Loudest of the loud: Dinosaur Jr. 2005 or My Bloody Valentine 1992?

Dinosaur Jr., I must say, always BORED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!

YAY! LOGIC AT LAST!!!!

i saw dino jr. in the 90's, and yeah, they made me wish i had brought a bed with me. unbelievably boring

Bahaha. OTM.

The loudest show I ever went to was July 3, 1993 at Lounge AX. Whitehouse sonically proved to me that hearing is indeed related to balance.

for your cross-referencing pleasure.

I do not remember Dinosaur being excessively loud when I saw them in '89.

I second Jordan's contention that playing unbearably loud is lame.

It was Mary Chain, Spiritualized, Curve, and in Los Angeles also Medicine. Spiritualized recorded their Fucked Up Inside album at this show in L.A.

I saw MBV on two nights out of three in Los Angeles without earplugs, what was I thinking? Saw Dinosaur Jr. in 1994 and it wasn’t even close to as loud but that wasn’t the question.

I saw Motorhead at the Stone Pony in the early 90s. That was quite loud.

Also saw MBV on the Isn't Anything tour. They were loud, but it sounds like they were much louder on the Loveless tour.

When I saw them earlier this year they sounded pretty weak, volume-wise--Kylesa, who played first, were way more punishing.

MBV wins by a sonic boom, easily.

Next loudest shows: Nomeansno in 1991, Unwound in 1998, Kinski w/ members of Acid Mothers Temple in 2003, and Broadcast in 2003.

And, yeah, duh, The Melvins... especially most recently, w/ Jello Biafra.

Buzzkunst were phenomenally loud at the ICA in 2002 but that was probably just my thirtysomething non-gig-going ears convulsing into shock at something 100x louder than my stereo.

Do many people think to measure the noise level at any of these shows? Like, say, the soundman?!

Are bar tenders and sound men not subject to any work safety standards such as they have for trades like heavy industry?

Dinosaur Jr were fucking loud at the Forum this year, and I was upstairs! Never saw MBV, sadly.

Dinosaur Jr. had technical difficulties at the SECC and i also think they came on slighly late and i'm pretty sure they played for a lot less than 45 mins.

i was at that show too and if i remember correctly their first two songs were "only shallow" and "when you sleep" (don't remember in which order). was watching from the balcony b/c mates didn't want to be on the floor, but we went down later and it was as loud as anything i've heard before or since

having seen shellac a number of times, i can't say that i remember them being particularly loud

i imagine the effect of dinosaur jr's volume being somewhat different than mbv, and not entirely comparable -- esp b/c of the godawful pentatonic scale worst-vibrato-in-the-world wack guitar crap 'soloing' that mascis insists on perpetrating even when he should know better

*cough* Lost in Translation soundtrack to thread, plus innumerable remixes?

Yes, this is true. I saw one Sugar show, and in the middle of the set they played a short acoustic set. My ears were ringing so much from the electric songs that I could barely hear the acoustic guitars.

I thought Body Count were incredibly loud at Lollapalooza 1991, maybe the loudest band I'd heard to that point (note: I hadn't heard too many bands to that point), but it was an outdoor stadium show. I'd have to think that the 2005 version of me, who has been to loads of noisy gigs in tiny clubs since then, wouldn't find them all that loud. Maybe it's a good thing that I didn't see MBV in 1992. I probably would have melted.

I have to say however the most intense live listening experience i have ever had was Zbigniew Karkowski, polish noise-meister. it really felt as if the sound had entered my cranium and started to burrow it's way out. i could not even form a thought. it is actually stated that he blew up a toilet somewhere once... the thing with him that is scary however is that is not so much the decibels but, the frequencies. he has cleared out whole venues and he almost inspired a panic attack in me. i suppose that is the effects of training with xenakis. he even said in an interview once "my work won't hurt as long as you allow it to enter you and you don't become upset." or something to that effect. insane.

the only other serious competition is the cannons during AC/DC's "For Those About To Rock."

wider angle...

https://scontent-bos5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/1399732_10152989869072137_4991361121037997380_o.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=a74216&_nc_ohc=xIouZ1P5BDIQ7kNvgHTchQO&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-bos5-1.xx&_nc_gid=AMR7mUk-FdWAUPiFQ46_Sbm&oh=00_AYDftc-BdCe3MdWlGTjkHp-t92AYLEaSo9qUswTMFQus7A&oe=67609E74

action shot with my ten dollar camera:

https://scontent-bos5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/1979090_10152989874767137_4682779992592093522_o.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=a74216&_nc_ohc=91-JKD3bVU4Q7kNvgGfg_2z&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-bos5-1.xx&_nc_gid=Ah57cXTiHRV8DiIZSRzjK_r&oh=00_AYCiDAv789jPCvzjkZdKMlfIOudvD4xfeZLVWcgBfALiRg&oe=6760A4CA

lol

I saw the Stateside Rollercoaster incarnation which was....if I recall correctly...the Jesus & Mary Chain, Blur and Curve...no? That's a damn long time ago.

It was Mary Chain, Spiritualized, Curve, and in Los Angeles also Medicine. Spiritualized recorded their Fucked Up Inside album at this show in L.A.

I saw MBV on two nights out of three in Los Angeles without earplugs, what was I thinking? Saw Dinosaur Jr. in 1994 and it wasn’t even close to as loud but that wasn’t the question.

---

I think the loudest show I have ever seen was the Flaming Lips during their Clouds Taste Metallic tour. It was at Slims in San Francisco on May of 1996 and my hearing was shot for days. I went to a bunch of Raves in my younger days and they always seem to do more damage than any rock band has ever done, seen hundreds of shows. That is why seeing MBV during those days was just another typical damaging my hearing again this week kind of thing
― BeeOK (boo radley), Wednesday, December 14, 2005 11:17 PM (eighteen years ago)

These are some of my first posts on ULM. Posted - 25 times all in 2005 as boo radley.

the physically loudest gig I've ever been to was MBV in 2008, by a considerable margin. I have seen Motorhead, Slayer, Swans, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Melvins, Mogwai - all of those were v loud, but not even close.

the most damage to my eardrums was done by the Jesus & Mary Chain in 1998 and Lebenden Toten in 2017. those gigs were in small venues so I think the dB were definitely lower than the bigger bands but that was the most physical pain and prolonged deafness I endured. I couldn't even hear my own voice after the JAMC gig, I could just hear the vibrations in the roof of my mouth

honourable mention to Broadcast who v unexpectedly were so fucking loud supporting YLT about 25 years ago I thought the bass drum was going to cave my chest in

All tomorrow's parties melbourne 2013. Gy!be to Swans to MBV to finish the day, but none of them were as ear curdingly loud as Thee Oh Sees playing the early afternoon spot.

LOL I was at this as well, what a BIZARRE venue choice this festival was (an indoor sports centre out in the way outer suburbs). Terrible acoustics. I lay on the floor up the back while Godspeed were playing. MBV were good, but the sound was pretty fudgy. And yeah christ it was hot.

The *better* show was the one they did a few days later at the Metro/Palace up on Bourke st. I stood at the mixing desk for the sweet spot, crammed plugs AND fingers in my ears and just rode the violence of the noise.

Oh but the gig that did for me hearing-wise was Mogwai at the Prince of Wales in St Kilda in ...I wanna say, 2002? 2003? I did not wear eaplugs, I didn't know how loud they'd be. "My Father my King" was fucking brutal. I went out onto the balcony after the show to chat to people and realised I couldn't hear myself talking.

that not being able to hear yourself is the weirdest thing and the only time that's happened to me was after the JAMC gig in 1998. it was Jim who randomly ran off stage ending the gig that night. William shrugged and apologised. I assume they flipped a coin back then to decide who'd fuck it up

I saw JAMC exactly seven days ago, the last day of their US tour. They are just a well oiled machine with Jim handing all the vocals.

yeah Trayce I saw them at the Metro in Sydney on that tour, MFMK was like a Space Shuttle launch, although I was oddly disappointed that their performance was so similar to the recorded versions. Somewhere on YouTube there is a hilarious video of them playing "Christmas Steps" and when the bass comes in Stuart jumps, startled by how insanely loud it is.
Bee OK's post gave me a sec to find it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNVua-kot5A

I hope JAMC were better than when I saw them a year ago, one of the shittest gigs I've been to by a band I like xp

Xp Trayce
Yeah that venue was whack! "The Westgate Entertainment Centre". Everything on the building was written in comic sans font, which is like as funny as anything can be to a hyper-ironic 17yo (self-derogatory). A chatty security guard outside hit us up after it was all over to personally exclaim how loud it was. He asked what sort of band they were like? Accadacca? Barnsey? Meatloaf Nirvana? I said "yeah i guess kinda like nirvana, but hazy, more psychedlic". He liked that.

I did say to Elvis Telecom at the show that is was the worst JAMC show I have seen but the last time I saw them, in May of 2017, it was their best, even better than Rollercoaster.

Unfortunately it was probably Teenage Fanclub who were my worst.

Xpost

I've seen JAMC a lot and the standout of all of them is the first reunion tour when Loz from Ride was drumming for them. You can't really be sloppy when Keith Moon is at the controls.

I've written elsewhere on ILX about this - Black Flag was loud but the Ramones in 1984 was like standing in front of a fighter jet. I had no idea LAPD was raiding the Palladium after Black Flag played because they literally could not penetrate the sound of the Ramones. MBV/Spectrum second LA show at the Santa Monica Civic was an experimental infrasound test. Dozens of shoegazers scattered on the staircases - completely passed out and in various levels of pain from sonic attack. Poor kids didn't take the warnings seriously. MBV's Coachella warm-up gig at the El Rey in 2009 is probably my Mt. Everest of Sound Power. Word got out that someone had a seizure during the soundcheck and had to be taken away in an ambulance, which just validated the expectations of the thrill ride crowd.

Yes' 90215 show at the LA Forum unexpectedly super loud - especially for the 80s arena rock era.

As someone at that Santa Monica show — yup.