Interesting, I’ve also heard bad things about VM. Seems like he really doesn’t give a xxxx about the fans that pay/paid his way. Perhaps that’s just Rock and Roll? Or perhaps he’s simply not a very nice person? Same could be said about Clapton at certain points in his career. Sad for such an amazing talent.
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VM and Eric are anti Vax collaborators, enough said.
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That can’t be Van? He’s far too ugly!
My mum to my dad, seeing VM at the bar in Newport Centre back in the 80s.
The burdens of fame eh?
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Friend of mine goes to see Dylan obsessively.
Any good this time?
Rubbish.
Going again tomorrow.
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There’s only so many Neil Peart YYZ drum solos you can stand… time for a beer. 
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John Bonham was the drummer for LZ, but I guess you weren’t referring to him. Carry on.
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Bob Dylan - Fleadh Festival at Finsbury Park in 2004.
Close second would be Bob Dylan & Van Morrison at Wembley Arena in 1998.
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Kenny G, when he displayed his recirculatory breathing skill and held the same note for five minutes, it was time to go, haha. Did watch the entire Toni Braxton show first.
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Livingston Taylor.
That probably doesn’t need an explanation.
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I had to look up who it was.
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another vote for Van Morrison. I saw him a handful of times over the years, last I think in 1993. He didn’t want to be there, and in turn, neither did the audience.
I still love his old stuff, and have a crap ton of CDs and vinyl. But he’s lost the plot as he’s gotten older, especially since the pandemic.
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Sting, 1996. He wasn’t into the crowd-pleasers and the crowd weren’t into the Sting-pleasers.
I was also shocked how old the crowd were- some of them must have been 30…
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Bob Dylan at the Royal Albert Hall. He had the staff there obsessively running around if they saw any cameras or phones out of pockets, telling people they’d get ejected if spotted. Fair enough - is prerogative. But when he did finally make it on stage he mumbled his way through the songs and spent most of the time with his thumbs stuck in his waistcoat posing for the audience - pretty much trying to look like the great I am. Left at the intermission - as did a fair few others. It was painful.
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What’s the most boring band you saw live?
… i forgot …
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The Dream Syndicate reunion show at the Garrison in Toronto, 2014. They may have been great – only people with unlimited patience and time would know. I didn’t actually get to see them.
At smaller Toronto venues bands will often wait until there’s enough people before they come out. People know this so they arrive later to begin with. Most of the time by 10 or 10.30 PM the band will be on - some 60 to 90 minutes later than advertised typically. I’ve always hated it but was willing to put up with it if the band was worth it. In the case of Dream Syndicate it was nearing midnight and still nothing. So I went home.
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I’ll agree with the folks that think Van has checked out as far as a performer goes - which is sort of sad - I saw him a couple of times in the early 80’s and he was really good - but something happened at some point -
I think for me, the most boring show I’ve seen was either the Moody Blues in 1981 at the University of Illinois, or maybe My Morning Jacket a few years ago in Portland, OR… I didn’t know much about MMJ, but we decided to take a chance - going in to the venue and looking at their setup - which included a pedal steel - I was like, well all righty now - these guys might be cool - nope, they sucked and it was a real snoozefest. The Moody Blues were OK, we know and like their songs, but it was just sort of blah.
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Nina Simone at the Brighton Dome early 80’s.
Came on stage without so much as a hello played first set without any interaction and then left for intermission. I left for the bar and stayed there with a number of other disgruntled fans.
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King Crimson - Watford Town Hall 1970. Tedious!
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Los Lobos at Denver Botanic Garden. Drizzling a bit, not too bad, they had a covered stage. They did not want to play, played maybe 8 songs poorly and shuffled offstage. Someone obviously made them shuffle back on for another 2 songs, then bedtime I guess.
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It pains me to say this but an Eric Clapton outdoor concert some years ago in Perth Western Australia. I had been a life long fan of EC. Had collected most of his albums but never got the chance to see him live until the Perth concert. What a disappointment. The sound was pretty awful anyway being an outdoor concert but the man himself hardly communicated with the audience throughout the concert and he frequently deferred to a side man guitarist for many of the numbers. Completely and permanently changed my opinion of EC.
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