Rocks Off is not going to lie. The prospect of getting into concerts for free is what leads many people to become music writers/reviewers in the first place. Though it's not true of everyone, we've generally found that with experience comes plenty of practice in the art of grading on a curve.
But not always. Buy enough bananas and once in a while you'll get one that's rotten. Some concerts just plain stink. Why not ten? We just couldn't stand the smell.
5 Finger Death Punch/Moody Blues I could go so many ways with this one. I've been force-fed so much live music from bands I can't stand that I could easily write a book about it rather than just a few paragraphs. For the longest time, the worst show that I ever saw was a Moody Blues show in the late '90s. Just because of how bad they sounded, the majority of the crowd left pretty much right after "Knights in White Satin," which was only the third or fourth song of the set. That was a long time ago, and I've seen much worse since then, but that one always stood out as being terrible.
The most recent band that I can claim as worst live band ever is 5 Finger Death Punch. Their music was all over the place, jumping genres from rock to metal to rap/rock to acoustic douche-rock to frat-rock -- each attempt at a genre being worse than the last. Also, the front man was the epitome of horrible, the type of guy who would kick a dog. The type of guy that would drive through a puddle just so he could splash someone on the sidewalk. A guy who would flick a cigarette at your chest and walk away with a smile on his face giving you the middle finger. A guy not even his own mother likes.
What a terrible band. The only good part about 5FDP was that the bassist's beard looked just like Davy Jones' from those Pirates of the Caribbean movies, only his was made out of hair and not those weird tentacle things. JIM BRICKER
Adema I've seen a lot of terrible acts in my day, but once when I was in college I had the misfortune of sitting through nu-metal nobodies Adema. I know that sounds like a mean description, but considering the fact that they're little more than the answer to a trivia question ("Remember the band featured the singer from Korn's little (half-)brother?") at this point I don't feel too bad about it.
Here's the thing I remember about Adema: I fell asleep during their set. Straight up. Do you know how hard it is to fall asleep during an indoor concert while a band is playing? It's not easy. But they were so boring, so uninteresting that I just drifted off to slumberland.
Maybe those minutes I nodded off would have knocked my socks off, but I find that hard to believe. At least Disturbed brought out Dimebag and Vinnie to play "Walk" later that night. That was cool. CORY GARCIA
Angels and Airwaves I grew up on a steady diet of '90s and early-'00s pop punk, and blink-182 were the leaders of that pack. So when Angels and Airwaves were set to headline Bayou Music Center back in 2008 when it was still known as the Verizon Wireless Theater, I was excited for the prospect of seeing a musician I'd grown up with.
But no amount of love and respect that I had for blink-182 could salvage the disgust I felt when I saw Angels and Airwaves live. The band itself was just... bad. They were out of time with one another while Tom DeLonge's vocals were virtually nonexistent. Sure, every band has an off day, and I can forgive it if they're at least passionate.
But combine terrible playing with DeLonge talking shit to his fans because they were stuck in the seats, and they lost me. To all you musicians out there, don't be a dick like Tom DeLonge and rub salt in the wound of your loyal fans, who are paying more to be further away from you. ALYSSA DUPREE
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