Best and worst concert you’ve ever been to?

[Kthxbye]

Best was Rammstein. Absolutely incredible gig. The whole thing was pure theatre. They came in from the back of the venue and walked onto the stage via a bridge over the crowd, then halfway through moved to a smaller stage just under the seating area so everyone up there got to see them. Never been to a gig like it.

Worst was Aerosmith, that was mainly due to bad acoustics at the venue but not helped by a band who barely spoke and just seemed to be going through the motions.

Was that the 2012 Rammstein Liebe Is Fur Alle Da tour by any chance? I saw them 3 nights on the trot on that tour!


Worst - Bob Dylan (so boring), Morrissey (also boring) and the first time I saw Metallica (the other times have been spectacular, so must have just hit on a bad day!)

Best - probably any time I have seen Devin Townsend, Dimmu Borgir at Leeds Cockpit, or the week in 2011 where we went to 8 gigs in 9 days, across 4 cities... that was amazing.
5 of those gigs were Devin Townsend, one of them was in a church in London, filled with candles, with a few hundred metal heads sat drinking tea and listening to pan pipes and flutes. It was surreal and amazing

 

[Eureka]

Was that the 2012 Rammstein Liebe Is Fur Alle Da tour by any chance? I saw them 3 nights on the trot on that tour!


Worst - Bob Dylan (so boring), Morrissey (also boring) and the first time I saw Metallica (the other times have been spectacular, so must have just hit on a bad day!)

Best - probably any time I have seen Devin Townsend, Dimmu Borgir at Leeds Cockpit, or the week in 2011 where we went to 8 gigs in 9 days, across 4 cities... that was amazing

That’s the one. Had the giant penis at the end?

 

[Kthxbye]

I have a few worsts for similar reasons, douchey leads and Eurovision-level performances:

1. Angels & Airwaves at Reading. I loved Blink 182 so watching Tom DeLonge stumble on stage, blitzed out of his mind and telling the crowd off because HE kept forgetting his own songs was something. Especially watching two of his bandmates trying to take cover from missiles behind the drummer, there not being enough space and one shoving the other out.

2. Trigger Warning for emos: 30 Seconds to Mars at Brixton. There was some half hearted inexplicable artsy stuff (like some cellists for a song and then a couple of groupies dressed up like ballet dancers gurning for another). Leto was average and really while the house came down for The Kill, it was creepy watching him lean into a group of clearly underage girls while screaming it.

3. Kiss at Download. Boring and mechanical. Really disappointing especially when younger bands like Rise Against were so amazing.

Best: Apocalypta at Download - there’s nothing like heavy metal on cellos. The lead singer from Within Temptation came in for a bit and it was so cool.

Also loved Dragonforce live at Hammersmith Apollo - just the energy and the technical skills was fun, especially when someone threw a shoe onstage and the lead singer picked it up and put it under one of his guitarist’s nose, who then run away (without breaking his riffs) while chased by the lead cackling like a little boy with dog poo on a stick.

Oh god yes I was at that Download - Apocalyptica are incredible. I've got tickets for the Within Temptation / Evanescence World's Collide tour - don't know if I'll ever get to see it though

That’s the one. Had the giant penis at the end?

Yep!

 

[Emperor]

I always feel sad when I see Metallica's live appearances now (not 'there' live but recorded) as James's voice seems to have gone. I got 'Live tit Binge and Purge' when it first came out and the video (remember them?) from Seattle '89 was unbelievable. However, like you said, a few people I know who have seen them relatively recently said how good it was.

Very jealous that you have seen Dimmu Borgir live!

 

[rivermonster]

In the 60's saw all the Motown greats at Mojo in Sheffield . Then lots like Stones, Hollies, Kinks and Georgie Fame etc but the worst was the Beatles, they were awful when they played in Nottingham. Maybe the venue but the sound was dreadful and me and my mate left and went to the pub.
Best ever was Queen in Birmingham a couple of years before F Mercury died.
Biggest surprise was Westlife - I have always liked their music but thought it maybe all manufactured so went on my own to a concert and absolutely loved it and still go on my own when I can get a ticket, easier when it is a single. Hubby takes me and waits in the pub.

 

[Crazycatlady18]

I’m the kinda person that if there’s a ticket going I’ll go. Which means I’ve seen a lot of bands I only know about 1 song to
Best - Muse!! seen them a few times always put on a great show!
spice girls reunion 2019 took me back to being 10 years old loved it
Dolly Parton is just amazing. Gave me goose bumps, he’s an incredible singer, and very small
Bastille surprised me really enjoyed them.

Worst - sex pistols. I’ve never felt so out of place in all my life it was disgusting, I went and stood at the back and couldn’t wait to leave!!
All saints in the 90s were shite, couldn’t sing at all.
iron maiden. Got bored. Didn’t really know many songs

 

[Croc]

Best Muse, another that's seen them a few times. Always get your moneys worth cos their tickets aren't that pricey. I only paid 35 quid for back of stage tickets a couple of years ago at the O2 Greenwich and it was a great view cos Matt and Chris kept coming round and playing to the back.

Also saw the Four Tops in 1981, great night, lots of singing and dancing.

Chas and Dave was always a good night too.

Worst, cant really think of anyone who was terrible but the Blow Monkeys, why did I do it?

 

[narcosaurus rex]

Worst was probably Rihanna or 1D after Zayn left. Left both concerts early and I'm a huge Rihanna fan.

Best: ill be honest I've seen JLS 3 times and they were great entertainment

Ed sheeran and McBusted were awesome, much better than I anticipated

Also, Florence and the machine at Radio 1 BW were something else! The atmosphere was amazing.

I've never seen Rihanna live, although I do like her music, and have done since the very beginning. But I get the impression that she would be terrible live from the recordings I've seen. She just seems so lazy and sloppy. Every other sentence she tries to get the crowd to sing. She doesn't really dance properly either. It's almost like because she knows she not that good at either singing or dancing, she doesn't really try.

 

[Aliceinherpalace]

When I saw Rihanna she was about 45 mins late on stage and everyone was stamping their feet in annoyance

 

[Clairer86]

In the 60's saw all the Motown greats at Mojo in Sheffield . Then lots like Stones, Hollies, Kinks and Georgie Fame etc but the worst was the Beatles, they were awful when they played in Nottingham. Maybe the venue but the sound was dreadful and me and my mate left and went to the pub.
Best ever was Queen in Birmingham a couple of years before F Mercury died.
Biggest surprise was Westlife - I have always liked their music but thought it maybe all manufactured so went on my own to a concert and absolutely loved it and still go on my own when I can get a ticket, easier when it is a single. Hubby takes me and waits in the pub.

I LOVE you saw all those bands in the 60's. I was born in the wrong era because ive always loved 60's and 70's music- thanks to my mum and dad.

My dad was a scouser and around the time of the Beatles and he always said how tit they were live. He also said until the day he died that there were much better bands in Liverpool than the Beatles.... But he had a bit of a soft spot for George Harrison as they were family friends, and my dad being the proud working class/union type man/socialist/scouser used to say George was the only working class Beatle, and hated how John Lennon was described as a working class hero!
I have seen Queen- if you can count me being in my mums tummy as she was heavily pregnant in July 1986 with me when she saw them

Was that the 2012 Rammstein Liebe Is Fur Alle Da tour by any chance? I saw them 3 nights on the trot on that tour!


Worst - Bob Dylan (so boring), Morrissey (also boring) and the first time I saw Metallica (the other times have been spectacular, so must have just hit on a bad day!)

Best - probably any time I have seen Devin Townsend, Dimmu Borgir at Leeds Cockpit, or the week in 2011 where we went to 8 gigs in 9 days, across 4 cities... that was amazing.
5 of those gigs were Devin Townsend, one of them was in a church in London, filled with candles, with a few hundred metal heads sat drinking tea and listening to pan pipes and flutes. It was surreal and amazing

I love Bob Dylan, my son is called Dylan after Bob Dylan, and he is my hero. But his concert is the worst ive ever been to. No one could understand a word he was singing, and his voice has turned to tit now. There was a busker outside who sang Dylan stuff and he was amazing! The busker sounded more like Dylan than Dylan did himself!

I wish i was around in the 60's to see Dylan when he first went electric, or in the mid 70's when he did Rolling Thunder Revue. That is Dylan at his best.

 

[bolimepipi]

best: by far the best was the cure at inmusic festival in zagreb. robert smith was just unbelievable. something happened with the sound system during 'a night like this' and the crowd sang the entire song, we could see that he sang with us. at the end he was waving at everyone and was smiling so much it made me cry, i could cry now just thinking about it :') he said on bbc radio afterwards that it was one of his favorite gigs ever :')

i have to do a few honorable mentions: depeche mode, prodigy, PVRIS, johnny marr, she past away, garbage and suede were all great!

worst: the hives!! 90% talking 10% performing, they bored us to death, the crowd was shouting at them to get off the stage!

for the follow up question, musicians i had wanted to see but now can't: i will never get over the fact i won't see chester/linkin park live

for the ones i'm still able to see, the top of my wishlist is definitely rammstein because their concerts just look incredible, and empathy test!

 

[Deepsigh2018]

Best Beyonce she was amazing, I was dancing through the whole concert. I saw Kanye West at a concert and he was really good, interacted with the crowd it was a great show. Take that were also great performers im not really a fan of there's and only went to keep my friend company but they were great.

Worst Justin Timberlake the concert wasn't bad and I did enjoy it, it just wasn't high energy. I spent the whole concert just sitting down and it did start to feel like it was dragging. His performance of mirrors was amazing though.

 

[Sally1993]

Best -Oasis @ Wembley just before they split.
2nd best - Coldplay @ Emirates Stadium.

Worst - Katy Perry @ O2 - she is the MOST annoying person and her voice made me cringe.

 

[TinyDancer2602]

Oh flip yeah I saw Oasis at Slane Castle in 2009! Totally forgot!! Would love to see them again but Kylie is still my front runner for showmanship!

 

[CocoLoco2]

My best is 100% Post Malone - he is AMAZING live. Followed by Rihanna & Nicki Minaj

My worst concert has to be XFactor we had tickets for the Michael Jackson tour and then he died and some reason ended up getting these instead. The night was really good but poor choice

 

[Glaschelle]

I've seen lots of different - but maybe not cool - people. Rod Stewart is still a fantastic turn. Robbie was brilliant back in the day.

A couple of years back, I saw Neil Diamond, Fleetwood Mac and Bette Midler in the space of a week. Bette was superb - a dream come true to see her live.

I saw Roger Waters a couple of years ago. I've never seen a show like it - very little interaction with the crowd till near the end but the flying pigs, battersea power station and incredible music made for a fantastic night. And I won the tickets so it was free.

I'll also give a special mention to Michael Buble. I wasn't a big fan but my mum loves him. But he knows how to work a crowd. The way he talked about his family, wife and granddad, you'd have needed a heart of stone not to warm to him.

Worst shows - I wouldn't say worse but most disappointing were Kenny Rogers - his voice had gone and he could hardly walk. I felt he was being exploited.

And Elton John - it was the Piano Man Tour with Billy Joel. Now I'm a big Billy Joel fan so it was a bit of an anticlimax when Elton turned up. I just couldn't see how this guy was meant to have invented stadium rock, he just didn't do it for me. I won those tickets was well

Oh for the days of a live show

 

[Clairer86]

I've seen lots of different - but maybe not cool - people. Rod Stewart is still a fantastic turn. Robbie was brilliant back in the day.

A couple of years back, I saw Neil Diamond, Fleetwood Mac and Bette Midler in the space of a week. Bette was superb - a dream come true to see her live.

I saw Roger Waters a couple of years ago. I've never seen a show like it - very little interaction with the crowd till near the end but the flying pigs, battersea power station and incredible music made for a fantastic night. And I won the tickets so it was free.

I'll also give a special mention to Michael Buble. I wasn't a big fan but my mum loves him. But he knows how to work a crowd. The way he talked about his family, wife and granddad, you'd have needed a heart of stone not to warm to him.

Worst shows - I wouldn't say worse but most disappointing were Kenny Rogers - his voice had gone and he could hardly walk. I felt he was being exploited.

And Elton John - it was the Piano Man Tour with Billy Joel. Now I'm a big Billy Joel fan so it was a bit of an anticlimax when Elton turned up. I just couldn't see how this guy was meant to have invented stadium rock, he just didn't do it for me. I won those tickets was well

Oh for the days of a live show

Awww Neil Diamond . I loved him at glastonbury! That was one of my highlights from the 2008 festival. His live concert album Hot August night 1972 is one my favourite albums of all time and i would have loved to have been around then to see him live!

 

[MrsM19]

Best: John Mayer on his birthday in 2019 and The Strokes The New Abnormal Tour 2020 - just before the lockdown.

Worst: Kodaline opening for Snow Patrol. Steve didn't even bothered to introduce the band.

 

[tortfeasor]

Best: Prince. I picked a date at random out of his 21 nights at the O2 and the set lists were switched up every gig. He opened with Let’s Go Crazy and then immediately after that 1999. I knew I’d struck the jackpot - here’s the set list. https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/prince/2007/the-o2-arena-london-england-73d5d60d.html);
George Michael - Earl’s Court 2006 and The Symphonica Tour 2012;
Fleetwood Mac - 2013 tour and On With The Show Tour 2015;
Paul McCartney - 2010
Michael Jackson - Dangerous Tour 1992;
Madonna - Girlie Show Tour 1993; Reinvention Tour 2004; Sticky & Sweet Tour - opening show in Cardiff, 2008; Rebel Heart Tour 2015; Madame X Tour 2020;
Hall & Oates - Blues Fest 2017 (supported by Chris Isaak, who was excellent);
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - 2018;
Luther Vandross - 2002 (sadly turned out to be his final tour);
Paul Weller - 2000 and 2014;
Bananarama - The Original Line-Up Tour 2017;


Worst: UB40 in the late 90s because the sound was horrendous. I saw them a few years later in the same venue on what turned out to be the last tour before the big split and the sound was spot on.

Fleetwood Mac at Wembley Stadium 2019. Let down by really bad sound problems, which hit the headlines. People around us left midway through the concert. It sounded like some of the speakers were a couple of seconds behind the rest so you got this out of sync echo effect, which wrecked a lot of songs. I’ll never go to a gig at Wembley again.

 

[WillowMulberry]

Best: Garbage.

I’ve seen them a fair bit and have always had a fantastic time but the shows I went to when they did the 20th anniversary tour for Version 2.0 blew me away. Getting to see all the songs from the album along with the B-Sides played live was incredible, especially as it’s my favourite album by them.

Nice bonus about them: They’re really good to their fans. At one of the shows, barriers were set up before they arrived and they signed as many things as they could and took photos with as many of us as possible. I was lucky enough to get my Version 2.0 album booklet signed by all of them.

Also briefly met Shirley Manson the day before and I was so starstruck after. She was lovely, though.

Honourable mentions: Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Cher, Lady Gaga, Within Temptation, and others I know I’m forgetting.

Worst: Paul Young opening for Cher. The sound was awful and he said “I know you’re not here to see me.”, which really didn’t help. My mother felt extremely sorry for him.

Even the DJ got a far better reception than Paul.

Want to see: Kate Bush (I’m still heartbroken I couldn’t get tickets for her Before The Dawn shows), Dolly Parton, Devin Townsend (got tickets for one of his shows next year, though!), Portishead.