In Melbourne, we’re blessed with frequent visits from international music icons. But, it’s not always good tunes and good vibes.
Sometimes we’re unlucky enough to see our favourite artist’s concerts unravel before our eyes. In honour of all our city’s great performances, we’ve outlined the worst Melbourne gigs of all time from the best in music.
Keep up with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
Meat Loaf’s 2011 Grand Final show
Let’s start strong – err, bad? – with Meat Loaf’s infamous 2011 Grand Final show at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The AFL is reported to have paid $600,000 for a 12-minute performance dubbed the “worst pre-match show in history” due to poor vocals and breathing issues.
In 2015, Meat Loaf, known also as Michael Lee Aday, issued an apology to the Australian people, saying that he had a haemorrhaging vocal cord at the time. Following the singer’s 2022 death, former AFL coach turned commentator Robert Walls claimed that he told Meat Loaf, via his manager, “to harden up and get out there” when he refused to come on stage due to a fear of lightning.
Rest in peace Meat Loaf, we promise this isn’t what you’ve gone down in history for. Even legends have their off days.
Usher, T-Pain and Salt n’ Pepa
On the spectrum of bad gigs, there are subpar performances and then there is all-out audience hell. Take the 2018 RnB Fridays at Marvel Stadium, for example. Featured acts Usher, T-Pain and Salt n’ Pepa at the annual concert series were spoiled by muffled and distorted sound.
Oversold tickets sent punters fleeing due to safety concerns manifesting in fights, hours-long queues and the risk of crowd crush. Labelling it the “worst concert experience ever” and a “waste of money,” thousands banded together to create the Facebook page titled “RnB live Melbourne robbed us…refund our money now”.
Sydneysiders heard their complaints and scrambled to sell their tickets for dirt cheap to avoid suffering the same fate at their upcoming RnB Fridays date.
Guns N’ Roses
If that sounds rough, let’s rewind thirty-one years to a Guns N’ Roses concert that warranted a 100-page Victorian Ombudsman assessment.
Even though Guns N’ Roses delayed their performance by an hour, the failure of the 1993 concert at Calder Park was due to 40-degree weather, vicious rain and wind rather than the band itself. Emergency services treated fans for heat exhaustion and dehydration as vendors sold water for $7 a bottle – extortionate now and even more so in the 90s.
Without shelter and public transport, hordes walked along freeways to safety. Most chaotic concert in Melbourne history? Considering it prompted a government investigation, perhaps so. We suspect Guns N’ Roses still have trauma since they said “Hello Sydney” in 2017 at their first Melbourne appearance since the 1993 nightmare show.
We’re not alone
Let’s make one thing clear: Melbourne isn’t the stop-off for trainwreck performances. This year in Sydney, one reviewer called The Elvis Costello And The Imposters show at the Opera House “the worst I’ve seen in 42 years” with another critic suggesting Costello’s voice was so rough that his band were intentionally drowning it out.
In Perth at Soundwave one year, an inebriated Marilyn Manson is said to have argued with his stage assistants, poured white powder over his bass player’s head and laid on the stage most of the time, with one Redditor claiming, “I’ve never heard so many people boo someone off stage.”
Also in Perth a few years later, nineties R&B legend Lauryn Hill didn’t arrive on stage until 10 pm with sound issues that made her barely audible and fans exiting en masse (but they didn’t turn their backs forever – word on the street is that her 2023 Australian tour was banging).
Back in Melbourne, we have the most live-music stages per resident than any other Australian city, so maybe we are statistically prone to more bummer concerts. However, massive flops are outliers and, overall, Melbourne has a first-class music scene.
Check out Melbourne’s best and worst date spots here.
