Best and worst artists you've seen live

Apologies if this has been done before, it hasn't recently at least. If you can stick to artists a few of us have probably heard of, so we exclude crappy local bands or X-Factor rejects for example.

Best - Fozzy, seen them twice. The first time had a better setlist but the second time was a hell of a lot more fun, I didn't think the human body could hold as much sweat as I dripped out that night! And I'm a huge Chris Jericho fan, he really carries over his wrestling charisma to the music stage like few others can.

Worst would be Fear Factory, they really looked like they didn't want to be there and the singer cannot sing clean to save his life. I only went because my friends band had the opportunity to support them.

I've only been to one concert and that was Avril Lavigne because my aunt got me tickets to go with her and I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't like Avril Lavigne.

She was actually pretty good live.

Best performances: Jenny Lewis, Jenny and Johnny, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Marilyn Manson, Handsome Furs, Interpol, Jeff Mangum, Panic! at the Disco, Heartless Bastards, The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie.

Most fun: Alkaline Trio, Riverboat Gamblers, Gogol Bordello, MXPX, Voltaire, Crystal Castles, Flogging Molly, KMFDM and She Wants Revenge.

Worst: The Adolescents, The Used (to my dismay), Kenna, and a godawful wretched trash band called All Leather. They had some of the worst and most offensive lyrics and song names I've ever heard in my life (and not in a funny way like Mindless Self Indulgence). I'm pretty sure they opened for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and if I hadn't waited so goddamn long to see Karen O in concert, I probably would have left because of how put off I was.

Evanescence also wasn't very good, and neither was Rise Against (maybe because it was an acoustic set, idk).

Best performances: Relient K, Trans Siberian Orchestra (mostly), Now Now, Death Cab for Cutie

Worst performances: some local bands that would play at shows with my old roommate's band, every band that wasn't Relient K at that Christian music festival.

I feel like there should be others in the worst section but I can't remember what those other shows were. I've seen several bad free shows that I was drug to with parents or friends.

Death Cab does get a special mention for one of my least favorite experiences at a show though. The people I went with pretty much abandoned me and I got stuck around some pretty annoying people. Death Cab and the band that opened before them were fantastic though!

My second Death Cab show ended pretty horribly because Ben Gibbard threw a bitch fit about some problems he was having with his guitar, going so far as to throw it across the stage in an outburst. Kindof ruined my favorite song that I had been waiting to see performed all night. :aimmad:

When did you see them?

I saw them October 3rd of 2011 according to my ticket. Luckily I did not have Ben Gibbard throw a fit for me.

Oh, if you have your ticket, it probably says the supporting bands. Frightened Rabbit toured with them for the Codes and Keys tour, but I swear we saw another opening band and I cannot for the life of me remember who it was!

Well, by ticket I meant my email confirmation from Ticketmaster which only stated "Buzz Under the Stars featuring Death Cab for Cutie." I looked it up though. Apparently the other band was called Telekinesis! I don't really remember much about them other than enjoying their set well enough.

I guess I can also list some of the bands I remember from the Rock the Light music festival thing in case anyone has heard of these terrible bands and can sympathize with me: Casting Crowns, KJ-52, Pillar, Building 429. I can't think of the others at the moment.

Uhm.

Garbage was probably the most epic for me simply because I freaking -love- them and it isn't often that they come here (or go on tour period, from what I know). Shirley Manson can do no wrong,imo.. It was during the "beautiful|garbage" album phase. Shirley got 'bout it 'bout it on the audience 'cuz someone lobbed a water bottle or something at her head.

Erykah Badu was the worst. Great performance, but she started getting political and being an asshole. Plus I only knew the "Tyrone" song.

Also: Spice Girls was pretty great and I consider myself way beyond lucky to have gotten to see them 26th row... Even though it was after Geri deuced out.

And Blink 182 was amazing. Midtown and New Found Glory opened for them.. I saw them front row directly in front of Mark Hoppus and caught his water bottle. He laughed at me. :D

I've also seen No Doubt, Jack Johnson, Counting Crows, Hanson, Hoobastank, uh. oh. Rock the Mic: 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, T.I., Bonecrusher, Snoop Dogg,and some other people.. I think. I know I was there, but I only remember about 10 minutes of the entire concert. loololol I was mega chucked up.

I've seen Between the Buried and Me around 3-4 times, and every time they killed it. Apparently they hate The Masquerade (Atlanta venue) because one of the shows they kept apologizing for their sound that night. I could tell it was off from the other shows, but they were still very on the spot. Animals As Leaders always puts on a good show, and so does Scale the Summit from my experience. The Contortionist was also really solid live. I've seen lots of bands I thought really put a lot of energy into it, it's hard to narrow it down. The Foo Fighters (from like 14-15 years ago, feeling old) were really great. The Bouncing Souls have always been really fantastic when I've seen them. I'd always heard Dragon Force couldn't pull of their music live, but they did really fantastic when I saw them, and it was just great. Bob Dylan put on a solid show, especially for being damn near 1,000 years old. GWAR is GWAR, and that's all you need to know. I Wrestled A Bear Once were really good. Nile is freaking amazing.

I was actually disappointed in the Red Hot Chili Peppers when I saw them. They seemed to be dialing it in, and you could tell. I was not impressed with Lacuna Coil. I thought maybe it's because I'm not a big fan anyway, but even their own fans didn't seem happy. I can't think of any others that stand out right now.

The Chili Peppers were awesome when I saw them! It was magical.

I only been to two concerts, live performances by Garth Brooks and Kid Rock at the Sprint Center. Between the two of them, Garth is definitely the best. Sold out seven shows in an hour when he meant to do one and I don't know many performing artists where the crowd knows all of his songs by heart and sing them in his stead every chance they get.

Best is kind of hard, Ive seen a lot of good shows, so I'll put it in 2 catagories; best small venue/local and best stadium show. Best small show is hands down Psychostick; I see them every single time they're in town. Best big stadium show....I'm gonna say its tied between Final Fantasy:Distant worlds and Rammstein. Worst show was probably the LMFAO show I got dragged to; I left with a terrible headache.

Robyn is probably still the best I've seen. Such energy. Paramore were also excellent.

Noah and the Whale were the worst. They were just so dull and boring and bland and urgh.

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Originally Posted by starlet

Final Fantasy:Distant worlds

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That made me LOL

I've never been to a concert :(

X Japan without a doubt. Dir en grey and MUCC also amazing. Also System of a down

Worst, hmmm.... I can only think of Raging Speedhorn who were Supporting Dir en grey on one of their UK shows. They were dreadful.

I've been fortunate enough to see some of my favourite bands live. This first tier of artists could have come onstage and played kazoo renditions of their own songs for three hours and I still would have been delighted because I like them so much: Ash, Gruff Rhys, Manic Street Preachers, Travis, Pulp and Noel Gallagher.

These guys just give a damn good live show: Dresden Dolls, Amiina, Ben Harper, Billy Bragg, Wild Flag, The Julie Ruin, Tegan & Sara, Foo Fighters, Interpol, Jurassic 5, Liam Finn and The Hives. When rating live acts, I take into consideration the sound quality, setlist, venue/ambience, banter/interaction with the audience, general stage presence/energy, lighting or special effects, and logistics if I'm shooting the show.

The worst show I've ever been to was Peter Hook performing Unknown Pleasures - he barely did anything and didn't even know the lyrics to his own songs, he had to read them and the music the entire time, ugh.

The best?
I've seen Saxon three times, was going to be a 4th supporting Motorhead but Lemmy's still not 100% and healthy enough to tour so the show was called off T_T they're my favourite live band
Other top bands I was blown away by include Chthonic, Heaven & Hell, Alestorm, Dragonforce (people told me they were poor live, they were class!!) Wintersun Airbourne and Turisas

Now I've also seen some terrible bands, opening for Heaven & Hell was Iced Earth who at the time were mediocre because of their singer (Tim Ripper Owens, he just never fits into any band he sings for) and Lamb of God who have to be right up there for worst of the worst, nothing but a droning wall of noise.
Trivium are also pretty bad live but when I saw them they just released the Crusade and apparently they've gotten better since...
The Defiled are pretty bad live, none of the band can stay in time or key.
I also saw a really really bad Glam wannabe band called the Treatment as well.

So I've seen my fair share of good and bad live.

Best: Yellowcard. This concert was simply astounding. Yellowcard was the band that got me into music in general as a kid and when I saw them about 2-3 years ago it was awesome. The show had the lamest mosh pit ever (how the smurf do you even mosh to YC?), some jackass spilled beer all over my shoes and that was the night I started to realize that the girl I went with had no romantic interest in me... but smurf it I simply cannot look back on that night in a negative light. The crappy mosh pit was a blast and YC live was so much more than I could have ever asked for. It was my first concert where I knew the words to every song and the entire audience was just as full of energy as I was. They were simply spectacular. It was definitely one of the nights I have the fondest memories of.

Worst? Oh god I wish I knew the name of the local band. It was a painful experience that actually nearly had me take out my smurfing ipod to listen to something tolerable. Now, the band itself didnt suck... the drummer and guitarist werent bad but the lead singer just hurt my ears. Dude was using the voice crack "gimmick" constantly and it was just unbearable.

Most surprising? The Wind & The Wave. I really didnt have high hopes at first. I saw them and heard their name and thought they were some hipster local band. To my surprise I enjoyed their performance more than the lead show (plan white t's). They had a really energetic and awesome vibe about them and their music reflected that. They even gave out free CD's and I still listen to mine on a regular basis.
Example of their stuff: "Raising Hands Raising Hell Raise 'em High" - The Wind and The Wave - YouTube


Shows I've missed:
The Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys (tickets sold out near instantly)
Yellowcard (Ocean Avenue Acoustic Tour) This one was last month actually. I'm still sad. (the lead singer got sick the night before the show here so it was cancelled)
Pendulum (I was 17 at the time and had no one to go with so I wasnt able to go...)
Fred V & Grafix
Relient K

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Originally Posted by Minami

X Japan without a doubt. Dir en grey.

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I'm jelly. A lot jelly.lol

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Originally Posted by Shoden

The Defiled are pretty bad live, none of the band can stay in time or key.

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Heh, I've also seen The Defiled, supporting SOiL I think it was a few years back in Margate. They were terrible.

I'm gonna expand on my original post as I only posted one good and one bad band, other good ones I've seen include Forever Never, HIM, Skeletonwitch and Chaimarea.

Other bad ones include The Defiled as mentioned, and Darkest Hour. This was years before they made it big though and have improved massively since, but on that night they sucked.

Best: Nine Inch Nails, Between the Buried and Me, The Cure

Worst: Filter. Richard Patrick came out drunk out of his mind and sucked the energy from the show. The bassist, clearly frustrated from this, decided it would be constructive to spit beer all over the crowd. That show not only turned me away from Filter, but it kind of soured my taste on tryhard 90s alternative music.

There have been so many good ones!

Muse, Foo Fighters, Oasis, James, Kasabian, Stereophonics, The Strokes, Pulp, The Enemy, Guns 'N' Roses, Prodigy, The White Stripes, The Hives, Hundred Reasons, Weezer, The Lancashire Hotpots, The White Lies, Glasvegas, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Ash, 16Bit,

There have been some pretty terrible ones too...

Feeder, Dizzee Rascal, Dillenger Escape Plan, Janes Addiction, Dandy Warhols, Maximo Park, Less Than Jake, Slipknot

Oh my God... Slipknot was the worst thing I have ever seen. Worse even than Durunia's dance in Ocarina of Time.

Within temptation.

they are so good live, really!
in the beginning i had some doubts becaus Sharon (the singer) has to reach very high notes. i honestly thought it wouldnt be possible live, but she nailed all of them!

im going to see them again in 2 weeks :D im so exited!

The best I've seen and ever will see was AC/DC, that trout was ridiculous. The Wu Tang Clan turned up about an hour and a half late but every moment of the GZA spittin' dem crazy rhymes was worth it.

The worst bands I've watched are Deftones who sounded like electrified sludge, Lamb Of God who sounded like pretty cool people but their music was trout, and Them Crooked Vultures who were so bad that the whole crowd cheered when they announced they were about to play their last song.

I actually ended up seeing Sam and the Womp once. Expecting similar annoying pop jingles, it turned out they were actually playing decent music. It reminded me vaguely of Fat Freddy's Drop.

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Originally Posted by Shoden

Other top bands I was blown away by include Chthonic,
Alestorm, Dragonforce (people told me they were poor live, they were class!!) Wintersun.

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Jealous about all of those except Dragonforce. I agree, when I saw them, they really nailed their music. I really like them, and had always heard bad things about them. I don't know why people hate on them. They were really cool and had a solid, impressive show. 3 encores!!!

I also somehow I forgot I saw Oasis, my favorite band, somehow. They were very, very on point. I've heard about some bad performances by them, but not this one.

I also saw Hatebreed ages ago during the tour for the Perserverance album, and they were so full of energy and crowd appreciation. They were the last band to go on, and proceeded to play their set. The crowd was so pumped up, they then proceeded to play pretty much every song they'd ever written. Jamey Jasta was standing across my shoulders and my friends for a few songs, and he would pass the mic down to us to keep singing because his voice was starting to go. The whole crowd was involved and it was really terrific.

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Originally Posted by Minami

X Japan without a doubt. Dir en grey and MUCC also amazing. Also System of a down

Worst, hmmm.... I can only think of Raging Speedhorn who were Supporting Dir en grey on one of their UK shows. They were dreadful.

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I disagree...I think Dir en grey is the worse band I have ever heard live. Hardly any of their songs were distinguishable due to the acoustics of the the venue. Their music was too loud for such a small venue so the sound was terrible. Kyo was lazy with a majority of the vocals up until they played Ain't Afraid to Die perfectly and without any distortion. One of my favorite bands but they need to stop smurfing up their live sets. HIM was also kind of bad and they were playing a larger venue outside.

Pet Doherty is definately the worst. I can't believe I waited an extra 3 months after the original was cancelled then got mugged for my spare change and had my weed taken my bouncers just to watch him mumble and stumble round the stage, I shouldn't of been surprised.

I really enjoyed seeing the Subways support Oasis. An average band though I liked their energy and simple 3 minute rock.

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Originally Posted by magemasher

Pet Doherty is definately the worst

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Attachment 51997

Best: Bruce Springsteen was the best.

Other Great ones: Eminem, Prodigy, Steve Angello, Mumford & Sons

Worst: Not anyone really. Possibly Paolo Nutini, but it wasn't his fault as it was at a festival and I couldn't really hear anything as everyone was shouting around me. I was annoyed because I'm a big fan of his. To be honest everyone I've seen has been worth watching.