What Band turned it up to 11? Or even 12? How did your ears handle the carnage? Even though they aren’t considered a loud band by any means, it was Fleetwood Mac!! Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar happened to be turned up extra LOUD that night and my seat was in front of the PA, so my ears rang for several days
I didn't measure it, but Prince (Jam of the Year tour, billed as The Artist) was surprisingly loud. I've worn earplugs to 90+% of the shows I've attended, so it didn't make much difference to me, but I don't see how people can stand it.
Twisted Sister - '83 Wasn't there to see them, but rather the headliner, Blackfoot, who played at the perfect volume. But TS was totally OC. Making it particularly shocking was that this was at Red Rocks, an outdoor venue. Never knew anything could be so loud outdoors. Probably the next contestant would be a much more recent date with Machine Head in a fairly small club. The mosh pit was insane.
I saw Danzig in 94’ or 95’ in a club that held maybe 400 people and his amps were apparently dialed in for a stadium. So, so very loud, my ears rang for days after that show....hell of a performance though!
Funny you say that. They weren't my loudest, but they were pretty loud. McVie's bass was absolutely thundering and we were in our company box. Loudest for me was either Metallica as an opener for Ozzy (one of Cliff Burton's last shows), or Yngwie Malmsteen which left my ears ringing for days.
Ramones. I stood stage right, in front of the sound system, which was ear level. Even though the place was packed, I couldn’t drift back into the standing room only crowd, because the whirling and pogoing punkers would have been too distracting.
Metz at the Nottingham Rescue Rooms in 2018 METZ Setlist at Rescue Rooms, Nottingham about an hour on stage but that was there was more then enough, I could barely hear my friends talking to me on the way back to the car!
My Bloody Valentine, which is really by design. If I don’t count them, it’s Radiohead in 1997 or Mogwai in 2004
Honestly... Emerson, Lake & Powell... Hersheypark Arena September 1986. I could feel the sound buffeting me during those low keyboard notes at the end of Lucky Man. Never had that experience before or since.
This is going to seem insane, but the concert that made my ears ring for the most days after attending was a concert by America in the early 1980's.
My Bloody Valentine almost hit 140db when I saw them last. The sound waves were causing cups and empty beer cans to move around on the floor as if being blasted by wind.
It depends where you are sitting. When I saw Black Sabbath at the Fillmore East, I was in the third row close to the PA, and my ears rang for three days afterwards. I saw Johnny Winter at the B.B. King Club in NYC not long before it closed, and it was so loud, we had to get up and leave after two songs. I had also seen Leslie West at B.B. King's, and he was also ridiculously loud. I really should have brought ear plugs with me for that one. The loudest concert was Robert Cray at Steelstacks in Bethlehem, PA. The reason was I was at a cafe table directly in front of the stage. They had small but powerful speakers sitting on the edge of the stage facing outward into the audience, so my head was literally three feet from the speaker. I am convinced that my tinnitus is a direct result of that show.
Kansas - Rochester NY War Memorial June '78 (Les Dudek opened). I was 21 and liked my music loud but this was truly painful.
