On the topic of rock shows, what concert was your biggest disappointment?
Naomi's answer:
By far and away it was the REM show at Shoreline Amphitheater. Yuck.
I should have seen them in college, along with U2, but I couldn't afford it or felt obligated to some early-morning math quiz or some other lame excuse. I shoulda, I shoulda, I shoulda. When I finally saw U2 it was pretty good, but REM was just awful.
I went with a friend from work and a group of his friends. Maybe it's because we got there late, or maybe it had something to do with everyone taking mushrooms (except me), or that we sat at the very, very back of the venue on the lawn...
The songs they sang were not the ones I wanted to hear (I'd been a fan for years) and anyway I could barely hear the music (San Jose having recently implemented new noise ordinance levels). I was cold, annoyed and all too aware I had missed the REM boat by about 5 years.
total bummer, man.
3 comments:
Great question!
Gypsy Kings at Chateau Ste Michelle in 2003 (I think).
The previous three times we had seen them, they were excellent. Twice at the winery and once at the pier, each show was really well done and had great energy.
This show started late, was really short, and had an overlong intermission. They played for 30 minutes, took a 25 minute intermission, and then played for another 30 minutes with no encore. In short, it was terrible.
A close second is Pearl Jam in their charity event at Key Arena just after 9/11/01. They came out flat and overly serious, just not much fun. Then REM came out and blew the doors off the joint and blew them out of the water. It wouldn't have been a bad show for PJ if REM hadn't been so friggin' great.
First place: Patty Smith (the one who was just inducted to the Rock and Roll hall of fame). I watched her have a nervous breakdown on stage. She attempted to sing Tomorrow from Annie three times. I wouldn't have wanted to hear that even once, but to hear her blow it over and over was excruciating. She also blabbed a lot about missing her boyfriend and about wanting to appear on the Tonight Show.
Second Place: Bob Dylan was another disappointment. I thought he sucked in concert. Every song sounded the same and was barely intelligible. He never once addressed the audience. His band wore matching mauve suits. (At least he played with Merle Haggard who rocked.)
Robert Crey at the mountain winery about 10 years ago. He was such a whiny little $%*#. He broke a guitar string, had a hissy fit and screamed at a rodie. All right on stage in the middle of his set. I booed and heckled for the rest of the concert.
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