bands you stopped liking after you saw them live

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I saw a deathly dull laptop-only performance by Four Tet a few years back and that put a serious spanner in my enjoyment of his stuff from then on.

OTMFM!!! Also the way he kept humping the lamptop or at least that's what it looked like from where I was standing.

Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 11:37 (seventeen years ago) link

yeh, i was listening to "I might Be Wrong" today and thinking 'Wow, I'd love to see Radiohead live - it would be awesome' and then I started thinking about what it would really be like and thought I'd rather preserve their image on CD.

wogan lenin (dog latin), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 11:40 (seventeen years ago) link

can't listen to Hail to the Thief after seeing Radiohead and all associated douchebag fans at alpine valley.
That was a pretty good show, though! Besides, any gathering of 35,000 people is going to contain a large number of douchebags.

Anyway, to answer the question... Seeing Four Tet is definitely a deadly dull experience. Still can't listen to him without getting boring flashbacks.

Also, I saw Beck on a whim recently, and I'd never really been a fan, but I thought the show would be fun. It was maybe the worst concert I've ever been to in my life. I nearly walked out. It was just so self-consciously staged and "fun" in a terribly overbearing way. All wacky dancing and puppets and whatnot. YOU WILL HAVE FUN. FUN. FUN. But they all kind of seemed like they wanted to kill themselves. It was really bizarre. It was especially a disappointment after Jamie Lidell as the support act.

Melissa W (Melissa W), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 11:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Bloc Party's cloying audience-gratitude at the Brixton Ac last year means I can never take them seriously (or as seriously as I may have done which wasn't very) again.

Lawd save us from grateful-to-be-here bands.

Venga (Venga), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 11:50 (seventeen years ago) link

the decemberists fourded. i am usually able to distinguish crappy live-performances or a band being horrible dicks on stage from liking their albums, but seeing the decemberists live made me realise that i somehow had misunderstood the band completely over the years. they were horrible and unnecessary happy and twee and the crowd was as well. i've seen belle & sebastian live and still love them, but with the decemberists it was so unsuspected and felt so weird. it was totally at odds with the sort of mystery and archaicness i heard in their music. i will check out the new album but will never ever see them live again.

(jg) ((jg)), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 12:30 (seventeen years ago) link

memo to self: don't expect much from a decemberists show

Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 12:33 (seventeen years ago) link

the kinks.

i can't bear to say more as it still infuriates/upsets me to my very core, but i'll just say 'glastobury 1993' and be done with it.

pisces (piscesx), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 12:42 (seventeen years ago) link

I wouldn't say I stopped liking them, but I certainly didn't enjoy those Oasis albums quite as much after that disastrous gig I attended by them in 1997.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 12:49 (seventeen years ago) link

I've seen The Decemberists a bunch of times, and while I liked them pretty well every time except for the last, I can see where everybody is coming from. Their audiences seem to eat up their schtick quite happily though, which I guess is part of the annoyance.

Steve Go1dberg (Steve Schneeberg), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 13:06 (seventeen years ago) link

Re: Beck. I actually saw him a couple of weeks ago supporting Radiohead (who I will happily never see again but only because in 3 years or whatevs their show hadn't changed and the new songs were shite. Thom Yorke's insistence on using stupid voices is more irritating than you can imagine, it just seems to not have any respect for the audience ::STARTS FOAMING AT THE MOUTH::) and while it was only the last couple of songs there was a funny film where the puppets tore up the Radiohead dressing rooms. The dancing puppets and some fuckwit in a white shirt fairly ruined the spectacle afterwards.

Still can't listen to him without getting boring flashbacks I listen to him and the boredom has nothing to do with flashbacks :)

Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 13:33 (seventeen years ago) link

My Four Tet misery was compounded by his taking the stage at gone midnight on a Sunday, when the venue had opened at 8.00pm. Add to this an incessantly chatty crowd throughout and a solitary chump engaging in the worst "spaz" dancing I have ever seen and the mysteries of Mr Hebden's folktronica evaporated before my eyes.

Also the way he kept humping the lamptop or at least that's what it looked like from where I was standing.

There was humping a-plenty on this occasion too.

Bill A (Bill A), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 13:54 (seventeen years ago) link

Radiohead live is awesome and way better than on record.

Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 13:55 (seventeen years ago) link

Surely Cat Power should be mentioned on this thread. I can still appreciate her on album but I'll never see her live again. Head case or not, I've never felt such antipathy to prima donna shenanigans in my life.

Jacobo Rock (jacobo rock), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 14:03 (seventeen years ago) link

Radiohead live is awesome and way better than on record.

oh?
cool.
i'll pass anyway, thanks!

edde (edde), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 14:06 (seventeen years ago) link

i've seen radiohead twice and like them more on disc.

Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 14:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Aphex Twin. Keep your audience waiting for 2 or 3 hours, then play crushingly tedious DJ set behind a screen while approximately nothing happens on stage.

Meg Busset (Mog), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 14:58 (seventeen years ago) link

Also CJ Bolland for falling asleep in your hotel room and failing to make it to your gig at all (despite fans waiting til 4 in the bleedin' morning in a really bad club).

Meg Busset (Mog), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 14:59 (seventeen years ago) link

i to have to say that i've never seen radiohead do a blinder despite seeing them at 3 glastonburys (yes including THAT one) and 2 seperate gigs. better on record yeah.

pisces (piscesx), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 15:53 (seventeen years ago) link

I think going to see Tool on the Lateralus Tour was sort of the end-of-the-line for me with them. Not so much to do with them, but I sort of didn't know what to do with myself at the show. I kind of figured out that I like a more basic rhythm, and not just at a concert. Also the ten minutes of them playing this really really annoying loop didn't help.

Vinnie (vprabhu), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 17:29 (seventeen years ago) link

Right when I was getting into Black Heart Procession, I saw them open for Modest Mouse. I guess this was '99. Amazingly terrible show. They turned up all the house lights, turned down all the stage lights, and whasisname walked around the stage in this stupid baseball cap and a tie that lit up. On top of all that, the music was boring.

someteenpartying (someteenpartying), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 17:52 (seventeen years ago) link

Arab Strap, with their singer burping in the mic.
it was sad and painful.

Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 17:56 (seventeen years ago) link

Also, I saw Cake on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour. They played after De La Soul, Flaming Lips, and Modest Mouse. Surprisingly, when they went on, the crowd doubled in size. But then whatsisname started acting like a complete asshole and berating those of us in the audience who weren't singing along at the top of our lungs, as if everyone should know every word to every Cake song ever.

someteenpartying (someteenpartying), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 17:57 (seventeen years ago) link

i left a Fall show early so that i wouldn't end up hating them

that's so taylrr (ken taylrr), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 18:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Television at Noise Pop Chicago a few years back...even just phoning it in would have been better.

Euler (Euler), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 20:41 (seventeen years ago) link

Aphex Twin. Keep your audience waiting for 2 or 3 hours, then play crushingly tedious DJ set behind a screen while approximately nothing happens on stage.
-- Meg Busset

Not to be too snarky but I really think DJ set is the operative word here. He's there to dj, he's not Pan's People.

struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 20:43 (seventeen years ago) link

or words rather.

struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 20:44 (seventeen years ago) link

i don't know if i'm alone on this or not, but most live acts kinda bore me. even bands i love, it can be a drag plenty of exceptions of course..

-- latebloomer aka 'the sun'

If you mean that weird thing where you find yourself analysing too much because there is a band you really like -on stage- -right now- and you must must must take it all in as you might never see it again and then you kind of feel "hang on, am I being underwhelmed by this not blowing my mind all the time?" and "it would be nice to stop and go for a cup of tea at some point here" then yes, it happens to me quite a bit.

ten kebabs maaaaate (fandango), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 20:52 (seventeen years ago) link

It's pretty clear a huge amount of guitar bands don't have one fucking clue how to properly build & keep momentum and interest in a reasonable length set though.

ten kebabs maaaaate (fandango), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 20:56 (seventeen years ago) link

it's almost gotten to the point that i cringe with worry everytime i go to see i band i love!

nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 20:58 (seventeen years ago) link

All y'all belong in front of computer screens the rest of your lives

Dr. Alicia D. Titsovich (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 21:02 (seventeen years ago) link

I didn't stop liking them, but I liked the Jayhawks a lot less after I saw them a year or two ago: Louris and Olson's reunion wasn't going so well and they both seemed annoyed to be around each other, or anyone.

Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 22:43 (seventeen years ago) link

It's amazing that a lot of bands these days don't even know the basics of being interesting live - ie. alternate fast with slow, loud with soft, etc

Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 22:45 (seventeen years ago) link

The old answer: Boston. I saw them during their first tour in 1976. They came out and played for maybe less then 45 minutes and that was it. Mr. Scholz didn't really seem to be pushing himself or connecting with the audience. Never bought another record of theirs.

The new answer: A few years ago, I went to see Leon Russell in Santa Cruz. I had always loved Leon Russell's music, mostly from listening to my mom's copy of 1970's Leon Russell. At this concert, just like Boston, he made no attempts at all to connect with the audience. He just launched into note perfect renditions of his songs but with no emotion at all. We left after the first set and I felt like my big statue of Leon Russell had just been pulled over in front of me. Very disappointing.
(I still love his and Bonnie Bramlett's Superstar!)

vacasmagras (vacasmagras), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 23:02 (seventeen years ago) link

i've seen radiohead twice and like them more on disc.

Ditto.

Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 08:03 (seventeen years ago) link

word

Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 10:33 (seventeen years ago) link

Another vote for The Shins. I've seen them several times now at various festivals, and opening for Belle & Sebastian at the Hollywood Bowl, and they are just totally intolerable to me. The keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/horrible open-mic stand-up comic's between-song banter just murders any emotion or atmosphere the band is able to conjur up.

Seeing them at All Tomorrow's Parties in Long Beach a couple of years ago was particularly heinous. They'd finish a pretty, sad pop song, and then the Marty guy would scream into the mic things like "Yo, Dog, We here in the LBC! Snoop Dizzle and The Shizzins! LBC, Muthafucka!" in an exaggerated accent. The songwriter would stand there awkwardly (though seemingly amused) as the other guy would riff on things like "Funny Hip Hop Voices" and "Lord of the Rings." It totally and completely turned me off of the band.

Tiki Theater Xymposium (Bent Over at the Arclight), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 10:54 (seventeen years ago) link

vacasmagras: I saw Boston a couple of years ago when they released that new album. I got free tickets from work so I went, but they were actually a great band live. They definitely connected with the audience and have a very lively live act. I was enthrolled the entire time, which is actually a little rare for me. I'm still suprised at how much I enjoyed them.

I have to say that Dinosaur Jr. was terrible live. First of all, J Mascis is a total dick with no personality, unless his personality is being a dickhead. Second, it was incredibly loud. I mean dangerously loud. I've never been to a show that loud, and I'm young and I have been to a lot of shows. I saw some college girl actually start crying. It was so loud that you couldn't make out the instruments, and you couldn't even understand which song they were playing. Interestingly enough, one of my friends fell asleep standing up at that show. And he's a huge Dinosaur Jr. fan.

David St. Hubbins (David St. Hubbins), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 14:39 (seventeen years ago) link

It's pretty clear a huge amount of guitar bands don't have one fucking clue how to properly build & keep momentum and interest in a reasonable length set though.
-- ten kebabs maaaaate (...), September 19th, 200

that's probably otm.
Half the bands I see don't seem to know how to put on a good show and that's why I quit going to these newbie indie gigs.

Isis seconded. Boring awful droneage. Though, I can't say I was a big fan in the first place, but now I just won't listen to them.
Bloc Party seconded. They were such a disappointment, I guess because this was before all the hype and the "Helicopter" sampling and I didn't really know much about them except for the fact that their songs were fun and the drumming was pretty good. But their show was so dreadful. For them I always refer back to this review on TMT: "They suck live. And because of that, in my eyes, they basically now suck. Good album be damned, Bloc Party sucks more than anything has ever sucked before."

Architecture in Helsinki. Meh.
And I can't take the Liars at all, now. too much satan for me.

mox twelve (Mox twleve), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 15:24 (seventeen years ago) link

oh, and CYHSY. I wasn't huge on them in the first place, kind of neutral towards the praise/hate because I didn't mind their songs, but after their set? It was sheer agony to stand through with the underage enthusiasts I'd brought.
and that unbearable whine.
worst.

mox twelve (Mox twleve), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 15:29 (seventeen years ago) link

Thought of another one: The Concretes. Was unfortunate enough to see them during CMJ at the Bowery Ballroom a couple of years back. The singer was trying so hard to project "Scandinavian Cool" that instead she projected utter disdain for the band, and the entire audience. Have they split up now? I hope so.

meritocracy (spencerman), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:05 (seventeen years ago) link

the latest incarnation of Black Dice
Gang Gang Dance
Andrew WK (not the Bulb era live shows which were great, but the show in Hollywood about a month before I Get Wet... but I eventually got over it)

Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:10 (seventeen years ago) link

The Islands, for sure. Their singer is such a pompous, pretentious ass. That show killed any interest I had in them.

Also, Black Heart Procession thirded. I paid 12 bucks to see them with the Castanets. The Castanets never showed, and 2 of the 5 BHP members were missing. All the singer could say was "guess they had somewhere better to be". Thanks for coming to our show tonight, we piss all over your town!

cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:40 (seventeen years ago) link

Palace. Perhaps the most indifferent, lifeless versions of great songs ever.

mike a (mike a), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh and Poortheatre re: Fiery Furnaces, I saw them twice when Blueberry Boat came out. The first time I despised them (because of their disinterest in sticking with any discernable melodies) but the second show, once I was more familiar with their songs, struck me as absolutely brilliant. They cut up all their lyrics and music and put it all in a blender. The resulting 75-minute medley had all the elements of the FF only less predictable. To top it off, Eleanor rapped most of the songs, robbing us (on purpose) of the beauty in her melodies. Then at some key point late in the set, she would actually sing one of her more beautiful songs (Evergreen, Mason City, etc.) and the tension created from all her rapping would give that song an unparallelled release. Their shows were original experiments in dynamics. A bit more standard these days.

cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 17:13 (seventeen years ago) link

And I can't take the Liars at all, now. too much satan for me.

-- mox twelve

I think I had the opposite reaction. I only really liked their most recent album and even then wasn't particularly blown away by it but after seeing them live I was converted.

struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 17:25 (seventeen years ago) link

Sigur Ros. Playing a show with your backs to the audience? Didn't and doesn't work for me.

Zimmer026 (Zimmer026), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 19:23 (seventeen years ago) link

cosmo, that's OTM about my FF experience. also saw them after Blueberry. I knew all the material and it sounded familiar, but every few seconds, a new change, a new surprise, a new direction. I didn't even miss the regular versions of the songs.

marbles (marbles), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 19:31 (seventeen years ago) link

"The Islands, for sure. Their singer is such a pompous, pretentious ass."

I don't get this sentiment (and others like it on this thread). If you're not going to like a band's music because you find someone to be an ass, you'd be eliminating most, if not all, of the greats. Who gives a fuck if they aren't very nice people? Why does it affect your appreciate of their work? To extend it to other domains, many, if not the majority, of great painters, writers, filmmakers, etc were probably assholes. But, you know, Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole (even if his behavior was as assholish as it can be).

Besides, the dude from Islands doesn't even come off that way. He actually seems to want to perform. What I find intolerable in live acts is when they seem to not want to be there and have disdain for their audience. But that's something else.

Jacobo Rock (jacobo rock), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 20:49 (seventeen years ago) link

deerhoof. never listened to any of their records ever again.

trees (treesessplode), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 20:50 (seventeen years ago) link

Serena Maneesh

less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 21:00 (seventeen years ago) link

You’d think I would give Ariel Pink another chance after a decade or so has passed since I saw him perform but nope, he was that bad

self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Friday, 25 October 2019 04:56 (four years ago) link

The Mars Volta in 2003. Incredibly boring, I never got to appreciate their albums since.

Nothing to add to this, probably the most tedious attempts at jamming I've ever witnessed and I've seen Phish

living in the heart of the beat (Matt #2), Friday, 25 October 2019 06:35 (four years ago) link

The Roots were booked to play the state university I went to in 2000. When I went, there was no Questlove or Black Thought; just Dice Raw, some hype men and replacement players.

Chris L, Friday, 25 October 2019 11:08 (four years ago) link

Nearly all bands I've ever seen live, I pretty much stop listening to. Something to do with being subjected to music in that way for 90-120 minutes feels like it's absolutely my fill of that noise for a long long time

doorstep jetski (dog latin), Friday, 25 October 2019 11:18 (four years ago) link

90-120 minutes? Most bands I've seen haven't played that long, it certainly would be the exception rather than the rule.

Michael Oliver of Penge Wins £5 (Tom D.), Friday, 25 October 2019 11:23 (four years ago) link

Yeah, most bands I see play 60-75 minutes. 90-120 if the band's headlining an arena, but club shows are substantially shorter than that.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Friday, 25 October 2019 12:30 (four years ago) link

Bands you stopped licking

When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Friday, 25 October 2019 15:13 (four years ago) link

In my experience 90 mins is the norm.

Duke, Friday, 25 October 2019 15:54 (four years ago) link

Yeah 90 minutes of licking, tops

omar little, Friday, 25 October 2019 16:02 (four years ago) link

re: Sisters Of Mercy, I don’t think the point ever was that you’d be able see ‘real’ artists playing ‘real’ music. I’ve been to two of those ‘let’s pump the room full of smoke and turn everything up to eleven’ shows and absolutely loved the experience, esp the flashes of Eldridge weaving in and out of the fog, hollering away.

Siegbran, Friday, 25 October 2019 16:38 (four years ago) link

Lol omar

When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Friday, 25 October 2019 16:54 (four years ago) link


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