AFI
I saw AFI a few years back (maybe two?) after winning meet-and-greet passes as well. We went up to the band hangout spot at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio with the others who won meet-and-greets. First off, this crazy bitch baked a cake for the band, which I thought was weird. But after being in the room with the band for a mere 30 seconds, I could tell these guys were just awkward.
The lead singer and drummer were very welcome to everyone and chatted everyone up and tried to keep convos going. (In the picture above, they're the two on the left if I remember correctly) The other two, though, acted like anti-social emo kids. Anytime any one of the excited 13-year-olds asked the bassist or guitarist anything, they responded with one-word answers and never made eye contact. I felt like HATED me. AAWWWKKKKWWWAAARRRDDDDD.
The show finally came up. I've never been more disappointed after a show. The set was all their newer "more emo" stuff. (Which I actually enjoy, but it's not the material you want for a bangin' rock concert) There was no crowd energy (partly due to the massive crowd of 12-year-old girls screaming for the lead singer), and few signs of emotion from the band. I think that's the only show or concert I've debated leaving early from.
Puddle Of Mudd
I saw Puddle Of Mudd last summer at Rock On The Range. Have you ever seen a band who thought they were the fucking shit, but really they weren't? Yeaaaahhhhhhh...... In a crowd of thousands of hardcore, gnarly people who had been kicking each others' asses all day (which my scrawny ass in the middle of it, of course), maybe 5 were moshing to this. They tried to soup up all their popular singles (Singing a song about how "she fucking hates me" [la la la laaaaa!] won't get the crowd going) but they failed at that. The singer attempted to sing, but he failed miserably at that as well. By far, they were the worst act I saw at that festival.
Wicked Wisdom
Wicked Wisdom was a relatively short-lived band I saw at Ozzfest around 2005 or so. The lead singer was actually Will Smith's wife. (The More You Know!) Now, I have never been a fan of women as lead vocalists for metal screaming bands, and this was only reinforced that opinion. Awful show. Just..... awful. The crowd was boo-ing halfway through the set, there was no energy, and it all just sounded like noise. No music, simply noise. There was a reason why these guys were short-lived....
Now, as a musician and all that shit I mentioned above, I respect anyone trying to go out there and make a few bucks playing music for a living. However, I'm only playing the role of "critique" in my experience of the many shows I've been to. Have any of you had any bad shows that sound like this?
