Concerts You Regret Missing

[risingfarce]

I had a ticket for a Soundgarden/PJ show in early 92 playing an old grocery store. I missed it for work.. I still kick myself for missing that one.
Also, I had a chance to see KISS on their Revenge Club tour also in 92. I'm not much of a KISStard but I really liked that era of KISS..

Sorry you missed that one.

I saw the "Revenge" club tour in Boston. KISS in a club. Totally insane. One of the best things KISS ever did.

Set list and set length criticisms aside, I don’t think KISS had bad tours in the 80s. I would loved to have seen Unmasked, Creatures, LIU, Animalize and Asylum. Revenge club tour would have been wicked too. Unmasked, HITS and Revenge had the best set lists and running time.

Had Paul put more of an effort into the set lists by including change ups to the classic 70s material instead of relying on the same old, giving some nods to S4/A2, P&G’s 78 Solo albums, The Elder and Killers albums, Eric Carr singing Beth though I know he hated the idea he did a solid job on it, along with averaging between 5-7 new songs off current 80s albums they were promoting, that would have been hard for fans of any era to consistently stay home and not check out atleast once.

The fanbase would have been abuzz had they consistently pulled out songs in the 80s that they hardly or never played before.
It more than likely would have pushed catalog sales too.

Non-makeup shows that I attended:

"Lick It Up"

"Animalize"

"Asylum"

"Crazy Nights"

"Hot In The Shade" (3 shows)

"Revenge" (club tour and arena tour)

KISS Konvention

I also saw Paul Stanley's 1989 solo tour.

It was great that they started to play for 2 hours starting with the "Hot In The Shade" tour. Good mix of makeup and non-makeup songs. On the "HITS" tour there were more non-makeup songs played, a few which hadn't been played in years. Prior to "HITS", those 90 minute sets with drum, guitars, and bass solos were really lacking.

I missed out on seeing the "Creatures Of The Night" tour, because my local show got cancelled due to low ticket sales.




"Lick It Up" - I heard 5 new songs. They played "Exciter" on parts of the tour, but that was dropped at my show and we got "Gimme More". I'd rather have heard "Exciter". (6 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Animalize" - I heard 2 new songs. They dropped 3 new songs before my show and they played "Thrills In The Night" after my show. (6 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Asylum" - I heard 2 new songs. They dropped 2 new songs before my show. (4 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Crazy Nights" - I heard 4 new songs. They dropped 2 new songs before my show. (6 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Hot In The Shade" - I heard 3 new songs. They dropped 2 new songs before my show. (5 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Revenge" - At the club show I heard 3 new songs. At the arena show I heard those 3 new songs plus 2 additional new ones. (3 total new songs played during the club tour and 5 total new songs played during the arena tour.)

KISS Konvention - At this show they played 16 songs (full or partial) that I hadn't heard in concert before. 6 songs from this setlist had debuted during the Konvention tour. (There were other songs either played in full or in part that debuted during the Konvention tour at other shows.)

Paul's 1989 solo tour - 2 new songs, 1 cover, 3 from his solo lp, and several that I hadn't heard KISS play yet. (9 songs total that I hadn't heard yet.)


It was stupid of them to create MTV videos of some songs and they never played them live.

[MisterSinister]

I had tickets for several shows that I either had miss for one reason or another over the years.

Those would include Peter Criss’s 1994 club tour (my new wife asked me to skip it), Matthew Sweet’s 1995 tour (my new wife was pregnant and our seats were right in front of the FOH stacks, so I left cuz we’d already lost a baby), Adam Ant in Boston 1994 (he canceled after we got there), hmm… a few others I can’t remember now… and Stephen Pearcy last year (my wife wanted me to skip it).

I think seeing Our Lady Peace’s 2000 tour supporting “Spiritual Machines” would have been cool. Loved that record. Seeing Incubus anytime in the early 2000’s would have been great. Dave Matthews Band 1995 would have been cool… KISS 1992…. Seeing Foo Fighters open their last tour with Josh on drums would have been great.

[Tommy2Tone84]

Sorry you missed that one.

I saw the "Revenge" club tour in Boston. KISS in a club. Totally insane. One of the best things KISS ever did.

Set list and set length criticisms aside, I don’t think KISS had bad tours in the 80s. I would loved to have seen Unmasked, Creatures, LIU, Animalize and Asylum. Revenge club tour would have been wicked too. Unmasked, HITS and Revenge had the best set lists and running time.

Had Paul put more of an effort into the set lists by including change ups to the classic 70s material instead of relying on the same old, giving some nods to S4/A2, P&G’s 78 Solo albums, The Elder and Killers albums, Eric Carr singing Beth though I know he hated the idea he did a solid job on it, along with averaging between 5-7 new songs off current 80s albums they were promoting, that would have been hard for fans of any era to consistently stay home and not check out atleast once.

The fanbase would have been abuzz had they consistently pulled out songs in the 80s that they hardly or never played before.
It more than likely would have pushed catalog sales too.

Non-makeup shows that I attended:

"Lick It Up"

"Animalize"

"Asylum"

"Crazy Nights"

"Hot In The Shade" (3 shows)

"Revenge" (club tour and arena tour)

KISS Konvention

I also saw Paul Stanley's 1989 solo tour.

It was great that they started to play for 2 hours starting with the "Hot In The Shade" tour. Good mix of makeup and non-makeup songs. On the "HITS" tour there were more non-makeup songs played, a few which hadn't been played in years. Prior to "HITS", those 90 minute sets with drum, guitars, and bass solos were really lacking.

I missed out on seeing the "Creatures Of The Night" tour, because my local show got cancelled due to low ticket sales.




"Lick It Up" - I heard 5 new songs. They played "Exciter" on parts of the tour, but that was dropped at my show and we got "Gimme More". I'd rather have heard "Exciter". (6 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Animalize" - I heard 2 new songs. They dropped 3 new songs before my show and they played "Thrills In The Night" after my show. (6 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Asylum" - I heard 2 new songs. They dropped 2 new songs before my show. (4 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Crazy Nights" - I heard 4 new songs. They dropped 2 new songs before my show. (6 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Hot In The Shade" - I heard 3 new songs. They dropped 2 new songs before my show. (5 total new songs played during the tour.)

"Revenge" - At the club show I heard 3 new songs. At the arena show I heard those 3 new songs plus 2 additional new ones. (3 total new songs played during the club tour and 5 total new songs played during the arena tour.)

KISS Konvention - At this show they played 16 songs (full or partial) that I hadn't heard in concert before. 6 songs from this setlist had debuted during the Konvention tour. (There were other songs either played in full or in part that debuted during the Konvention tour at other shows.)

Paul's 1989 solo tour - 2 new songs, 1 cover, 3 from his solo lp, and several that I hadn't heard KISS play yet. (9 songs total that I hadn't heard yet.)


It was stupid of them to create MTV videos of some songs and they never played them live.

I never understood why they not only dropped Exciter but never opened with it. AHBL was barely played as well
I don’t think they ever played A Million To One either. Same with NFTI, 8th Day,

I was never excited about the Animalize setlist. I’ve Had Enough was rarely played and when it was, it wasn’t played as an opening number. Maybe Paul’s voice couldn’t handle it. A number of good songs off the album.

King of the Mountain was the same way. They did play it a couple times then dropped it. It was never a set opener and it should’ve been. They never played Who Wants To Be Lonely which was as dumb of a choice as the storyboard for the video. I find Asylum a better album than Animalize. A solid two hour show with King, WWTBL, Deadly Weapon, Trial, Tears. Paul phoned in the set lists during this time period

I remember they played Bang Bang You but never did play Turn On The Night. I remember being severely irritated by that. I was glad I went but thought the setlist was too short and a real missed opportunity

Paul had a better set list on his solo tour then he did for the band’s tours

HITS was a kick in the ass. A very memorable night and my all time favorite KISS concert. My only complaints were no Little Caesar, Heaven and Hell, Betrayed and LMTHY.

Revenge and HITS arguably had the best lists in the band’s history. I’d rate the Unmasked tour a close 3rd place.

My friend attended the Konvention. I wish I had gone with him.

[Tommy2Tone84]

Had Paul put more of an effort into the set lists by including change ups to the classic 70s material instead of relying on the same old, giving some nods to S4/A2, P&G’s 78 Solo albums, The Elder and Killers albums, Eric Carr singing Beth though I know he hated the idea he did a solid job on it, along with averaging between 5-7 new songs off current 80s albums they were promoting, that would have been hard for fans of any era to consistently stay home and not check out atleast once.

The fanbase would have been abuzz had they consistently pulled out songs in the 80s that they hardly or never played before.
It more than likely would have pushed catalog sales too.

At that time they more or less ran away from their 70s era. They played a few mandatory classics but focused on the new album and COTN which had 3-4 songs in the set for all 80s tours. Maybe they found the makeup / kiddie merch embarrassing, or they wanted to appear more current - Scorps, Heart and Priest also downplayed their 70s material in their 80s setlist.

Only the success of Smashes Thrashes & Hits which outsold anything they did after Dynasty made them realize that also new fans were aware of and liked the 70s songs and there was a demand for their classic era. Around the same time they started including more 70s material in the setlist, even IWMFLY was brought back and for the next album they put makeup and costumes on for one video.

I did understand why they showed Creatures some regular love during the decade. It’s a good album. In hind sight and based on comments Paul has made more recently, I think it irked him that the album didn’t sell better at the time and the tour was abysmal. While he pushed for the makeup to come off, I think the renewed interest with Lick It Up convinced him we only listened with our eyes. Which wasn’t true. In some fans’s case, that is pathetically true. In many cases it’s not.

I don’t think that is fair. They released Exposed in 1987 a full year or year and a half before ST&H. That had a ton of mind blowing videos that I hadn’t even seen. Winterland 1975, Detroit 1976, Australia 1980, Rio 1983, Who Wants To Be Lonely, Houston 1977.

I can understand them wanting to promote the current release and era. The thing is, they didn’t put a big, concerted effort into it. Paul mainly relied on LIU, HOF and TAF. Which is fine but throw us a bone with each album. He tended to lean on Under The Gun for a non single while Gene leaned on Fits Like A Glove during those later 80s tours. There was no A Million To One, King of the Mountain, Turn On The Night, All Hell’s Breaking Loose, I’ve Had Enough, Trial By Fire, Sword and Stone

I completely understand them playing the staples like DRC, Rock N Roll All Night, Cold Gin, Deuce, Love Gun, Black Diamond and even Strutter at times. Some of those they almost had to play. I never understood the love and attention that Firehouse got in the set list for all those years. Same with Dr Love. I got bored. As much as I love DRC, I didn’t think it was necessary to play every tour especially when they had songs like Creatures, Exciter, I’ve Had Enough and King.

Cold Gin is a staple and fan favorite. It was good to hear IWMFLY back in the set on Crazy Nights. I remember watching Unplugged live on MTV and getting goose bumps hearing those songs. It was like “Oh, they do get it.”

Scorpions didn’t break through the U.S. market until Lovedrive. Apples to oranges

Priest had a good mix and impressive setlist on Turbo.

I’m not that familiar with Heart.

[DemonFilth2001]

Had Paul put more of an effort into the set lists by including change ups to the classic 70s material instead of relying on the same old, giving some nods to S4/A2, P&G’s 78 Solo albums, The Elder and Killers albums, Eric Carr singing Beth though I know he hated the idea he did a solid job on it, along with averaging between 5-7 new songs off current 80s albums they were promoting, that would have been hard for fans of any era to consistently stay home and not check out atleast once.

The fanbase would have been abuzz had they consistently pulled out songs in the 80s that they hardly or never played before.
It more than likely would have pushed catalog sales too.

At that time they more or less ran away from their 70s era. They played a few mandatory classics but focused on the new album and COTN which had 3-4 songs in the set for all 80s tours. Maybe they found the makeup / kiddie merch embarrassing, or they wanted to appear more current - Scorps, Heart and Priest also downplayed their 70s material in their 80s setlist.

Only the success of Smashes Thrashes & Hits which outsold anything they did after Dynasty made them realize that also new fans were aware of and liked the 70s songs and there was a demand for their classic era. Around the same time they started including more 70s material in the setlist, even IWMFLY was brought back and for the next album they put makeup and costumes on for one video.

Scorpions had ZERO airplay/sales of their 70’s stuff. And it sounded like a different band and different genre. No reason to force that on their crowd. Heart didn’t make sense. They sold tons in the 70’s. Priest didn’t really have big success until British Steel. So they focused on that and the newer shit. Makes sense. Still, they didn’t ignore that era.

[LillianRoxyFA]

Lynch Mob/Steelheart
Mr. Big/Tall Stories
BABYLON AD/Wildside/Roxy Blue
Lillian Axe 1994
Love/Hate club shows
The Darkness/The Wildhearts

[veritas]

Ozzy with Randy on NYE.....
Queen with Billy Squier opening (hot space tour) - but who knew it was the last time they would play the States?
Def Leppard - Pyromanic Tour
Stones - Tattoo You tour
Journey - Escape Tour
Van Halen - women and children first tour

[alleyrulez]

Pantera - "The Great Southern Trendkill" tour

bought tickets for myself and someone I was seeing at the time. a few weeks before the show I started seeing another girl on the side, who was also going to the show.

I ended up staying home.

[richard cranium]

I might've posted this before but I missed seeing Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughan because my girlfriend at the time wanted to go see Danger Danger at a small club the same night. So we saw Danger Danger and then Stevie died and I never got to see him or Jeff Beck. We broke up three weeks after that. Good times...

[DemonFilth2001]

Lynch Mob/Steelheart
Mr. Big/Tall Stories
BABYLON AD/Wildside/Roxy Blue
Lillian Axe 1994
Love/Hate club shows
The Darkness/The Wildhearts

Saw The Darkness/The Wildhearts tour. Knew nothing by The Wildhearts. Only the hit by The Darkness. Both bands absolutely killed!

[pieceofme]

I might've posted this before but I missed seeing Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughan because my girlfriend at the time wanted to go see Danger Danger at a small club the same night. So we saw Danger Danger and then Stevie died and I never got to see him or Jeff Beck. We broke up three weeks after that. Good times...

Brutal.

[Metal Sludge]

Tom Petty.
That was just stupid.
We didn't go because it was Tuesday, had to work early, same ol' lame excuse... and Thursday morning, he was gone!
I won't be making that mistake again. When the old guys play, I'm there!
Case in point, I have seen The Rolling Stones 6 times, and I will see show number 7 in July at SoFi Stadium (it sucks for concerts!)

I've seen a lot of regrets in this thread and I get it. But a lot of your regrets, I have seen!
Queen with Freddie...News of The World tour
Pink Floyd...Momentary Lapse of Reason ( I didn't get to see The Wall tour, that would have been spectacular!)
George Carlin... This was later in life, around 2002? He was as awesome as ever.
Soundgarden... I wasn't a huge fan in the early 90's, but the show was great and all my friends were there. It was in a weird place at the Del Mar fairgrounds in North San Diego County. It wasn't a show at the fair, the fair was not going on then.
It was in a barn like thing.

Also, Ozzy with Randy. I saw that.