loudest band you've ever seen

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Eminem, actually. I swear my heart stopped for like half a second once.

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Friday, 28 April 2006 18:53 (eighteen years ago) link

runners up:
Larry Heard/Moodymann/Theo Parrish

― Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Friday, 28 April 2006 18:56 (eighteen years ago) link

I know it's a cliche, but Mogwai again. Loudness made worse, of course, because of the whole dynamics thing...was kind of like riding a very unpleasant rollercoaster.

― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Friday, 28 April 2006 18:56 (eighteen years ago) link

MY BLOODY VALENTINE

― ddb (ddb), Friday, 28 April 2006 19:05 (eighteen years ago) link

Jucifer were so loud my fillings rattled.

― nklshs, Friday, 28 April 2006 19:17 (eighteen years ago) link

USA Is A Monster, very loud.

― nklshs, Friday, 28 April 2006 19:18 (eighteen years ago) link

My Morning Jacket at a 400-person club in Tempe, AZ, a couple years back. Wow -- roof blower.

Also, RATM at Roseland Ballroom in '99 counts as the most intense show I've attended. Loud, heavy and exhausting.

― Chris O., Friday, 28 April 2006 19:19 (eighteen years ago) link

Either Lightning Bolt at Maxwell's or Bob Mould (on his "last electric" tour) at Irving Plaza.

― James, Friday, 28 April 2006 19:21 (eighteen years ago) link

The Jesus & fucking Mary Chain.

Way louder than Dinosaur Jr, Mogwai, etc. the times I saw them.

I couldn't hear my own voice for 2 days.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 28 April 2006 19:24 (eighteen years ago) link

isobel campbell
astrud gilberto
vashti bunyan

― timmy tannin (pompous), Friday, 28 April 2006 19:32 (eighteen years ago) link

I also remember Einstürzende Neubauten in Darmstadt a couple years ago as excrutiatingly loud.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 28 April 2006 19:36 (eighteen years ago) link

oxbow or lighting bolt

― andrew b (klik99), Friday, 28 April 2006 20:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Rocket From the Crypt, I think.

― Nigel (Nigel), Friday, 28 April 2006 20:27 (eighteen years ago) link

crowbar at the creepy crawl in st louis last year

― jonathon, Friday, 28 April 2006 20:52 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm going to second Sugar. Very, very loud. Part of the ceiling caved in.

― Binjominia (Brilhante), Friday, 28 April 2006 20:54 (eighteen years ago) link

I saw Mission of Burma's reunion show in Austin for my birthday and was at first unimpressed even though the band was impeccably tight, since after all the stories of how loud they were they didn't seem to measure up to my expectations. Then I realized that they were just being drowned out by the intense banshee shriek in my ears.

"These guys aren't so loud!"

"What?"

"I said, THESE GUYS AREN'T SO LOUD."

"WHAT?"

"NEVER MIND."

Also Peter Brotzmann. Holy SHIT.

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Friday, 28 April 2006 21:48 (eighteen years ago) link

Unsurprisingly, Swans.

Also, JAMC and Sugar seconded.

More oddly, Pale Saints.

― Si.C@rter (SiC@rter), Friday, 28 April 2006 21:52 (eighteen years ago) link

i love when i can feel the bass drum in my chest.

i remember the SCARIEST loud noise i ever heard at a show. it was gwar in a small club in 1989 and they let off some pyro explosion that should NEVER have been let off in a club that small. scared the living hell out of me. a very loud exlosion going off 10 feet from your face will do that though.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 28 April 2006 22:56 (eighteen years ago) link

The Bitchin' Camaros b/w Rammer

The Camaros broke up, and their guitarist is in Bionic now, but I doubt they sound as loud as that show I saw.

Rammer's still around, probably just as loud.

― Erock Lazron, Friday, 28 April 2006 23:27 (eighteen years ago) link

"bardo pond, just at this past terrastock. almost deafened me for the rest of the weekend, but way, way worth it."

Let me second this. Saw the same show. It hurt so good.

― travissss, Friday, 28 April 2006 23:37 (eighteen years ago) link

Maybe it was just the venue, but The The in the 80s at the TLA in Philly. Was louder than Merzbow at the Knit.

― Brian Turner (btwfmu), Friday, 28 April 2006 23:47 (eighteen years ago) link

>> i love when i can feel the bass drum in my chest.

Mmmmmm. Broadcast did that when I saw them supporting Yo La Tengo about 4 years ago.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 28 April 2006 23:48 (eighteen years ago) link

Secret Machines

― Christopher Costello (CGC), Saturday, 29 April 2006 00:19 (eighteen years ago) link

Bad loud: A support band called Skinlab at an In Flames show at Slim's about 5 years ago. OWWWWWWW.

Good loud: Beasts of Bourbon reunion show at the Lava Lounge.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 29 April 2006 00:36 (eighteen years ago) link

into the void at the provincial lounge back in 98, i think... my ears rang for 3 days

though i hear bailter space at the same venue just a few months later may have been even louder...

― chris andrews (fraew), Saturday, 29 April 2006 00:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Jucifer, yep. And it might've just been where I was standing, but I felt the effects of The Hives/ Reigning Sound a good two days after the fact.

― Will (will), Saturday, 29 April 2006 00:45 (eighteen years ago) link

The Who - Boston Garden, early 70's: insanely loud
ELO - Providence Civic Center circa 1976: louder

I imagine their volume levels were somewhat tame by today's standards.

― jim wentworth (wench), Saturday, 29 April 2006 00:48 (eighteen years ago) link

No Means NO circa 1995 were very loud. Animal Collective this year were also quite loud.

― The Boy Who Cried YSI? (Freud Junior), Saturday, 29 April 2006 01:21 (eighteen years ago) link

Like it needs another mention, but still.

My Bloody Valentine (at Hammerjacks! ... in Baltimore!)

― bkjj40a (bkjj40a), Saturday, 29 April 2006 01:26 (eighteen years ago) link

Loud
Bobetomagus
Melvins
Slayer

No so Loud
High Rise
Motorhead

― brg30 (brg30), Saturday, 29 April 2006 02:34 (eighteen years ago) link

Loop.

'Twas meh.

― There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvish (noodle vague), Saturday, 29 April 2006 02:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Monster Magnet circa 1994. Felt like being beaten.

― Bryan (Bryan), Saturday, 29 April 2006 02:46 (eighteen years ago) link

Embarrassing to admit, but the Get Up Kids in 1999. Also, Ryan Adams in 2001 at the same venue (damn you Agora Ballroom!). I was standing behind the soundboard for the latter show, and everything was peaked in the red the entire time...awful...what crappy ways to lose my hearing.

― Jam (1020am), Saturday, 29 April 2006 03:09 (eighteen years ago) link

A tie between CM Von Hausswolff and Zbigniew Karkowski, both at LAMPO in Chicago. They each had their strategies: CMVH had bright red flood lights pointed at the audience that created a totally saturated visual field to go with the high amplitude noise, overwhelming the senses...and ZK focused on pitches that would resonate with different spaces and objects in the room, making things vibrate and beat, with standing waves everywhere. Both shows where totally immersive and disorienting.

― TiPoIv, Saturday, 29 April 2006 03:27 (eighteen years ago) link

I always gauge loudness by the length of time my ears take to recover.

Kitchens of Distinction - Ears ringing for two days.

Test Department - Ears ringing ringing for three days.

― Jack Battery-Pack (Jack Battery-Pack), Saturday, 29 April 2006 04:58 (eighteen years ago) link

not a band, but just one man - idm idol Hrvatski

was like 10 drills digging into the brain
excess alcohol and substances were of little help

― nique (nique), Saturday, 29 April 2006 05:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Perhaps Kevin Drumm described it best with his album, Sheer Hellish Miasma

― TiPoIv, Saturday, 29 April 2006 06:33 (eighteen years ago) link

Not to derail the thread, but has anyone been to a show where speakers *actually* blew out Back-To-The-Future-style?

― TiPoIv, Saturday, 29 April 2006 06:35 (eighteen years ago) link

Killing Joke, 1981
Glenn Branca, 1982
Dinosaur Jr, 1989

― Dave Segal (Da ve Segal), Saturday, 29 April 2006 06:46 (eighteen years ago) link

Toshimaru Nakamura blew out a monitor speaker at the Purcell Room a few years back, it was smoking but not flaming. That was insanely high frequencies rather than volume though.

Loudest shows I ever saw - Manowar, Motorhead, Merzbow, Sunn O))), Swans.

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Saturday, 29 April 2006 07:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Public Enemy @ Bumbershoot 2004

― Rodney's motives are beyond the comprehension of men (R. J. Greene), Saturday, 29 April 2006 08:00 (eighteen years ago) link

Sonic's Rendezvous Band 1977-80 -- so loud your ears'd be ringing and your food would taste funny the whole next day. Like hearing the Who or Led Zeppelin in a bar. Louder than early Sonic Youth and Swans PUT TOGETHER (and I saw SY/S and Branca too in 1982 so this ain't speculation.) Last year in a New Yorker interview Patti Smith mention in passing that Fred re-wired his blond Marshall stack so it was even louder and I was like "ah that explains it." He was called "SONIC" for a reason!

The Who in 1975 were pretting f'in loud too, I was in the very back of Riverfront Coliseum where the sounds rezound off the ceiling.

Saw John Cale's Sabotage tour myself, which I remember as a great show but not super-loud though he did have a "metal" gtrist IIRC.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 29 April 2006 09:56 (eighteen years ago) link

I recently saw Amusement Parks On Fire supporting Spoon in Manchester and they were really fucking loud. I think they'd asked to be turned way the fuck up because their songs are shite though.

Loudest good band: Primal Scream seconded.

― yer mam! (yer mam!), Saturday, 29 April 2006 10:34 (eighteen years ago) link

My Bloody Valentine live at the Olympia (Paris).

― snowballing (snowballing), Saturday, 29 April 2006 10:57 (eighteen years ago) link

MBV in Glasgow 1992, I think my internal organs are still vibrating.

― dr lulu (dr lulu), Saturday, 29 April 2006 11:00 (eighteen years ago) link

bailter space in 1990, student union, wellington

― Good Dog (Good Dog), Saturday, 29 April 2006 11:08 (eighteen years ago) link

oh yeah, Metallica And Justice for All tour, Logan Campbell Center, Auckland

― Good Dog (Good Dog), Saturday, 29 April 2006 11:12 (eighteen years ago) link

Radiohead,1996. Had to see a doctor afterwards.

― superbadger (superbadger), Saturday, 29 April 2006 11:24 (eighteen years ago) link

on the might of princes.

― Blue Filters (Gilkannon), Saturday, 29 April 2006 16:06 (eighteen years ago) link

I didn't think Monster Magnet were that loud when I saw them (96 i think).

I should also mention Big Sugar as being notable loud.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 29 April 2006 16:34 (eighteen years ago) link

Skipping 182 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Or maybe that one early 00s noise band where the dudes wore Donny Darko type creepy Rabbit heads? Can't think of the name

― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi shakedown), Thursday, November 26, 2015 10:02 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

White Mice?

― flappy bird, Thursday, 26 November 2015 16:37 (eight years ago) link

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