1. At the Drive In, Wayne Firehouse, NJ, 2000. Nothing much to say, just totally cranked to 10. 2. U.S. Maple, Morgantown, WV, 2001. Unfortunate...the band asked the audience "how does it sound?" after the 2nd song. And some jerk who probably wasn't even listening said "turn it louder!" The band turned up their amps, after which the sound was piercing and the mix was ruined. 3. Sun 0))), First Unitarian Church, Phila PA, 2009? The amount of bass was insane. Could hear it for 2 city blocks.
Pretty much every Dramarama show I've ever attended. Probably more than a dozen over the years. Might account for my raging tinnitus.
Toss up, either Jeff Beck at Winterland, or Mahavishnu Orchestra also at Winterland. The three of us who attended that Jeff Beck show together got raging headaches, just the thing for the 275 mile return drive afterward. First Runner Up: Santana at the Santa Barbara County Bowl. The only Santana show of close to 20 I attended that really sucked. Front of House "mixing engineers" should be replaced without further ado, once it is obvious that he/she is functionaly deaf.
ZZtop at the Houston Summit circa early '80's...cured me of ever going to a live rock concert from then on.
I think I mentioned this on another thread but my top 2 anyway: Pantera, Hara Arena, Dayton, 2001 - Insane loud guitar, high notes piercing the living s#$% out of my ears. Just, way, way too much. Though, at least the sound had definition. Ringing ears for 2 days. Much worse however, Deftones, Chicago House Of Blues, 2006 - Straight up wall of distorted noise, grinding away at my ears. You can't hear anything, not the vocals, not the drums, not the guitars, everything is maxed out to hell and back. Total f'ing crunching noise. Went over and yelled at the sound guy and I wasnt the only one. He was totally oblivious and just ignored everyone around him. Most garbage show ever.
The Who. The upper reaches of the Capital Center in Landover Maryland. August 1976. Loudest show ever. Also The Hold Steady Underground Arts Philadelphia. Loud and distorted. Fall 2014.
Been at a few very loud gigs over the years but the one that springs to mind as being the loudest must be Motorhead on their 1916 tour in February 1991 in what was then called "Newport Centre" just up the road from me. I remember when the support band (The Almighty) came on, thinking "Ooof, this is pretty loud but it's ok". Then Motorhead came on and it was the loudest thing I'd ever heard. It was so loud that you could shout at the top of your voice to someone next to you and they still couldn't hear you. You could feel the drums as much as hear them and initially it felt like my heart was going to bust out of my ribcage! Hearing was screwed for a couple of days after that. I doubt you'd be allowed to get away with that these days, I'm sure it would contravene some sort of health & safety regulations.
The Ramones in 1980 They had more amplifiers and loudspeakers than I thought was possible to fit into one venue (basically the entire wall, floor to ceiling) it was so loud you could feel your internal organs moving around, was not a pleasant experience I have to say - not helped by the ultraviolence going on in the mosh pit (the end of the show descended into chaos and there were multiple arrests).
I have tinnitus so I wear earplugs at every concert I attend. I need to try to prevent further damage. They're good too because the improve the quality of the sound. Bands play so loud that it's distorted without earplugs!
I guess they've been mentioned a few times already but Motorhead at the Reading Festival in 1979 must have activated a seismic activity monitor somewhere.
Bush - Late 90s, Montreal Forum. Ear-bleeding. My concert going and reckless headphone use have left me with bad tinnitus
Pink Floyd A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour 1987 at the Capitol Centre in Landover Maryland. Amps and Speakers were huge. Almost hit the ceiling.
I think it would have been Slade at the Sheffield City Hall in ‘74. I still had dead-ear and ringing three days later.
The Pretenders at the then new venue of Arco Arena in Sacramento February 1987. It was the band with the Jamaicans onboard. Painfully loud to beyond the point of pain, louder than anything I attended before or after. My ears rang for days. It was an early version of the Havana Syndrome. Adding inslult to injury, got there late and missed Iggy Pop.
Helloween @ Coney Island High in NYC, '98. So loud, I jammed napkins in my ear. Guess what I forgot when getting pics with the band after the show?
Saw that tour at Madison Square Garden, it was ear-splitting. Didn't prevent a gentleman in my section who was passed out in his seat prior to the show, remaining in that condition as the house lights went up at show's end.
The Dictators and the Michael Stanley Band and AC/DC, the Palladium, NYC, August 1977. AC/DC's first New York City gig, and they were loud, Michael Stanley Band less so. But the Dictators were explosively, otherworldly loud. If the doors were open on 14th Street, they could have easily heard it in the Bronx. My friend and I took the PATH train back to Jersey after the show and looked at each other and realized we were both visibly shaking from the sonic assault.
UOTE="Partyslammer, post: 24800782, member: 47279"]Bruce Springsteen 9/30/1985 LA Coliseum. My friend and I had front row seats, but way off to the right side. So our heads were turned left to see center stage thus exposing our right ears directly in front of a huge wall of speakers designed to fill a huge out door stadium. By the mid show break, everyone in our row was in pain and security was passing out earplugs but the damage was done. My ears rang for almost a week after the show. The same thing happened when we saw Foreigner at the Long Beach Arena a few years prior in '82.[/QUOTE] For sure a whole lot has to do with where you are sitting. For me Springsteen on the earlier 84 leg at the old L A Sports Arena - on the floor a few feet in front of the soundboard. But the absolute loudest for me was Big Brother and the Holding Company at the Shrine Exposition Hall Los Angeles standing right in front of their speaker stack - 1968. Felt bullet proof at 19 and blissfully ignorant of the hearing damage that may have caused
