ever given up on an artist after hearing them live?

DigginDiggin 319 Posts
edited March 2011 in Strut Central
Somewhat related to meeting artists. There have been a few times where I have been so disappointed in a live performance that I stopped listening to the artist's records (at least for a while).

A few comes to mind:

Roy Ayers - there's something about electronic pads for vibes that just rubs me the wrong way (and the rest of the band was also crap, weak keyboard rhodes sounds for days)

James Blake (jan 2011): snoozefest

Gil Scott-Heron: another artist guilty of "modern" sounds.

There are probably quite few hip-hop acts too but I can't come up with any names right now...

  Comments


  • pcmrpcmr 5,591 Posts
    i just give up on their live show not their past work

    my girl gave up on lauryn hill though

  • barjesusbarjesus 872 Posts
    pcmr said:
    i just give up on their live show not their past work


    This. I saw War in the 90's, with very few original members, and it was horribly dull. They were knocked out the box by the opener, Average White Band (who killed it). I still like War recordings, but this event may have swayed my opinion towards Mandrill in that great debate.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I saw It's A Beautiful Day a couple of years after they had a hit with White Bird.
    The group was fronted by husband and wife David and Linda LaFlame.
    I guess they were going through a divorce.
    They had their back to each other and were trying to shoulder each other off the stage the whole show.
    Awful.
    Plus they only had the one good song, so no loss.
    They opened for Elephants Memory who were even worse.

    Also, James White and the Blacks who I had the misfortune of seeing at the height of his popularity.

  • i'm done with slick rick. saw hima few nights ago and he just stood in one place without moving and performed. no energy,no show,boring. he's a cool guy,i've met him a few times and have seen him perform many many times since he first started in the 80's but i left after 15 minutes of this show.

  • edulusedulus 421 Posts
    MF Doom

    i was at a show that i think the MAN noz organized at GW. the sound levels were so wack that it was physically painful to my ear drums.

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Bardo Pond
    Kool Keith
    Acid Mothers Temple

  • DJ_WubWubDJ_WubWub 874 Posts
    I saw New Order In Melbourne in 1985 as a 15 yr old, without a doubt the dullest band i have ever seen, no emotion no stage presence etc. Kinda lost interest in them after that.

  • BeatnicholasBeatnicholas 1,005 Posts
    Diggin said:
    James Blake (jan 2011): snoozefest

    where did you see him play? i've seen him 3 times live recently and each time he sounded like the record, except live. I can't fathom why you would not like the live show if you like the record.

  • BeatnicholasBeatnicholas 1,005 Posts
    edulus said:
    MF Doom

    i was at a show that i think the MAN noz organized at GW. the sound levels were so wack that it was physically painful to my ear drums.

    he sounded astonishingly bad live over here - something really, really awful going on there with the sound.

  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,390 Posts
    De La Soul. Just shouting YO YO YO over the records for 45 minutes doesn't so much constitute a show as a mugging.

  • Fred_GarvinFred_Garvin The land of wind and ghosts 337 Posts
    I'm going to go against the grain of the thread and mention an opposite experience. Saw the Dazz Band live about 12 years ago and they sounded 10 times better than on any album. I've never seen that happen with anyone else. Still scratching my head about it.

  • dj_cityboydj_cityboy 1,459 Posts
    Flomotion said:
    De La Soul. Just shouting YO YO YO over the records for 45 minutes doesn't so much constitute a show as a mugging.

    yeah same thing here, i saw them last year at the Jazz Festival here, Posdnuos wasnt present due to some health related issues and they spent a lot of time spitting yo! yo! yo! over the mic, glad i didnt pay to get into the venue..

  • escoeescoe 113 Posts
    cuthbert151 said:
    i'm done with slick rick. saw hima few nights ago and he just stood in one place without moving and performed. no energy,no show,boring. he's a cool guy,i've met him a few times and have seen him perform many many times since he first started in the 80's but i left after 15 minutes of this show.
    damn that hurts to read. he's still on my list to see before i die.

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    DJ_WubWub said:
    I saw New Order In Melbourne in 1985 as a 15 yr old, without a doubt the dullest band i have ever seen, no emotion no stage presence etc. Kinda lost interest in them after that.

    I saw them at Astroworld summer '89 and it was one of the funnest days of my life!

  • jleejlee 1,539 Posts
    pcmr said:
    i just give up on their live show not their past work

    ^^^
    this.

    saw fugazi back in the early 00's back in Austin right after The Argument came out. Show was crazy sold out, crazy annoying people there and Ian was talking enough shit ( a little holier than thou, shitting on kids for getting hype at the show) to kinda dampen the overall mood. I left like midway through the set with little remorse.

    i'd seen them a handful of time before with not much incident, and i still love the band and their work. but i doubt i'll be trying to catch any sold out reunion shows down the line.

  • escoe said:
    cuthbert151 said:
    i'm done with slick rick. saw hima few nights ago and he just stood in one place without moving and performed. no energy,no show,boring. he's a cool guy,i've met him a few times and have seen him perform many many times since he first started in the 80's but i left after 15 minutes of this show.
    damn that hurts to read. he's still on my list to see before i die.

    if you have never seen him i would still check him out,i'm just saying that i've seen him many times and he just seems like he has ran out of gas. it hurts me as well.

  • jlee said:
    Ian was talking enough shit ( a little holier than thou, shitting on kids for getting hype at the show) to kinda dampen the overall mood..

    that's his shtick. i have been to several shows of theirs where he stops mid-song to berate crowd surfers and eject folks who aren't behaving.

    when they played my home town when i was a kid in support of maybe repeater or 13 songs, the whole band went to the after-party at someone's house and ian mackye held court there in a barka lounger all night discussing the evils of drugs and alcohol as everybody else proceeded to get wasted.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Fred_Garvin said:
    I'm going to go against the grain of the thread and mention an opposite experience. Saw the Dazz Band live about 12 years ago and they sounded 10 times better than on any album. I've never seen that happen with anyone else. Still scratching my head about it.

    At some point they brought in Nate Phillips and Marlon McLain and other members of Pleasure.
    Was that the group you saw?
    Would explain why they were so good.

    You are also likely to see Nate and Marlon if you see a Crusaders reunion.

  • jleejlee 1,539 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    jlee said:
    Ian was talking enough shit ( a little holier than thou, shitting on kids for getting hype at the show) to kinda dampen the overall mood..

    that's his shtick. i have been to several shows of theirs where he stops mid-song to berate crowd surfers and eject folks who aren't behaving.

    when they played my home town when i was a kid in support of maybe repeater or 13 songs, the whole band went to the after-party at someone's house and ian mackye held court there in a barka lounger all night discussing the evils of drugs and alcohol as everybody else proceeded to get wasted.

    yeah, i've seen it before, and have even heard of more stuff he does (or doesn't do). i guess after seeing them a half dozen times though, it finally wore off on me. having a good anti-drug/moshpit ethos is fine, but after a while it kinda just ruins the show itself.

  • Went to a venue in Oakland in '94 or '95 with The Fugees and Nas as a headliner. Fugees had their 12's out at the time and surprisingly, rocked it with Clef on the guitar and Lauren with her (then) raw voice/talent. And Pras was, well, Pras. In my opinion, they followed up nicely with The Score a year or two later.

    That said, Nas came on and just stood there hella weeded out and did like 5 songs and bounced.

    And about De La, I saw them numerous times in the mid-late 90s and early 00s and they rocked it every time. I thought they had the crowd rockin for days with their stage presence.

    I saw Mos Def and Kweli in Oakland last year and that was a bit boring. Maybe cuz it was in a big venue- which doesn't do anything for me anyway.
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