The Return Of My Bloody Valentine

seeing mbv live is one of the more genuinely psychedelic experiences i've ever had, honestly

And by psychedelic I mean loud. As in, that jackhammer was totally psychedelic!

yeah! that's exactly what i mean! being exposed to the sheer physical presence of that sound for so long genuinely has a mindbending effect!

how much would you pay for permanent hearing damage

£25 iirc

Ten years since I saw them in Paris, but the memory of seeing the guy in front of me putting on his motor helmet in agony during the 'holocaust' bit never fails to amuse me.

I wore earplugs when I saw MBV about 10 years ago, took them out for a bit during the holocaust bit just to see what it was like. Put them back in pretty quickly.

yeah i had the foresight to bring some basic hearing protection and it was still the loudest thing i've ever heard but there were a lot of pained expressions around me and the crowd was noticeably sparser once the 20 minutes of paint-peeling, trouser-flapping white noise was over

tix were $45 here in the twin cities and it's at a far better venue this time so i don't mind. also i flew to denver to see them in 2013 and that was still worth it

I want to see MBV. They playing London this year (except at Meltdown)?

hmm I'm actually misremembering slightly, saw my posts from 10 years ago upthread and I only wore earplugs for YMMR, the rest of it I didn't because I am so hard. Of course now I have tinnitus in my left ear, although I went to the doc last week and that might just be because I have massive amounts of compacted wax in it. They tried to syringe it out this morning but it wouldn't budge. Either way I should probably wear earplugs more often. TMI etc

$99.50 for a shitty venue in nyc, fuck you kevin!!!!

Ha, I see I've mentioned the helmet story already, ten years ago.

I'm curious how loud they are on the spectrum of loud bands. Like, there's no way they're louder than, say, High On Fire, for example. I sometimes wonder how many times I've been exposed to louder bands in terms of sheer dB and not worn earplugs strictly because they were not preceded by tales of OMG it's like a plane taking off!! For example, I once took my wife to see Metallica, and it was so loud that she's been reluctant to go to shows with me ever since. Certainly plenty of hard rock acts are super loud and noisy, like Nine Inch Nails. And just a couple of weeks ago I thought Afghan Whigs were super loud.

Six By Seven might be the loudest gig I've attended

they are the loudest band i've ever seen in my life, hands down, no contest

i've seen lots of bands who were loud but none who turned sound into a physical presence that felt like trying to walk into a strong headwind

Like, there's no way they're louder than, say, High On Fire, for example.

Citation needed tbh. Loudest band I've ever seen in a venue that size. Louder than Motorhead etc. Not most deafening, that's still JAMC in a small room, but the actual volume wouldn't've been as loud there. I said that 10 years ago as well.

High on Fire wasn't out-of-the-ordinary loud the times I've seen them.

I bring earplugs to every show. Why not.

For example, here's a whole bunch of general citations:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudest_band#2009

The most recent one cited on there is Kiss. Kiss!!!

On July 15, 2009, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Kiss achieved an SPL of 136 dB measured during their live performance (not the sound check). After noise complaints from neighbors in the area, the band was forced to turn the volume down

I've seen Swans, not even close.

Dinosaur Jr weren't far off one time

Oh yeah, the legendary Ottawa ‘09 Kiss show, forgot about that one

I heard it was so crazy everyone was plugging their ears and throwing up. And that was before they started playing.

there's a scene in the movie sunshine where one of the characters on a trip towards the sun looks directly towards it from the heavily-shielded observation deck where despite the protection his skin starts to burn

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/sunshine.jpg?w=730&crop=1

that's kinda like what the holocaust section of an mbv gig is like but with sound instead of light

i could hear metallica from my house from the new vikings stadium, which was an enclosed structure 1.5 miles from my house

I could hear Ocean Colour Scene from my back garden when they played on the pier a mile away. OK that was open air, but I still consider that an act of violence.

Also scored Chicago tix...I was pretty excited about $45, to be honest.

Mogwai in 2001 or 02 and Swans five or six years ago are probably the loudest shows I've seen. Dino Jr standing in-front of J's 4 full stacks when the distortion pedal came on is the single loudest moment I can think of.

...all this is + reading the comments above is why I need to throw down on some legit earplugs for this show.

alright, got mine as well!

etymotic make good decently priced ones- on amazon for around 15

http://i43.tinypic.com/2utghlc.jpg

Don't touch it!
Well I wasn't going to touch it, I was just pointing at it.
Well... don't point! It can't be played.
Don't point, okay. Can I look at it?
No. no. That's it, you've seen enough of that one.

I might shell out for some earplugs. I went to a punk gig in a small room in Brighton a couple of weeks ago and the opening band were playing with constant screeching feedback and I couldn't handle it, probably getting too old or the tinnitus is getting to me. Mind you I'd eaten an edible before I went there and misjudged the dose a bit so I was really stoned to the point where I thought I might have to leave at one point which might've had something to do with it. I got earplugs from the bar for that one but they were free so pretty crappy.

Apparently, I am going to evaluate two undergrad student presentations on the recording and engineering of Loveless today. 90s revival is no joke.

Dammit. I fucked up my joke.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2h3rdkx.jpg

Don't touch it!
Well I wasn't going to touch it, I was just pointing at it.
Well... don't point! It can't be played.
Don't point, okay. Can I look at it?
No. no. That's it, you've seen enough of that one.

I saw Mogwai in 1999 and they weren't that loud at all tbh. That was at Glastonbury festival though so outdoors and probably subject to noise level restrictions. I think Like Herod was kinda loud.

hmm I'm actually misremembering slightly, saw my posts from 10 years ago upthread and I only wore earplugs for YMMR, the rest of it I didn't because I am so hard. Of course now I have tinnitus in my left ear, although I went to the doc last week and that might just be because I have massive amounts of compacted wax in it. They tried to syringe it out this morning but it wouldn't budge. Either way I should probably wear earplugs more often. TMI etc
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 27 April 2018 15:11

I'm never going to watch them again just in case. I didn't have ear plugs when I saw them at the Roundhouse ten years ago and my ears were buzzing for a day or two afterwards and I was worried they would be permanently fucked.

dinosaur jr are the loudest band ive seen
ive seen mbv too, maybe because it was in a butlins the sound was to the usual level

*wasnt

SUNN 0))) def the loudest I've seen, though the rib-rattling low frequencies may have messed with my perception of volume

That's the same vibe I got with High On Fire. It's often the low end that gets you. MBV, though, obv. they get more of the seasick thing going on, so you've got gut-rumbling but also all these shifting treble frequencies and stuff.

I did come across an article that said MBV weren't that loud at an ATP, with the Buzzcocks actually being louder at the same event, maybe that was the Butlins you went to nxd?

yeh probably - it was an atp

saw sun o)))) at one too & they were p loud!

unable to get tix yesterday or today to Oakland - major sad face

yeah! that's exactly what i mean! being exposed to the sheer physical presence of that sound for so long genuinely has a mindbending effect!

― Mahogany Loggins (bizarro gazzara), Friday, April 27, 2018 9:55 AM (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

being in the ENT clinic for a couple of weeks has made me better appreciate how noxious this noise exposure can be. wear earplugs, everybody

it honestly sounds *better* with earplugs

the only problem is if you sing along with earplugs in, all you can hear is your awful voice

i will probably deploy the earplugs for the ymmr extremo-noise section, but i will probably not sing along

MBV with their own system these days is loud but balanced. Which gives it huge apparent volume but I'd say it's less likely to damage ears than a bad mix on a small shitty PA or standing in front of a guitar amp.

Still, absolutely use proper ear plugs!

I've seen both a launch of a Saturn V and a full-afterburner SR-71 fly-by. Front row for MBV's last minute Coachella 2009 warm-up at the El Rey was comparable for sonic power-into-physical beatdown. Someone in the venue had a seizure during the soundcheck which definitely upped the excitement of the crowd. Moths to flame, etc. All warnings upthread still apply.

No other band (including the usuals who turn up on these lists going all the way back to the 5-piece Black Flag) has come close. M-a-y-b-e the Ramones in '86.

Saw MBV with Dinosaur Jr opening in the 90s and that was amazing and intense and - yes - truly fucking loud.

Same. They were way louder in the 90s.

i saw them at the ogden in denver which was loud but not bruising, then at the truly dire roy wilkins in saint paul, which had quite an immense sound system and was basically a glorified concrete basketball arena so the cacophony got truly psychedelic, as mentioned. after the show my back and neck hurt because i was tensing up during the noise so much. can't wait to do it again