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BaldFriede 
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 02 2005
Location: Germany
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Points: 10261
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 Posted: January 18 2017 at 08:53 |
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Here is one that I did not witness personally but know from the excellent Amon Düül 2 biography "Tanz der Lemminge" by rock journalist Ingeborg Schober.
There was a festival at the Hippodrome in Paris in 1973 or 1974 (I would have to look it up in the book but I think it was 1973). Hawkwind had the gig before the Amon Düül 2 gig and needed a lot of time to get their gear off the stage. The audience grew impatient, tension was building, and someone in the audience broke a chair and threw the backrest on stage where it hit synth player Kalle Hausmann on the shoulder. Bass player Lothar Meid threw it back into the audience where it hit someone full in the face. To save the situation Meid then plugged in his bass guitar and played the Marseillaise. What followed was one of the best concerts the band ever gave, but that situation certainly was uncomfortable.
Edited by BaldFriede - January 18 2017 at 08:54
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 BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
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Manuel
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 09 2007
Location: United States
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Points: 12382
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 08:58 |
Seeing Rush at the Sports Arena in San Diego (back in the 90s, don't remember the exact year), the sound was horrible, and my ears buzzed for a few days. Last time I saw Ian Anderson. He could barely sing, and it was painful seeing him that way. The music was great as usual, but his voice is another story.
Edited by Manuel - January 18 2017 at 08:59
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Terrapin Station
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Joined: July 23 2016
Location: NYC
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Points: 383
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 09:18 |
 verslibre wrote:
My friend saw Rush on the Hold Your Fire tour (I didn't get to see them till they came back 'round for Presto) and he said Geddy went into the chorus of "Limelight" too soon, but Alex and Neil caught it. Whew! No such goofs when I saw them...those were flawless shows, give or take. |
One time that I saw Rush in Florida during the 80s (I don't recall what tour it was--I've seen them at least once every tour all the way back to 1974), Neil was very sick--sick enough that they probably should have cancelled the show, but he soldiered through. Well, I don't know if it was just the illness or whatever medicine they might have given him to help him feel better and get through the show, but he was all over the place that night tempo-wise. Songs were way faster or slower than normal, he was speeding up and slowing down tempos during the course of tunes, Geddy and Alex were looking back at him and rocking their guitar necks up and down to try to help dictate tempos, etc.
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Catcher10
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Location: Emerald City
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Points: 17497
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 09:46 |
Transatlantic show, Portnoy I don't think was in a good mood (imagine that!!  ), but there was a guy who kept coming to the front of stage and taking pictures of Portnoy and flash was going off occasionally. I saw MP motion to the guy enough, after about 30 minutes and finally MP got so pissed he flung a stic at the guy, did not hit him. Then his drum tech came to everyone in front row and said no more pics with flash.......I get it, but it was rather funny and disturbing, put a damper on the front row.
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verslibre
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 01 2004
Location: CA
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Points: 15006
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 09:50 |
Dellinger wrote:
Transatlantic, on the Kaleidoscope tour. One of the keyboards broke and they had to get technicians to try and fix it up... which in the end they just weren't able to do. In the end they got into the Kaleidoscope song with one less keyboard player... Ted Leonard would just go and make mock air playing at some parts. However, to tell the truth, I couldn't tell the difference (though in great part that would be because I hadn't been able to get the album yet by that time, and had only heard it a few times through Youtube). While they were trying to fix the keyboard, Neal Morse came out with an acoustic guitar to play a few songs by himself, which weren't part of the show and surely weren't particularly rehearsed. |
Your post reminds me of two things: Spock's Beard at Prog Fest '97 — Neal stopped the set cold because, as he flat-out told us, "I have to tune my guitar." Transatlantic at Prog Fest 2000 — Roine Stolt had a brand new guitar that buzzed whenever he played it. He played a quiet outro and smiled, with that bzzzzzt happening. They didn't seem able to do anything about it, so they stopped worrying about it. Meanwhile, Neal took a few opportunities to poke fun at Pete while he sang his verse of "Strawberry Fields Forever": he yelled, right as Pete was singing: "Clap, people! Come on! Make him feel better!"
Edited by verslibre - January 18 2017 at 11:00
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CPicard
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 03 2008
Location: Là, sui monti.
Status: Offline
Points: 10837
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 10:00 |
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1) Cluster in Montreuil (near Paris), at the venue Instants Chavirés (2012)
Not only I didn't really enjoy what they were playing this evening (some kind of dub-like music, with deep bass and steady rhythms, quite boring after 10 minutes), but I also think they ended the concert by mistake: the music stopped rather abruptly, in the middle of a measure, like one of them pushed on the "off" button by misguard... And the two of them looked at each other, in a glance full of awkwardness...
Yet, the audience happily clapped. Go figure...
2) Tuxedomoon in Paris (2016)
Here, no problem with the band, just with a drunk guy in the audience, RIGHT BEHIND ME, screaming: "The Italian album! The Italian album!" (not sure which album he was referencing) - even if the band was playing the songs of their first album (Half Mute, released 35 years ago).
Luckily, one of my brothers' friend was also here and told the guy to 'shut the fug up', so we could enjoy Tuxedo's performance in a quieter ambiance.
3) Peter Brötzmann, Ken Vandermark and Mats Gustafson in Potiers (2008)
At first, the trio seemed to play together: three angry saxophones ravaging the small venue (Carré Bleu) for 45 minutes. I was not impressed, rather bored by what sounded like a caricature of Free Jazz / free improvisation.
Yet, at some point, everyone in the audience realised that Brötzmann wasn't playing anymore: he was on a side of the stage, just standing here, not blowing his saxophone, not doing anything... There was something wrong and wicked going on, we all could feel it... Then, he walked a little to his "partners" and said them something in English that no one understood: whatever he told them, they stopped playing immediately, and Brötzmann went on a clarinet solo (still doing his "angry free jazz" stuff).
When the concert ended, we saw Vandermark and Gustafson running to the backstage, seemingly not happy and merry at all, while Brötzmann went quietly at the bar of the venue...
I went back to the Carre Bleu the following week for another concert and asked the people working here what happened last week: in fact, when listening to the tapes, they heard what Brötzmann told his musicians: "It's impossible to play with you, motherf**kers! Let me play alone five minutes, motherf**kers!"
Charming ambiance...
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Meltdowner
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 10:05 |
^ The stage is too small for three saxophones
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progmatic
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Joined: August 22 2009
Location: Ohio
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 10:06 |
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I saw Steve Hackett in Cleveland (a few times) and one show was a disaster despite Hackett's best efforts. Constant sound problems and other technical difficulties, culminating in a mic stand falling over, with a live mic attached. Hackett, at that one moment, looked ready to spit venom.
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PROGMATIC
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Terrapin Station
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Joined: July 23 2016
Location: NYC
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Points: 383
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 11:20 |
octopus-4 wrote:
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe in Rome. Jon has a cold and is unable to sing. During Brother of Mine stops singing and Rick is very disappointed. Jon remains on the stage but the other three and Tony Levin go on instrumentally. Probably just to save the incomes. Anyway they are so good musicians that I'm not too disappointed at the end. |
I saw Sting once when he had a bad cold and was losing his voice. He profusely apologized, tried everything he could to be able to sing at all--he took a couple extra breaks, he kept drinking tea and honey, etc. BUT, his voice kept going out, and so it ended up being about an 80% instrumental show instead, and it was just smokin', because that was a tour with Branford Marsalis, Omar Hakim, Kenny Kirkland, Darryl Jones etc. It ended up being a bunch of cookin' instrumental fusion versions of Sting tunes.
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Rednight
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Joined: January 18 2014
Location: Mar Vista, CA
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Points: 4807
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 14:39 |
Manuel wrote:
Seeing Rush at the Sports Arena in San Diego (back in the 90s, don't remember the exact year), the sound was horrible, and my ears buzzed for a few days.
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You're stating the obvious about the San Diego Sports Arena (affectionately known at times as the Sports Aroma). The place probably has the worst acoustics in the States and should have been razed years ago (albeit I do have some fond memories of past shows there).
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"It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno
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Manuel
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Joined: March 09 2007
Location: United States
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Points: 12382
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 14:46 |
Rednight wrote:
Manuel wrote:
Seeing Rush at the Sports Arena in San Diego (back in the 90s, don't remember the exact year), the sound was horrible, and my ears buzzed for a few days.
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You're stating the obvious about the San Diego Sports Arena (affectionately known at times as the Sports Aroma). The place probably has the worst acoustics in the States and should have been razed years ago (albeit I do have some fond memories of past shows there). |
Yes, I agree, the acoustics are really bad in that building. However, I saw Yes (the Union tour) and Peter Gabriel at the same venue, and the sound was quite good. It's a shame to hear Rush (I'm not blaming the band), in such horrible conditions. The worst concert (in terms of sound) I've ever attended.
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verslibre
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Location: CA
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 15:02 |
"In The Round" – May 14, 1991! I was there, too. Helluva show! Also saw Rush at the Arena on April 5, '90! I recall it sounding pretty good, though. I saw Rush from the 8th row at the Forum in L.A. two nights earlier, and I couldn't hear Geddy's bass half the time...which sucked, considering that's the element that got me into Rush in the first place!
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verslibre
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Joined: July 01 2004
Location: CA
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Points: 15006
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 15:03 |
Terrapin Station wrote:
verslibre wrote:
My friend saw Rush on the Hold Your Fire tour (I didn't get to see them till they came back 'round for Presto) and he said Geddy went into the chorus of "Limelight" too soon, but Alex and Neil caught it. Whew! No such goofs when I saw them...those were flawless shows, give or take. |
One time that I saw Rush in Florida during the 80s (I don't recall what tour it was--I've seen them at least once every tour all the way back to 1974), Neil was very sick--sick enough that they probably should have cancelled the show, but he soldiered through. Well, I don't know if it was just the illness or whatever medicine they might have given him to help him feel better and get through the show, but he was all over the place that night tempo-wise. Songs were way faster or slower than normal, he was speeding up and slowing down tempos during the course of tunes, Geddy and Alex were looking back at him and rocking their guitar necks up and down to try to help dictate tempos, etc.
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That's must've been something!
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Atavachron
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Joined: September 30 2006
Location: Pearland
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Points: 64352
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 19:53 |
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^ That's why they're the only prog band still originally intact.
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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy
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Entity79
Forum Newbie
Joined: September 22 2005
Location: United States
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Posted: January 18 2017 at 22:02 |
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I went to see Rush at the TD Garden in Boston on the Time Machine tour. Something with the pyrotechnics near the end of Far Cry shorted out Alex's wireless unit on his guitar, which caused him to mime the last minute of the song.
For a good 5 minutes they tried to get it working, and being the total goofball he is, Alex goofed off while they were troubleshooting. He was clearly annoyed, but played it off well, and when they finally got everything fixed, they kicked into the most blistering version of La Villa Strangiato I've seen in years. You can find it on Youtube, it's hilarious.
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timbo
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Posted: January 20 2017 at 14:29 |
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Twelfth Night, probably around 1983 or 84, Huddersfield Student's Union.
Some girls wandered in from the bar, and tried to get the mostly male, over-serious audience dancing. After a few awkward embarrassing minutes they left us to it, muttering about us being boring.
Looking back, it's strange how I wondered why I couldn't get a girlfriend back then...
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Progosopher
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Joined: May 12 2009
Location: Coolwood
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Points: 6393
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Posted: January 22 2017 at 17:38 |
Another Rainbow story. This time it was 1979, and Dio was out of the band. Their performance was ok. The opener was a then young and relatively unknown John Mellencamp (known as John Cougar at the time). He started the set with his early hit, "I Need a Lover." I had always like the opening exposition of that song, but the Rainbow crowd did not. People booed and cursed, throwing things onstage. I felt rather bad for him. Maybe half way through the song he held his hands out to stop the band, which they did. "There is only one thing I want to say to you," he told the audience, and flipping the bird with both hands shouted "F&^$ You!" and ran off stage, the band clearing out quickly as well. No riot this time I once waited two hours with 60,000 other people for Led Zeppelin to come out after Derringer's raucus performance at the Oakland Colosseum. That also happened to be Judas Priest's first west coast tour. Most of us did not know who they were, but they rocked our faces off. The show being during the day, Zeppelin gave a lackluster performance. Robert Plant said that if they seemed slow it was because they got out of bed 1/2 hour before the came on stage. At 3:00 in the afternoon. This was 1977. I thought I permanently damaged my hearing seeing Robin Trower in the early 00s. Thankfully, not. A buddy of mine saw Bill Ward totally lose it mid-show. Screaming, he trashed his drum set and left the stage to never come back. Not sure what happened after that.
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The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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AFlowerKingCrimson
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Posted: January 22 2017 at 19:34 |
I'll share a few.
I saw Jon Anderson solo back around sometime in the last decade I guess and at some point during "nous sommes du soleil" he forgets the lyrics and some people in the audience had to sing it to him and then he remembered and kept going. Not sure how intentional it was though. Maybe he just wanted to see how well the audience knew the song. You never know. 
When I saw John Wetton with District 97 he forgot some of his lyrics to(from a King Crimson song no less)but I kind of remembered(I think I even mixed up the words) and shouted it out to him and he picked up on it and continued.
After seeing Francis Dunnery live(yeah I know he is only marginally prog)some guy walks up to me with a pen. I have a shaved head and so apparently he thought I was him. I mean come on. You just saw the guy live and you still think I'm Francis Dunnery? Right then the real Francis Dunnery comes walking past and I said something like "here's the guy you want" or "here's the real Francis Dunnery"(I don't remember verbatim what I said)and Francis comes over and shakes my hand then gives the guy an autograph.
Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - January 22 2017 at 19:37
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biglevel
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Cherry Spam from Vietnam
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 17:50 |
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Uncomfortable concert moment looks funny to audience. What could it be to someone performing the concert? lol I can't help it.
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Progosopher
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 17:56 |
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Here's another one, and it had nothing to do with the band. Simply stated, I was too close to the stage. I saw Steve Hackett in '79 I think, at a small club. Me and me droogs bought dinner tickets so we could get as close to the stage as possible. There is a difference between the front row in an auditorium where you still have some space between you and the band, and being in a club where there is no space. As it was, I sat right next to John Hacketts stage monitor, so most of what I heard was flute and Taurus pedals, catching other sounds in between. Still, I enjoyed the show. A similar thing happened to me at the above mentioned Trower concert, but there I was standing next to his loud stage amps.
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The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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Uncomfortable Concert Moments
