I'm just holding these Bieber tickets for a 'friend'...

I've been to a lot of shows that I thought were great at the time, maybe a bit less so now that the popularity of said bands has fallen off. Yellow Card at a small club in VA beach. 3 Doors Down at a 250 person USO show in Bahrain, at least they went to the bar with us afterward (lead singer and lead guitar were dicks to us, everyone else in the band was fucking awesome and we didn't pay for any drinks that night). Angels and Airwaves at like three different venues (great show, even though Tom from Blink 182 can;t sing to save his fucking life).

Mostly though, over the years various groups of friends have dragged me to country concerts where my primary concern becomes to get drunk and rowdy. Alan Jackson at the Target Center. Brooks and Dunn at the MN State Fair. Trace Atkins at the Coors Light Ampitheater. At least at that last one I got to make out with some cute little chick in a cowboy hat.

Primary one happened last year. Girl I was friendzoning HARD with asked me to go to Lauren Hill with her at the Santa Barbera Bowl. I was one of like five white dudes in the place, and basically 2/3 of the people around me were fat black girls grooving their asses off while I did my white guy hands-in-pockets-sway-to-the-music.

 

I saw Michael Bolton when he was still going by his given name - Michael Boloton. The year was 1978 and he was a hard core rocker at the time. He is from New Haven, Ct originally so he was a local legend and we had him play at our high school.

I think this post really needs to be in the "things that make you feel old" thread!

 

My parents dragged me to see Cher when I was younger. I think someone gave them the tickets for free. I don't remember much from the experience other than being aware that I didn't belong and that Cher changed outfits about 10 times.

Another one involving my parents was when they took me to see Dave Matthews Band when I was about nine or ten. They noticed that I really liked listening to Crash, so they bought us tickets to see them at Riverbend in Cincinnati. It's an outdoor venue with a covered pavilion followed by a huge lawn. Our tickets were on the lawn, and they had just seen the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra there a few weeks prior, where it was sparse enough that they set out a lawn blanket and packed a picnic. They decided to do the same thing for the Dave concert and were getting more and more annoyed that the lawn was packed, shoulder to shoulder. There were joints passed around to my left and a dude passed out from doing 17 vodka shots to my right, and another HAMMERED dude pressing my mom for one of the sandwiches she packed. The show was great, but I was obviously incredibly embarrassed for them and to be with them.

 

Like Dixie, I've got no shame in the shows I opted into seeing.

I had to spend a long weekend a couple of years ago as a vendor (brat stand) at a shitty godawful country music festival in Wisconsin (no, not WE Fest. Not that bad). At one point a particularly craptastic act on stage was doing a country version of "Baby Got Back." I wanted to shoot him first, then myself for having heard it.

 

I went to see a card that was Blink 182 Weezer Taking Back Sunday and some shitty other band - but I won't apologize for that, I had a nostalgic blast and it was a fun show.

Stompin Tom Connorrs (twice) and Wierd Al also probably fit this description but I also won't apologize for those.

 

Growing up, my parents, particularly my father, significantly influenced the music that I listened. Instead of listening to Offspring or Blink like the rest of my friends, I was listening to anything and everything from the 70s/80s/90s that my parents liked. Looking back, I probably had it better.

However, my parents were fans of Savage Garden, and the very first concert I went to see was them, with Vanessa Amorosi as the opening act. I feel horrible for that guy. Thanks for a great night out parents.

 

I saw Molly Hatchet (Does this come as a surprise to anyone?) in a high school gym in Anchorage...it was so loud you couldn't make out any of the songs and then the singer yelled into the mic "Turn this fucker up!" So they did. It was nothing but a wall of mind jarring noise without any shape or form.

Most embarrassing? Winger. Mind you, I didn't go to see Winger, they were opening for the Scorpions and being assaulted by that crap was the penance I had to pay to see arguably the greatest live band in the world.

Another embarrassment would be Ratt, circa 1985, at the Tacoma Dome in all their leather and hair sprayed glory. Once again, another opening act for the Scorps. The best part of their show was when someone hit Stephen Pearcy in the mouth with a shoe and the band threatened to leave the stage. A great cheer went up from the crowd. Unfortunately, they continued on with their set much to my dismay.

 

I guess I'll continue with the old guy theme. I saw Liberace when I was about 9 or 10 at the Garden State Arts Center, but I'm not embarrassed by that.

My first rock concert though was Whitesnake opening for Motley Crue in 1986 at the Worcester Centrum. Yeah, good times. But the one show that I regret was Hootie and the Blowfish at the Muse on Nantucket. What a craptastic night that was.

I've seen other bands like Kingdom Come, Kix, Jethro Tull, and Tesla...but fuck it, they put on good shows.

 

I once saw Monster Magnet. And I was embarrassed. So I know Dixie Bandit is lying.

I have been to a Toby Keith concert. And I've seen about half of the bands mentioned above, however thanks to beer and drugs I had fun at all of them.

 

When I was 14 or 15 (I think, it was 19-20 years ago I imagine) I saw Roxette live, but I actually liked that concert back then.

I can say NIckleback is on the list but strangely as posted previously, my tickets were free as well, and the show was good and I managed to drink the music away.

Bottom of the list however, I have to go with SNOW. The 12 Inches of Snow album at least.

 

I saw Afroman when I was in college at a concert my business fraternity was putting on. He had a double necked guitar he played on for a good part of the show...except he never used the 12 string portion. He also would just wander around stage pouring out his 40 into people's glasses and muttering nonsense. And played a version of "Because I Got High" that lasted about 5 min too long. I saw 3 6 Mafia play a free concert they clearly didn't get paid enough for and didn't give a fuck about and it was still 10 times better than Afroman's bullshit.

 

I've been to more embarrassing concerts than I care to recount. I was a whipped bitch in college and got drug to the Black Eyed Peas at the Pepsi Center. They were fucking awful. My girlfriend at the time was pissed at me the whole night because I wasn't having fun. I was pissed at myself for how low I had stooped for some girl.

The same girlfriend drug me to Toby Keith and James what'shisface with the deep voice that was famous for a minute. Terrible fucking show. T

 

I've seen a lot of live music in my life...reading through this thread I felt almost lucky that I couldn't remember a single concert that I am embarrased about being at.

Then after some memory digging, I found one. Fall Out Boy with Hawthorne Heights and From First to Last in Denver. I did a road trip with a few friends from the base I was stationed with...they were younger than me and pretty much into the whole emo/screamo/ whiney rock bullshit that really took to the mainstream back in the 2005-2007 period.

Ughhh...good god was it a suck fest. And to top it off, my ex wife who was with another one of the guys in our group had to tag along of course. The only redeeming part was the awesome hotel we stayed at and going out to the bars in Denver.

 

As much as I hate to say it, I can top that.

The year was 1990. I was 17. A senior in high school. I bought tickets for the Kenny G concert on New Years Eve. At midnight. My GF LOVED Kenny G.

I broke up with her 3 days before.

I went alone. On New Years. To Kenny G. With special guest Michael Bolton.

Thank GOD I fucked her in the ass three days later.

 

Haha it's ok, I felt out of place too, and I love Ghostface. Free wu-tang shows bring out an interesting crowd.

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with it, but I hesitate before mentioning that I attended the Pitchfork festival in Chicago last year. Usually, I just say "at a music festival in Chicago" just because I don't want to be shunned as a hipster. There were some great acts (DJ Shadow, Fleet Foxes) and I was in town for a weekend and looking for family friendly things I could do. The fucking crowd at that festival was vomit inducing. Fucking everyone was wearing something ironic. There was one prick wearing nothing but flip flops, a fanny pack, a headband, and an orange thong.

 

Kenny Rogers.

Asshole didn't even bring any chicken.

 

I had this hippy baby sitter who was a college student when I was 10-13 and parents who were open to me expanding my horizons via shitty 90's concerts. I can only think of three famous acts I saw but 2/3 were awful. Hootie and the Blowfish have been mentioned but yeah, I didn't like them when I was ten and still don't. It was hackysack/fribee land and everyone was wasted but me. This was trumped by the Counting Crows. Now I love "Mr. Jones" as much as the next guy, especially back then, but that was a terrible, terrible show. I was barely allowed in the venue (a college bar, I was 12) and spent most of the time watching people make out and desperately searching for an unattended drink or some roaches.

She got major redemption by taking me to see George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. That one left a lasting impression.

 

I flashed my tits at a Dashboard Confessional concert.

There was no reason for it. I was bored and I wanted a free t-shirt. I also spent twenty minutes telling a guy sitting on the merch table that fiddling with his iPhone (they had just come out) made him a douchebag. He then introduced himself as the lead singer, and I didn't have the heart (re: balls) to tell him that being in Dashboard Confessional also made him a douchebag.

Missed opportunities...

 

I read Pitchfork religiously, and I'd pay money to see them. Watch this weird-ass motherfucker sing this stupid song and try not to sing along like a retard. I know I can't: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwJazZIWNgg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwJazZIWNgg</a>

I went to a 3-day Dave Matthews Band extravaganza at the Gorge Amphitheater in WA. Before anyone thinks to themselves, "he has some decent songs" - fuck you. The DMB (which is what you call it if you're a douchebag), is a jam band, and 93% of his fans wear American Eagle polos and were in fraternities. Emphasis on 'were', because Dave Matthews was the way to get laid in the late 90s for people who hadn't heard of Incubus. Imagine 20,000 of those asshats, all in their late 20s, still wearing polos, kicking beach balls around and making small talk about their office jobs back in Portland/Seattle.

The only thing that could have salvaged that concert was 5,000 meth addicts with knives.

 

Hey Matchbox 20 was a damn fine pop rock band. I've never understood all the hatred for Rob Thomas. My friend's wife despises the man, not Matchbox 20 just Rob Thomas, and openly said she would rather Nickelback's recent radio hits be played at their wedding rather than Rob Thomas.

I always thought this was a fucking amazing performance...