Seeing an Artist in Concert: Change of Mind

[Luciano]

I was wondering if you have ever seen an Artist in concert that made you a fan [[or bigger fan) or cause you to dislike them? If you could tell us who and why you feel that way. Thanks in advance.

[reese]

The one and only time I went to see Nina Simone, I was not a fan. I had one cd and I was not impressed. I certainly knew of her recordings and respected her place in history but that was it. But when she came to my city, I decided I would go anyway. By the time the show was over, I was a big fan.

I had never seen someone so regal. Fronting a small combo, she had the entire audience in the palm of her hands for two hours. Even though she obviously was not in the best of health, she still gave it everything she had. The next day, I went to every record store I knew and bought every Nina cd they had. It became quite fun actually, as it seemed new things were being released regularly. I believe the concert I attended was one on what ended up being Nina's last US tour and to this day, I'm glad I bought that ticket.

[glencro]

This summer one of my photography clients called me and said that they had an extra ticket to a Seal concert. I was free that evening so I decided to go. I was familiar with some of his music and I've seen him on tv a few times. No one that I was ever moved to see but I must say that was one of the best concerts I've attended and I've been to many. I've purchased 4 of his cd's since that concert.

[luke]

My brother saw Nina Simone in concert and said she was rude and obnoxious and brilliant!

[luke]

I saw Gordon Lightfoot who came to our college when I was a student. When people started clapping in time to his music he halted the concert and said that had to stop. Needless to say he lost fans.

[marv2]

I saw Ashford & Simpson in concert in 1977. Prior to that I just thought of them as good songwriters. After that concert it was like "Wow"! They are really great singers and performers.

[Zantellor]

I always liked Gladys Knight and The Pips. I thought they were great. I went to see them at the Westbury Music Fair in the early 80s. The Lord knows I had no idea how great they were until I saw them in concert. They were amazing. I sat through the concert with my mouth open in amazement that anyone could sing and preform like that . I saw most of the big R .and B acts of the 60s 70s 80s live.Gladys Knight and the Pips aced them all. I recall Gladys doing a solo on And Im Telling You Im Not Going. The audience would not let her finish the song and kept begging for more.I came away a great big fan. And as of 2016 no other act ever topped their show in my opinion

[arr&bee]

I'm a fan of[blue magic]but after seeing them live i'm still a fan but i'll never go to another concert of theirs.

[destruction]

Ashford and Simpson at Painters Mill and Labelle at the Carter Barron - Must See TV way back when.

I attended a Capitol something or other Festival at RFK in the pouring rain.....which was great because my date and I and hundreds of others saw the opportunity for instant seat upgrades.

Wasn't a big...scratch that.....wasn't a Maze fan.....saw them.....didn't change me but I could appreciate what their fans saw in them.

I also saw Luther for the first time....wasn't a big fan.....
Let me correctly add....it wasn't so much Luther, it was more the new smooth soul crooner thing, including Freddie Jackson....and them other guys.

Never missed him again. Talent. Stage Presence. The Band. Hit after Hit after Hit after Hit.
Dude could sing a little bit too....

I'm looking around [[as I often do).....guys were literally holding up their women. Some of the dumber ones appeared to be a little peeved by it all.

My date was in no condition to drive home so we stayed in D.C.....and she didn't drink.
"Love you Luther"

The last time I saw him was in Bmore with En Vogue.

[thommg]

Some friends and I went to see Hall & Oates and Chicago at Radio City Music Hall. We thought Hall & Oates would be fantastic and Chicago just okay. We were very wrong. Hall & Oates went through the concert by rote, sometimes not even facing the audience. They seemed to want to be anywhere else than at the show. Chicago, on the other hand, was fantastic. This evening truly diminished my love for Hall & Oates.

Also, I was invited to see Shania Twain at Madison Square Garden, many, many years ago. It was in the round and she sang the beginnings of each song and then knelt down to sign autographs for anyone who walked up to the stage. She kept singing but after a few songs you could tell the audience was getting restless. By 3/4 of the way through, fans were so annoyed that they started leaving. Everyone around us just started talking. We left before the end. Never again.

[Bluebrock]

This summer one of my photography clients called me and said that they had an extra ticket to a Seal concert. I was free that evening so I decided to go. I was familiar with some of his music and I've seen him on tv a few times. No one that I was ever moved to see but I must say that was one of the best concerts I've attended and I've been to many. I've purchased 4 of his cd's since that concert.

I worked with Seal in the early 90's and he was one of the most naturally talented guys i ever encountered. His voice and stage presence should have made him an even bigger star than he was. I met up with again in 2015 and he was the same easy going guy he always was. Great guy and a great talent.

[Bluebrock]

For me it had to be Lady Gaga. My daughter bought me tickets whilst living in Sydney and i was blown away by the sheer quality of her voice. That girl really gave it her all. She was on stage for over two hours and i admit i was spellbound. I wasn't looking forward to the show. I had seen Rhianna just a few weeks previously and she was dreadful. She mimed half the songs, and the ones she did perform live you wished she had mimed too. She had no stage presence, no charisma and no connection with the audience, and yet of the two concerts that was the one i was most looking forward to seeing, but Gaga pissed all over her.

[Bluebrock]

Ashford and Simpson at Painters Mill and Labelle at the Carter Barron - Must See TV way back when.

I attended a Capitol something or other Festival at RFK in the pouring rain.....which was great because my date and I and hundreds of others saw the opportunity for instant seat upgrades.

Wasn't a big...scratch that.....wasn't a Maze fan.....saw them.....didn't change me but I could appreciate what their fans saw in them.

I also saw Luther for the first time....wasn't a big fan.....
Let me correctly add....it wasn't so much Luther, it was more the new smooth soul crooner thing, including Freddie Jackson....and them other guys.

Never missed him again. Talent. Stage Presence. The Band. Hit after Hit after Hit after Hit.
Dude could sing a little bit too....

I'm looking around [[as I often do).....guys were literally holding up their women. Some of the dumber ones appeared to be a little peeved by it all.

My date was in no condition to drive home so we stayed in D.C.....and she didn't drink.
"Love you Luther"

The last time I saw him was in Bmore with En Vogue.

I saw Luther live 8 times and he never disappointed me. That guy had more vocal talent in his little finger than most others had in their whole body.
One artist who did disappoint me was Natalie Cole. I was really looking forward to the show but for whatever reason she could not get the audience going and i left disappointed but still a fan of her music.
Alexander O'Neal is another one who disappointed me. The first time i saw him he was simply superb. I thought he was going to overtake Luther, but the 2nd time he was less impressive and by the 3rd time he was quite frankly poor. Substance abuse was to blame and it curtailed his career somewhat. I saw him for a 4th and final time around 15 years ago and the voice had gone. A sad waste of a fine natural vocal talent.

[sansradio]

The single most dreadful show I've ever seen? A double bill of Keith Sweat and Billy Ocean. I didn't expect to be floored by Sweat, who was a new artist at the time, but I'd always appreciated Ocean's vocals. Billy phoned the entire set in; sounded good, but not a showman by any stretch of the imagination. 3 boring hours of my life that I'll never get back.

[jsmith]

Back in the late 60's / early 70's I was a big fan of Erma Franklin. I had all her Shout 45's and some later stuff and really loved it.
She was booked to do a live show in my home town [[Doncaster, UK) so I just had to go along. I don't know if she was feeling a bit ill or not enjoying touring the UK but her show was a real stinker that night. Still love her rekkids though.

[carlo]

I've been to some bad shows where you can tell the artist is not feeling well and/or having an off night. In those circumstances, I've been able to get past it, like the one and only time I've seen Aretha, which I believe was around 2011. She was not feeling well and had to cut her show a little shorter. I am still a fan though.

Although the one time I saw a concert and was turned off from being a fan was when I saw Darlene Love, which was about a year ago. She was riding high off of the Oscar win for 20 Feet and her ego was bigger than any person I've ever seen. She kept name dropping and was going out of her way to make herself grand during her stage banter. She mentioned how she will perform such and such a song at weddings for her $5000 fee and said she will not agree to any such appearances unless her hair person can accompany her. She gave a great show for the first half, which was devoted to performing her new album, and then she disappeared for about 30 minutes and let her band takeover. All of these mentioned moments were huge buzz killers. The second half of the show was her hits segment and she was going on about how some artists hate doing their hits but she loves it...but she went on and on about it in a way that sounded very insincere and went on a rant about royalties. Needless to say, we walked out before the encore.

I've seen at least two dozen "divas" in concert and I was so surprised that Darlene came across as having the worst attitude of them all. She seemed like a completely different person that night versus what I've seen in the doc and in interviews.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, in the beginning, I was a casual fan of Bettye LaVette. After the first time I saw her in concert, I was completely blown away. I have a lot of love and appreciation for her as an artist.

[thommg]

One artist who did disappoint me was Natalie Cole. I was really looking forward to the show but for whatever reason she could not get the audience going and i left disappointed but still a fan of her music.

I felt the same way about Natalie Cole, Bluebrock. Towards the end, my friend asked if I was liking it. I said I was but something was missing. She said, "That's because she's just singing for herself. She's not singing for us." The more I thought about it, the more I believe that was true. She didn't really do anything to engage us at all, and was very caught up in the music. For that, I can just listen to an LP.

[Circa 1824]

To this day, the greatest concert I ever saw was The Fifth Dimension at the Ohio State Fair in 1968. OMG, it was thrilling, and the crowd would NOT let them off the stage. They were "forced" to come back for many encores of Let The Sunshine In.

[glencro]

I can't say that it was a change of mind because at the time I was unfamiliar with the artist. In the 90's I went to see Regina Belle. Her md was a young man named Chris Walker and she gave him the stage for one song. This was before his song "Giving You All My Love" came out. It was a great performance but it was the opening act that really won me over, Mr. Will Downing was the opening act and I instantly became a fan.