Supporting The Stooges this year. At times I thought I was part of an experiment into a new sonic weapon.

In Sheffield. Ear-splittingly loud and not helped by the Victorian acoustics which caused all manner of unwanted feedback. The lead singer had a carpet from which to prance and vocalise. I enyied him as I would have gladly wrapped it around my head. My mate reckoned that Motorhead were louder - but he was already part deaf, mostly because of seeing Motorhead.

I wonder how those guys who used to put their heads in the bass bins are faring these days?

It was Motorhead for me - the Iron Fist tour at the Edinburgh Playhouse was the loudest gig I attended. I had ear-buzz for days.
Mind you, The Who at the same venue in 1981 cranked it up a bit too!

my bloody valentine on the Rollercoaster tour. The last 10 minutes was a deliberate ear damaging blast of white noise.

Mind you Motorhead could be louder. I worked 3 or 4 or their gigs, and spent the time safely 20 feet underground - and they were still loud. When I briefly ventured in the hall the bass was like being punched in the gut. Eveeryone seemed to be having a good time.

The Who in 81 were quiet in comparison

My ears were never the same since ...

More latterly, Lou Reed and Oasis (who were really crap live).

At the Astoria in 1994 - last ever gig with Richey. I've read since they'd been having problems with the sound (hence the almighty instrument smash up at the end), and it was my first proper gig, so my 17-year-old ears might've been a bit sensitive, but still, I remember being sat in the bath the morning after panicking that I'd never hear properly again.

Thing is, every time I've seen them since, they've not been anything like as loud.

Liverpool Uni in the early seventies,so loud it was painful but I put the partial deafness in my left ear down to Zeppelin at The Stadium,Liverpool.Couldn't hear much at all for three days after that gig.Bloody fantastic night though.

Six years ago. Painful.

Mogwai were so loud it was disorientating, psychedelic. I can't place exactly when it was - 96, maybe.

I was at the Stooges/Suicide above, and that was a candidate. I also saw Alice Cooper/Motorhead/Joan Jett at the SECC a couple of years ago and I found a quieter spot to stand in while Motorhead were playing.

The Clash at the Glasgow Apollo in 81 also left me with some ringing the next day.

But Mogwai win.

I briefly promoted a music night there and decided to book Oxford trio Naught to play. The guitarist was rather fond of using an electric drill as a plectrum, which made a noise that could never rightly be called "pleasant". As the gig progressed the extreme volume and unorthodox nature of the music resulted in many people leaving. I thought it was bloody excellent.

at the Glasgow Apollo supporting The Stranglers. It must have had an effect on the audience as they set the front circle on fire.

It was Gillan on their Mr Universe tour (back in 1979?) for me. The teenage Legg ears. I don't think they were overly loud in The Stooges sense of things but Preston Guildhall was/is a fairly small venue and the necessary adjustments hadn't been made.

...at Sussex University, the Who anywhere, and the Pirates in various pubs and basements.

at the Albert Hall in the early 70's, before the AH was geared up for rock music so the sound was awful and echoed around the place hitting you at least 2 or 3 times.
I seem to remember that after every gig I attended in the early to mid 70's left me with hissing in my ears when I came out. Don;t seem to get that now, or am I just going a bit mutt? (I said, AM I JUST GOING oh, forget it).

Lille, a small R n' B club, late 80s or early '90s. The band appeared to be in a filthy mood (the place was a bit of a dump and it was a chilly night) and the amps were turned up to distortion point. My ears were ringing for 3 or 4 days. A colleague I'd gone with admitted the next day he simply couldn't hear well enough to function properly at work and shut himself in his office all day. Mind you, he's French so it was pretty normal..!

mogwai suporting manics caird hall dundee ?95/6- blew me to the back of the room. motorhead in aberdeen last week-took my ear plugs out for overkill-well titled. slayer?86 reign in blood-my lugs did

Kentish Town Forum. Went to the back of the circle and with fingers in ears was only just bearable. People were walking out shaking their heads. Mentioned before and witnessed by Fraser too.

Hanley Victoria Hall 1977 - at least it didn't last for long.

More recently I saw Ocean Colour Scene in Wolverhampton and it was just a distorted painful mess. Strange as the only reason we went was because we'd seen them supporting Oasis where they were excellent (and nowhere near as loud).

The loudest gig I ever experienced was Ladytron at the ICA. I oculd feel my internal organs bouncing up and down.

... at Wolves Civic about 5 years ago.

A warm-up gig for the festival season. I think they were using their festival PA, and the Civic is not the largest of venues...

The pounding bass made me feel like I had been beaten up for two hours.

Pendulum were close last summer at the Academy, Brum.

on the Stiff Upper Lip tour.

The actual sound was fine, just ear splittingly loud. Took a good three weeks for the ringing in the ears to dissipate. Included a worried visit to the GP!

Fuck Buttons make a proper racket. I saw them at Heaven nightclub last year and couldn't hear for a good 3 days afterwards.

Richard Hell & the Voidoids at Hemel Hempstead Pavilion (1979 or 80)
The Au Pairs and the Gang of Four at the Rainbow (1980-ish)

I can sort of see why Motörhead, AC/DC etc. would want to play super-loud, but I saw Elvis Costello at Cirkus in Stockholm on the "When I was Cruel" tour in about 2003, and he was absolutely DEAFENING. Why??

The Rainbow, possibly beaten by George Thorogood and the Destroyers doing 'Rock goes to college'.

Bridlington Spa in 1997. Also, oddly, the most violent gig I've ever been to. A crush at the front that, even as a reasonably burly six-foot nineteen-year-old, I just couldn't handle. I remember in particular being squeezed so hard during "My Iron Lung" that I felt like my head was going to pop off like the cap on a tube of toothpaste and eject my entrails lavishly through my neck, all over my fellow concertgoers.

As it was, the only damage suffered was a case of seriously ringing ears for about a week afterwards. I've never before or since experienced such genuine interference with my hearing function. Bloody horrible.

Great, great gig though.

could be blamed for the 3-day long stretch of ringing in my ears after a Shed Seven gig circa 97. Combined with the moshing, my general recollections of the gig involve only pain.

*retires to the Lumbago thread*

Super Furry Animals at Glastonbury... no idea which year it was but their token encore of The Man Don't Give A Fuck and the noise-feedback-loop they wandered off stage to was like a hailstorm on the eardrums (in a good way).

It was the same year the finale was complimented by the surreal sideshow of some guy trying to drive his car through the centre of the crowd, getting stuck right next to us, I think in front of the sound desk, and having his roof crushed by the dozen or so teenagers who climbed up there, bouncing euphorically up and down on it until the enraged driver got up there himself and fought everyone off, all to the repeated mantra "no he don't give a fuck anout anybody else" sounding around us for minutes on end. Best Glasto moment ever, IMHO.

In terms of size of venue and disproportionate levels to which sound was cranked up, I'd have to nominate Eddie Floyd at the 100 Club, about twenty years ago. As many of you will know, it was a tiny venue. Whoever did the sound that night must have already been most of the way towards deafness, as the volume was absurdly loud. I'd been left fuzzy-eared after gigs from Frank Zappa and Robert Plant, but this was worse. At one point I felt as if the sound waves had actually penetrated my eardrums and gone directly into my brain. The following morning I was still fuzzy-eared, which was extremely scary. The thought of going deaf was and remains one of my biggest nightmares.

This time at the Roundhouse in 2008. I actually have tinnitus from that show. I was listening to a bootleg from the same tour and the 'holocaust' bit of You Made Me Realise still hurt my ears at very low volume

When I saw it live it was so loud, it vibrated my trousers and beer, which went flat

I wish I hadn't been too macho to wear ear plugs

in Düsseldorf, 1991-ish. They were late, very late, so the punters were pissed off but a good gig nevertheless. The sound was so slammimg and pumping for sheer volume though, my ears continued ringing for the rest of the weekend. Scary.

An obscure bar band playing covers in the upstairs room of a pub about 15 years ago. Most punters decided it would be easier just to listen to the band from downstairs.

a few years back. Cathy Davey supported and was brilliant (& quiet in comparision!) I was stood leaning on the stage and have suffered from tinnitus after every gig I've been to since.
I know some people who moved to the back of the room as it was that loud & eventually left because of it! I also seem to recall the drummer went through a few cymbals that night he was battering them about so much!!

Great gig though and I would go again if I had chance.....despite the long term damage!

...Todd Rundgren at The Manchester Academy a couple of years back. We were right at the back of the hall and I still couln't get the buzzing out of my ears for about 2 days, and this is from someone who was just a few feet away from a PA stack at a Motorhead gig.

If he hadn't finished with Just One Victory, I'd have sued, especially as he made me listen to the "Arena" album all the way through.

at the (then) Kentish Town Forum, in 2000. It was the XTRMNTR tour, and the band had swelled to 10 people, including a horn section and - perhaps more significantly - Kevin Shields, who spent the entire gig coaxing squeals, wails and howls from his guitar without, as far as I could tell, ever playing any actual notes all evening.

It could be that being up in the balcony the sound was getting trapped and reverberating in an unnatural manner, but most songs just started out as monolithic slabs of noise, as I would try to triangulate what it was from how fast it was, who started it, and - perhaps least helpful of all - the sounds emanating from Bobby Gillespie's microphone.

Liverpool University 1971. They were touring the 'Who's Next' album. There were no seats as such, we all sat on the floor and me and my mates were right at the front. Just before they came on the roadies came round offering cotton wool to put in our ears. We scoffed at such a wimpy thing to do, but the guy was serious....and we were sitting a foot or two from the speakers. I'm so glad we did. The single bass note from John Entwistle at the start of 'Pinball Wizard' hit us in the stomachs like a hard kick and we keeled over backwards....as did the next few rows like a pile of dominoes. A great show though, even though the pre-recorded synths for some of the songs came in at the wrong time.

Well, not by Taylor Swift herself, but by her screaming fans who are - hands down - the loudest thing I've ever heard in an arena. I was there in my capacity as a photographer, but the combination of young master Bieber in support and Ms Swift drove the kids over the edge. There was a moment mid-show where she just had to stop and let them scream for about 5 minutes. It was deranged.

Pendulum were pretty bloody loud last night. I could hear halfway down the street I retreated to a safe distance after shooting my 3 songs.

But I've seen rock gigs, metal gigs, whatever, but these kids were louder.

somewhere in Edinburgh. No wonder Bob Mould has tinnitus.

(might have been '72). Although it was the support that actually caused my deafness (though the Purps won't have helped) - Steve Gibbons Band. I was about 8 feet from the speakers. It really was painful at the time and I've still got the ringing in my right ear. In those days you had seats, and I'd paid for mine, so wasn't moving....

Haven't we done this before? I said, HAVEN'T WE DONE THIS BEFORE?

A few years ago I noticed a few bars/clubs had little sound limiters that showed a basic bargraph of the actual volume. If the act got a little too boisterous the PA power would trip out.

These never seemed to have been extended to larger arenas to my knowledge and I think they have even been removed from some venues.

Anyone know whats going on?

at the Hull City Hall. My ears rang for days but may have been due to the fact I was stood directly in front of the speakers.

My brother likes to trump me by saying ZZ Top in Leeds were the loudest. Not only did his ears hurt but his legs as well, caused by the vibration of the floor.

At the ICA, around 1990. It was a small venue and the sound reverberated around the room in great waves, to pleasingly psychedelic effect. My ears were ringing for a couple of days afterwards, though.

I used to go to a pub in Birmingham (The Railway?) which had the biggest bass bins I've ever seen. It was pretty much all reggae in there, and the bass was just disorientating. You couldn't hear it but it could knock your pint over.

I never suffered the rumoured sphincter loosening effect, but it often felt like your internal organs were being turned to porridge. Just the air from the speakers was like a punch in the face. If you were designing some sort of sonic bomb, you'd start with one of those bands.

This was about 25 years ago. I bet the place fell down soon after that.

Recently in the Academy Dublin after which a collective 'too old for this shit' moment was shared by all. I am stone deaf at particular frequency ranges, none of which they hit at any point. When your innards start to vibrate with the music, it's all bad...

Pavilion Theatre, Brighton. (I love these boys' music.)

Before that, Mott The Hoople, New Theatre, Oxford.

leftfield supported by Pulp at an ampitheatre just in the barcelona hills.
yes it was like a jumbo taking off. you moved off the floor
&
My Bloody Valentine last tour in Santa Monica's Auditorium. the ear plugs ddin't really help

Went to see the "BDBAHHM" at Butlins Skegness in 1995. There were huge spaces at each side of the stage as parents dragged their screaming kids away from the biggest and loudest PA I have ever heard!

at Plymouth Guildhall in 1973 or 1974 (can't remember which). We knew they had arrived and were doing a sound-check earlier in the evening, as we passed through Armada Way (outside the venue) on our way to the pub for a pre-gig snifter. The street lights, 200 yards away in the car park, were vibrating in resonance with the bass guitar.

Rumour had it that King Crimson, on the same Vandike season of gigs at the same venue, were even louder, but having seen them in a small room some time before, and being without military grade ear plugs, I gave that one a miss.

at the Town & Country Club (now The Forum) in Kentish Town in the mid 80's.
We hadn't expected them to be loud, but I was suffering from impaired hearing for days after.

A sex Pistols tribute act called, err, The Pistols at the Horns in Watford. I don't know if I'm no longer loud fit or my proximity to a PA speaker had anything to do with it my my head was ringing for about 3 days to the point where I started to worry about tinnitus. They were both excellent and hilarious though!

http://www.thepistols.co.uk/Default.aspx

But Medicine Head, in a small club in Portsmouth, 1971
The main man walked onstage, sat down and said: "Here is a song called Train Time". BBRAAAAANGGGGGGGGGG.
My contact lenses melted into me eyes, my piles disappeared (never to return) and within 2 seconds I looked like an early prototype for Father Jack.
Oh, and Art Garfunkel's younger ne'erdowell brother twanged his feckin' jews harp as tho' he was auditioning for the part of the audio machine in The Ipcress File.
Brilliant they were.

with Crazy Horse on his Head Like a Rock tour in Manchester. We shuffled down the front to get a better view and Mcnabb ambled onto stage. I then heard a loud buzz/pop as he plugged his guitar in and with a sudden realisation it was going to get very very loud thought "Oh Shit" as a tremendous wall of sound hit me right in the guts. I didnt use the phone next day at work.

a few times. I've seen AC/DC at Wembley. I've seen Mogwai in full CODY "jet engine firing up" mode. But the loudest band I ever saw was Nomeansno at Trent Poly (I think, Nottingham somewhere, anyway) in summer 1991, following on from Pitchshifter and Fudge Tunnel they fair melted my ears.

Motorhead. Brixton Academy 1999.

Supremely entertained by the support band (I've forgotten who) who were in a terrible bate with us and told us all to fuck ourselves many times over before leaving the stage.

When Lemmy and Co. came on I entered a new world. A world of cotton wool filled ears. Within about 20 minutes my ears were simply numb. It may have been an aural illusion but I gradually got used to it and could have sworn I could hear the sounds behind the volume, if you see what I mean. For example, through the vast din, I could discern Lemmy's pick scraping along the windings of his bass strings. The click of Phil Campbell changing pickups on his Explorer. That sort of thing.

A close second were Deep Purple around the same time at the Hammersmith ODEON (Labatts Appollo or whatever it is now, my arse). We were right up in the Gods but was very aware of the bass guitar volume pushing at my chest.

having not toured for a while, warmed up for a masssive festival in China by playing a one-off gig at the not quite so massive Zodiac in Oxford; it felt very much as if they'd set the volume for (outdoors) Shanghai but not bothered to turn it back down it for the rehearsal in (indoors) Cowley.

MEN Arena in about 1994 or so. The Chemicals were the support act on Oasis's first big tour and I went along on my own, getting a seat right at the back of the arena, directly opposite the stage. They started their support set and it seemed pretty good, but very, very loud indeed, the bass making my body rattle, plus they had sirens going off all the time, wailing away. Off they went, the lights came on, and all I could hear was a loud buzz with a whistle in the middle. Not good. On came Oasis and seemed decent enough.

Gig over I walked back to my car, slammed the door, and didn't hear it. Started the engine and the only way I knew it had started was because the car vibrated a little and moved when I pressed the pedal. Very not good.

The next day I had to catch a train to London where I was due to interview for two days. I had to do the whole thing by lip-reading, as my hearing didn't return to normal until the Wednesday afternoon.

Since then if I go to a gig I feel will be loud (for example the two times I've been to see Nine Inch Nails) I take a pack of BioEars earplugs with me, and put them in before I reach the venue. It actually makes it sound a little clearer too, reducing all the white noise which often drowns out the good stuff, plus after the show you pull them out and your ears still work as intended.

.

.

Made my fillings hurt.

Last year at Pompey Guildhall. Bloody hell it was loud. Acutely and painfully loud. I hadn't taken earplugs and I feared for my hearing. So, after three songs, I left, as did a few others with me. The few later became, apparently, a flood.

I manked about it in a blog post at the time, which got printed in the mag.

Another loud one was Blue Öyster Cult at the Guildhall in 1984. Buck Dharma was playing through a Mesa/Boogie amp which was wound up high and was way louder than any of the other instruments, painfully so when you were stood at the front. But as a Buck-worshipper at the time, I didn't care.

In Torquay -79. Okay, I was almost a consert virgin but towards the end the "soundtech" turned everything up and the racket inside a smallish wodden sportshall was awful. Rolling Stones -90, outdoors at an old shipyard in Gothenburg. Leaving the arena I saw my buddy moving his mouth but I did not hear anything at all! It was really scary for a couple of days

Saw Adamski supporting Erasure at the Milton Keynes Bowl (there goes my cred). Not sure if it was loud as just bass-y. He did Killer (sans Seal sadly) and you could feel your heart sync with the DER-DER-DER-DERR-DERR.
Super Furrys - The Man was a sonic assault at Pompey Guildhall.

Recently saw Yanns Tiersan, who was surprisingly noisy.

at Leicester University (Supporting Semisonic) about 2003ish . Ridiculously loud, We retreated to the bar until they finished.

Probably at least as loud were Bullet(John Ducann, Johhny Gustafson et al) supporting Deep Purple (curiously, once again in Leicester) at the De Montfort Halls in 1971. Purple were as loud as you would expect, but Bullet were painful.

I also went to a Crowded House Gig ('Together Alone' tour) at the NEC Arena where the support band were ridiculously loud, and then with the Crowdies, the bass drum (kick drum pedal) was mic'd so loudly that it vibrated my chest every time it was hit. The whole place was standing, but we ended up sitting, since that was the only way it was tolerable.

As a little postscript to this thread, I just thought I'd mention the quietest band I've ever seen live.
It was Leonard Cohen and his band at the Globe Arena, Stockholm, about two years ago on his world tour.
Even though I was in the 4th row of the stalls, I found the gig unnervingly quiet. I kept wanting to shout "Come on chaps, turn it up".
The people way up in the second balcony can't have heard anything at all.

in Clapham. Slade gave him a run for his money, though.

Saw this band in the backroom of a Camden pub (possibly the Falcon?) in the mid-90s. I don't think my ears have ever recovered.

Other especially loud gig I remember is Joe Strummer & the Latino Rockabilly War at the Brighton Dome on the Rock against the Rich tour and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy at the Camden Underworld.

Saw them supporting Crowded House at Nottingham Concert Hall in March 92 on the Woodface tour. To put it bluntly i could have styed out in the foyer and listened perfectly fine as it was perefctly audible out their too. After their set they went and sat in the balcony seats above the stage to watch Crowded House and were rewarded with their own song made up on the pot by Neil Finn. I've nerver heard of them since but interestingly enough when Crowded House returned on their next tour to the same venue Neil Finn remembered School of Fish in the balcony.

I could also add all the acts i've seen who have had the temerity to play loud enough to make the people sat in front/ or behind of me have to shout to have any sort of conversation.

in Dublin in 1978, I still shiver at the thought. The not-exactly enormous audience was physically pinned to the wall facing the stage.

Watching Husker Du at the Princess Charlotte in Leicester, it felt like Bob Mould and the others were going to blow the pub into orbit. The loudest ever, though, was Bob Mould fronting Sugar at the Boardwalk in Manchester. It was loud enough to nail you to the back wall. My ears are still ringing.

(Runners up Mogwai at the Brixton Academy)

The Swans or My Bloody Valentine. I was dragged along to both by a work-colleague who was having a mid-life crisis.

The loudest that I actually wanted to see was Saxon.

...as they were when they supported Smashing Pumpkins at the Manchester Academy in 1993. When they struck up Gravity Grave the bass travelled up through my shoes

at the Cavern in Exeter somewhere around 2003. My mate drove back to Plymouth and was talking to me the whole trip home, only I didn't realise.

but AC/DC at Wembley Arena in 1988 was a deafener yet sweet to the ears. And every time I've seen Motorhead they really turn it up beyond the pain level, including 2 weeks ago in Brixton. Others that spring to mind are Velvet Revolver's gig in Brixton a few years ago, just before they split, as well as the first time I saw Iron Maiden at Wembley Arena in 1990.

Maybe it was because of their hype - "the loudest band in the world" but for me it has to be Blue Cheer @ The Albert Hall (1970 ?).
I remember yelling at the stage "Play some F***ing Music" before walking out in disgust. I had a free complimentary ticket too !
Over the 50 odd years I have been attending gigs I have never worn ear protectors - be warned people , I have lost 60% of my hearing on one side and now wear a National Health Hearing Aid.

going to a Motorhead gig at Hammersmith Odeon in about 1981/82, where the PA stack went right up to the ceiling, and - as many others on this thread have said - was ear-ringingly loud.
But about a week later, a mate informed him he had a spare ticket to see another band at the same venue. Mr D didn't really want to go, but the guy had forked out about £7, which was quite expensive for a gig then, so out of the goodness of his heart, he agreed to attend.
And was properly amazed to discover that Status Quo (on one of their many 'farewell' tours) were WAY louder than Lemmy and chums.

Was HAWKWIND at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in the mid-70s. Just squeezed in at the back of the hall near the doors and ears rung for three days afterwards. Braver souls at the front of stage had their ears next to the bass bins ... two had blood running from said ears after a while.
WHITESNAKE at NEC in Brum in the 90s literally took my breath away. heart-stopping stuff.

Leeds in early 1988.
In a tiny club with sticky carpets, lots of chrome and mirrors called Roxys. (the actual club night was called Kaleidoscope Pop which I just loved). It was terrifying.

Fast Eddie's post Motorhead band at the Leas Cliffe Hall in Folkestone on their first tour - around 82/3 I think. Supported by Japanese band Vow Wow. My ears whistled for three days after.

That was also my first exposure to a live performance by a band who have just relaesed their first album and consequently don't have much material. The gig was about 40 mins including the encore which was the recently released single (Easy Living) which they had already played. Now I don't go and see anyone until they have two albums worth of material to choose from.

were incredibly loud when I saw them in a half empty room at UCLU back in the 70s, but they were bloody good, so I stuck with it.

It just has to be the Who, Cornwall Coliseum January '81 - had it been December there'd have been no lights on the Christmas tree, mother - a Friday night, I think, and my ears were ringing til Monday - awesome & never bettered since!

Brighter Than A Thousand Suns tour Nov 1986. The venue (Manchester Apollo) was empty which might be why it was so loud. My ears rang for a couple of days which hasn't happened since apart from 1 time. OMD!

...at a pub in Stoke (The Miners Arms??) in the 80s. It was a tiny pub and absolutely rammed and the band didn't seem to have adjusted their sound from stadium level. I remember looking round and the walls seemed to be moving. Also remember turning up quite early and who should be sitting at the bar quaffing pints of Guinness but Tony (T.S.) McPhee himself - I was pleased to be able to buy him a drink.

I was at that ELP gig and don't remember it being especially loud. Unlike the Who at the Lyceum (also 1974 I think) and Deep Purple circa 1976 at the Lewisham Odeon. They were LOUD!