Bands who can't pull it off live...

Heh. He read the lyrics because to him Savage Circus wasn't worth it at that time to really memorize all the lyrics. It hadn't been playing live that much.

But he certainly could sing it.

Hansi sounded awesome when I saw him in Atlanta last year. And the band sounded very good. Sure its not exactly as it is on the album, but neither did Queen sound like they did on their albums. You can't do everything live that you can do in a studio.

DevilDriver is one for me. I recently listened to their latest album and thought 'they aren't half bad on this album.' But when I saw them live opening for Dimmu Borgir, they were one of the worst bands I've ever seen. Mostly because the singer is as bad as it gets. Not only can't he hold a note when he's singing clean, but his growls are even off key...


Some people will claim Dragonforce can't do what they do in studio, live. But when I saw them they played very well. Must have just been a good night for them.
 
I have seen Blind Guardian now 6 times and I fell that their PP3 performance was their worst. Ever other time I have seen them they were spot on and sounded amazing. I still think their performance at BG Open Air was their best - with this past Thanksgiving coming a very close second.

As much as I like them, I didn't think Secret Sphere put on a good show at their PP appearance. I was really looking forward to seeing/hearing them live and left a little disappointed.

This is going back a bit, but I saw a band called Blitzspeer open for Overkill. Now to be fair, I was not familar with their material, but their performance may have been one of the worst for a "signed" band that I may have ever seen. They was absolutely no crowd reaction when they would finish a song, except for an occasional cat-call or request for them to leave the stage. The only positive response they recieved is when they said it was their last song. I kind of felt bad for them, but they were pretty terrible.
 
Add me to the list of those who agree on Blind Guardian's weak live performance. In my opinion, bands shouldn't record as many tracks for each instrument as humanly possible. If you only have x number of guitarists, you're only going to have x number of guitar sounds that you can perform live.

Though Kamelot is always awesome, I'm finding myself disappointed with Khan the more times I see him. He was straining quite a bit at ProgPower V, and he was downright abominable the last time they came to Chicago (though I understand he was sick, it seems to happen to him a lot on tour. I hate to say it, but maybe he's not cut out for the road.). Add to that his subpar performance with Conception, and you have one sad fan here.

One of my favorite bands (get ready to laugh) is Dokken. I've seen them just about every time they've come to Chicago since 1995, and I want to strangle Don every time I see him. He makes Hansi Kursch sound like Pavarotti. To top it off, they play the same set list every time I see them. I know it sounds weird, but I really only go to support his bandmates, who are all very underrated musicians (I'm not counting George Lynch, as he's been out of the band for years).

Wuthering Heights suffered the same fate that Blind Guardian did at ProgPower. I expected them to be better, seeing as how they don't multi-track everything like Blind Guardian does. I'd be just fine if I never saw them again.

Power Of Omens was absolutely terrible at the first ProgPower. Their only saving grace was Chris Salinas. They couldn't keep up with each other at all, and their sequencer drowned out everything. I'm a firm believer in that you can only depend so much on sequencers.

I've never been an Evergrey fan, and a big reason for that is the impression I received from their performance at Powermad in 1999. Everyone raved about these guys only to see a very drunken performance. ProgPower I proved to be much of the same for them. I've seen them a handful of times since, only to be disappointed with Tom's much harsher live vocals. I figure this one will get me a lot of flack, but I really tried to like this band.

All sound issues aside, Cellador was pretty weak at the Showcase this year, but they were pretty good the first time I saw them, so I'm on the fence with them.

One of my favorite guitarists was Eric Johnson, and the reason I use the term "was" is because he's become a wreck of a musician over the last few years. The last three times I saw him, he butchered a ton of his material. Call me crazy, but shouldn't guitar heroes only get better over time?

To rebute Eaolian, I understand your disappointment with James LaBrie through the latter half of the 90s. However, that was beyond his control, as he never had enough time to recover from rupturing his vocal cords in between legs of the Awake tour. I give the man nothing but credit for coming back full force like he has in the last four years. Who else, other than Bruce Dickinson, can not only say that they've actually come back from sounding weak for a prolonged period of time, but also sound better than ever?


Stay metal. Never rust.
Met-Al
 
Met-Al said:
Add me to the list of those who agree on Blind Guardian's weak live performance. In my opinion, bands shouldn't record as many tracks for each instrument as humanly possible. If you only have x number of guitarists, you're only going to have x number of guitar sounds that you can perform live.
Click to expand...

Eh, you can handle that, if you're smart about what you leave out. My comments lean more towards the fact that they sounded horridly un-rehearsed both at PP and Jaxx on the ANatO tour - they were wobbly and out-of-sync enough that I sometimes wondered if they were even listening to each other.
 
If anyone says DragonForce sucks live you are a complete idiot, all I have to say. The best band ive seen live.

And for bad bands, Sonata Arctica @ this years PPUSA, talk about shite. I think thats the only band I can complain about
 
rms said:
If anyone says DragonForce sucks live you are a complete idiot, all I have to say. The best band ive seen live.

And for bad bands, Sonata Arctica @ this years PPUSA, talk about shite. I think thats the only band I can complain about
Click to expand...

They put on a good show, but they ARE really sloppy.
 
Met-Al said:
One of my favorite bands (get ready to laugh) is Dokken. I've seen them just about every time they've come to Chicago since 1995, and I want to strangle Don every time I see him. He makes Hansi Kursch sound like Pavarotti.

One of my favorite guitarists was Eric Johnson, and the reason I use the term "was" is because he's become a wreck of a musician over the last few years. The last three times I saw him, he butchered a ton of his material. Call me crazy, but shouldn't guitar heroes only get better over time?

To rebute Eaolian, I understand your disappointment with James LaBrie through the latter half of the 90s. However, that was beyond his control, as he never had enough time to recover from rupturing his vocal cords in between legs of the Awake tour. I give the man nothing but credit for coming back full force like he has in the last four years. Who else, other than Bruce Dickinson, can not only say that they've actually come back from sounding weak for a prolonged period of time, but also sound better than ever?
Click to expand...


Agreed on all these points. Dokken would routinely piss me off whenever I would see them. Eric Johnson.....whoa, WTF? Saw him open for somebody last summer and he was not good. And James Labrie is definitely much better nowadays...
 
Epica I found to be pretty sub-par at PP, but I have heard at the club shows they sounded and performed much better.

I didnt find After Forever to be that captivating either, but they were way better than Epica.

Virgin Steele is an obvious one, I think.

I think Evergrey, Opeth, and Into Eternity all own live.
 
Met-Al said:
...Wuthering Heights suffered the same fate that Blind Guardian did at ProgPower. I expected them to be better, seeing as how they don't multi-track everything like Blind Guardian does. I'd be just fine if I never saw them again.
Click to expand...

That was a somewhat sloppy performance, but I was told after the fact that several of the newer band members were only able to rehearse twice with the full band before traveling over here for PP. So knowing that, I think they did alright myself. And now that this lineup has been together for 4+ years, I'd personally LOVE to see them again!

:headbang:
 
Steely Dan is the all-time champion of not being able to pull it off live. Yngwie Malmsteen comes a close second. The time I saw Yngwie, he was god awful. The fact that he was sooooooooo full of himself that night made it even worse.
 
Almost every suggestion here, despite Zod's clarification, has to do with stage presence or the singers straining their voices. That being the case then the white elephant in the room is Queensrych. However, I think the question was more specific to entire bands not being able to execute their studio material in a live performance... at all.

Clearly Blind Guardian had an off night at PPUSA III, but just as clearly they have redeemed themselves since. Dragonforce is a bit sloppy, but their songs are still recognizable.
Specific tastes, off nights, disappointing setlists, and energy level aside Epica, Sonata Arctica, After Forever, and even Secret Sphere can play their music live. Savage Circus sounded great... reading lyrics turned out to be irrelevent. I seriously doubt Rage would have played to a half-empty room at PPUSA IV if Evergrey couldn't perform their material.

Met-Al's Power of Omens critique seems like a candidate, but I can't say myself as I missed them.
 
Ratt. I saw them several times back in the day and they were consistantly the worst live band I have every seen. Absolutely horrible. Second place goes to "whoever is opening for Def Leppard." I dont' know if they think crappy opening bands make them sound better but I've seen them at least 3 times with really crappy opening acts.
 
Magius said:
Almost every suggestion here, despite Zod's clarification, has to do with stage presence or the singers straining their voices. That being the case then the white elephant in the room is Queensrych. However, I think the question was more specific to entire bands not being able to execute their studio material in a live performance... at all.
Click to expand...
The band, and more specifically Geoff, are a shadow of what they once were. However, in their prime, very, very few bands could touch them live.

Zod
 
Queensryche. Never saw them in their prime but nowadays they are God Damned awful. Because of how much I like their classic albums they must be the most dissapointing live band for me.
 
Dark One said:
I don't - plenty really enjoyed their set and many of those who were slagging them after the festival were slagging them before the festival or listing them as one of the bands they were least excited about beforehand.

Jason
Click to expand...

Agreed. I thought VS performed the material very well. Defeis sounded pretty good, and hit all of those falsetto notes. The bass player was downright amazing. He hit all the notes, but you didn't even notice he was there. :heh:

Okay, you can argue the bass player, the flaming sword, the cheesy (to some material), but not the performance itself.

Also, Blind Guardian sounded amazing when I saw them in Philly earlier this year. Hansi sounded light years better than that PPIII mess.

Steve in Philly
 
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