of early 70's concerts - Mott, Family etc. - at Glasgow Apollo when part of the proof that it had been a great gig was the several days of white noise afterwards. Technology seemed to help over the years -apart from a recent Walter Trout gig at Holmfirth. Walter is much inspired by Jimi Hendrix but I think he is taking the 70's volume thing a bit too far. Still, he is a fine guitarist.

I camped over the night before I was twelve. It got very ultra violent when Alex and his droogs turned up outside Charlton football ground too kick it off with those that were sleeping outside the ground. It was a very long night in a local church that a kind vicar opened up for our safety. The gig was great I remember the laser show and keith moons drum solo. See me feel me was blinding too. It was along time ago...........

I recall Little Feat looked more than a tad incongruous with their cowboy hats and fake palm trees, but they were a great band, probably at their peak around that time.
We made our way towards the front for SAHB, another excellent band of musicians and one of the all time great frontmen. I always found Zal Cleminson absolutely spell-binding.
And in spite of the rain, the Who delivered. Even if Townshend can't remember it, I'll never forget it.

Two loudest gigs..

Sex Pistols - Hammersmith 2008. So chest-crushingly high-amped that a bootleg DVD found on ebay comes with a disclaimer about cut-outs due to volume.

New York Dolls - The Forum 2009. Ear-shredding vol, from standing in direct firing line of the guitarists speakers.

I saw a Who trib' last year (I won't name them), that apparently rotate singers (!?) - we got them when a Terry Scott-alike was out front. 'Townshend' seemed permanently terrified, and 'The Ox' looked like a carpet fitter. Not convinced and bailed before the Tommy album run through

My Bloody Valentine at the Roundhouse the other year went beyond loud. It was like how I imagine standing next to a 747 at the point of take-off would be. It ended up with around 10 minutes of juddering, brain-shredding, billowing waves of noise that made us physically ill. It was like drowning in a sea of noise. And I was wearing earplugs.

Oh on another note, I am listening to Radio 4 on the internet and Mr Hepworth has just popped up to talk Abbey Road closure. Hello there, sir!

Sonic terrorism - I had to close my eyes because the impact of the snare was making my eyes close involuntarily. They were tremendously loud, even the quiet bits were loud, and the loud bits were ... ... ... very loud.

My head is now ringing softly at the memory of it. A great gig, nonetheless.