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Gig Regrets

Started by alan nagsworth, June 17, 2008, 04:47:37 AM

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alan nagsworth

Have you ever regretted turning down seeing a band/artist perform? Perhaps you had been invited but didn't know any of their music, and later discovered they were an insanely good band? Maybe it was the tour for their best album and everything subsequent to that was shit, thus putting you off seeing them at a later date? Perhaps you were just being a stubborn fuckwit about something or other and when the time came you thought, "damn... could've been at that gig now. Wish I wasn't such a stubborn fuckwit!"

Off the top of my head, my biggest gig regrets have been at festivals where I'd not known how awesome a band was until I looked back some years later. I was flicking through the V Fest 04 guide the other day and, being the little play-it-safe indie kid I was back then (well, not really but the only bands that appealed to me on the bill at the time were play-it-safe indie bands) I totally did not realise Roni Size was playing! I bet I was watching some shit like N*E*R*D or Keane at the time as well, that's what really grinds my gears.

Other festival bummers: at ATP vs The Fans, even though Do Make Say Think might've been the best set of the weekend for me, I still regret not going to check out Subtitle's set as I'd seen enough post-rock that weekend - I'd practically stroked my shin to the bone and was secretly craving some hip hop lovin'. I also wish I had watched Apples In Stereo at that festival.

Dot To Dot 07 - Why the fuck did I not venture off to watch: Hot Club De Paris, Maps, or Pete And The Pirates?! WHAT WAS I THINKING? Also, we stood in the pissing rain for like an hour and a half in the queue for Stealth to see Surkin and Erol Alkan, got halfway up the queue and went home. Why the sweet mother of fuck did we not wait around for another hour? We couldn't've got any more wet anyway.

I turned down the offer to see NIN a few years back, but I think it was on the With Teeth tour, so I sort of regret it... part of me doesn't care though.

Also for some fucked up reason I decided I "didn't really have the funds" to go to Supersonic 07, and missed out on Modified Toy Orchestra, Tunng, Chrome Hoof, Otto Von Schirach, Drop The Lime, Kid606 (seen him twice though so it's cool), Kling Klang and Fuck Buttons! Aaaargh!!


and now I look to the future and forget about my shitty regrets... for now...

Time for yours!

Schnapple

I missed Daft Punk's Alive tour dates entirely last year, which I regret hugely.

CaledonianGonzo

I've got loads - but the biggest is probably turning down a ticket to see the Stone Roses live on Glasgow Green, cos the guy selling it wanted a fair cut above face value and, as a schoolkid, it was just out of my price league.  At the time there was no way of knowing it would be the last gig the original line-up would ever play :O(

V

Zappa's 1988 tour. I just couldn't be arsed to go all the way down to London. Fucking idiot.

Pie Pie Eater

I think my main ones are Sleater-Kinney and Sufjan Stevens, but I'm scared to think about it too much because it will be depressing...I really regret not seeing The Octopus Project at the Explosions ATP this year. Oh and some massive Autechre gig in Glasgow.

The worst one, actually, is an incredible band from Dundee called Laeto. Their first album 'Make Us Mild' is an absolutely magic post-rock record, but the only time I managed to see them they had ditched that sound and gone all Van Halen. It's still quite good (http://www.myspace.com/laeto), but there was a legendary show (at least amongst my musical friends) at the Cas Rock in Edinburgh which I totally missed. Goddamnit, I knew I shouldn't have thought about it.

Nagsworth, I also have some mild regret about not seeing Subtitle, but Do Make Say Think were fucking great...

alan nagsworth

They really were! Ah sod Subtitle, now you've said that, hehe.

Ontario Plates blew my freakin' balls off man, I thought my heart was going to melt.

Lee

I actually regret seeing Venetian Snares live, because that was the exact moment I realised he was shit. If it weren't for that, I'd probably still be enjoying his music.

Nik Drou

That's incredible.  I was just about to type that I regret missing Venetian Snares at Dedbeat in 2002, as I was in a crowd in another room waiting for Edan to start.  I guess I dodged a bullet. 

So what was so shit about it then?

Godzilla Bankrolls

Really wish I'd splashed out for a ticket to see Steely Dan last time they were here. I know Barfey went, and he sent me a DVD of a recent live performance to cheer me up. But it only made things worse - they're still fucking excellent!

A falling out with my best mate (which lasted at least a year) meant I didn't go to see the Wu Tang with him, as we'd planned, at their first UK date for about5 or 6 years. They're our fave group, and none of our other mates like them as we do. Happily, we've since made up and saw them in Hammersmith last year. They're actually playing again next month, but I don't fancy seeing them on my own (he used up all his time off going to see the RZA, Ghostface and Raekwon with me).

There are many comedy gigs I regret going to, but that's for another forum.

Peru

Went to see Bill Callahan in Liverpool about 5 years ago. He was being supported by someone who I'd never heard of, who sounded like they would just be another folkie with guitar. Therefore I spent Joanna Newsom's support slot in the bar. Oops. Have made up for it since but...dang.

And why oh why didn't I scrape the cash together to see Neil Young in March?

Neville Chamberlain

Not going to see NoMeansNo in a little town near me a few years ago. I remember very distinctly that I just couldn't be arsed. Mind you, I've made up for it as I've seen them six or seven times since!

Pie Pie Eater

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on June 17, 2008, 10:41:30 AM
Not going to see NoMeansNo in a little town near me a few years ago. I remember very distinctly that I just couldn't be arsed. Mind you, I've made up for it as I've seen them six or seven times since!
I missed them in Glasgow a few years back for the exact same reason, and have yet to make up for it. Bollocks.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I saw Queens of the Stone Age at Reading in 2001, but at the time I didn't know any of their tunes so I couldn't really appreciate it properly. Now they're one of my favourite bands but I've never managed to see them live since. Plus, even if I do see them now, minus Oliveri it wouldn't be quite the same.

Lee

Quote from: Nik Drou on June 17, 2008, 10:10:51 AM
That's incredible.  I was just about to type that I regret missing Venetian Snares at Dedbeat in 2002, as I was in a crowd in another room waiting for Edan to start.  I guess I dodged a bullet. 

So what was so shit about it then?

Besides Aaron Fuck (yes, it was me who did that tag) acting like a childish dickhead (coming on and off stage THREE times before he actually started, and unlike DJ Scotch Egg it wasn't funny) the set went precisely nowhere over the course of an hour, and consisted entirely of uninteresting gabber beats at that incredibly complex 7/4 time signature he seems to have the horn for. I actually booed him, and I never boo live acts. Ironically, earlier that evening he was DJing some of his older tracks, and that was much more enjoyable. But that live set ruined VS for me permanently. And I thought maybe I just hadn't "got" it, but I know a fair few other people who felt exactly the same way.

buttgammon

I was on holiday when John Cale and The Fall came to town.

Shit, need I say any more?

Pie Pie Eater

I love Venetian Snares live because:
Quote from: Lee on June 17, 2008, 11:36:32 AM
(coming on and off stage THREE times before he actually started, and unlike DJ Scotch Egg it wasn't funny)
he didn't do this,
Quote from: Lee on June 17, 2008, 11:36:32 AM
the set went precisely nowhere over the course of an hour,
the set started with his most accessible material and stealthily became more and more insane and noisy, to an almighty breakcore climax and
Quote from: Lee on June 17, 2008, 11:36:32 AM
consisted entirely of uninteresting gabber beats at that incredibly complex 7/4 time signature he seems to have the horn for.

I absolutely love that time signature, and being kind of obsessed with math rock and prog, I don't find it massivley complex.

But many at the gig disagreed with me.


Lee

Actually I was being sarcastic with that last bit PPE. Indeed, after twenty albums of that time sig it does lose its complexity somewhat.

Pie Pie Eater

Quote from: Lee on June 17, 2008, 12:09:39 PM
Actually I was being sarcastic with that last bit PPE. Indeed, after twenty albums of that time sig it does lose its complexity somewhat.

Aha yes, sorry. I am worryingly blind to sarcasm in print, even when it is clearly flagged with italics.

It is a good time signature though.

drberbatov

Probably RATM at Reading this year, although part of me is cynical about their reunion the fifteen year old me would be angry at me today.

mitzidog

The Pet Shop Boys gig with set designed by Derek Jarman. I had a ticket and everything, but I used to be a keyboard tech for a local band and they had a really important gig that night.

Grrrr!

Marvin

I used to work at the Zodiac venue in Oxford and around Jan 2007 I was taking a break back at my dad's house, they phoned and said 'we need a front of house supervisor for Robyn Hitchcock, you can just watch the gig we just need someone to be in charge and cash up and so on' and I love Robyn Hitchcock so the thought of going to see him whilst receiving a reasonable hourly wage was great, but I was really tired and it was an hour and a bit train journey, so I decided against it.

I then got a phonecall afterwards, Robyn played one of the best sets of his life with Peter Buck on lead guitar in his band, for the encore Michael Stipe and Mike Mills came and joined them on stage for some Byrds covers, some Hitchcock songs, Electrolite and a at-that-point unreleased R.E.M. song (I'm Gonna DJ). Also Thom Yorke was in the audience and spent a good while chatting to the bar staff.

Mindbear

I regret seeing Sugar at the Xfm benefit gig Great Xpectations, I was a big fan and halfway in no sod could still work out what song they were playing it was that terrible. I regret not having given the last three pints of nasty cider a miss at Reading 93 when New Order were on, because I never got to see them again and from what I did hear it was a fucking cracking setlist. I regret not going to see LCD Soundsystem do a private gig that my friend had a press pass to because I had a tiny bit of a sore throat and thought I'd get meningitis or something ridiculous in my paranoid brain. I regret not seeing Spiritualized a few weeks back after my birthday because I was a misery guts. Actually, there are tons of bands i've missed through being a knob. Oh well.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: Lee on June 17, 2008, 11:36:32 AM
Besides Aaron Fuck (yes, it was me who did that tag) acting like a childish dickhead (coming on and off stage THREE times before he actually started, and unlike DJ Scotch Egg it wasn't funny) the set went precisely nowhere over the course of an hour, and consisted entirely of uninteresting gabber beats at that incredibly complex 7/4 time signature he seems to have the horn for. I actually booed him, and I never boo live acts. Ironically, earlier that evening he was DJing some of his older tracks, and that was much more enjoyable. But that live set ruined VS for me permanently. And I thought maybe I just hadn't "got" it, but I know a fair few other people who felt exactly the same way.

Where was this? I've seen him twice now - the first time was at This Is Our Punk Rock in London last year and his set, although he played some fucking corkers and his set did descend into total madness (as do his songs by proxy), was only 40 minutes long and as he was headlining I was massively disappointed. He is really a temperamental baby sometimes, I emailed him and he said there were loads of issues that day and it couldn't be helped so whatever, but I'd been to see him the previous year in Birmingham and he didn't play because Capsule didn't supply him with CD decks (bring your own, surely you idiot??) so even though we got a refund I was fairly pissed off to see him stood outside drinking beer and looking like a big 8ft sulk.

But honestly, I saw him at Bang Face a couple of months ago and I've never seen such an amazing set. He played from 3:30 till 5am and was absolutely flawless, it was well worth sticking out two shoddy performances for that one but still... depends how patient you are.

In summary he is a mardy shit but god damn!

Also what's so wrong about his 7/4 time sig? It sounds just as consistently good as any other artist doing 4/4 and it's more an interesting little twist than "lookit me i am so fuckin clever". Plus as he does his sets with CD decks I imagine having all his songs in that time signature means they mix together a lot easier, which further dispels the "trying to sound really clever" myth. Everyone already knows he's clever, that's why he puts out like 2 albums a year.

Mindbear

Oooh, talking of mardy shits, I saw Whitey a few months back, and it was meant to be some sort of experimental live/dj set that should have had the floor throbbing, but because he is famously a bit of a cock, he spent most of the night cockily smoking because he thought it was a bit sexy and hard, occasionally pressing a button and singing really sheepishly whilst the occasional uninspiring and tired dancefloor tune was chucked in to an unmoved floor. Rubbish.

didgeripoo

I'm extraordinarily lucky, in that I've seen the vast majority of my heroes live. Pink Floyd, Sparklehorse, Low, Compulsion.

Wish I'd seen Nirvana at the Bierkeller in Bristol, though. Sadly I was eleven, and hadn't heard of them. Also wish I'd seen Arcade Fire at the Academy in Bristol, but hadn't heard of them either. Saw them later at that big arena in Cardiff, but I hate arena gigs.

Anon

The big two for me are missing Arcade Fire when they played Newcastle last November, due to having no-one to go with, and Low earlier this year for the simple reason that I couldn't afford it at the time.  I suspect I'll regret selling my tickets for Radiohead next Wednesday as well, but despite being one of my favourite bands, the amount of stress and hassle I've had trying to sort out after having numerous people drop out and the fact that it would involve having to stay in London overnight on my own means that it just isn't worth it for me anymore.

Whug Baspin

Oh the other week I was too tired (too tired, what kind of excuse was that?) to nip just a few doors down the road and watch Focus.

chocky909

I went to Pavement's last gig at the Brixton Academy in 1999 but I wasn't aware of this at the time. I'd only heard Terror Twilight and the sound was terrible from the seats upstairs so I left after about an hour. It's not a massive regret really because even if I'd known that, it would still be them playing stuff I didn't know at the time and still sounding terrible from where I was. It's just I've since gotten to know the back catalogue and wish I'd appreciated being at such a significant event a little more.

Lee

Nagsworth - I saw him at Bangface about 18 months ago. Like Nathan Barley, it wasn't quite bad enough to make me think that something went seriously wrong - in fact it sounded like it went exactly to plan. And sorry, but the whole 7/4 thing just screams of "look at me, I'm clever" ponciness. If he wants to be clever, he should be experimenting with lots of different sigs. As it is, he's no more clever than anyone working in 4/4. Oh, and he definetely wasn't using CD decks when I saw him, I think he was using synths and samplers. I think. Not that that makes a blind bit of difference.

As an aside, virtually everyone I know who's spoken to him thinks he's a cunt. Which doesn't help his cause either.

Go With The Flow

I always seem to miss Rolo Tomassi whenever they play Liverpool as they always clash with a gig I was already going to - that's happened about 3 times now and I would have loved to have seen Queens of the Stone Age with the Songs For The Deaf lineup (more specifically Josh Homme, Nick Olivieri, Dave Grohl) live. I'm a bit gutted I never got a ticket for the Leeds Festival this year, the lineup is the best I've seen probably ever!

No major regrets though, gig-wise - just small niggles. I've seen Goto80, Sabrepulse, Bit Shifter and Nullsleep live which was heaven for me!