The original Jay and The Americans group.

The recordings released by Jay and the Americans were top notch recordings featuring excellent songs, great arrangements that included a large number of background instruments and excellent studio production. Unfortunately, what you heard on the radio or from a recording was not what you saw or heard during a concert.

The performance was sponsored by a student assembly and held inside a college campus auditorium. The stage was large enough to comfortably hold a 50 person concert band. This evening the stage held three persons, with no stage props or even the curtains partially closed to make the setting more intimate.

There was no announcer, opening act or closing act. The curtain opens to an empty stage and three people walk to the middle of the stage. One carries an electric guitar in one hand and a small wattage amplifier in the other hand. The second person has a microphone stand with corded microphone in one hand and a trumpet in the other hand. The last person had a hand held corded microphone.

First the microphone stand and guitar amplifier are set down on the stage. Then the guitar and trumpet player gather around the microphone stand while the third guy holding a microphone positions himself in front of the other two.

Without any type of audience acknowledgement they begin singing with the guitar strumming. And so it goes from one song to the next with the trumpet occasionally bleating out three or four notes.

Except for the singing a word never was said from the stage. No song introductions, no group introductions. No movement even. They just stayed rooted in place where they first stopped. When it was over they picked up the amplifier and mic stand, turned and walked off the stage.

Weird, a waste of time, effort and money are the only ways I know to describe it.

The most disappointing show for me was Kenny Chesney at the Walnut Creek Amphitheater in Raleigh NC.

The sound level was borderline painful and that was in the lawn seats back behind the high dollar seating area. It was so loud, and there was absolutely no bottom end. In fact, I thought the show was starting with one of those songs where the bass lays out and comes in on the chorus.... but the chorus came and went, same with the second verse/chorus.... into the second song.... I realized that the bass player was in fact playing but I couldn't hear the bottom..... an hour plus with high dB levels and no bottom to speak of. I ended up setting down on the blanket and that dropped the dB levels a bit.... I spent most of the show setting on the ground wondering if the sound guy actually had any clue how painful it was and how bad it sounded.

My worst concert was Huey Lewis and the News. I had seen all the MTV videos where they jumped around and seemed to have a great time on stage. But when I saw them in concert, they all just stood in one place, sang like they didn't want to be there, the sound was muddy as heck, and the warm-up band (can't even remember the name) was better than they were.

I'll be sure to miss the new Woodstock 50 concert. Like Elvis there can never be another original Woodstock.

It would make an interesting thread to talk about the time you went to a concert to see the main band, and the no-name warmup band went on to become well-known in their own right.

For example, I went to a concert at Carowinds' Palladium in Charlotte NC many years ago. I think the headline act was Chicago.

At the time I had never heard of the warmup band: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

George Jones... yes, he really didn't show up. :-)

...Deb

HI
WELL for me what should /would have been the best was a live concert by Tangerine Dream. Became the worst!!
The content and the gear were outstanding with synths and sequencers as big as a double decked bus and a mixing console that filled half the stalls.

However it was the most uncomfortable evening I have ever spent listening to music.
Due to painfully high sound levels and in particular heart stopping bass levels from sequencers at very low frequency close to the human heart rate. This had the effect of felling like it was caving your chest in and made breathing difficult.

I have to give the guy on the mixer his due after a while he caught on to the fact that a lot of the audience was suffering discomfort and he did trim it down a bit.
But it was frightening while it lasted and left me gasping for breath.
Mike

Many years ago I went to a Shadows concert. The warmup act was exciting and interesting to listen to. As for the Shadows musically they were perfect in every way, but, one could say cold. So much so, listening to a Shadows record and looking at a photo I think would have given me a warmer feeling.

My thoughts

Tony

Steve Vai. Punishing the mains, fully clipped. Left after 3 songs.

I just remembered another one...

I went to a classical music concert which was great.

Guest performer was William Shatner singing "Rocket man."

Yes, I have seen this classic live!

...Deb

Fleetwood Mac concert at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh, January of 1974. My girlfriend and I had seats in the third row center. The band comes out on the stage and plays their first song, and the whole way through I’m trying to pick out people that I should know and do not see a familiar face. When the first song ends, I screamed out at the top of my lungs, “Who the F*** are you guys?” and one of them says “We’re Fleetwood Mac!” No they weren’t. Turns out Fleetwood Mac’s manager decided that he owned the name, and when he couldn’t get the real group to go on tour, he hired a whole new group to go own tour as Fleetwood Mac. I was so mad that I demanded my money back....and got it.

There was also the concert from Hell which might have been July of that same year, or the year after. That one was at Three Rivers Stadium and featured Todd Rudgren, The Band, and Eric Clapton. The concert was shortly after the 4th and people still had left over fireworks that they brought to the concert. Folks who were up in the stadium seats kept lighting fireworks and throwing it down onto people seated down on the field, and at the performers on the stage. Rudgren performed during the daylight hours and had a canopy over him to keep the sun off. The fireworks ignited it at one point and the concert had to be halted to put out the fire. When Clapton came on after dark, one of his backup singers received an eye injury from a firework that exploded in her face, and Clapton himself was dodging fireworks that were being tossed from the front row at him. At one point, he took off Blackie and had to be physically restrained from jumping into the audience and tussling with his tormentors. There were about 80 people taken to the hospital that night with fireworks injuries. I was embarrassed for Pittsburgh that night.

Hummmmm.... Fleetwood Mac playing a mosque.... that should have been your first clue.



Fireworks.... yep.... Went to a show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Back in the early 70's. Johnny Winters was the headline. The newly formed Foghat was the opener, followed by Poco. People on the second level were tossing firecrackers down on the first level seats. Foghat asked them to stop.... they didn't. Poco came out with their country sound and steel guitar.... the idiots in the crowd were throwing trash and the fireworks on the stage. Poco stopped in the third song, put their instruments down and walked off stage. The Emcee came out and blasted the arses who ruined the show by . JW came on a bit later and played a great show with his new guitarist...Rick Derringer.