Everybody's talking about good concert experiences, so I thought I'd talk about bad or not so good ones. I'm sure everyone's been to a show that just plain sucked. So I'll list my Top 5 Worst Shows chronologically.
1.
The Why Store (1996) - I was in 8th grade and went with my then-boyfriend. It was in a high school gymnasium and the show consisted mainly of local bands doing covers and The Why Store headlined. At least I think that's what they were called. They weren't good enough to really remember. We ended up going to the top of the bleachers and waited for my mom to pick us up.
2.
The Elms (2000) - I went to high school with the guys in this band, so naturally they played in our high school gym. The crowd sucked, the band sucked... everything sucked. They had a big following when they were called Just Visiting (though I'd never heard their stuff), so I figured they'd be decent. I was wrong, as usual.
3.
Ben Kweller (2003) - When I went, it was only because a few friends of mine were really big fans. I thought his music was decent, and it was only going to cost $12. So we got there about twenty hours early (because they wanted to be right up front) and we ended up standing outside in the cold for an eon. We were the first ones inside though. The opening acts were great (The Pieces, Brendan Benson and the Well Fed Boys). Ben Kweller on the other hand, not so decent. It took almost an hour to set up the stage (probably because they had only one guy doing it; it seems Mr. Kweller is too big a star to help out), and when he finally came out he was smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer (obviously drunk) and acted like everything was great. Needless to say, one of my friends and I stayed for only three songs and decided to leave while our other friends stayed.
4.
The Juliana Theory (2003) - A friend of mine was dating their sound engineer, so she was able to get me and two other friends into the show for free. My roomate at the time had one of their albums, but otherwise I wasn't a huge fan (though I like most of their stuff now). It was at Bogart's (an awesome venue), so that was a plus. Further Seems Forever was one of the openers and The Ataris were headlining. When we got there, it was early and we went to get food, but then instead of going to watch the first two bands we ended up staying on their bus watching television with the guys. Pretty boring stuff. We caught The Juliana Theory's set which was decent, but then we ended up right back in the bus. I ended up going back in to catch some of The Ataris because I was always a big fan of theirs and didn't want the night to be a total waste. Afterwards, back out by the bus, I got to see Kris Roe of The Ataris play with his daughter which was adorable, but then we ended up right back on the bus watching a Pitt basketball game and drinking beer. Definately not a great show in my book. It's cool hanging out with bands, but I really like the music more.
5.
The Army of Freshmen (2003) - I think to date I've been to eight of their shows, and all have been great except one. I'm not sure if it counts though because they didn't show up. I'm working on a documentary about local music scenes, and Chris Jay offered to help out. To give some leeway and lower my stress I figured I'd devote a weekend to following them around on part of their tour with Bowling For Soup. On Thursday night I drove 2 1/2 hours to Cincinatti to catch them at Bogart's. We decided to hold off on stuff and shoot for the next two shows. So afterwards I drove back home because I had class the next morning, and after Friday's classes I drove to Columbus as a halfway point for the Saturday night show in Pittsburg. Saturday night there was absolutely nowhere available for us to get anything accomplished so we decided that the Sunday show in Chicago would be great because they were off the Bowling For Soup tour that day and we'd have tons of time to do stuff. So I left the Pittsburg show in the middle of Bowling For Soup's set (I'm not a fan) with plans to meet up with the guys the next day in Chicago. Not fifteen minutes after I'd left, the manager from Bowling For Soup asked Army of Freshmen to finish up the tour. Me, being stupid, hadn't given Chris my cell phone number so he couldn't let me know. I ended up driving all the way to Chicago only to find out from Short Arm Trick (a band at that show) that AOF was in Cleveland. I was tired and frustrated and got didn't even stay for the show. I drove back home and went to bed. Chris apologized like crazy when he could finally email me. I was pissed at first, but I got over it and hold no animosity toward him or the rest of the guys. They're still one of my favorite bands and when they hit the road for the their next tour, I'll go to the shows.
So that's my experiences. Anybody else had some not so good ones?
Sarah
Alone I'll stand as they all dance. I've tangoed one too many times; the floor is just not for me. Forget me, girl. I'm still recovering from her. It hurts so. I'm sorry, girl. I'm in no shape to love. It's not you, it's her.
Can I sell this sunrise in return for a sunset?