Paul Kossof, Paul Rogers and John Bundrick = Weak Band?

A talented crew, to be sure.

Maybe they weren't well-rehearsed. Maybe their gear was substandard (a top-10 hit wouldn't assure any revenue while still on the charts). Maybe they were hung over. Maybe they weren't accustomed to playing arena-sized rooms. Maybe they just hated German audiences (this was in Munich).

Whatever the reason, it was an embarrassingly weak performance. Matching them up with Coliseum was a mistake. The juxtaposition of a 3-piece pop act with a flashy, virtuoso blues-rock powerhouse could not have turned out well.

The worst band I ever saw live, Frank Moreno and Mahogany Rush... Hands down. He was a good guitarist in the day, but he had a big piece of plywood with all of his pedals and FX on it, all daisy chained, and he was out there tap dancing on that thing… And his bass player was so drunk, he fell over in to the drum kit. It was a train wreck.

Best:

Yes - 1973 Bristol Hippodrome - Topographic Oceans tour
Pink Floyd - The Wall at Earls Court, 1978 ish
Zappa - Birmingham NEC, 1990 ish
Steve Vai - Manchester Apollo - July 2008
Roger Waters - O2 Arena, 2007
Ozzy Osbourne - Liverpool Academy, 1975ish
Queen - Bristol Hippodrome - 1980
Nickelback - Birmingham NEC 2008
Wishbone Ash - Hippodrome - 1976
Genesis - Bristol Hippodrome - 1973 Selling England tour


Worst:

Foo Fighters - Wembley, 2008
Jon Anderson & Rick Wakeman - 2007
UFO - Bristol Colston Hall, 1977 or thereabouts
Fleetwood Mac - Bristol Colston Hall - this was the transition band between the old & new Mac - utterly forgettable

Bands I never saw and wish I had:

Emerson Lake & Palmer
Rush
King Crimson
Led Zepellin
Beatles
Stones
Thin Lizzy
Marillion (Fish Era)

Worst - I hate any big stadium gigs, not sure if I'll ever go to any more, regardless of how much I admire the artist / band. It's all to do with the sound, the commercialization. Sure, if it were my band, I'd probably have ended up doing the same. The only artist that gets away with it for me is Bruce Springsteen, and whilst I admire and like his music, I wouldn't put me among his most fervent fans. I saw U2 at the Popmart tour at Wembley in 1998, terrible sound, no audience rapport whatsoever, same for The Rolling Stones Twickenham a couple of years back.

Best

Joe Jackson, Liverpool Empire around 1979 I think, everyone expecting the "hits" from the first two "new wave" albums, Look Sharp and I'm The Man, but he had just released and was promoting his Jumping Jive jazz album, and thats what we got, along with complete band. Most of the audience were totally perplexed, as was I initially, but he and the band were superb and I admired his balls to pull that one off right at the beginning (and height some might say) of his musical success.

Blue Rondo a La Turk, around 1982, small club gig in Liverpool again, you had to be there, they tore the place up, moisture running down the walls, fantastic musical performance, absolutely the right place and right time for all concerned, don't know what happened to them, shame really.

and... a life changing gig for me, Joy Division at Eric's club in Liverpool 1979, I remember it like it was yesterday, couldn't convince any of my friends to come to see them, so I went on my own, feeling a bit pi$$ed off and sorry for myself. When they opened, I instantly felt wired into an emotional charge that just built up and up. At the end of the evening when the crowd spilled outside, I knew my perspective on music and life had changed forever, and so it had...

The worst band I ever saw was a local band in my town called Slane, at the end of the set the singer ate a "raw" chicken onstage, I still cringe everytime I think about it...UGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

Worst Black Crows at a time when the brothers could not stand to be together on stage or anywhere else.
Very Good/Maybe but maybe not best Moe Bandy in Branson, MO

Crowded House tried to win both awards. The second third of their recent show put everyone to sleep. The last third rocked.

Brian Jonestown Massacre had such an unprofessional attitude that it was almost entertaining to watch. I've never heard a singer tell the audience to shut up so he could get in tune before, then berate the other guitarist for not playing an open A string properly. Their songs weren't that much better either.

The best live band had to be Gentle Giant. Incredible chops in the studio that they could actually recreate live onstage somehow. Violins, cellos, xylophones, saxes, every type of stringed instrument, synthesizers, Mellotron, 5-part recorder harmonies, all 5 band members playing drums...just incredible stuff. Never have seen any other band of 5 guys pull off something like that *LIVE* without the benefit of MIDI or sequencers...probably never will again.
JV

The best live band had to be Gentle Giant

Search'em on YouTube - some great stuff there....