What Bands Did You Miss?

This is a thread to list those bands (not named The Beatles or The Clash) that you never got to see live for whatever reason, and at this point probably won't happen.

For me it would be Thin Lizzy and The Replacements. I had considered adding The Smiths to the list, but have seen Morrissey, so I'm good there.

If I don't act next time, I feel like I'll be adding Devo, X, and Dave Wakeling (English Beat) to this list...

Oh god. This list is a real fucking heartbreaker.

THIN LIZZY? What the FUCK man? I would take a human life to have seen them in their prime...

Anyway, my biggest shame is not ever having seen the Ramones. Nope, never. I remember the last time they came through something happened and I couldn't go. But I was like "it's cool, the Ramones will ALWAYS be around..."

Other shows that rolled through that I missed"
- The Dead Kennedys reunion show, even though Jello wasn't on board for it
- Bjork with Aphex Twin
- GG Allin like a week before he died
- The first Lollapalooza (me at the gate- "whaddya mean it's sold out?")
- Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Godflesh in '91
- Mercyful Fate
- S.O.D.
- Bauhaus with Nine Inch Nails and TV on the Radio
- Alien Sex Fiend in '92
- The Sister of Mercy reunion show where he did all the Motorhead and Pink Floyd covers
- The Pixies reunion
- New Order at Six Flags circa 1990
- Prince in a 500 person club about five years ago
- Prince
- Prince
- Prince
- Prince
- Prince
- Prince

I gotta mention it just cuz I REALLY REALLY miss them but there was a celtic band called Slainte Mhath that I used to see live on their tours. They broke up several years ago but I got to see several of their shows in different cities in Canada and caught a cool New Year's Eve show too. It was the most electrifying live show I've ever been at and all their shows were like that.

I was on honeymoon in Scotland this year and I ran into their album in a few stores and the owners always got excited when they saw I knew of them and then sad when they remembered they don't exist anymore.

breaks my heart but great great music. I miss them the most.

Anyway, my biggest shame is not ever having seen the Ramones. Nope, never. I remember the last time they came through something happened and I couldn't go. But I was like "it's cool, the Ramones will ALWAYS be around..."

Oh man...that sucks. They would shoot to the top of my list for sure. I was lucky and caught their 'farewell tour' I guess in support of Adios Amigos! in '96. It was like the only time they came through Alabama in 20 years. We all piled in a drove down to Birmingham. It was also my little brother's first concert and a gift from me to him right before he shipped off to boot camp.

At the time I was straight edge and wearing a red Youth of Today shirt. I had received a few footprints on the shirt in the pit and never washed the shirt after that. Of course, I never ended up wearing it again, but I figured you don't wash the mark of a Ramones show off anything. Ah, youth.

Wow. What a concept. I mean, I've missed so much. Hardly know where to start. Here's some that I missed because of my own stupidity interspersed with shows I would need a time machine to have seen. In no particular order:

-The Mentors like two months before El Duce died. Blew it off to try to get laid. Didn' happen. Did see her fat roommate eat a bag of chips while dunking them in a tub of country crock though. Nice silver medal.
-The Band's Last Waltz concert
-Black Sabbath btw '69-72
-ACDC with Bon
-Jimi Hendrix
-The Who on Wardour St.
-The Stones' Rock n Roll Circus
-Thin Lizzy
-Bad Brains '79-84
-Black Flag with Dez
-Genesis Lamb Lies Down tour
-Minor Threat
-The Faith
-Rites of Spring (too young to see these guys by about a year)
-Led Zep before '73
-P-Funk in the '70s
-Almost any Bill Graham show from '67-'72
-MC5 and the Stooges late '60s
-Any one of those small venue Prince shows with Larry Graham and Chaka Khan from a while back. Could've gotten into the 9;30 club show in DC and blew it.
-Clintons 2nd inauguration concert at the Kennedy center. had tix and blew it off to drink 40s in a park. Stevie Wonder played the piano at the watergate hotel bar afterwards for two hours! Will never forgive myself.
-Prince's Vegas engagement (missed by one day)
- Les Paul palyed every Monday night at the Iridium for years. 2 shows a night. Always with whoever happened to be playing in NY that night. Had a friend who worked thereand could get me in for free with comped drinks. Never went. Such a dick.
-Isle of Wight
-Stones at Altamont
-Radio Birdman '74-'78
-Love with Arthur Lee mid-late '60s
-Otis Redding with Dylan at Village Vanguard
-Ike and Tina Turner Review
-The Sonics in the '60s
-Fugazis 10th anniversary show. had a ticket and blew it off to hang out with a girl. Didn't get laid.
Off the top of my head; I'm sure I can think of a million more...

-Radio Birdman '74-'78

Fun OT Radio Birdman story...I used to work at this library services place. Every day, I'd see this car parked out front, a late model BMW, with these HUGE Radio Birdman logo stickers on both of the back windows. I always wondered "who the FUCK that works in this building even knows what those are". Then one day I saw my BOSS get into that car. Totally straight-laced, corporate type. I confronted him about it, and come to find out he was a huge garage/proto-punk fan that had a vast knowledge of great music. I actually went to go see Radio Birdman with him a couple of years ago when they came through.

As for time machine shows, we'd have to add pre-1975 Alice Cooper, several Bowie tours including the '72 Ziggy shows, the '74 "Diamond Dogs" tour, and Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" and "The Idiot" shows where he had that crack fucking band with Bowie and the brothers Sales on stage.

If there's one band I could back and see though it'd definitely be Joy Division. They are my favorite band of all time, and to see any of their shows (barring those weird later ones where Ian was flipping out and they were getting other Factory dudes to sing for him) would be what I'd use my time machine ticket on.

And the Birthday Party...I would have loved to have seen them in their fire-breathing prime.

And that Suicide show in Belgium that ended in a riot. And pretty much everything in any good club in downtown NYC circa 1979-1981, but Liquid Liquid, MARS, DNA, James Chance and the Contortions, and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks in particular.

Any party DJ'ed by Kool Herc, Flash, or Bambatta.

Kraftwerk in the mid-1970s.

Jean-Michel Jarre's Chinese shows.

Throbbing Gristle anywhere.

T.Rex at the height of T.Rextacy, preferably around "Electric Warrior" or "The Slider".

CRASS in a shitty, smelly squat.

Pretty much any southern California HC band in 1982, 1983, 1984.

Coachella last week.

One day I'm going to regret having never bothered to go see Iron Maiden... I could do something about it, but Dream Theater opening up the coming tour, I think I'll pass. It was time that they came around with Motorhead and Dio - that's the one I should have gone to see. But my cheapness & aversion to arena shows has always kept it from happening.

Usually I only end up regretting not seeing a band after I finally do see them and then think to myself "ah man, that was awesome, why didn't I go see 'em the last X times?"
Otherwise, I don't really know what I am missing, so it's not that big of a deal.

Saw a free black rock festival block party deal hosted by BAM two summers ago in Brooklyn. The Dirtbombs were the only band of note that played but Afrika Bambaataa spun all day long.

Remebered some more too:

-Missed Melvins with Jello last year from sheer forgetfullness; had a ticket.
-Brujeria two weeks ago cuz I was sick;
-75% of the CBGB farewell shows because of a pre-scheduled trip to Argentina with the missus;
-Saw Maceo Parker play a free show 3 years ago at Prospect Park. Had had enough and hopped on my bike to hit the bar. Prince joined him on stage for 45 minutes just moments after my departure.
-Left the Dave Chappelle block party before the Fugees played. Saw the dvd and it brought tears to my eyes when they started Mona Lisa.

Michael Barnes wrote:

- The first Lollapalooza (me at the gate- "whaddya mean it's sold out?")

Rookie mistake!


The list of shows I missed because I wasn't yet born (or was larval at best) is a mile long. Hell, just start with the entire artists stables of Vanguard and Blue Note between 1952 and 1969. I've managed to catch a few of the greats Rudy van Gelder recorded back then, but that list was already short by the time I got started. (I did manage to catch Ornette Coleman at the Lincoln Theater here in DC, though). Then, AC/DC with Bon; the Dead with Pigpen; Gabriel-era Genesis; etc. Just too many to list.

Those I missed all of my own accord:

Marillion with Fish. I actually *had* tickets to their '87 show at Billy's Old Mill in Milwaukee, but I was 16 and couldn't get past the ID check. Found out later that the dude at the door split and I could have made it in. At least the show was broadcast and I have some brilliant soundboards from the show....

Nirvana: "Ah fuck it, they'll be back..." Cue shotgun blast here. This was after not being able to get into see them on the Bleach tour previously thanks to being under 21 when they were on their "vomit-stained bars of the midwest" leg of the tour...

The Mentors & GG Allin at the Unicorn in MKE.... Yea, more poo-flinging action (and drumsticks up the ass) than the monkey cage at the Milwaukee Zoo. I *think* this was the show that landed GG in jail, but I know this was gig where he met the underage girl that followed him around, bailing his ass out, until his death. In this case, I had an early date with a bottle of Seagrams 7 that went a lot further than I had intended. I was unconscious at home before showtime. Still under 21 but knew the club owner at by this time. (Same club I saw the Smashing Pumpkins several times long before they became the Bill Corgan Experience. I'm still convinced to this day that Darcy's bass lines were dubbed for the live shows as that girl couldn't play that bass if you spotted her 3 of the 4 strings. Then again, I saw the Pumpkins *open* for Die Kreuzen in the Marquette U. student union basement just after they released their first 7". I saw 'em and bought the single, and never thought they'd amount to anything. So, WTF do I know...)

Ozzy/Metallica with Cliff. 15 years old, summer before senior year in HS, and the one and only time my mother didn't let me go to a show. *sigh*

Fish (of Marillion) solo at the 0930 club this year: He plays the US about once every 6 years. Rookie mistake of my own on this one: "Oh shit, that show was LAST NIGHT?" Fuck me.

Ministry w/Skinny Puppy at the Eagles Club: They hit Milwaukee around Xmas. Again, I had tix; however, I got a last minute call that the Sentinel (that was the morning newspaper) needed a stringer to cover a show that night. So, instead of Ministry, I was covering the Manahattan Transfer's xmas show. Yea. Fortunately, I caught both bands a bit later that year.

Had a similar situation happen with the Chili Peppers/Pearl Jam/Smashing Pumpkins tour around that same time. I had tix but got sent off to cover another show (Bob Dylan at Summerfest I *think*). Saw all 3 of those bands multiple times around that period, so the only true loss [since I expensed the tix I couldn't use] was that I didn't get a shot to buy the fucking Kozik poster from that tour. I'm still trying to track down a 1st print of that one and Kozik's Ice-T/Body Count poster to round out my Kozik collection from that same period at a reasonable price.

The Smiths would be my number 1. Seeing Morrissey only makes me want to see them more.

I'm bummed I missed out on a lot of the youth crew stuff cause I was too young. Seeing Judge would have been a terrifying and awesome time.

I only ever actually saw Kid Dynamite at their reunion weekend, would have been nice to see them more. Stuff always came up and then there were no more next times.

Carry over from the other thread, but Bad Brains at their peak would have been awesome.

Michael Barnes wrote:

- Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Godflesh in '91

That would have been an INSANE show. I caught Skinny Puppy in Boise of all places a couple of years ago. They weren't as traumatizing as I'm sure the '91 show would have been. But it was fun to see Ogre bleeding ichor through tubes and stuff while performing Warlock. And seeing(hearing?) any sort of live production by cEvin Key is always worth double the price of admission.

For me I'm a bit younger so this would only be:

Stone Temple Pilots during their "Scott Weiland on heroin and often in the clink" days.

But that bucket list item soon to be rectified. They're back together and touring. Actually my wife's sister's husband is a guitarist in a band that toured with STP and recommended I go see them soon because they don't know how long the band is gonna hold together. He recanted some Scott Weiland stories that made him sound like a ghost. There, but not there.

Still the best band to come out of the 90's. Bar none.

Some shows that I did see and really glad I did were:

The Offspring before they got huge just as their first album was released
Kyuss before they broke up
Guns 'n' Roses before they broke up
Korn before they got popular just as their first album was released
Metallica at Maple Leaf Gardens in support of the self-titled album before they went Napster nutso (seats were in the reds!)

The 90's were my heyday. Then everything went all hip hop and techno. Weird.

Hmmm … I can't remember too many of the concerts I didn't go to.

However in 96 or 97 Wu Tang was on tour with Rage Against the Machine and Atari Teenage Riot. I couldn't go but my friend went. Wu Tang failed to show up (of course) so it wasn't like I missed out on much.

beuks33 wrote:

Michael Barnes wrote:

- Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Godflesh in '91

That would have been an INSANE show. I caught Skinny Puppy in Boise of all places a couple of years ago. They weren't as traumatizing as I'm sure the '91 show would have been. But it was fun to see Ogre bleeding ichor through tubes and stuff while performing Warlock. And seeing(hearing?) any sort of live production by cEvin Key is always worth double the price of admission.

Where did they play in Boise? And how many people did they get?

One of the most bizarre shows I'm glad I didn't miss was Spiritualized at that dump bar/concert joint downtown when I briefly lived in Boise. They were booked in because they had an open day between SLC and Portland, and I swear they must have sold about twelve tickets. I was one of them, and I bet there were less than five people on the floor by the time they finished the second song. However, it was a better show than the packed house when I saw them at the Warfield in SF. Staring at your shoes while you play means an empty hall is no problem. If anything, just fewer distractions.

The amount of stuff I missed from being too young or unborn is the same shit as everyone else, so I'll just pick out a few that I remember being skunked on.

- Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros at the Fillmore in SF, right after I moved there (when the Fillmore was three blocks from my apartment), skipped it and still regret that.
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor at the GAMH (also in SF, sold out graaaar)
- Prince (also in SF, of course, after-party at a dinky club for a big-ass Oakland show, sold out in an instant)

All of those are 1999-2002 or so. I've probably missed a few things since then, but I've found if I don't keep track, it doesn't bug me so much. Kids and stuff...

The last thing that I went "well, fuck I missed it" was finding out Robbie Fulks was in Northern Cal last month or so. Finding out last week was no help. Next time.

Hey Barnes, Echo and the Bunnymen were here last Sunday. I didn't go, because I didn't feeling like stumping up for the tickets. Hope that doesn't haunt me forever, but I think I'll be okay.

I managed to knock a couple off my list in the last year. I always wanted to see the Flaming Lips but had never noticed when they were touring. One day a year ago we were watching live broadcast tv for once (we mainly watch downloads or record on pvr and skip the ads) and there was a message that the Flaming Lips were touring and I jumped straight on the net and bought tickets. My wife didn't get why the urgency, and it was only on the day as the support band was finishing up that we were talking and I realized that she didn't know that they are always on those "10 Bands to see Live before you die" lists and are renowned for their live shows (I think their recorded music is very good and they would never make my top 20-30 bands, but this was the greatest concert I have ever been to and it put all others to shame, if I rate that concert as a 10, no other concert rates higher than a 7 or 8).

The other one is the Pixies. I have never liked the thought of watching old faded bands going through the motions on stage, trying to relive their youth, and so 5 years ago when the Pixies reformed and toured I made a conscious decision not to go and as they are probably my favourite band regretted the decision since. Luckily they toured last month and while not the best concert I am very happy now that I saw them (it was the Doolittle tour and they did the album in its entirety from track 1 to 15 and as a concept this doesn't work, but there were some real highs to the night).

Apart from that the one big regret is not going to the first 'Big Day Out' in Melbourne in 93 (which is like Lollapalooza) where I missed seeing Sonic Youth and Carter USM play, which I now regret. No idea why I didn't go, I suspect that I didn't know it was on which is odd as both my sisters went. I also can't believe I had tickets to see Radiohead in '94 before they made it really big, and just didn't go as I was tired that night (they really only had Creep' then which is a great song and probably their best, but nothing on what was to come).