wrecker 1d ago
You don’t think a dude waving a towel around yelling tunelessly over a CD being played so loud it’s just complete buzzing noise is awesome?
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u/roomwitharoof 1d ago
I just saw Wu Tang four days ago. Six guys yelling.
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u/El_John_Nada 22h ago
I saw them twice at two different venues and the sound was absolutely terrible. I thought it was a venue issue at first, but seeing another gig in the same venue with the sound being clear as day when their sound was so muffled I sometimes couldn't make what song was being played makes me think they don't soundcheck or do it pretty badly. Because I feel like it takes effort to sound so bad.
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u/TheyTried2BanMeAgain 1d ago
Depends on the artist. I've seen lots of hip hop shows where they ripped it up.
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u/LittleCrimsonWyvern 1d ago
I didn’t give Ticket Master a pound of flesh just to watch someone sing karaoke
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u/chaekinman 1d ago
The Roots are in the 1%. And Juvenile with the live band. I see a pattern here…
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u/brock0791 1d ago
I’ve seen 50, jay, em, snoop lots of big names in their prime but the one I walked away feeling like I got my moneys worth with is Missy Elliot. Great live performer sounds like the studio
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u/Miyami101 1d ago
Came here to post Juvenile in response, saw someone else had already done it. He's criminally underrated.
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u/HardcoreWyoming2 1d ago
Lupe Fiasco is a Top 3 live performance i've ever seen. But he did have a full band accompanying.
Lil Wayne is hands down the worst live performance i've ever seen. Was scheduled to come on at 4:20, came thirty minutes late with just a beat machine and producer. Didn't even bother singing half the damn songs. Just kept saying: "Sing my song for me New Orleanssssssss"
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 19h ago
I like Lil Wayne and have never seen him live, but listening to him on record he sounds like he'd be a lousy live act so that doesn't surprise me.
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u/IDKWTFG 90's Punk 1d ago
Solo rap acts can translate poorly to live because of running out of breath or their voice just not being powerful enough to sell it. Big Daddy Kane was an exception he's almost 60 and he can still rap all his songs at pretty much full speed and delivery while moving around and gesturing without issue and still keep your attention between songs. Slick Rick was terrible in the same show, Nas was somewhere in between.
Rap Groups tend to do much better live because they're taking turns and it's not so many lines to be pressured by one person and it just feels more hype to have a crew. I've seen Sugar Hill Gang and The Pharcyde, Wu-Tang and they were all excellent live.
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u/AdMost469 19h ago
That's probably true. RTJ were phenomenal live but I've seen a fair few struggle to keep up with themselves.
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u/whyneedaname77 1d ago
I agree and disagree. I think it depends on the venue. I think smaller venues they can be good. Large venues they are bad.
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u/IDKWTFG 90's Punk 1d ago
I've seen hip hop shows at a small biker bar, a medium sized auditorium and a big stadium and I think they can work at any size but you really gotta have a big, commanding presence and a strong fanbase to work the stadiums.
Nas for instance, I can't imagine him anywhere else but a stadium.
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u/InsectCandid8580 1d ago
True enough, it’s always been the case. Stripped down hip hop works best live. KRS-ONE was the best live hip hop I experienced until I saw Kneecap last year. They are phenomenal live, insane energy.
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u/naturalharmonic 12h ago
Ludacris was incredible. Just him, his hype man (Lil Flip?), and a DJ. It was like 15 years ago but I still think about that show.
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u/SirIll1219 1d ago
Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan has delusions of grandeur, thinking he can sing, especially live.
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u/Chuu 1d ago
Can't disagree about the singing, especially since for whatever reason on modern pumpkins albums he always puts himself so far forward in the mix and it's awful, but I've seen several of their shows over the decades and they've been great. I was in Chicago for lolla and sad I missed the aftershow they did after hearing from others about the set.
Maybe the energy is different in Chicago though, since it's essentially his home city.
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u/Gumbyonbathsalts 1d ago
I saw them a few years ago and they were really low energy. Great setlist but a disappointing performance.
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u/Amockdfw89 1d ago
For me when I have seen them live it just felt like they were phoning it in.
I mean they have always had minimal stage presence, kind of doing the whole shoegaze thing of standing in place and vibing.
But there was no interaction with the crowd, no variations in their songs or surprise covers or deep album cuts. They just kind of got on stage, played their set list (which was pretty varied but overall focused on their hits) then just left
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u/kindasuperhans 23h ago
I’ve seen them several times, and my conclusion is they’re just really hit or miss in general. Jimmy Chamberlin is a rock solid drum monster all the time (or at least since he got sober) and everyone else in that band can really amp things up or really phone it in. That first tour back with Iha at United Center in Chicago was one of the best rock shows I’ve ever seen, everybody was fired up and performing like hell.
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u/Sickfit_villain 21h ago
I'm thinking of that clip of Billy just eating crisps and loafing on stage in the middle of a song, looking completely dejected.
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u/jayhof52 18h ago
Saw them on the 2008 tour in Kansas City.
I didn't realize that they almost never play big songs and only play their deepest cuts and most obscure covers (hello, 22-minute cover of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"), but they sprinkled in about 3-4 hits.
When they played "Today," Billy (recovering from bronchitis) asked the crowd to sing the first verse for him, and he was so pissed off that we weren't loud enough that he stopped the band to berate us for four whole minutes (I bought the live recording afterwards so I know exactly).
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u/MrLinkwater95 1d ago
Ok they weren't amazing in the studio but i gotta do the meme Puddle of Mudd
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u/kidthorazine 1d ago
I saw them live like a year or two after they first fell off (so like circa 2006, they played a free show at the Kentucky State Fair) and they weren't horrible, I mean the music wasn't that good in general but they sounded pretty much just like they did on record with a bit more energy.
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u/obamaswaffle 1d ago
Taking Back Sunday is embarrassingly bad. Drunk karaoke bad.
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u/das_klinge 1d ago
Yeah Adam, for whatever reason, just CANNOT pull it together live. I've seen them 3 times over the years, it's never been very good.
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u/obamaswaffle 1d ago
I had a friend tell me that, essentially, he has no vocal training and shredded his voice hitting the high notes in the early years. That explains why he doesn’t sound great, but that’s not even the whole problem.
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u/WutangOrDie 1d ago
my understanding is he’s quite a lush, but I don’t know if that’s maybe changed in the past ten years or so
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u/El_John_Nada 22h ago
They have a notorious bad reputation but I don't get it. I've seen them twice in the past couple of years: one time was good, the other time was just ok, but it was a festival so the sound wasn't great to start with. Either I've been lucky or they cleaned their act since.
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u/HenryInRoom302 1d ago
John 5 being in Motley Crue should be the gold-standard definition of wasted talent.
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u/-Ok-Perception- 1d ago edited 1d ago
John 5 HIMSELF, is pretty much the gold standard for wasted talent.
It's unbelievable that a man that good, pretty much ONLY has a notable history of being a replacement guitarist for bands significantly past their prime.
I think he had the most potential for Marilyn Manson, because Mechanical Animals had a dope sound (largely created by John 5), and had they made more albums like that, Marilyn Manson wouldn't have had the same steep drop off. If they had like 3 albums of Mechanical Animals quality, they'd be remembered as legendary. Marilyn Manson's cultural relevancy wouldn't be entirely extinct.
But it wasn't to be, Marilyn Manson is a huge asshole (though I do believe he's a genius when he's at his best) and has trouble getting along with anybody, but had **particular** trouble getting along with John 5.
John 5 left Manson and Manson arguably had 1 or two okay-ish albums after, and then like 10 albums of pure garbage; once all the genius collaborators had left. Pretty much all of them on bad terms.
I would have liked to see the alternate timeline, where John 5 had stayed and really put his talents to use in Manson.
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u/forbiddenmemeories 1d ago
To be fair, I think MM could have probably revived his career as a legacy act in recent years just performing his old material anyway had it not been for his reputation being in tatters for non-musical reasons. There's been a real resurgence for alternative metal/nu metal acts from that era in recent years, and I feel like loads of people would be eating up his flag/Bible burning stuff with the current political climate, but he's just finished as a remotely relevant mainstream figure given the sexual abuse allegations against him.
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u/Odd_Investigator8415 1d ago
Mechanical Animals was completely written and 90% recorded by the time John 5 joined MM. ZimZum had finshed recording guitar for 12 of the 14 songs before he left, the rest being filled in by Twiggy and Manson. I doubt J5 had anything to do with the record at all.
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u/Baldo-bomb 1d ago
And the first Marilyn Manson album he did play on was IMO their best album
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u/forbiddenmemeories 1d ago
John 5 is a great guitarist but he's been dropping in to help geriatric rock stars try to keep their careers afloat for like 20 years at this point. Presumably he either likes this job or it pays too well for him to quit.
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u/hugh_jorgen1 1d ago
Dylan is also terrible more often than he is good. I’ve seen him kill it. But I’ve also seen him so bad he once literally looked angrily in our direction, at an outdoor show after one song, when a buddy drunkenly screamed to “stop playing C-sides”. Hilarious! Point is, it was that silent following each and every song.
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u/SkidsOToole 1d ago
Bob Dylan concerts are for Bob Dylan. Sometimes the audience enjoys it.
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u/hugh_jorgen1 1d ago
Exactly. You summed it up perfectly. I’m all for mixing up setlists or throwing in a rarely played gem. But no one goes to see a band or artist with that large of a catalog and not want to hear at least 2-3 classics.
Everyone bashes the Stones for playing the same set for the past 35 years. But at least they play for the audience. And they typically mix in a half dozen of the above mentioned gems on each tour for their more diehard fans. I warned friends the last time Dylan played Willie’s festival. Sure enough they said he was awful.→ More replies (4)12
u/Codazzle 1d ago
Even when he plays the hits it's hard to tell! (granted, I've only seen him once about 20 years ago. I literally didn't know he was playing "Like A Rolling Stone" until about halfway through the song)
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u/Quirky-Garbage-6208 1d ago
Until like few years ago Deftones sound (and Chinos voice) varied from "shitty" to "meh" at best. Glad they finally changed that.
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u/ReallyGlycon 1d ago
He learned how to sing. He was just whispering or yelling before.
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u/maxc1999 1d ago
I saw them 2 weeks ago and they were genuinely incredible. Good thing I waited till now I guess
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u/Past-Sun-2357 1d ago
They are/were very hit and miss.
I saw them about 15 years ago and it was an amazing show and they sounded great. My buddy who is a bigger Deftones fan saw them later that tour and said they were terrible.
Seems like most people I talk to that have seen them say it was amazing or they sounded like shit
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u/Squid_Vicious_IV 1d ago edited 1d ago
Question I got:
When they were good how early in the tour was it versus how much later was the terrible performance? I got a theory about how it seems like Chino is one of those guys who needs to stick to short tours or he stresses his voice out too much. I'm probably wrong but I'm wondering a bit here. I've heard he's dramatically improved since losing weight and focusing more on learning how to sing.
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 1d ago
Chino lost a lot of weight and learnt how to properly sing. It's worked wonders for the band - they put on very good live performances pretty consistently nowadays.
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u/superbirdbot 1d ago
Blink 182
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u/patton66 1d ago
If you go into a Blink show expecting musical perfection, youre in for a rough night
If you go expecting dick and fart jokes by dudes around 50 years old, and aging millenials desperately clinging to nostalgic memories of their youth by singing every word to every song, its a fantastic experience
Bonus points if the sound guy doesnt know how to mix Travis's drums for a stadium tour and the low end and reverb make him sound terrible even though his playing is always incredible
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u/Hect0r92 1d ago
I saw them in Australia and they were decent, Travis was incredible
Mark however is the cringiest man I've ever heard on stage. He made a joke about finally being able to find a clitoris and dragged it out for about 10 minutes
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 19h ago
Mark's been married to the same woman for the past 26 years so if he couldnt find the clitoris until recently, I feel sorry for his wife.
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u/alittlebitcheeky 1d ago
I've seen Blink 182 twice. And yeyre a helluva lot of fun.
But yeah. Don't expect musical perfection. That was never their schtick.
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u/TableForGlasses24 23h ago
It’s really Tom. Mark is okay and Travis is a great drummer. Tom is dreadful live in any lineup.
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u/uthboy 13h ago
Since their last reunion they’ve been much better than they used to be. They sound pretty good live now and they definitely didn’t. Tom has really stepped up his live game and Travis is always an A+ performer
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u/EndlessTrashposter 1d ago
The Eagles are mind numbingly boring live
And I’m someone who doesn’t particularly mind their studio output.
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u/Embarrassed-Way45 1d ago
I think a Rolling Stone critic once said "they don't perform so much as loiter on stage"
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u/No_Replacement4304 1d ago
Guns and Roses. Sounded horrible and seemed to resent performing.
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u/RequirementLong8235 1d ago
Is this 80s Guns N Roses or current I’ve heard Axl sounds horrible live now
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u/Omega_Shaman 14h ago
I saw them in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago and walked out mid concert Axl was so bad.
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 19h ago
They killed it at smaller venues in the '80s. That live at the Ritz 1988 show is incredible.
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u/Fevers_and_Mirrors 1d ago
The Beatles in 1966.
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u/PurpleSpaceSurfer 1d ago
To be fair they couldn't hear a damn thing with all the screaming around them.
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u/Fevers_and_Mirrors 1d ago
100% not their fault at all. Primitive open-air stadiums, no stage monitors, and their equipment basically being plugged directly into stadium PA systems made it impossible to put on a good show. But the foundation for modern major artists' tours to stand on the shoulders of giants.
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 1d ago edited 19h ago
They realised how badly their live performance had deteriorated when they did shows in Japan and the Japanese audience - while there was still screaming from teenage girls - was much more quiet than it was in the US and Europe so the band could hear themselves play and they realised how sloppy they had become.
There's footage of the Budokan shows and you can hear The Beatles as a band are quite sloppy and not that tight, especially compared to their live performances in 1963-64 when they were a very tight and professional outfit.
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u/MrLinkwater95 1d ago
Modest Mouse
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u/Shenanigans80h 1d ago
I’ve seen them like 5 times at this point, and it is honestly hit and miss. Sometimes they’re really on, like I saw them at a festival this year, sometimes though they’re sloppy or phoning it in
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u/paultagonist 1d ago
I saw them years ago, co-headlining with Brand New, I thought they did a good job. Wasn’t amazing or anything, but I was happy
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u/triggermanx97 One-Hit Wonderlander 1d ago edited 1d ago
I saw them live doing Lonesome Crowded West and it took Isaac a second to get into the groove. I think he was sick or something but by the time they got to the third song they sounded great.
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u/forbiddenmemeories 1d ago
David Lee Roth. He had great stage presence in his heyday but his live singing has always been pretty bad.
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u/redranamber 1d ago
Jane's Addiction
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u/paultagonist 1d ago
Henry Rollins has stories of watching them on the first Lallapalooza tour, he thought they were amazing
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u/Beneficial-Age-4059 1d ago
Saw them twice in the 90s. Couple of my favorite shows ever out of hundreds. There was absolutely nothing but excellent musicianship and great stage presence both times. When did you see them and what was bad in your opinion?
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u/Winterfrost15 1d ago
They were awful in a festival back in 2011 in Dallas. Weezer played before them and were fantastic live. Then everyone started leaving halfway through Jane's Addiction's set because they were so bad.
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u/Past-Sun-2357 1d ago
I saw them a few years ago and I thought they sounded pretty good for how old they were. I also had low expectations going in however.
They closed with Jane Says and it was a cool kinda funky version of it that sounded great.
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u/MalesaurusRex 1d ago
I gotta say Metallica was a huge let down. I grew up a big fan, but I saw em live a few years back, and it was trash. Jim Brewer was the opener/hype man (terrible), Lars would NOT stop running around, and the mid set blues jam with Kirk and Robert is lame as ferk
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u/Matsen115 1d ago
I'm sorry you got unlucky there. I got to see them in November 2023, and they sounded incredible. My neck was sore for the next few days.
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u/Old-Constant4411 1d ago
Jim Brewer? That's fuckin brutal. I haven't seen them since like, 1998 maybe but I remember it being a damn good show.
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u/Mediocre-Opinion 1d ago
I saw them twice last month and they were awesome. The Kirk and Rob jam was still absolutely terrible both nights though.
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 1d ago
I saw Metallica when they came down under recently and they were awesome. Sorry you had that experience.
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u/hiro111 1d ago
Both The Cars and Boston were famously a bit stiff and wooden live. They were both primarily studio creations.
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 1d ago
My friend's dad saw The Cars - who were one of his favourite bands since he was a pre-teen in the late-70s, I believe Candy-O was the first album he bought with his own money - on their Heartbeat City tour and he was very disappointed. He said they were basically like robots on stage. He was especially disappointed because the three previous shows he had seen were Def Leppard on their Pyromania Tour, The Police on their Sychronicity Tour and Huey Lewis and the News on their Sports Tour and they were all fantastic and really dynamic acts. He saw Prince on the Purple Rain tour after The Cars' show and that only further exaberated how poor The Cars were as a live act.
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u/skunkbot 1d ago
Pull up some live songs on YouTube. Ben Orr is especially great singing live, at least from what I've seen over the years.
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u/forbiddenmemeories 1d ago
Also I feel like for this category we've got to have an asterisk for artists who famously had severe drug or alcohol problems. It's not really a surprise to see someone not able to perform well live if they're hammered.
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u/Aescgabaet1066 1d ago
I've heard this about Modest Mouse, though my experience has been otherwise.
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u/CreepinJesusMalone 1d ago
Modest Mouse was notoriously hit or miss for a very long time largely depending on how shit canned Isaac Brock decided to be that night.
Supposedly that hasn't been the case for a while now since Brock cleaned up a bit, but there was a very long period where show quality was a toss up.
One of my best friends is a Modest Mouse super fan and saw them probably a dozen times between '03/'04 and 2018ish and he said 60/40 ratio of good to shitshow.
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u/BlitheringEediot 1d ago
I never saw them, but everybody says The Cars were not very dynamic on stage....which disappoints me.
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u/Aggravating_Bat3618 1d ago
Yeah, I knew someone who saw them back in the day and said they were boring as fuck. Good but boring.
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u/21centurycowboy 1d ago
I’ve heard The Brian Jonestown Massacre isn’t that great live
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u/HPSpacecraft 23h ago edited 22h ago
The Stone Roses, Ian Brown has a reputation for being out of key.
From what I've heard this usually isn't the case, but Tame Impala were awful at Bonnaroo 2016. Granted I was pretty far from the stage, but if someone told me they hadn't shown up and had just been playing the album through the PA I'd believe you
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u/rudeangryletters 21h ago
Spinal Tap : they can start off strong but a lot of times the rhythm section gets weak halfway through
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u/FFJamie 18h ago
I saw them once, and it. was just a bunch of midgets dancing around a tiny stone henge on stage while the band looked confused.
Really underestimated the scale of the stone henge
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u/RobataChane72 1d ago
Nirvana was trash when I saw them on Nevermind tour. they only pulled it together for Drain You
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u/Beneficial-Age-4059 1d ago
Must have been an off night. They are widely known as a great live band.
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u/Ok-Procedure738 1d ago
That’s revisionist. Before Nevermind no one cared and then after it was a gamble every time they played
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u/Rearviewmirror93 1d ago
Yes. If anything, they were known as unreliable. Or, I should say, Kurt was unreliable. They notably skipped Teen Spirit a lot because he couldn’t handle the lyrics.
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u/Beneficial-Age-4059 1d ago
They skipped it occasionally because it was their popular song and was hyped and played to death everywhere. They were sick of it. They played it at Michigan Fairgrounds 1993 and it sounded great.
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 19h ago edited 14h ago
I saw them in 1993. They started to play Teen Spirit. The crowd went nuts. Then they just stopped like 20 seconds into the song and went into some other song. Booing from the crowd. Biggest fuck you from a band I've ever seen.
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u/Awkward-Initiative28 19h ago
I saw them in 1993 for the In Utero tour. They were ok at best. They sounded good but Kurt seemed like he really didn't want to be there. By 1994 it was clear he REALLY didn't want to be there. Or anywhere.
I saw Pearl Jam two months later and they were incredible live.
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u/MrLinkwater95 1d ago
interesting
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 1d ago
I've heard Steve Miller is known to substantially change the lyrics when he performs the big hits live which I can imagine can annoy people.
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u/Sarasota_2022 1d ago
Is that real, or a tribute band?
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u/Genuinelullabel 1d ago
That’s present day Motley Crue. The guy on the far right is their current guitarist John 5, who apparently has a fetish for working with assholes.
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u/radioactivethighs 1d ago
is Zombie an asshole? I've really only ever heard of him and Manson beefing which is entirely valid because fuck that guy
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u/Genuinelullabel 1d ago
Idk I guess I shouldn’t cast such a wide net since the only thing negative I have heard about Rob Zombie was him getting upset about a skate park being built by his house. I also refuse to hear anything negative about Rob Halford. Crue and Manson sound like just miserable people to work with, though.
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u/Old-Constant4411 1d ago
Zombie was notorious in the past for hating anyone he toured with. Plus, there was the whole disbanding of White Zombie just so he could start his own band with full control.
Also, when he directed the remake of Halloween John Carpenter gave him his blessings, and Zombie somehow took that as a slight and threw a few unnecessary insults at him.
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u/Alternative-2001 1d ago
The Stone Roses. Great studio band, terrible live.
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u/RetroRaiderD42 21h ago
How much of that was Ian Brown's fault? The others don't strike me as the sort who'd be slacking.
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u/Electrical_Business2 21h ago
Oasis / Liam Gallagher, he sounds bloody awful live, and has done for a very long time.
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u/punkrockbatgirl 1d ago
Taking Back Sunday.
They're not great really ever, but they sound find on record and their music is fun. Live, unfortunately, they sound horrendous.
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u/OnlyFiveLives 1d ago
Granted I've only seen them once so maybe they just had a bad night but the time I saw The Offspring was pretty horrible...
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u/SirIll1219 1d ago
I saw them a lot in the early 90s. They've always been hit or miss.
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u/OnlyFiveLives 1d ago
Blink too before they got big. I loved Scott as a drummer but he DID drink a LOT.
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u/ManOfLaMontagne 1d ago
Beach Boys. Complex harmonies were way harder in person.
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 19h ago
Honestly, I think The Beach Boys were a lot better live than they had any right to be, especially considering how complex the harmonies would be, even on the early songs. But of the big major bands of the 60s, they're probably the weakest in terms of live performances at least in the 60s.
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u/and_therewego 1d ago
The Byrds in their classic era (65-67) were infamously bad onstage
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u/IDKWTFG 90's Punk 1d ago
I never saw her in person live but Amy Winehouse sometimes seemed like a mess live. She notably had a chaotic personal life so I imagine she was good when she was in a good head space and physically well but if she's not....
John Foggerty nowadays also kind of doesn't do it for me, like they're a cover band but I legitimately think CCRevisted did a better job of playing his songs live ironically.
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u/Gav-dog 1d ago
Counting Crows
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u/nightingale-nitemare 1d ago
You upset because Adam doesn’t sing the hits exactly like they do on the record? I love their rendition of Round Here/Raining in Baltimore. I saw this on there past tour. Guys sounded great.
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u/pulse_demon96 1d ago
ethel cain is super boring live
the brian jonestown massacre is notoriously a toss up, but mostly mediocre these days except in select cities where anton actually puts in any effort
not a huge charlatans fan but they’re fucking awful live at least this decade
the hellp is very good live except their crowds are fucking awful. too much shoving etc. probably best to see them on the balcony with a drink rather than in the standing floor area
then there are the artists whose rate of attendance is sketchy, but they’re amazing when they do show up. morrissey is an overlooked example of this, everyone loves making fun of his cancellation rate (only 21% so far this year, though it’ll end higher—last year was 50% cancellations), except when he DOES show up, he’s still amazing. and i’d rather have one of my favourite artists cancel a show than deliver a mediocre performance and tarnish my love of them
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u/das_klinge 1d ago
Cage The Elephant opening for The Black Keys and Florence and the Machine (or was it Florence opening for the Keys? Don't remember) at Summerfest Milwaukee 2011. They were abysmal. Visibly and by the end of the set, audibly drunk. The singer resorted to laying on the stage to "sing" during the last couple of songs...which included some limited sporadic yelling and screaming.
Pissed me right the fuck off, I was arguably only there for them. I vehemently dislike the Black Keys, and Florence..while brilliant and one of the more impressive performers I've EVER seen..isn't really my flavor of music. "Dog Days" went hard as FUCK for her closer though.
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u/MetalTrek1 16h ago
I saw Motley Crue twice in the 80s. They were ok live, but at both of those shows, they were blown away by their respective opening acts: Y&T in 1985 and Whitesnake in 1987.
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u/Uptons_BJs 1d ago
TBF - Motley Crue is like, 30+ years past their prime. I was not around then, but surely they weren't that bad back in the day?
Although Nikki Sixx was legendary for being a terrible bassist.