I saw Angel play at the Arcadia Theater in Dallas, Tx. We get there a bit after they start, show is General Admission. The center section is packed, but either side of center, up close, is wide open. We get the 2nd row, great close view, but the volume and the bass literally shook us. The bass could have started Afib in heart patients. We lasted less than 5 minutes.
Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine, or the O Sees. Probably O Sees due to my head almost being inside the kick drum when they played on a deck.
Black Sabbath at Friars club Aylesbury in 1969. Freddie King was booked and cancelled so Black Sabbath replaced him at short notice. It was a tiny 250 capacity venue. Sabbath were so loud the volume gave my friend a nose bleed. It was the last show held there, the volume it seems was even too much for the local residents
Motorhead at Pop's in Sauget, Illinois. In door event and I had to move to the side of the world's largest dive bar to get away from the sound. It was way too much for me. I wasn't a big fan anyways.
Went to see Mogwai at the Astoria when they were pretty much starting out, I think it was part of an NME space gig. The noise was so great that it became a physical presence, I literally felt like it was pinning me to the wall. It was visceral and overwhelming. Am incredible feeling and such relief when it was done. An astounding gig
Genesis - Edinburgh Ingliston 1982, front row seats. F*** me! And any Motorhead gig you care to mention. Especially those in the post 2000s at Glasgow Barrowland and ESPECIALLY those where they had Anthrax in support!!
October 30, 2001 Boston, MA Orpheum Theater The Black Crowes My ears were ringing for 3 days after that show. I blame this guy: To be fair I did see them the next night which didn't help but for some reason I really remember that 1st night being STUPID loud.
AC/DC Metlife (Meadowlands) Stadium 2016 Saw this show on the field maybe 20 yards from the stage. Forgot ear plugs and suffered the results for the next 5 days. Absolutely insanely loud but so much fun to experience!
My former guitar tech (Bill Richardson, since retired) was good friends with the late Alan Rogan who was Pete's tech. He once shared with me a great story... Bill is a bassist, and Alan invited Bill to sound check during a Who show, and when Ox was about ready to sound check his rig, Alan discretely maneuvered Bill into a spot where he would get the full affect. Something about a brown note, I think? It was said that Ox was pretty deaf, and that he went for maximum possible stage volume. You did not want to be standing in the wrong spot at the right time, or you would be looking to change your drawers.
Entwistle's hearing loss was so profound, that in his later years. He would press the headstock of his bass against the amp cabinet, in order to hear via the vibrations.
Unquestionably it was Pat Travers in a small music hall in Fla in the 70’s. Fourth row, center and my ears rang for about 4 days! The next year his live “Go for What You Know” album dropped and though it was recorded at a few different venues, my show was represented with “Boom, Boom, out go the Lights”, some say the best track on the disc. I’ve been to many loud shows, but there’s always one that’s the pinnacle, and this was it!
Oingo Boingo about 4 years ago. So loud you couldn't find anyplace in the room where it wasn't. I walked out after about 15 minutes.
Roger Waters - Earls Court London - 12 May 2007 I had seats right at the back facing the stage.... And the sound was deafening, it was so clear though..... Nick Mason played with Waters that night on set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun. brilliant night.
Dinosaur Jr at the Metro, Chicago, IL. My gosh it was extremely loud that I couldn’t even hear Jmascis sing. Great time though.
In the recently penned Steve Gorman book Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of The Black Crowes—A Memoir (2019 Hachette Book Group; New York, NY) Gorman claims that Rich Robinson routinely played at full volume on the stage. So much so their sound engineer wouldn't mic his amps, and would then spend the bulk of the show having the PA mix fight with Robinson's turned up to 11 rig. Looking at it, his equipment seems fairly robust.
Read the book (well, listened to it...in case you need the full effect of those words like I did, hearing Steve read them was glorious) and I'll say this: I didn't need Steve to tell me about the loudness problem OR the incessant fights that the FOH engineers would get into over the noise. It was insane. SO loud. CRAZY loud. I wasn't even at the stage. I was just under the overhang of the balcony. It was THAT LOUD. I should have been wearing earplugs, but man...I was 22 and INVINCIBLE! lol I also play guitar and guilty of a lot of the same bad habits, but NEVER Rich Robinson loud.
Yeah, I walked out on them a couple of years ago. I just don’t get it. Fortunately the band before them was that easy-listening soft rock band Nine Inch Nails, and I love them.
