In lieu of that, however, I just wanted to share this fabulous photo of our late great pussycat The Incomparable Eddie© (taken five years ago).
Let's just say I know who he would have pulled the levers for last Tuesday. 😎😎
But now to the weekend's business. To wit:
...and the most disappointing performance by a pop/rock/soul/folk/country solo artist or group that you ever personally witnessed live was...?
For me, this one isn't even close. Ladies and germs, I give you The Rolling Stones famous (infamous?) 1975 flat-bed truck rendition of "Brown Sugar."
In case I haven't told the story about that before, the short version is that yours truly (then toiling at Stereo Review) plus pretty much everybody else I knew in the rock press and PR biz were invited (via Stones managment and Atlantic Records) to a noon-ish Rolling Stones press conference at a Fifth Avenue eatery in Greenwich Village; we were assured that finger food and drinks would be provided and that the boys in the band would answer our questions about their up coming summer tour.
When we got to the joint, Mick and company were nowhere to be seen, which didn't help anybody's bad mood about having to fight the traffic coming down from mid-town. But the late great absurdist comedian Professor Irwin Corey was there, and with a microphone. Given that he was professionally billed as "The World's Foremost Authority," this seemed appropriate, and so while me and the assembled freeloaders scarfed down wine and mediocre hors d'ouevres, Corey rambled on about I forget what for about half and hour. Not surprisingly, I sensed a certain impatience in the crowd, and then the cry went up -- The Stones!!!
Yup. We could see through the restuarant's front window that the band was rolling down Fifth Avenue, so we all -- I'd estimate there were about 300 of us, not counting amused passerbys -- made a dash out to the sidewalk.
At which point, the band -- I recall it was drizzly and cold -- knocked out a half-assed version of their big hit and then unceremoniously drove away. Leaving us all to return to our respective offices and tell our co-workers and friends that we had a) had seen the Stones up close and personal and b) been suckered.
In any case, I would like to re-emphasize just how mediocre the band's performance was; in all seriousness, I relisten to that clip above every couple of years on the off-chance that it might sound better for some reason. And it never does.
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choice or choices be?
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
5 comments:
It's been so long I can't remember all of the details, but The Pretenders first US tour at the Bayou in Washington, DC. Band came on very late, the place was ultra-packed with people who got their early (so drunk and agitated). Chrissie was more obnoxious than was probably usual, and the whole band was just off. I was thinking I should have gotten tickets to see The Jam that night instead, but, if I remember correctly, it was cancelled because on the band members was sick.
Get me drunk sometime and I'll tell you about how bad Queen were when I saw them on THEIR first tour. God, they were awful.
Grateful Dead Richfield Coliseum sometime in the early nineties. Worst concert I ever attended.
Two gigs that were so bad I left after 20 minutes:
Red Hot Chili Peppers at the I- Beam, Sn Francisco. The Freaky Styley tour. It was four guys that had never met but greed to wear only day-Glo body paint and cock socks while making some pointless rarely musical noises.
The Replacements at a small room at San Diego State U in the mid-80’s. All four seriously drunk. Paul gave up singing after a few ruined tunes, so the roadie came on as the singer. Apparently Bob left the stage to strip down to his socks for the remainder, fortunately after we had gone. I saw them again two years later at the Coachhouse in San Juan Capistrano and they were awesome.
- Paul in DK
I don't regret not seeing the Mats, even though I was a huge fan. I kinda figured the odds were that I'd catch them on one of those nights you describe, and it would have been just too disappointing. 😎
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