People Are Revealing The 25 Best And Worst Live Concerts They've Been To
People Are Revealing The 25 Best And Worst Live Concerts They've Been To
Adriana ChavezSun, August 30, 2026 at 3:31 PM UTC
0
With the exorbitant cost of concerts, you better hope the performer puts their money where their mouth is (literally). Thankfully, Redditors can shed a bit of light into this, with users sharing the best or worst performers they've seen live, as well as the most charismatic. The BuzzFeed Community also piped in with their own thoughts. So, from transcendent, life-changing experiences to concerts so bad people walked out early, here's what people had to say:
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
Advertisement
1. "Taylor Swift’s stage presence is honestly mindblowing. I went to the Reputation Tour on its first night in Arizona, and was seated a pretty decent distance away, but was still utterly captivated by her the entire time. It was genuinely something else to be in the middle of a stadium of over 60,000 fans with every one of them completely enraptured with her every move. She was just amazing, and I totally get why she’s such a touring force after having seen it."
Kevin Winter/TAS24 / Getty Images2. "I saw Little Mix in New Zealand in 2017, and it was the last show of almost 40 non-stop shows around Europe/Oceania, and we were in an arena that was probably on the smaller end of what they'd be performing in (and probably not as packed either). Despite these factors, they still gave their ALL, and it was one of the best live shows I've seen. The vocals were off the charts, the choreography perfectly in sync. My only complaint is that it was weirdly short and I would've happily watched them for three times the amount of time."
Chris J. Ratcliffe/PA / Viatheguardian.com3. "Tim McGraw. Outdoor venue, lawn seats, early morning. He sang slow songs for 45 minutes while sitting under a single light bulb. I fell asleep. Got woken up by my husband becase a staffer had to check to make sure I wasn't passed out drunk. Nope, just sleepy. We left soon after. The concert was half over, and it still took us an hour to get out of the parking lot."
Larry McCormack / Getty Images4. "BlackPink. No other girl group around at the moment has their charisma and stage presence, in my opinion. I initially dismissed them as just another K-Pop girl group, but after watching their live performances of 'Playing with Fire' and 'As If It's Your Last', I became a fan."
ANTHONY WALLACE / Getty Images5. "Olivia O'Brien. I saw her open for Benson Boone, and the contrast was wild. He was an amazing performer who knew how to talk to the crowd and get everyone hyped. She could not take up the space needed to fill the Barclays Center. Her songs were poorly written, and the background music was not creative. When she sang, it was as if she were trying to sound punk or be like a rapper because of her hand motions. She could barely play the instruments she was playing. When she pointed her mic at the audience, no one sang because we did not know her songs, so there was just an awkward silence."
Mark Von Holden / Variety via Getty Images6. "Miley Cyrus is one of THE BEST performers. She has so much confidence and always serves visuals."
Christopher Polk / Billboard via Getty Images7. "Paramore. I've seen them twice, and they've never disappointed. Hayley Williams is an amazing, energetic performer."
Erika Goldring / Getty Images8. "The Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox 20 are always a great show!!! I saw them both from their first albums in the '90s to their most recent tours and shows, and they've always been stellar, with 100% energy."
Tim Mosenfelder / WireImage9. "I saw Weezer around 2018 when they were touring with Pixies. I bought the tickets because I wanted to see Pixies live, didn’t even realize they were opening for Weezer. I thought Pixies were the headliners. Weezer was very energetic between the background/stage changes, outfit changes, and pyrotechnics — at one point, the lead singer rode all through the audience on a little Razor scooter. When I left to go to the concert, I was neutral about Weezer, not a fan, but not a hater either. By the end of the night, I was a Weezer fan, lol."
Michael Buckner / Getty Images10. "My wife won free tickets to see Nelly in concert years ago and despite the price, it STILL wasn’t worth going. He would sing one or two words, or his overstuffed posse would, then hold the mic out for the audience to sing the rest. Every. Single. Song. They legit seemed to think they were putting on a great show, but it was just bad."
Jeremychanphotography / Getty Images11. "Katy Perry. One of the worst live performances I’ve ever seen. The show was basically a hodgepodge of every idea running through her head rolled into one horrible performance."
Borja B. Hojas / Getty Images12. "Cake. I was so excited to see them and it was an outdoor venue — so horrible. They spent 30 minutes giving away a tree but the person winning it had to guess what type of tree it was. They have a huge library and could play for hours without going into the mainstream hits, but they had to give away that damn tree. "
Joshua Applegate / Getty Images13. "Charli XCX has a great stage presence. A lot of times it's just her on stage, no real choreography or anything, and yet the audience is captivated! Watch her Pitchfork performance if you haven't. It's a great example."
Terry Wyatt / Getty Images14. "Van Morrison was such a disappointment. There was no interaction with the audience. His back was turned a lot and he mostly played his latest album. Sure, play a new track or two, but 95% are coming for the amazing classics. "
Didier Messens / Redferns15. "AURORA. I went to see her twice, and she's amazing. The dance, the feelings, the freedom she emanates...it's hypnotizing and addicting."
Mariano Regidor / Getty Images16. "Green Day are incredible live — so tight musically. Also, My Chemical Romance. Epic show, and amazing vibes. To hear 85,000 people singing emo anthem 'Welcome To The Black Parade' is one of those life-changing moments y'know?"
Gilbert Flores / Variety via Getty Images17. "Avoid Ice Spice. It's my least favorite concert I've been to. She barely had any stage presence. Two of my favorite performers right now would be Chappell Roan and Janelle Monáe."
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images18. "I’ve seen Oasis four times from a small club/bar to theaters to arenas. They’re not that great live. They're often pitchy and not very entertaining to watch as they just stand there. The magic is in the crowd. The best of the shows I saw was more about the crowd singing along than the band onstage."
Chris Putnam / Getty Images19. "I saw The Crane Wives live and they were amazing if not better than their studio versions. Plus, they had a great opener and this really cool play scene thing at the beginning of their set."
@thecranewives / @mcgaugheydesignco / ViaInstagram: @https://www.instagram.com/mcgaugheydesignco/p/DcG99AFlqha/?hl=en20. "I feel like this is subjective, for the most part. However, just to throw my two cents in — avoid Nicki Minaj. Regardless of what genres you like. She was very late, left us in the dark for long periods of time, and lip-sync'd like half the show."
Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images21. "Ed Sheeran is super talented — it’s him, a guitar, and a loop pedal. Amazing. Simple Plan puts on such a fun show after 25 years as a band. Anberlin with Christian — 10/10. State Champs are incredible. All Time Low is so talented. Sleeping With Sirens are so underrated. Pierce the Veil is phenomenal."
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images22. "LIZZO. When I saw her live, she ATE up the stage and had the audience in the palm of her hand. I have never seen someone that in control of a crowd before. She also drank an entire bottle of tequila, lol."
Paras Griffin / Getty Images23. "Counting Crows. One of my favorite bands, but I spent the night questioning if I was drunk or if they were really terrible. The memory and the videos confirm, they were terrible — it’s like he was talking his lyrics. Granted, it was a small festival, and they were probably not very into it, but damn, we still bought tickets expecting a good show."
Scott Dudelson / Getty Images for Stagecoach24. "Weird Al is a gift that keeps on giving. I've seen him three times now, and it's fantastic show every time. He's very good at creating a show that is distinct from the ones before, even without a new album."
Erika Goldring / Getty Images25. "Florence + The Machine. I saw her on her High as Hope Tour, and she was just as grandiose as her previous concerts, despite High as Hope being a ballad-driven album."
Joseph Okpako / WireImageWhat's the best (or worst) artist you've seen perform live, and why? Share in the comments or the anonymous form below.
Your daily brain workout: You Have To Be Smarter Than The Average Person To Solve This 25-Word Chain
Read it on BuzzFeed.com
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
