i see..its worse concert EXPERIENCE not worse show….i'll have to think of that but there are many contenders..
worst concert experience?
from a radiohead message board, about the nissan show:
Here's one for you. My wife and I left Central PA at Noon that Sunday. We got to Nissan at approx 330. We walked a mile or so up to the gates in a light rain to hear the soundcheck. We heard them play 2+2=5, Jigsaw, Super Collider and then LSP. Sometime during the soundcheck, it began pouring, and it might still be pouring in Bristow for all I know. I remember during LSP, we were standing by the porta potties and met this guy who had flown in from Chicago. We started talking about setlists from the Grant Park 01 show and the Alpine Valley show in 2003 (which the young man from Chicago had attended). My wife thought I was nuts, cos I had knowledge of the sets without having attended either of the shows.
After LSP, we walked the mile or so back to our car in the heavy rain, and got drenched. We sat in our car and cranked up the heater to try to stay warm. At 6 , we walked the mile or so back to the gates. It was raining sideways. It was cold as hell, and little streams and lakes were forming everywhere. I was (and will always be) a Bull Run survivor, so I knew what I was up against. In fact, we stopped at the Bull Run rest stop coming to and from the show, just to pay our homage to the ghosts. The Bull Run Rest stops were quite spooky on 5-11-08, let me tell you.
We finally found our seats in the 18th row, and sat there like zombies and shivered. For months we had tickets for the lawn, but that previous Wednesday, I was able to snag great seats on Ticketbastard.
They arrived UPS on Friday morning. Anyway, The Liars came out, and they were just what we needed. They were the perfect opening act for the context, and their weirdness took our minds off of the miserable conditions.
I remember going into the bathroom before Radiohead came on. No one was speaking. It was just stunned silence. I remember just running warm water over my hands for minutes at one of the sinks, and thinking, this must be what hell is like on Chistmas day. Anyway, Radiohead came on stage, and it was like 2 hours and seven minutes of heaven in the pits of hell. It was strange, beautiful and utterly other worldly. I knew we would never experience anything like it ever again, at least not in this world. After the show, in the bathrooms, everyone remained silent. As I ran the warm water over my hands, I thought of the Hank Williams song-I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive.
The walk (run? mad scramble?) back to the car was a nightmare. It was lashing, and we lost our sense of bearings in the dark. We walked through rivers, waded through new lakes and dodged impatient cars, all at the same time. We had to scale a wall before we figured out we were on the right path.
At 3am, somewhere south of Fredrick on 270, I began to fall asleep at the wheel. I cranked up the AC and the radio. I instructed my wife to find songs I could sing to, so I would not fall asleep. She found Dancing Queen by Abba, and I sang along in mad joy at the top of my lungs (It was a real Gummo moment). Dancing Queen was the perfect song for the moment, and it may have saved our lives.
At 330 am, we stopped at a small redneck mini-mart just off of Rt. 15, near Thurmont. We told this clerk with a southern accent that we were not drunk or high, but rather we had just been to a Radiohead show in VA. He said he had never heard of them and only listened to country music(It was a real Ghost World moment).We got back in our car, and I stuffed a three pack of chocolate Tasty Kakes into my mouth, as we drove down the long, lonesome highway.
The Tasty Kakes woke me up just in time to feel our car die just south of Gettysburg on Rt. !5. It was still lashing, and we had no cell phone. It was fucking freezing and windy as we tried to flag someone down. We were out in the middle of nowhere, and cars and trucks just kept whizzing by. Finally. a kind, conservative looking man on his way to upstate NY stopped, and let us use his cell. My inlaws and my two year old son came and picked us up and took us out for the best breakfast we ever had in our lives. As we sat in the small town diner, my wife and I looked and felt like two strung out heroin addicts.
At 11 am-23 hours after we had left-we arrived back at our apartment. Go Slowly was playing in my head, still haunting me from the night before.
Here's one for you. My wife and I left Central PA at Noon that Sunday. We got to Nissan at approx 330. We walked a mile or so up to the gates in a light rain to hear the soundcheck. We heard them play 2+2=5, Jigsaw, Super Collider and then LSP. Sometime during the soundcheck, it began pouring, and it might still be pouring in Bristow for all I know. I remember during LSP, we were standing by the porta potties and met this guy who had flown in from Chicago. We started talking about setlists from the Grant Park 01 show and the Alpine Valley show in 2003 (which the young man from Chicago had attended). My wife thought I was nuts, cos I had knowledge of the sets without having attended either of the shows.
After LSP, we walked the mile or so back to our car in the heavy rain, and got drenched. We sat in our car and cranked up the heater to try to stay warm. At 6 , we walked the mile or so back to the gates. It was raining sideways. It was cold as hell, and little streams and lakes were forming everywhere. I was (and will always be) a Bull Run survivor, so I knew what I was up against. In fact, we stopped at the Bull Run rest stop coming to and from the show, just to pay our homage to the ghosts. The Bull Run Rest stops were quite spooky on 5-11-08, let me tell you.
We finally found our seats in the 18th row, and sat there like zombies and shivered. For months we had tickets for the lawn, but that previous Wednesday, I was able to snag great seats on Ticketbastard.
They arrived UPS on Friday morning. Anyway, The Liars came out, and they were just what we needed. They were the perfect opening act for the context, and their weirdness took our minds off of the miserable conditions.
I remember going into the bathroom before Radiohead came on. No one was speaking. It was just stunned silence. I remember just running warm water over my hands for minutes at one of the sinks, and thinking, this must be what hell is like on Chistmas day. Anyway, Radiohead came on stage, and it was like 2 hours and seven minutes of heaven in the pits of hell. It was strange, beautiful and utterly other worldly. I knew we would never experience anything like it ever again, at least not in this world. After the show, in the bathrooms, everyone remained silent. As I ran the warm water over my hands, I thought of the Hank Williams song-I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive.
The walk (run? mad scramble?) back to the car was a nightmare. It was lashing, and we lost our sense of bearings in the dark. We walked through rivers, waded through new lakes and dodged impatient cars, all at the same time. We had to scale a wall before we figured out we were on the right path.
At 3am, somewhere south of Fredrick on 270, I began to fall asleep at the wheel. I cranked up the AC and the radio. I instructed my wife to find songs I could sing to, so I would not fall asleep. She found Dancing Queen by Abba, and I sang along in mad joy at the top of my lungs (It was a real Gummo moment). Dancing Queen was the perfect song for the moment, and it may have saved our lives.
At 330 am, we stopped at a small redneck mini-mart just off of Rt. 15, near Thurmont. We told this clerk with a southern accent that we were not drunk or high, but rather we had just been to a Radiohead show in VA. He said he had never heard of them and only listened to country music(It was a real Ghost World moment).We got back in our car, and I stuffed a three pack of chocolate Tasty Kakes into my mouth, as we drove down the long, lonesome highway.
The Tasty Kakes woke me up just in time to feel our car die just south of Gettysburg on Rt. !5. It was still lashing, and we had no cell phone. It was fucking freezing and windy as we tried to flag someone down. We were out in the middle of nowhere, and cars and trucks just kept whizzing by. Finally. a kind, conservative looking man on his way to upstate NY stopped, and let us use his cell. My inlaws and my two year old son came and picked us up and took us out for the best breakfast we ever had in our lives. As we sat in the small town diner, my wife and I looked and felt like two strung out heroin addicts.
At 11 am-23 hours after we had left-we arrived back at our apartment. Go Slowly was playing in my head, still haunting me from the night before.
Wow, and I thought my time getting to and from radiohead was horrible. They were true soldiers.
i remember seeing Great White up in Rhode Island one time……
I heard that show was HOT HOT HOT!!!
Originally posted by very sonick:
i remember seeing Great White up in Rhode Island one time……
I heard it was a smokin' show, too!
The GOons @ Black Cat
"Punks" are such douchebags.
"Punks" are such douchebags.
a real blast!
A barnburner!
Explosive!
Explosive!
The Radiohead show that would have been Bull Run. We had just made it through the gates to see how awesome it would have been when the sky opened up and turned it into a lake. (At least some of the Nissan attendees got to see some songs performed)
Elliott Smith at the 930.
Cat Power at the Ottobar.
Modest Mouse at the Black Cat (first night)
Elliott Smith at the 930.
Cat Power at the Ottobar.
Modest Mouse at the Black Cat (first night)
Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
I heard that show was HOT HOT HOT!!!
Originally posted by azaghal1981:
A barnburner!
Explosive!
Originally posted by very sonick:
a real blast!
Originally posted by azaghal1981:You all were quite misinformed. The pyrotechnics set the building on fire, and several people died of smoke inhalation while being trampled. It was not generally well perceived as you all would seem to make out. I question whether all of you were actually in attendance.
I heard it was a smokin' show, too!
I went to a Yo La Tengo show at the 40 Watt Club in 2002 and it was pretty terrible. Here's a review:
37 Record-Store Clerks Feared Dead In Yo La Tengo Concert Disaster
April 10, 2002
ATHENS, GAâ??Thirty-seven record-store clerks are missing and feared dead in the aftermath of a partial roof collapse during a Yo La Tengo concert Monday.
"We're trying our best to rescue these clerks, but, realistically, there's not a lot of hope," said emergency worker Len Guzman, standing outside the 40 Watt Club, where the tragedy occurred. "These people are simply not in the physical condition to survive this sort of trauma. It's just a twisted mass of black-frame glasses and ironic Girl Scouts T-shirts in there."
Also believed to be among the missing are seven freelance rock critics, five vinyl junkies, two 'zine publishers, an art-school dropout, and a college-radio DJ.
The collapse occurred approximately 30 minutes into the Hoboken, NJ, band's set, when a poorly installed rooftop heating-and-cooling unit came loose and crashed through the roof, bringing several massive steel beams down with it.
Andy Ringler, an assistant manager at Wuxtry Records, sustained head trauma when he ran back into the building to rescue a fellow clerk.
"I just had to help," said Ringler, listed in stable condition at a nearby hospital. "I saw all these people coming out bleeding and dazed. I gave up my vintage Galaxie 500 shirt just to help some guy bandage his arm. It was horrible."
Added Ringler: "I just pray they can somehow get this club rebuilt in time for next month's Dismemberment Plan/Death Cab For Cutie show. That's a fantastic double bill."
Joe Gaer was among the lucky record-store clerks who escaped unscathed. "I was in the bathroom when it happened," said Gaer, a part-time cashier at School Kids Records. "There was this loud crashing sound, followed by even louder crashing, and then all these screams. If I hadn't left to take a leak during 'Moby Octopad'â??to be honest, never one of my favorite songs on I Can Hear The Heart Beating As Oneâ??I'd probably be among the dead."
"It's just tragic," Gaer continued. "I heard they were going to play Daniel Johnston's 'Speeding Motorcycle.' They almost never do that one live."
Devastated by the disaster, Athens record-store owners are still holding out hope that their employees are still alive.
"All I can do is wait and pray they'll find them," said Bert's Discount Records owner Bert Halyard, who lost clerks Todd Fischer and Dan Harris in the collapse. "They were going to start an experimental/math-rock band together. Dan had a really nice Moog synthesizer and an original pressing of the first Squirrel Bait EP."
As of press time, police and emergency rescue workers were still sifting through the wreckage for copies of Magnet, heated debates over the definition of emo, and other signs of record-store-clerk life.
"I haven't seen this much senseless hipster carnage since the Great Sebadoh Fire Of '93," said rescue worker Larry Kolterman, finding a green-and-gold suede Puma sneaker in the rubble. "It's such a shame that all those bastions of indie-rock geekitude had to go in their prime. Their cries of 'sellout' have been forever silenced."
i was hoping we'd get to relive the great julian eye debacle of 2007 .. not the dfa1979 debacle of 2007/2008
Originally posted by miss pretentious:
i was hoping we'd get to relive the great julian eye debacle of 2007 .. not the dfa1979 debacle of 2007/2008
Originally posted by Julian, good manners AFICIONADO:
I had tickets to all 4 nights but only made it through 2.5. I came down with both an ulcer on my eye and uveitis and the band's light show all but blinded me. Monday night I had to leave early, my eye was bleeding and I was having photophobic spasms. I had to call an ambulance and turned up in the emergency room of Jefferson Hospital in the most pain of my entire life. I was for all intents and purposes completely blind, and have only regained a semblence of sight today.
The hospital was increasingly unprofessional. They refused me a room even though I have insurance, and shot a steroid into my eye and discharged me even though I could not see and told me to see an opthomologist ASAP. I told them I'm from Richmond, cannot see, and have no clue where anything is in Philly and they said it wasn't their problem. They offered to put em in a taxi and to tell the driver to drop me off at ahomeless shelter. The wheeled me out of the hospital and left me on the front stoop. I wandered back into the waiting room and sat there for 6 hours until my father drove down from Rochester to come get me. My car is still in DC and my luggage in Philadelphia. :(
Basically, it was a terrible last couple of days although the shows were good. I don't blame the band because if my eyes were hurting, I should've left earlier, and the doctor said even w/o the light show, I would've been in that condition within a day, it only sped it up.
One positive note about humanity: I was texting a kid from Netphoria the setlists and I told him I had to leave because of my eye and he kept calling to see how I was doing. When I was sitting in the waiting room, he apparently posted on the Pumpkins board about what had happened and another fan from a few blocks away came down and checked on me and filled my prescrition (since I couldn't walk/see). I gave him my ticket for night 4 but he didn't know I even had one, so he was just doing it to be kind. So there are still some cool people out there.
wishes really do come true.
Originally posted by miss pretentious:I've discovered in life that when you really, really need it the most, that's when rock and roll dreams come true.
wishes really do come true.
For me it was unlucky concert #13, Ned's Atomic Dustbin at the Metro in November of 1992. In the grand scheme of things, it SHOULD have been a great evening. I hung out with the band beforehand, and the crowd was really pumped for the show. My 2 friends Colleen and Erin were right up front, I was just behind them by a couple people. The band came out and during the first song "Suave and Suffocated" (kind of ironic looking back), there was a massive crowd surge and I went down like a ton of bricks because we were SO packed in and there was nowhere to move. A bunch of people landed on me, and I was face down on the floor, getting stepped on, kicked, and what blew me away was how there was ZERO oxygen down towards the floor. I felt like I was drowning. My glasses broke (and I'm blind without them) but after what seemed like forever I finally managed to force my way back on my feet and I staggered away to the back where people looked at me like I was crazy. My friends never even saw what happened to me, but I had bruises and footprints all over me. To this day, I cannot stand it when there's too many people around me. I have a bootleg of the show because it was broadcast on WXRT at a later point, and you can actually hear people screaming (thankfully not me) right at the beginning when people started falling on top of each other. Ned's shows always had a bit of a knucklehead factor, but that night just plain sucked. It was not fun.
bearman - your story reminds me if being at the first RATM reunion show at coachella.
i've been going to punk/hardcore gigs since i was 14'ish, and have been in more than my share of mosh pits (including several that i probably had no business in). i had seen Rage twice before they broke up. rough stuff, definitely, but still fun.
nothing could have prepared me for that coachella pit. i was halfway between the stage and the soundboard. when the band hit the stage the surge picked me up and move me a good 12 feet. i've never experience a hurricane of humanity like i did when the music started. it wasn't fun. i tried my best to suck it up, deal with the endless random elbows to the face, the suffocation, and shoves from all directions, let alone being hit by endless crowd-surfers… i lasted less than one song before fighting my way out of there. and i do mean fight - the only form of communication that those people seemed to understand was "bully". i practically had to climb over folks, thank god for survival instincts and accompanying adrenaline boost. i won't soon forget the looks on people's face - humans turned into animals. eventually made it back to the soundboard where there were still a few traces of civility. once i caught my breath i was able to enjoy the show.
guess i was asking for it. there is no other band that can do to a crowd what RATM does. not necessarily a good thing.
i've been going to punk/hardcore gigs since i was 14'ish, and have been in more than my share of mosh pits (including several that i probably had no business in). i had seen Rage twice before they broke up. rough stuff, definitely, but still fun.
nothing could have prepared me for that coachella pit. i was halfway between the stage and the soundboard. when the band hit the stage the surge picked me up and move me a good 12 feet. i've never experience a hurricane of humanity like i did when the music started. it wasn't fun. i tried my best to suck it up, deal with the endless random elbows to the face, the suffocation, and shoves from all directions, let alone being hit by endless crowd-surfers… i lasted less than one song before fighting my way out of there. and i do mean fight - the only form of communication that those people seemed to understand was "bully". i practically had to climb over folks, thank god for survival instincts and accompanying adrenaline boost. i won't soon forget the looks on people's face - humans turned into animals. eventually made it back to the soundboard where there were still a few traces of civility. once i caught my breath i was able to enjoy the show.
guess i was asking for it. there is no other band that can do to a crowd what RATM does. not necessarily a good thing.
Originally posted by sweetcell:I hate crowdsuring so much, almost always have.
guess i was asking for it. there is no other band that can do to a crowd what RATM does. not necessarily a good thing.
at Woodstock 99 during Limp Bizkit, my buddy said he was "going up".
now there was easily over 100,000 people in front of this stage and we were barely in the front half sorta middle right. he went up and the crowd took him so far we couldnt even see him anymore, he crowdsurfed out of sight!!
that was at aroud 7pm. we didnt see him again until about 4am. but this is off topic. sorry.