'They just put on a CD... and left': 20+ Concerts that weren't worth attending

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 16, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

You may remember the best concert of your life, but do you recall your worst concert ever? 

Going to a concert can be one of the most fun experiences in life. You get to watch bands you love sing the songs you've memorized to you, all while you sing, dance, and clap along. However, there are a few drawbacks. For one thing, a lot of concerts require you to stand for hours and hours in the general admission section, sometimes in hot weather, too. You might have to pay outrageous prices for food and merch (I saw a regular-looking $95 hoodie for sale at a recent concert, I kid you not). 

But most people complain about these little things, not the actual band itself. Bands usually seem thrilled to be playing shows. But that is a full-time job for many musicians. They travel between towns constantly, living on a tour bus for months on end, far from their families and friends. They might have a bad day at work every now and again. And some musicians just seem completely miserable in their jobs, at least according to the people replying to this r/AskReddit post. 

You can read all the interesting stories below! And after that, check out a bunch of very funny products that didn't meet expectations at all. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    ESCIS IS VE КИЕ ANZNZINZA-18 SAZNA SIZIST KIT 4 [ベル
    via Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash
  • 02
    What is the worst concert you have ever attended?
    via u/oldwhitelincoln
  • 03
    beancounter2885 I went to a Guns n Roses concert. Axl Rose didn't, but I did. They didn't even tell us. They just put on a Rob Zombie CD, covered the equipment, and left. It turned into a riot.
    via u/beancounter2885
  • 04
    Im_a_furniture 2001 Bumbershoot: Sonic Youth. I love Sonic Youth, and this was about as punk as you could get so I had to laugh when it was over. They literally tuned their guitars for about 45 minutes, said "Thanks a lot," and walked off stage.
    via u/Im_a_furniture
  • 05
    [deleted] Saw Smash Mouth at a free concert for a village fest. Playing to an almost empty field of scattered folding chairs and people sitting on blankets. There was barely any lighting for the stage. Perhaps they wanted it that way. We were just sitting on the perimeter, eating, and kept saying "I can't believe
    via u/[deleted]
  • 06
    this is Smash Mouth" in the worst sense. They started into the ironic "All Star", and I swear I heard Steve Harwell change the lyrics from "I need to get myself away from this place" to "I need to get the out of this place". Either way, nobody noticed. Probably the most depressing sight I've ever seen in live music.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 07
    nullthegrey Smashing Pumpkins came to my town in 1997 when I was in high school and people. still gave a who Billy Corgan was. They played about an hour, then disappeared from stage. Billy came back on stage about 15 minutes later and told us we weren't being loud enough so we must not be enjoying the show and they left the arena. There
    via u/nullthegrey
  • 08
    was almost a riot, and I've felt Billy Corgan was a huge ever since. Nothing I've seen in the intervening years has changed that view.
    via u/nullthegrey
  • 09
    Ch... Ozzy Osborne. Studied for two weeks ahead of time to go. Be me. Ozzy appears in a ball of flame for the first song and walks down the steps as the guitarists start playing "over the mountain".
    via u/Chinesefiredrills
  • 10
    Ozzy walked up and grabbed the microphone, he shouted "OVER THE MOUNTAIN..." Passed out on stage, concert over. 3 whole words and a lot of disappointment. The school paper said he had laryngitis...
    via u/Chinesefiredrills
  • 11
    jbourne0129 It's really unfortunate to say, but the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Boston, Ma. They were over 2 hours late to their own concert. So we had to listen to the Mars Volta play for about 90 minutes longer than anyone planned (including the Mars Volta). It was okay at first,
    via u/jbourne0129
  • 12
    but their performance got progressively worse and worse. When the chili peppers finally came it was decent, but a very rushed. show.
    via u/jbourne0129
  • 13
    Dr... Instead of youth group one night, a Christian rapper was in my small town and did a full blown concert for like 6 unenthusiastic teenagers. It was pretty sad. He was so unimpressive, I can't remember his name.
    via u/DrDragon13
  • 14
    Ze... Trans-Siberian Orchestra The music was great-ish..! But there was some annoying guy next to me that knew every word to every song (which he basically just yelled) and hummed everything else very loudly. Oh, and apparently it was his birthday (I know this because he had his iPad out
    via u/Zeolance
  • 15
    recording himself). Then the violin chick was "playing" so hard that all of her strings on her bow broke. That was awkward. She kind of just stood there like an idiot until someone brought her a new one. The best part was the violin solo kept going after she quit playing...
    via u/Zeolance
  • 16
    experienceisbliss I've seen a lot of shows, now. Most of them have been awesome. The only band I've seen that I didn't care for was Flyleaf. It was at The Family Values tour in 2006 with Deftones, Korn, Dir en Grey and some others. I remember the singer sounding horrible and she tried to cover a Nine Inch Nails song. Horrible.
    via u/experienceisbliss
  • 17
    db... Went to see Lana Del Ray with Hole opening at an outdoor venue last May. I've been to Hundreds of concerts, but Courtney Love sounded awful compared to even the worst I'd seen before.. Her guitar "playing" sounded like a 12 year old first learning her song as their first song.
    via u/dbzmah
  • 18
    Then it started to rain a bit, then the tornado watch came in. Concert cancelled, no Lana. Just a performance from Hole, and being soaked. The only benefit of the whole thing is that the tickets were refunded. Who the thought it was a good idea to pair Love with Lana? Edit: yes, it was Dallas.
    via u/dbzmah
  • 19
    skeetgw2 Maybe late to the party here. but mine is without a doubt Buckcherry. It was a co-headliner deal with Avenged Sevenfold and Papa Roach. Both of these bands absolutely killed it. Killer sets, got the crowd into it, jammed while the singers went in the back for a break, etc.
    via u/skeetgw2
  • 20
    Then Buckcherry arrives into an inaudible melody of pained screams, the word C inserted into every other sentence to be relevant I guess and the song Crazy played twice in the 20 minutes before I walked out. It was the worst performance I've ever seen and I still don't understand why Avenged Sevenfold would co- headline with them.
    via u/skeetgw2
  • 21
    iN... Marilyn Manson, 40 mins late in a 35 degree Celsius, non air-conditioned venue. Packed. Came out, told us to off, sung three songs, punched his drummer and walked out. Best $90 spent
    via u/iNemewiccan
  • 22
    RIP inbox. My highest comment about a MM performance. This was in Melbourne, Australia. I don't remember the year, but everyone was I off afterwards, even the protesters didn't hang around.
    via u/iNemewiccan
  • 23
    I_HATE_MUSHRO... Madonna. I was in a VIP box with a bar with free alcohol and STILL I left after just one hour.
    via u/I_HATE_MUSHROOMS
  • 24
    Hanna-bananaa I went to see Paramore and Charlie XCX (pre Fancy) was the stage act and I have never seen an audience absolutely obliterate someone before. As she was singing no one "danced" or cheered at the end, people were booing her during her songs and holding their fingers up to her. When she sang 'I Love It' that was the
    via u/Hanna-bananaa
  • 25
    only time the audience gave her positive feedback; I felt so sorry for her. When she thanked the audience after her set, it almost felt like a you' to us and I couldn't help but applaude her passive aggressiveness.
    via u/Hanna-bananaa
  • 26
    passionlessDrone Andy What a perfect name for the guy. Powerfully unfunny show at the Tallahassee civic center that I believe was the comedic basis for Charlie Sheens warlock tour. They handed out glowing bendy sticks in the arena and you could see a steady stream of people
    via u/passionlessDrone
  • 27
    leaving, but he wouldn't stop being deeply unfunny. More people would have stayed if he'd stood up there in silence. off, Andy. You
    via u/passionlessDrone
  • 28
    Oyecats This is for the older people here. I went to see Wilson Phillips in 1990 with my girlfriend at the AstroWorld Amphitheater in Houston. These three ladies stood in a semicircle around the microphone and sang their entire album from beginning
    via u/Oyecats
  • 29
    to end without moving. It was the most boring show I have ever attended. Even my girlfriend at the time hated. it.
    via u/Oyecats
  • 30
    NowWithMoreCho... Surprisingly, it was Queen. With Adam Lambert, not Freddie Mercury. Even more surprisingly, Adam Lambert was the best part. I am a fan of Lambert but you would have expected Queen themselves to have been fantastic.
    via u/NowWithMoreChocolate
  • 31
    Nope. Twenty minute drum "battle" between the drummer and his son, where the son was completely upon by his father's talent. It was like watching a drum lesson. And let us not forgot the half hour session of Brian May strumming random chords.
    via u/NowWithMoreChocolate
  • 32
    Not even a song, just random chords and making very long eye contact with certain members of the audience. The actual songs, when Lambert was singing were brilliant, however because of all this in between, the show over ran and my friend and I had to leave 3/4 of the way through the show in order to catch the last train home.
    via u/NowWithMoreChocolate
  • 33
    SeventhCycle They did a 12-15 minute set, then said and packed it up. They were the headlining band.
    via u/SeventhCycle
  • 34
    Kriegan Atlanta, Georgia. Opening act. The band was called "Sins of ". Every Gothic cliché imaginable. But in their minds, they thought they were awesome.
    via u/Kriegan
  • 35
    hitomaro Bob Dylan. He stood in one place the whole time and played the electric piano/organ. No. guitar. I've heard this is because he has issues with his hands now.
    via u/hitomaro
  • 36
    That's not actually what bothered me most though, what hit me was that he never greeted the audience, never said thank you, no conversation whatsoever the whole concert.
    via u/hitomaro
  • 37
    laterdude Willie Nelson He changed up the melodies & tempos so we couldn't sing along. No stage banter and the concert was essentially a gimmick to introduce the world to his son's reggae band. He exited the stage--no encore--right when his contractually obligated 90 minutes were up.
    via u/laterdude
  • 38
    Now I can see why he was reduced to playing small town drive-ins back in the '90s before the current nostalgia craze turned him into everyone's favorite pot- addled grandpa.
    via u/laterdude

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

opinion ask reddit shows Music concerts funny stories singing song concert askreddit bands funny musicians opinions
Scroll Down For The Next Article