Most emotionally uninvolved live performers you've seen

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Just got back from seeing Suede in Brighton and Neil Codling is basically a void of any kind of rhythmic movement or investment in the music that he's playing. It's quite startling really as most people can't help but move about in even a small way when playing live.


Another nomination goes to Kevin Allen, formerly of Trail of Dead. All sorts of mayhem would kick off around him on stage and he stood rock still as if he had locked in syndrome but could still play guitar.

[Colin Sanction]

[DrGreggles]

Yeah, but... https://youtu.be/rAyeZa-7F1c

[bigfatheart]

Geordie out of Killing Joke generally looks as if he's marking time until his next fag break.

[jobotic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH2oI2H2lGE

[MidnightShambler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH2oI2H2lGE

I saw the reformed La's at a festival about 15 years ago and a more disinterested, languid, through the motions gang of cunts you couldn't wish to meet.

[Norton Canes]

Yeah, but... https://youtu.be/rAyeZa-7F1c

I was in the crowd for this

[studpuppet]

If anything, that's over-involved.

The daddy of them all:

[SteveDave]

The Raveonettes. Playing to a backing track so it basically sounded like the LP but with longer gaps inbetween songs.

[TheMonk]

[Bazooka]

The Knife, sadly. I never saw them live during the Silent Shout tour, but saw them at the Roundhouse for Shaking The Habitual and they just played the CD and had some shitty dancers on stage, awful. Trying to make a statement and it was bollocks.

[The Always Red Society]

Slint at an ATP when they reformed, like a really half arsed rehearsal.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Sophie Ellis-Bextor (she was supporting the Pet Shop Boys). Unbelievably beautiful but, Christ, she couldn't really give a shit could she? Stood there rooted to the spot through the whole thing, killing the crowd dead.

Even Chris Lowe put more energy into his performance.

[Satchmo Distel]

Van Morrison. Hiding under his hat and mumbling his lyrics. Chris Barber was good on trombone though. This was around 2002.

Brian Wilson looks uninvolved but is on a shitload of psychiatric drugs.

[Brundle-Fly]

And we wouldn't want it any other way.

[Z]

Ulrich Schnauss playing the opening midday slot at a music festival a few years back, understandably I guess.

[studpuppet]

Unbelievably beautiful but...

Are we talking about the same Sophie Ellis-Bextor?

[Dr Sanchez]

Mark Lanegan.

He doesn't smile, talk to the crowd or give a fuck but he's easily the coolest person I've ever seen.

[Dusty Substance]

Tjinder Singh from Cornershop was extremely uninvolved when I saw the band live on the Handcream for a Generation tour. There's a difference between being curmudgeonly cool, like a few artists already mentioned on this thread, and being clearly bored and dis-interested. Didn't put me off the band, though, Handcream and When I Was Born for the 7th Time are both great albums from that era.

[Shaky]

I saw Kyuss Lives! a few years ago and front-man John Garcia quite, quite visibly didn't want to be there. Sunglasses indoors, rooted to the spot, perma-glum face - the whole shebang. Sounds par for the rock-star course but his palpable air of boredom really detracted from seeing a band I'd loved as a teenager. The only words he uttered all night were to thank some person he knew but the audience didn't.

Garcia said in the press at the time he'd only got the group back together (sans Josh Homme, natch) to promote a nascent solo album that wasn't even close to being released. Very odd, but then he seems to have a flaky approach when it comes to committing to bands.

[the science eel]

Debbie Harry.

[alan nagsworth]

On the many occasions I've seen Lightning Bolt play, it's always amused me how completely inanimate Brian Gibson is on the bass when compared to how utterly frenetic, wild and unchained Brian Chippendale is on the drums. It's a small part of their appeal to me though, doesn't bother me at all.

[BlodwynPig]

Sophie Ellis-Bextor (she was supporting the Pet Shop Boys). Unbelievably beautiful but, Christ, she couldn't really give a shit could she? Stood there rooted to the spot through the whole thing, killing the crowd dead.

Even Chris Lowe put more energy into his performance.

I've seen her 4 times and each time she's been the life and soul of the party.

[BlodwynPig]

Here she is doing her best with an audience of grumpy and bald men in the pelting rain in South Shields a few years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woT7cssDKgk

[Sebastian Cobb]

Jason 'Spaceman' Pierce.

In the blue tent at Bestival going up against Stevie Wonder. My mate Bob said 'I can't be fucked listing to this guy waffle on about God for 40 minutes just to hear superstition, is there owt else?' so I goes 'aye, spiritualized'.

20 minutes late, 3 songs, he's stood at the back, waves and fucks off.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Here she is doing her best with an audience of grumpy and bald men in the pelting rain in South Shields a few years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woT7cssDKgk

Worst CaB meet up ever.

[a duncandisorderly]

Slint at an ATP when they reformed, like a really half arsed rehearsal.

I was at the one where they did 'spiderland' & it was fucking dire. major disappointment.

[Lordofthefiles]

Worst CaB meet up ever.

"The Bents Park"

[Golden E. Pump]

They're all Bents Park by the time...

[jobotic]

I've seen her 4 times and each time she's been the life and soul of the party.

I've seen her once and she was the same, great fun.

And Debbie Harry seemed perfectly happy the one time I saw her too.