late, delayed, and/or cancelled concerts - your stories here

also at OFWKTA a kid behind me saw my Wu-Tang shirt and said "wow Wu-Tang, that was all the way back in the 90s", so I was basically ready to kill anybody in their 20s already before lights went down

oh and duh, I saw ATCQ in 2006 and that was incredible

I was pretty pissed a few years ago for the Decibel tour in NYC (Irving Plaza), which I flew up to see, I was primarily there for Khemmis, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Enslaved, but was really vibing on Khemmis in the weeks prior.

The event page actually was kind enough to list the set times and Myrkur was on first. I wasn't intentionally out to miss her, but I realized the tickets weren't mobile and I needed to print them out, so I had to find a FedEx Office quickly, which meant I was running behind, but I didn't care as I was missing Myrkur's set (or so I thought) and I didn't really know her music.

so I get it done, and I'm getting to the venue, and my heart sinks when 30 minutes into what's supposed to be Myrkur's set, I hear what is obviously Khemmis. they switched slots with zero warning on the event page (really confusing as the post confirming each band's set time had been posted like...merely two hours earlier).

still haven't seen them since. oh well. Wolves and Enslaved were great.

Peter Murphy also infuriated Orlando last year when in February, fans found out only after they'd sat through two opening acts that Peter had bowed out of the show due to pain, so he scheduled a make-up show. Fans showed up, the opening act (Sine) played, and then the announcement was again made that Peter could not perform due to pain. However, David J and his backing band were there and did a Bauhaus set, but refunds were still given.

the vitriol seemed a bit premature, especially when Peter suffered a heart attack months later, insinuating maybe he wasn't faking the pain like Orlandolts thought

Lemonheads story is so brutal

yeah wtf Dando

that dude's concert was cancelled, that's for sure.

lol he's kinda made for this thread

https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/10/10/its-a-shame-about-nostalgia-the-lemonheads-leave-a-sour-taste-at-the-bowery/

(writer kinda seems nasty too though)

lol

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/mystery-surrounds-rocker-evan-dandos-new-zealand-no-show/3JMFDWXLAPET5OQJJEB2LZLWA4/

Some good ones I remember. I saw the Beta Band at ... the peak of whenever anyone cared about the Beta Band. Right before they went on some local construction caused the venue's power to go out and, when it became apparent it was not coming back, they lit a bunch of candles and the band came out to do an acoustic set.

There was a fire alarm when I saw Suicide, and everyone had to evacuate the venue midset. After the all clear we all went back in and the band picked up right where it left off.

I saw Garbage open for U2, and in the middle of the set an amp blew up and while it was getting changed out the band (well, Shirley), led the crowd in Beatles sing-a-longs.

Similarly, I saw the Killers open for Morrissey in a tiny venue, and some time during their set an amp literally burst into flames and stopped the show for a bit.

Del the Funkee Homosapien I saw go on once at 2am, for not that long, which is bullshit. Similar bullshit was Kool Keith, who when I saw him played maybe 20 minutes or so before leaving, leading to angry booing until he came out to play a couple of more songs.

I saw Nine Inch Nails once and clearly the onstage monitors were working but the house PA was not. So for about a whole song or so Trent and crew were doing their intense thing, but to us in the crowd it almost looked like pantomime. Once he learned what was going on he looked super pissed. The band left for a while, and when they came back I could have sworn at least one of them had a bloody nose, and they launched right into "Wish."

lol at pantomime NiN

xp Interesting catalog of technical difficulties. When I saw Shania Twain at the Staples Center, there was an explosion down the street mid-show that knocked out power at the venue. Emergency house lights came up quickly, but not the sound system; Shania had to mark time for a while.

when I saw Terrorizer play at the Brass Mug, the set was temporarily disrupted for a half hour because none other than internet celebrity Balloon Boy and his brothers were at the show, and Balloon Boy got so excited during their set that he took a flying leap and dislodged the huge, expensive PA speaker and knocked it over onto the stage, which send cords a flying and some things broke. took a while for them to get it remounted and set back up.

was to see the Karl Hendricks Trio at galaxy hut in arlington, virginia, but their van broke down and somehow i never managed to see them again before karl died

I don’t know if it was a typo or mockery but years ago I saw the phrase “evan lando of demonheads” and I can’t think of him any other way

massive lols at NiN

I'm sad that the visual in my head is probably funnier than what actually transpired

Showed up to see Roger waters doing the wall a few hours early to the sounds of announcements over the PA saying “the Roger waters show starts promptly at 8...” it started at like 10

I've never seen a hip-hop act come out on time or give a good show. And I've tried upwards of a dozen times. Truly wasn't trying to be a racist ass, just my experience.

I saw Iron Maiden at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC in 2003 - instead of doing their usual massive arena tour, they were doing just a few small theater gigs in the US, including a scheduled four nights at Hammerstein. On the second night, the show I went to, some asshole threw a full cup of beer off the balcony...which landed on/in the soundboard. Good night, New York! (Supposedly the first and third nights went OK, but the fourth was cancelled because it had been double booked by mistake.)

I should say: I'm really glad other people haven't had my bad luck!

The Lemonheads were my first ever concert in 1992 and they were great!

The rockist in me wants to agree about live hip-hop, or at least hip-hop performed by anything other than a full band, a la the Roots or even Black Eyed Peas (who were honestly awesome the one time I saw them live), but thinking back I've seen far too many incredible hip-hop shows over the years, as recently as the final Tribe Called Quest show. Granted, I've seen more than my share of hoarse screaming over shitty backing tracks, too, and perhaps more of that with rap than with whatever the rock equivalent might be, but I wonder if that's just inexperience or technical ineptitude at work. I have a friend who did sound for Cappadonna once, and Cap kept stopping the show, pointing at his mic, and yelling "yo, turn that shit up!" Eventually my friend pointed to the board and gave him a thumbs up, he does a couple of "check, check"s, and then, satisfied, shouts "that's what I'm talking about!" Of course, nothing had really changed, but it made him happy.

Pro-tip: whenever a singer, especially an experienced one, starts blaming the mic, it's almost always the singer's fault. I once saw Motley Crue, and Vince Neil kept pointing to the mic and shaking his head, and I thought to myself, no, dude, it's you. *You* sound like shit. My friend recalls a time he saw Janet Jackson perform on the Grammy's or some big TV gig, and as she starts singing she does the "point to the mic" thing. As my friend points out, there is no way she had less than the best audio and tech and sound guys money can buy for one of these big award shows. No one else was having a problem. She probably just missed or skipped the sound check or something, because better or at least more confident singers can better deal with shit on the fly. I've seen far too many people seamlessly swap out a mic or correct a problem without ever bringing real attention to it.

My friend likes to tell me about an infamous Offspring show he saw here on some bill. Someone threw a bottle or shoe or something onto the stage, and the idiot singer goaded the crowd on with an "is that the best you can do!?!" And the crowd proceeded to belt the Offspring with everything and anything that wasn't nailed down: bottles, grass clumps, etc., until the band had to leave the stage early.

He coulda done what Cobain did with hurled shoes

http://www.alternativenation.net/dave-grohl-reveals-kurt-cobain-peed-little-girl-shoe/

At my first ever concert in 1982 the B-52's - opening for The Who - got pelted with beer cups and left the stage after about 20 min. The tour was sponsored by Schlitz so that must have been the beer the B-52's wound up stinking of. I've seen two aborted RHCP shows, one in '86 when about 30 min in the show was halted by the venue, apparently due to the frenzied-ness of the crowd; the second an outdoor show in '87 which was terminated about halfway through because of noise regulations.

Saw a (very good) local NYC band break up onstage after a squabble.

I read a review of a live Nine Inch Nails show circa Downward Spiral and the critic described it as “what your grandparents think a rock show looks like” so I’m enjoying the image conjured by that, and silent to boot.

I once saw Motley Crue, and Vince Neil kept pointing to the mic and shaking his head, and I thought to myself, no, dude, it's you. *You* sound like shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vofNwO1u0mw

that's the best motley crue song i've ever heard.

Big Mac.$1.03

Atari Teenage Riot missed their flight, so we wandered around reciting Black Flag lyrics

(To clarify, ATR missed their flight as Carl Crack was arrested for trying to open a fire exit door during take off and attacking a stewardess)

I saw the Janes Addiction show at the ICA in the late 80s. They used so much dry ice they set off all the fire alarms in the venue. People had to go out into the snowy Mall for a while until they could be switched off properly. I think they did play the rest of the show though.

lol that sounds very them

mr veg said he heard from friends working Warfield show that the reason they went on so late is that Perry wouldnt go on stage because it was the jewish sabbath (bc of his whole obsession w Kabbalah)

Another for the Power Went Out edition: Stereolab/Broadcast in Kilburn, 1996, the power went out during Broadcast's set and they were frozen on stage for a short time. A real deer-in-the-headlights moment for them, they looked really lost up there. Fortunately the power wasn't outfor long.

Someone told me once they saw the same thing happen to Bon Jovi (when they were still in smaller venues). Jon Bon whipped an acoustic out and led the crowd in a singalong of Hey Jude or something to salvage the show. Easier to do that kind of thing when you're playing cheese-mongering stadium slop I suppose.

The same friend that did sound for Cappadonna also told me about an Atari Teenage Riot show blowing a fuse or something, and plunging the amped up crowd into total darkness for several minutes.

I once had tickets to some show on the night of a blizzard. The venue (same as above, come to think of it) was not answering the phone so I figured, well, I'll give it a shot. I walked 20 minutes there in the blizzard only to find the lights off and so much snow piled up against the loading bay that no band was getting in. I guess that's why they didn't answer their phone.

Have heard the story of the near miss Neubauten show where one of them was drilling into a wall in a venue not realising the power supply source was right behind it but luckily stopped in time.

My wife’s grandmother had tickets to go see Hank Williams at the Canton Palace Theater, but he died on the way to the concert.

Still no excuse for not performing

I believe Hank had his hologram perform in his stead.

If we're including shows that went on despite technical difficulties, Parliament-Funkadelic in 2015 kept the show going stage-right while stage-left a group of roadies were fixing a troublesome bass amp.

In 2013, Carl Newman of New Pornographers had some trouble with his guitar and was left dancing awkwardly and doing background vocals for a couple of songs. He compared himself to Bez of the Happy Mondays.

He compared himself to Bez of the Happy Mondays.

HERESY

I went to see Mr. Bungle in Orlando in 1999 and doors were delayed as we all stood outside until they got the sound right. After they opened doors it was too late for the opener to go on, so it was just Bungle. I don't remember caring at the time, but that band who didn't perform? Calculating Infinity era Dillinger Escape Plan

i saw metallica a few years ago at mile high stadium in denver and the show was interrupted for like an hour because of lightning. they kind of had no choice but play part of 'ride the lightning' when they came back out.

everyone on the field had to move into the covered part of the stadium and it was fucking terrifying being in a massive swarm of pissed off people moving quickly due to the very strong 'the who in cincinnatti' vibes i was having

xpost, correction, it was St. Pete, Florida

i had tickets to see james brown a few days after he died

dave berman too :(

O man. 1999 DEP put on an insane show. They're still good but that incarnation was insane. Caught them in Tallahassee

XP That reminds me, I was <this> close to buying a ticket for Soundgarden, which ended up being one of the first dates after Cornell died.