I've been fortunate to see a lot of great artists and bands over the years. But every once in a while, you get a clunker. The following is my list for the 5 worst concerts I ever wasted money and/or time on...
1) Ozzy Osborne's Set @ Ozzfest
I have been an Ozzy fan since I was a kid. But unfortunately, the years have not been kind to the Ozzinator as far as his ability to perform go. This year, a friend blessed me with 2 pit passes to Ozzfest. We had a great day. Many of the newer bands were very impressive and convinced me that metal is not dead by a longshot. At the end of teh evening, Ozzy came on. And what a dissapointment. Ozzy looked like he just rolled out of bed. He was wearing a baggy shirt and pants that looked like he got em at the Savation Army. His band, which featured Zack Wylde, a steroid pumped up guitar player who looks a lot cooler than his ability to play. the band was loose, and the lead guitarist actually played the riff to Crazy train during the verses wrong! Ozzy couldn't remember the words to Suicide Solution and several other songs. Ozzy's gigs have always been short. He generally does about 45-55 minutes, including encore. Its about a "bar set" worth of material. But most of Ozzy's songs are relatively short, and in the past, the set was so intense, that the brevity of it was usually forgiven. But this tour, Ozzy found a way to rip the fans off even more. The set opened with a "montage" of Ozzy's career shown over pre-recorded music. That lasted nearly 10 minutes, was boring and shortened the actual playing time even more. Then Zack did a lousy guitar solo which was about 5 or 6 minutes. then to top things off, they brought out Zack's dad, who was backstage and let the old geezer stand there mumbling with Ozzy for a good 3 or 4 minutes. In the end, the fans got about 30 minutes, tops of actual concert. It's a shame too, cause Ozzy used to be so great.
2) The Psychedelic Furs
I was a really big fan of the Furs in the 80's. In 1986, I finally got to go see em. I expeced an intense, moody, mellow experience. What I got was Richard Butler shaking his gay ass all over the stage like a bubblegum pop star. And the mix sucked too.
3) Joe Walsh
I got tickets to see Joe Walsh play at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh. the day of the show, he postponed it. A month or 2 later, it was rescheduled. We went that night and expected a special show. After all, when someone postpones a show at the last minute (it was called off around 4 that afternoon) when they do the make up date, you expect to get something special. Nope. furthermore, Joe mumbled thru the lyrics and stumbled around on stage. A friend who was backstage that night later informed me he had to be carried in by 2 guys with his arms over thier shoulders. Joe did no encores (he claims he doesall of his encore songs in his set, so there is no need) and didn't even remark about postponing the 1st night. What a shame.
4) The Rolling Stones
I saw the legendary Rolling Stones @ 3 Rivers Stadium on thier "Steel Wheels" tour. I walked off a job to go (oh, the cavalierness of youth!) and it wa s a dissapointment. the ads said they had a "million dollar light show." Apparantly, they blew the million bucks on all white and orange lights. The sound was horrible, and we moved to several locations around the stadium and nowhere was the mix good. almost everywhere had sound bouncing off the walls mercilessly and jagger was unhearable. I have seen floyd, the dead and others in 3 rivers and other sim. stadiums a got good sound. so it wasn't like the venue was a barrier. they just didn't give a damn. I'm betting that if I hadseen the Stones in another era, they would have impressed me. Unfortunately, I didn't.
OF course, the last slot is the hardest to fill. I saw Def Leppard get blown off the stage by a mediocre Krokus. rEM seems to get worse each time out as Stipe seems to want to be more "punk" as each year passes. And there was the time the Cramps just didn't show up. But this honor will go to...
5) Jo Dee Messina
My wife and I went to the Delaware State Fair one year and saw her. My wife is a big fan, and I don't mind her. That night, it poured buckets...butthe show went on. We had "floor" seats and were out in the rain. After my wife was getting worn down by all the rain, I tried to bribe an usher with 20 bucks to sit in the grandstand, under roof, where there were many unused seats. it ws the only time an usher turned me down (and i've bribed plenty...once got a girl down on the field at a pink floyd concert with 5 bucks). her show was just not that good. she tried, and she didn't suck. but it was kinda like watching your mom at a concert. way too "square" for me , i guess. I have also seen many bands in the rain, and if the music was good enough, ya forgot about the rain. unfortunately, that didn't happen here.