I got dragged to Rockfest in 2000 at sandstone. Just a total white trash shitfest but I had nothing better to do that day. Papa Roach, 3 doors down, GodSmack, Blue October, Jessie James Dupree. STP headlined and I’m not a huge fan but they were at least decent. Somebody threw a beer at Scott Weilands head and he challenged the guy to a fight, which was kind of cool.
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I always heard Rush was like that back in the day. I've never seen them and not sure if I regret that but I've had ample opportunity to see them and just didn't. And I friggin' LOVE Rush. 2112 was my introduction and made me a progressive fan for sure. Alex Lifeson is a key influence of mine as well.
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Bob Dylan opened Desert Trip and I was unemotional about seeing him as he's just not my bag. I spun it as "at least I can say saw Dylan".

This guy was up there with no lighting (just black and white), no live stream onto the massive screens and I don't think he left the piano. He apparently wouldn't let them film him so the put an old concert up there (black and white).

BUT i maintain that he was the perfect opening act as 90K fans filed in, found their space and got know their neighbors for the weekend. Then the Stones took the stage and all hell broke loose. I will never see the Stones again as I want that show to be my memory. I can't describe how great they were and what 90K (older) fans just letting loose. One of the best moments of my life and the best set of the festival, followed closely by Neil Young and Roger Waters.
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The Spinoff is now more popular than the original!
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I remember hearing Slaughter open for Ozzy on the no more tours tour, haha. Nothing sounded right, musicians were not sync'd at all, and the singing was AWFUL with unintelligible words. Just figured they were completely a studio band.
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It's Slaughter. Of course they were a studio band. LOL
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Those guys were good players, though.

The drummer has toured with Trans-Siberian Orchestra and The Blue Man group for years. Dana Strum is a decent bass player but he's a really good songwriter and producer. Their original guitarist was probably their weakest link but he's dead.

I'm guessing it's probably an issue with the gear or the headliner, as headliners used to really screw with their opening act's sound and mix.
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Fair enough, I missed Ugly Kid Joe before that, so I couldn't compare how bad they sounded. Some of it was the production, figured the vocals were not given enough of the volume as well.

Ht- I was interested to see if they could pull it off live, but it was worse than I could have expected.
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Yeah, individually and in other gigs, the members were pretty talented. I think they thought they could throw together a "SuperGroup" and put them in the studio. Those kinds of bands often struggle on the road because they were essentially made to sell records.

A lot of the bands I like tour like madmen and write on the road so they're kind of the flip side. Of course, many of my favorite bands sell records by the thousands, not the millions, and most of them have day jobs. :-)
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I don't think there's even one show that I "regret" seeing live.

I definitely prefer seeing bands that actually play their own instruments and sing their own songs, which is the exact opposite of what's been happening in the concert world for at least the past 15 years, as nearly everyone is using pre-recorded backing tracks for vocals, drums, guitars, synths, etc.

It's like watching an episode of American Bandstand in the 70's when bands would lip-sync to their record and call it "Live".
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The only time I can condone backing tracks is for bands, for example, that have one guitarist but the song might have harmonies or a second riff line or something. You don't want to hear half of the song but you don't want them to use backing tracks for everything either.
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Almost every band and artist out there, big or small, is using a click track and backing tracks to "fatten" their live sound and in many cases, the lead singers aren't even signing. I'm looking at you, Ozzy Osbourne, who's had a "Ghost Singer" off stage for the past 15+ years.

That said, I'm generally not into seeing bands live because it's usually disappointing, whether it's the sound of the venue or the coherency and aptitude of their members on stage.

Even if the band is absolutely amazing live, I'm generally bored after about 30 minutes.
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I go to a lot of small venue hardcore/metalcore shows. Those guys don't sing so they don't usually use vocal tracks. :-) I'm not really into the "stadium" stuff anymore. The last 4 or 5 shows I've been too had maybe 200 people there. I saw Toothgrinder, Phinehas, and Ice Nine Kills not too long ago and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Very little fluff, a whole lot of circle pits. :-)

And yeah, Ozzy's deal has been public knowledge for years. It's kind of silly really.
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I wish Dokken had used a ghost singer. I assume the prick is probably too cheap to pay one.
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