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Biggest live concert regret

Oh man, this is an easy one: Nirvana was playing (would of had to have been the In Utero tour) with The Breeders opening. Asked my parents to go and got shot down, and I *think* that it was because they were skeeved out that there was a band named "The Breeders".

I had a grand, elaborate plan to rappel down the side of the house from my bedroom window to secretly go see the show that night, but I was too much of a Good Kid to actually go through with it. So I miss the show and, pretty soon, there was no more Nirvana. So I feel bad for missing the show and my parents felt bad for being weird about it, etc, etc.

Silver lining to the story: I was allowed to go to shows pretty much across the board after that. Which made my first concert Soundgarden on the Superunknown tour, which is one of my best memories of growing up!
 
Back in 2015, Linkin Park had a concert in my city, I decided not to go because the concert was about the hunting party, and I was more into their old stuff, thinking I'll go to one where they perform their more classic songs.
 
Not being in New York at MSG the last three weeks for Phish. Don't know if they will ever play this well again. Also not seeing Jerry while he was still around.
 
So many show regrets. Let's run them down:

Pearl Jam 2006 - Had tickets to see them in a midsize arena but couldn't find someone else to go with so I sold off the ticket. Remedied that by seeing them at Outside Lands 2008.

Red Hot Chili Peppers 2006 - Had a ticket to their Stadium Arcadium arena tour with John but my seat was horrible (perpendicular to the stage) and transportation would've been a bitch at the time. I gave away my ticket and a chance to see RHCP in their prime form. Don't think I'll ever see them at this point.

The Mars Volta NYE 2007/08 - This show is legendary amongst TMV fans. First time they did an acoustic set, then a full electric set afterwards right on the heels of The Bedlam in Goliath. However, I had a big fight with my ex during that night and sulked through most of the set.

Cloud Nothings 2012 - Had tickets but felt depressed and shut-in, so I skipped the show. I would've loved it. Tiny venue, supporting Attack on Memory which is my favorite record of that year. I got to see them plenty of times afterwards, but it would've been a great show nonetheless.

Built to Spill 2013 - In a small venue, actually made it to the show, but my GF drank a bit too much and got kicked out during the opener. Luckily got to see BtS later for free at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, but would've dug the small club setting much more.

Elder 2015 - Had ticket to this show in a small bar, but I didn't have a car at the time and seeing the show would've meant I'd get stranded in the city. Didn't feel like ponying up for a motel stay so I bailed. It would've been so bad ass though. Elder is such a tight band.

There's many more bands or shows I could've seen but didn't, but these hurt the most.

Edit: Forgot a major one. Didn't buy tickets to Rock the Bells 2007 to see Rage Against the Machine. My thoughts at the time was I was working weekend graveyards and it would've been hell for me to attend a full day festival between shifts. Also, I wasn't heavy into rap, and wanted to save my money for a dedicated Rage show in SF (never happened).
 
Wife and I had tickets for Pearl Jam a few years ago, real bucket list stuff for her. When we worked out the logistics of getting there and back and childcare for our baby son (at the time) we had to conclude it wasn't feasible. So I sold the tickets on eBay.

She's still sad she never got to go.
 
I missed power glove this year, but I usually try to see as many concerts as I can. Once I had to sell Tyler the creator tickets around GOLF rollout. That sucked
 
I was visiting the LA area of California with a friend and saw that Rage Against the Machine was going to be in town with Rise Against. My friend convinced that Warped tour would be the better choice to go to instead. Turns out that was the last time Rage Against the Machine played a show together. Warped tour was pretty shit too
 
mozfan12 said:
What has been a live show that you have had a chance to see but for some reason missed for a dumb or stupid reason

My biggest regret:

I skipped on seeing Leonard Cohen at Coachella to get a better spot for Morrissey who I had seen many a time during my Smiths/Moz obesssive phase. It was an awful show from Morrissey, and everyone until this day raves about Cohen's performance at that Coachella, he even cried when he played Hallelujah.
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Yeah, you really fucked up.
 
unquestionably it was not going to london 15 years ago to see one of what turned out to be fugazi’s last three gigs ever. i wasn’t to know but i should’ve gone anyway.
 
Missed David Gilmour's tour back in 2006. Caught him at a great show last year in Chicago though. Missed the encore due to my cousin being in a rush to leave.

Also will unfortunately miss Roger Waters this month. I caught him back in 2010 for The Wall show, but had nosebleed seats on the side.
 
Nirvana Maple Leafs Garden Nov 93 Toronto Ontario
Back than I didn't have internet. By the time I found out about the concert it was too late to make plans to go. I had to rely on Muchmusic back than for when concerts are coming to town.

Woodstock 1994 Saugerties New York
Would have loved to see NIN , Metallica and Aerosmith. I remember seeing lots of commercials on Muchmusic about this being the biggest and best concert ever. My Dad and Unlcle were thinking of going there. My Mom wrecked that idea by saying I'm too young to go. To be fair she was correct. I did go to Woodstock 99 though.

Oh I should go see Foo Fighters and NIN one day. Those bands are getting older I don't know how much longer they will be around for.
 
Probably Dispatch at Terminal 5 in 2010. Had the chance to go but at the last second my buddy said he thought I was driving when I thought we were taking the bus, and he said he couldn't afford it
 
When I was in college They Might Be Giants and Violent Femmes came to my college, but I didn't know about them then so I sat in my dorm room like a dummy. Later I became a huge fan and realized what I'd missed.
 
I regret not hugging Taylor Swift.

The backstory: During her concerts on the Fearless Tour, she would pop up somewhere in the lower bowl, perform a song, then head down through everybody and back to the stage. The concert I was at, she appeared right at the top of the steps where I came down to my seat. I knew she was going to start walking down the when she finished, but for whatever I reason I didn't move from my middle-of-the-row seat. She ended up high fiving or hugging just about everybody on her way back to the stage. I'm still kicking myself.

On a related note, my sister's biggest regret is probably really similar. She saw Taylor open for Brad Paisley. When Taylor was done, she set up shop at the back of the venue to sign autographs and take pictures with fans. My sister's friends all had their pictures taken with her, but my sister had work the next day and just wanted to get home so she passed.

GringoJB said:
Oh man, this is an easy one: Nirvana was playing (would of had to have been the In Utero tour) with The Breeders opening. Asked my parents to go and got shot down, and I *think* that it was because they were skeeved out that there was a band named "The Breeders".

I had a grand, elaborate plan to rappel down the side of the house from my bedroom window to secretly go see the show that night, but I was too much of a Good Kid to actually go through with it. So I miss the show and, pretty soon, there was no more Nirvana. So I feel bad for missing the show and my parents felt bad for being weird about it, etc, etc.

Silver lining to the story: I was allowed to go to shows pretty much across the board after that. Which made my first concert Soundgarden on the Superunknown tour, which is one of my best memories of growing up!
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My uncle snuck out of the house as a kid to see John Lennon perform. A neighbor spotted him sneaking back into the house and called the cops. They showed up at the house in the morning, but at this point, my uncle had left for his job caddying at a golf course. After finding nothing amiss, and having no one in the house aware of anything wrong, the cops dropped it. Thirty years later, the family is all together for Christmas and somebody brings up the phantom intruder. And my uncle meekly admits that it was him.
 
didn't see motorhead in Cleveland in 2004 bc lemmy broke his leg or something and cancelled the show

didn't see soundgarden this year at rock on the range because the night before.....well, you know. my t-shirt claims I saw them there but that is a lie.
 
Mew in Portland during my one year anniversary vacation. I did not realize they were playing the day I was leaving to go back to Florida. I was going to switch flights and find a hotel to stay, but our flight would have cost an extra 300 or so each. Ugh.
 
Shredderi said:
My regret is that I have never in my life been to a live concert. NEVER. Literally not even once.
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It is never too late to go! Keep an eye out for a band you like getting ready to tour and buy tickets early. The best concert I even went to was also one of the greatest moments of my life; it is an explainable experience.

I really hope you manage to get around to going :)
 
Das Racist. It was after the two mixtapes and before the debut album. I remember driving past the venue and going to a friend's event or something.

I also missed out on Danny Brown. I really really regret not going to that.

Slayer also. Idk the next time theyd play a gig here in Hawaii.

Nine Inch Nails, and Wu Tang clan also, but those were in highschool and my parents would've never let me go at that time.
 
Could have gone to see Linkin Park for really cheap a couple of months ago. I've never been a huge fan of theirs, but their music's been a constant in my life since their early days. Anyway, I put it off because I was feeling too tired to go and figured I'd probably see them at some point during a festival in the near future, but I guess that's all going to be different now.
 
Had tickets to see Iron Maiden this summer, day of the show arrives and I'm just exhausted from the work week. I passed out at home before the show and didn't wake up until the following morning causing me to miss the concert.
 
I didn't see Roger Waters during his The Wall tour 5 years ago. I could have gone, he played 9 dates in my country (all of which were also in my city), but I decided not to because I don't like his solo stuff (apart from Radio K.A.O.S., which is kinda cool) and am not a fan of The Wall (it's one of my least favorite Floyd albums). I regretted it as soon as my friends started talking about how good the show was, the special effects, the props and lightning, everything. Apparently it was very theatrical, and worth seeing for more than just the music. Now I wish I had been there.

I'm also going to skip The Who in a couple of months because they are doing their show together with Guns N' Roses, a band I don't care for. Tickets are crazy expensive because of that, and I don't want to pay for GnR. Here's hoping I don't regret it in the future...
 
Gaslight Anthem - 59 Sound tour in 2009
The National - High Violet tour 2014


The first one is now split up. I've seen them since but touring their 2nd album Gaslight still did very small, intimate shows.
The National will skip my country on this tour, so it will be a while until I get the chance to see them.

Didn't go to both because I couldn't find people to go with me. But I've learned my lesson since and if none of my friends are interested I now go to gigs alone.
 
Beyonce 2007 - A whole concert of playbacking and not even a lot of show and sets. Good thing I didn't have to pay.

Marylin Manson 2009 - Past his prime and obviously drugged up as fuck. Only woke up briefly for Beautiful People and stopped playing after almost an hour. Worst headliner.

The Game - Drunk as fuck on stage, flashing champagne. Fell down after 2 songs, the whole crew left.

Motorhead 2015 - The only song we understood was Ace of Spades, all the rest was some mumbling because of Lemmy's voice.

Limp Bizkit 2016 - They did a 2.5 hour set but they only played 50 mins of it. Every other song Dj Lethal just played a metal song. Waste of money imo.
 
Two stand out in my memory, both missed due to lack of funds in college: Leonard Cohen and Watch the Throne. I ESPECIALLY regret Cohen. I'm there with ya buddy :(
 
I missed Grimes a couple of times out here 3-4 years ago, but I think the biggest regret is leaving the 2013 Bridge School Benefit early. I went to see Tom Waits, and when Tom Waits was done, I left because I was freezing on that hill. But as a result of leaving early, I missed Queens of the Stone Age (I don't know them but I hear good things) and Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young playing together. After the show I guess they had some argument and said they'd never play together again. No idea if that's true, though.

[edit - another one I remember: the night before I saw the Spice Girls in 98, apparently The B-52s played and Shonen Knife opened for them. That would've been a fun one to see.]
 
Probably Sonata Arctica and Nightwish during the Tarja era. They were touring together back in the early/mid 2000's, but I just started driving and the venue was two hours away. I missed it since I wasn't comfortable driving that far since I didn't have a GPS.

I have since been to that venue several times, and managed to see Sonata Arctica while they were still pretty good, but I missed out on Nightwish before Tarja was fired.

funkystudent said:
Heaven and Hell aka Dio era black sabbath

And around the same time.

Motörhead.

Not to long later lemmy and Dio passed.
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Dio, Motörhead, and Iron Maiden were my first concert back in 2003. I am so glad that I didn't pass on that. It was before my friends and I could drive, so my dad drove us all and dropped us off at the venue.
 
skrillex and dog blood did the final show at webster hall in nyc saturday night

dog blood played for 2 hours and skrillex played for 5 hours


my gf got black out drunk and we had to leave 10 mins into skrillex

still sad =(
 
Mine is a special case (maybe someone else here was at the show?):

Bonnaroo 2008.

Pearl Jam is playing main stage Saturday night. Closing out the evening.

Best show ever. 100,000 people deep. Lighters everywhere.

(Seriously: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeLFLTCDyuE )

They are bringing the show to a close. We know an epic encore is coming.

And then Eddie Vedder announces that they have to wrap up early because Kanye West's piece of shit ass decided that he wanted his 8PM show (he no-showed it) moved to 2AM because it was "glow in the dark" or some BS.

Whelp, we all miss seeing Yellow Ledbetter, Indifference, etc.. (they showed a picture of the encore set on the big screens) because of this.

Then Kanye West sits in his bus until 5 fucking AM. Didn't take the stage till the sun was coming up. People were throwing so much shit on the stage he was slipping and people had to clean it up while it was going on, then he bails early. It was such a dick move that even Bonnaroo staff were holding up "Fuck Kanye" signs on Sunday.

I hate Kanye West.
 
Idk if it's as much a regret as just a bummer, but I had two tickets to see Kanye last year and then my fiancee has a dental surgery go completely wrong and was forced to stay in bed for a week with a bleeding mouth. Couldn't bring myself to leave her with no help, so I sold the tickets and stayed home.

I at least don't feel guilty about it, but I was super bummed at the time.

EDIT: Looking above my post, maybe it was for the better haha.
 
Roger Water's concert from last month was a 2 hour drive, but I decided to pass on it. His show looked insane which I regret not witnessing live.
 
Phoenix a few years ago at Madison Square Garden. They brought out Daft Punk that night :(

I didnt get tickets because I just didnt feel like it. They were pretty affordable too. Sigh.
 
2004: I was relatively broke at the time and I hemmed and hawed about getting tickets or not, eventually not getting them, while a few of my friends did...

Modest Mouse in Orlando, multiple nights, back to back.

They recorded their only live album on those nights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_von_Bullshit_Rides_Again

Feels bad man.


EDIT: ^^^ Haha! I should add that I also saw them later in a much bigger setting than what the Social is, and they weren't very good. All accounts say the Social shows were incredible.
 
dcassell said:
Idk if it's as much a regret as just a bummer, but I had two tickets to see Kanye last year and then my fiancee has a dental surgery go completely wrong and was forced to stay in bed for a week with a bleeding mouth. Couldn't bring myself to leave her with no help, so I sold the tickets and stayed home.

I at least don't feel guilty about it, but I was super bummed at the time.

EDIT: Looking above my post, maybe it was for the better haha.
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You miseed a really fucking good show.

I was at the MSG show in NY, and it was transcendent to hear every single person in the arena just sing/rap their heart out to every bar. Hell, we even did the last chorus of "Heartless" completely acapella. It was amazing, and the person above you is just a salty douche who also witnessed one of the best live sets ever in the worst surroundings possible.
 
TheLetdown said:
2004: I was relatively broke at the time and I hemmed and hawed about getting tickets or not, eventually not getting them, while a few of my friends did...

Modest Mouse in Orlando, multiple nights, back to back.

They recorded their only live album on those nights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_von_Bullshit_Rides_Again

Feels bad man.


EDIT: ^^^ Haha! I should add that I also saw them later in a much bigger setting than what the Social is, and they weren't very good. All accounts say the Social shows were incredible.
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Issac was completely drunk on stage and they literally played one song on the encore. It was very disappointing.
 
Didn't see Sabbath when they played in my city twice.

Was working both times the tickets became available and there was nothing I could do about it.

Was able to get a break the first time and the only tickets left were ridiculously expensive VIP tickets
 
RionaaM said:
I'm also going to skip The Who in a couple of months because they are doing their show together with Guns N' Roses, a band I don't care for. Tickets are crazy expensive because of that, and I don't want to pay for GnR. Here's hoping I don't regret it in the future...
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You'll be posting in a thread like this one day. The Who still put on an incredible show. I've seen every single one of their live performances (including flying to Indio, CA for Desert Trip) and they still bring insane energy. One of the best live bands of all time and they won't be around much longer. Suck it up and go. You won't regret it.

I have no concert regrets. I've seen almost all the bands I've wanted to that I've been alive to see.
 
Buffalo Tom may be my favorite band of all time, and I have never seen them live (knowingly.)

Back in college when Buffalo Tom were somewhat relevant, a buddy asked me to help him take another friend's mind off a recent breakup. We took him to the local music dive and sat in the back drinking and talking. I remember thinking the music wasn't half bad, but I mostly tuned it out. The next morning, I saw a review of the Buffalo Tom concert at that same local music dive.
 
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