Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Morrissey's stunt over the weekend reminded me of when I saw Ryan Adams in 2006 at the Alabama Theater. The crowd kept shouting stupid requests/talking in the middle of songs, and Ryan called it quits halfway through his set. That was lame. No refunds, nothing.



This weeked, Morrissey was in London, when and audience member threw a drink at him, promptley causing him to quit the show.


I don't think Ryan Adams had a right to leave the stage when we went a saw him, everyone always shouts in the middle of songs at most concerts I go to, but I can't help but agree with Morrissey, I probably would have done the same.


Anyone else travel several hours to have one of their musical heroes call it quits in the middle of your set? What was your reaction?

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

WHEN: Sometime in the late 1970s
WHERE: Alpine Valley Music Theater - East Troy, WI

WHO: Uriah Heep

WHAT: They were the opener of a three-band show (Uriah Heep, Sweet, Rush) and I was looking forward to Heep, having seen them a couple times already.

About two songs into their set people started rushing toward the stage (imagine that) and vocalist David Byron had to then announce that the fire marshall had said the aisles have to be clear.

Much booing and grumbling ensues, and then Byron adds something to the effect of "But I don't give a fuck what you do, come on down". Next song starts, goes about 30 seconds and then its silent.

Meanwhile the band is flailing around onstage for another 3 or 4 seconds before they realize the plug has been pulled on them. Lesson is don't fuck with the fire marshall.

And I've seen two Ryan Adams shows - one brilliant (still with Whiskeytown at the time), one drunk and ugly (he almost got into a fist fight with female band member Caitlin Cary during one of the songs).

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Weird. Can't say that I have. Closest was Axl leaving the stage at Giants stadium but eventually coming back out.

The only show that I have seen stopped midway was Tommy Lee falling from a rope system from a drum rig that was flown above the arena. I think it was the Feelgood tour in New Haven.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

I was in Montreal at Olympic Stadium for the famous Metallica/ Guns in Roses riot. James Hetfield caught on fire so they cut there set short... then Guns N Roses took about 2 hours to hit the stage and Axl stormed off after about 5 songs, the rest is history.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Neither of the Morrissey shows I have seen ended early. Pretty lame. Just kick out the joker who did it and do not penalize everyone.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

My very first concert, summer '73. Edgar Winter Group/Jo Jo Gunne/Savoy Brown. Outdoors at a racetrack which was also a fairgrounds grandstand. Davenport, Iowa. During "Tobacco Road", the part where Winter is screaming into mike, accapella, cops pulled the plug. Powers comes back on for couple seconds, goes back out. Riot ensues. Something about a loud noise curfew.

1983. Cheap Trick/Aldo Nova. People were setting off firecrackers down by stage. Cheap Trick stops in middle of song and Zander tells them to knock it off or they will quit playing. They start playing again. Firecrackers continue. They walk off.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Given the current sorry and pathetic state of Morrissey's fan base and concert pull, that'd mean he'd be playing to an empty club, apart from the crew.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Not completely, but Reel Big Fish did stop the show in 1996 (the summer of ska :lol:) and skip the rest of the song they were playing because people were moshing.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Smashing Pumpkins, 1994, Billy "Wanker" Corgan stormed off after 30 minutes for no discernable reason.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Marilyn Manson; mid-1990's; Charlotte, NC

He had already walked off stage twice during songs but came back a minute or two later each time. Then he took the mic stand and destroyed the drum set and threw bottled water all over the place(or vice-versa). Then walked off and did not come back.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Only concert I ever saw that ended abruptly was Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt's band Mourning Widows at the Station in West Warwick,RI. The band had some type of issue getting to the venue and were extremely late. They didn't hit the stage until around 12:30am. Town ordinance set the curfew for loud music at 1am so they only got in a 30 minute set. They made sure that everyone in attendance got a t-shirt from their merch table for free for the inconvenience.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

I saw Nirvana in '93 and Crist Novaselic stopped the show twice, grabbed a mic, then lectured the audience for about 5 minutes and threatened to stop the concert all together because he said that girls crowd surfing were being groped. I guess that's pretty honorable of him, but I think that's the stuff you have to expect when you jump on random strangers heads.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Same here. Judging by your location, it probably wasn't the same show.

It was Lollapalooza 1994 in Dallas and Smashing Pumpkins was headlining. I was a senior in high school who worshiped the band and was so excited to see them. We endured torrential rain, extremely muddy conditions and a crowd that was probably too rowdy just to see them. It was very clear from the start that most of the people in the crowd didn't know SP songs other than their "hits" (remember this was before Mellon Collie, too) and were primarily there to see the Beastie Boys. The crowd was throwing stuff at the band and yelling things at Billy.

Finally, I think it was Billy just played some loud screeching feedback on his guitar for a bit and then started yelling at the audience through the mic. He ended it with "Fuck you!" and then the band left the stage and didn't return. I was dumbfounded. Granted, it was Lollapalooza so someone could argue that it was a full festival set, but I have no doubt the band would have played longer if there had been a more appreciative crowd.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

I'm shocked that fans of a band whose songs include "Rape Me" would resort to such behavior!

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Prince opening for the Stones in 1981 at the LA Coliseum. Upon singing Jack U Off he was pumelled with debris and booed off the stage. Bill Graham came out and excoriated the crowd.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

They were still doing that up until a couple years ago. Now they only stop when there's crowd surfing. I'm ok with that though, since crowd surfing is only fun for literally one person and I've taken a few too many kicks to the head over the years because of it. Also, maybe it's just me, but it seems like crowd surfing and moshing are becoming less prevalent at shows these days.

I've been to a number of shows where the bands stopped playing because a fight broke out, but I've never seen a band quit playing their set completely.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Why?

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Billy Corgan for me too, but it was April 1992 and Smashing Pumpkins were opening for Guns N Roses

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

It depends on the concert, my genre still has plenty!

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Date: December 17, 1987
Location: Tampa, Florida, U.S.A.
Venue: Expo Hall
Headliners: Anthrax
Co-special Guests: Exodus and Celtic Frost
Note: The crowd barrier collapses during Exodus' set, resulting in an injury to a fan; Exodus' appearance is cut short; Anthrax appear after a break and discussions with local police authorities.
Set List: Unknown

Anthrax only get to play 4 or 5 songs and then are stopped by the police, who line up onstage and tell everyone the show is over and they need to leave. The crowd is in a frenzy shouting at the cops and then someone throws something at one of the officers and cops actually rush the crowd. People started stampeding the hell out of there at that point. What a fiasco.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Kind of a different situation.

Summer of 1985
Pine Knob-Michigan

This was the 2nd of 2 shows by Phil Collins around the No Jacket Required time. The show started off well, Phil playing drums and singing, but after the song he walked off stage. The houselights didn't come on and people weren't sure what was going on. About 15 minutes later, Phil came out alone to address to the crowd. He actually told us that after his show the previous night that he's gotten very drunk and passed out the hotel floor by the air conditioning unit and caught a cold. He told us that his doctors believed he would potentially be damaging his voice if he went on, he apologized and said he'd likely reschedule the show when the tour swung back to the midwest again (he never did). People booed like crazy and showed him no mercy or concern. Profanities were shouted, the stage was pelted with just about anything people could get their hands on, but, let's face it, it was a Phil Collins audience, not Mettalica. So there were no riots or fights and everyone just sort of quietly left after venting for about 10 minutes.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Well, I go to plenty of punk shows, and it definitely seems like a fading trend based on the last few I've been to. Maybe Seattle kids aren't getting their vitamins these days, what with the recession and all.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

because people are idiots, i dunno, i'll ask them next time.




I remember I saw Jeff Tweedy do a solo set and in the middle of Sunken Treasure, during the really quiet part where he just picks at one chord, a cell phone goes off in a completely silent theater, and just rings. 15 seconds later, Tweedy says, "You going to get that?"

I've got a really good friend who i've stopped going to shows with because of his habbit of singing really loud during the show. I know he's just getting "into the music", but it is obnoxious and extremely embarrassing. At the same Tweedy show, he was whistleling during the intro to "The Ruling Class", and Tweedy snapped, "I don't need your help." Jokingly, but still, he pretty much asked him to stop.

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Ha. I wasn't actually looking for an answer. I don't remember that being a staple in the concerts I've been to. Shouting between songs, sure, but during...? I've pretty much stopped going to shows a few years ago, though, so maybe this happened all the time and I just don't remember in my advanced age. :)

Re: Ever been to a concert that the singer ended abruptly?
 

Prince
United Center in Chicago
mid 1990s

Probably not the situation the OP was looking for but about 20 or so minutes into the concert Prince stopped because he noticed a young child in the audience. He refused to start performing again until the parents removed the child reminding everyone that this was not a show for kids. The parents & child left and the concert went on as planned. I respect him for it.