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

Suffice to say that the two times I saw MBV I really rather thanked the spirits for the invention of the earplug.

before that, though, while on the floor, i saw these kids like actively leaning their heads towards the PA. i guess they wanted to get the full experience or something. holy shit. i wonder how those hearing aids are working out now...

Maybe I have mentioned it here before, but I have a friend who saw the same tour in Boston and can pinpoint his fairly severe case of tinnitus to that show...

http://www.dvd4music.com/prodimages/00014028l.jpg

One thing is true: I would much rather have fucked up my hearing seeing MBV than seeing either Dino Jr or the Secret Machines.

I think the Scorpions have the world record now? beat out the longstanding Who record?

Yes, at Glasgow SECC. Every band was loud but MBV were astonishingly so. People looked totally shell shocked by the end of You made me realise.

Manowar look like vikings and play really whack Euro-metal, and were listed in the 1995 Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's loudest band. According to the Guinness entry, "two sound specialists officiated, measuring and documenting with painstaking care as Manowar shook the city [of Hanover, Germany], playing live at a staggering 129.5 decibels through 10 tons of amplifiers and speakers measuring 40 feet in length and 21 feet in height."

its close. seeing mbv in 92 i didnt wear earplugs and lived! and when i saw dino last week they were huge loud, but i did have plugs in but there were amp-related problems involved so i would have to say mbv92.

Anyone seen both EHG and MBV to compare?

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."

The Dream Syndicate (1983 at the Anti-Club)
Curve ("Cuckoo" tour in 1995 or so)
Husker Du (1985 at some hotel in downtown LA)
Yes ("90215" tour at the LA Forum 1984?)... I'm not kidding about this by the way, for an arena show this was amazingly skull-poundingly loud. Old prog-heads were holding their ears all the way through.

Sugar at Cambridge in 94 were so loud and the acoustics of the venue so shite that you struggled to make out one song from another at times.

Surprise nomination: Wedding Present at Birmingham Institute circa 'Seamonsters'.

Winner (surprise surprise): Swans on 'Children of God' tour. Ow.

The Mego laptop orchestra (Merzbow, Hecker, PIta, Farmer's Manual, Russell Haswell etc.) at Sonar Festival years ago was pretty goddamn ear-destroying. I reckon loud high end feels far more punishing than loud low end, amirite?

I played a show with Pleasurehorse at Fort Thunder years ago and that dude had his own tall ass stack of amps on a roll up dolly and he was shit-yer-pants loud.

Black Sabbath reunion show at San Jose Arena = surprisingly not all that loud.

Slayer was also pretty fucking loud, too.

I saw the Blur/MBV/Dinosaur Jr Rollercoaster at the Manchester Apollo, and that was not nearly as exciting.

Ha ha, yup. Saw em at Instal. The venue staff were actively forcing ear plugs on people. I'm glad I'd got slightly better ones from Boots. Could only take so much, but it was a lot of fun.

Borbetomagus were also hellaciously loud and a bit lame cos of it. When I stepped into the street I could actually hear all the free jazz undertones that had been buried under the white noise. It was such a small venue and I was unprotected so it made me feel a bit queasy and indeed drained. I needed a bag of chips and a stiff drink afterwards.

I saw Dinosaur a dozen times or so in the mid to late '80s and never remember them being *that* loud, by the way. I mean, not like Husker Du or Black Flag or MBV or Motorhead loud. Husker Du used to play so loud you basically couldn't hear anything, they just created this huge vacuum, it was really weird.

The only person I've seen that people have mentioned here is Zbigniew Karkowski - I remember it was kind of loud, but I'm glad it wasn't as loud a performance as ehbenoit heard (I say this assuming it was a different one). The sounds were also not constant or even long, and I could tell when they would come from his movements. I remember Oval being quite unpleasant to hear perform because of the extreme loudness as well as the changing frequencies causing shifting sympathetic vibrations in my body. I didn't leave (I was working during the performance) but was at least able to protect my ears. I don't know if he wanted to harm the audience or not, but I wasn't happy about being there.

audience cover their ears at MBV show.
it's a miracle Kevin Shields isnt deaf yet..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6xZgskezbk&feature=related

i meant this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_po0RTKjsC8&feature=related

gf passed out during you made me realise loud bit. it wasn't punishing, it was a nice loud. noise gigs in basements w/low ceilings and shitty pa speakers are the ones that really do damage imo

noise gigs in basements w/low ceilings and shitty pa speakers are the ones that really do damage imo

yep, like that Unwound show I saw in 1991.

other contenders - Nice Strong Arm circa 1988, Kawabata Makoto at Terrastock 6.

Nice Strong Arm circa 1988

Ach, jealous of this!

but they were so goddamn loud! I remember hiding in the back of the bar. Super nice dudes, they stayed at our house even! I think I saw them twice.

Kawabata Makoto at Terrastock 6

Good lord, that set. I think Elvis Telecom said afterwards "That one separated the living from the dead." (He also indicated the best listening spot was outside, leaning against the wall.)

thats a clip from the Roundhouse shows we did which were (other than an ICA warmup) the first reunion shows. Most of the people who'd seen them in 1992 said 2009 was a lot louder... in fact lots of people on the guestlist laughed when we offered them earplugs saying "Oh i've seen them before." and then ran out 2 songs in to ask for some. It was pretty loud. much louder than any time i've seen Dino.

Okay I'd like to know what the hell the 1992 attendees laughing off earplugs two years back were thinking because Christ on a bike that was goddamn plenty loud enough as it was.

fun fact: every member of MBV has tinnitus

Dino wasnt loud when i saw them back in 2008

I saw one of the MBV reunion shows at Roseland in NYC and it was definitely the loudest show I've ever been to. Never saw them in the '90s ... did see Dino Jr. around the time of Green Mind and it probably gets 2nd place for loudness but the MBV show was like, supernaturally loud. And that's in a much bigger room than where I saw Dino Jr.

i think i've said this before, but J Mascis & The Fog in 2000 was possibly the loudest show i've ever seen. and the one time I saw Dinosaur Jr., in 2005 (in a bigger venue!), it wasn't nearly as loud, if still pretty loud.

noise gigs in basements w/low ceilings and shitty pa speakers are the ones that really do damage imo

pretty sure a Medicine gig @ the Shelter in Detroit (under St. Andrew's Hall) permanently fucked my shit up.

MBV 1992 was so loud

HOW LOUD WERE THEY?

saw DJr 3x 1990-1992 and saw MBV 2x in same period. Both were incredibly loud, I'd give the edge to MBV.

That is to say, I only saw DJr 1990-1992... never before or after.

I did see MBV on one of the reunion gigs a few years back, it was pretty loud but not as much as I remembered (maybe I am deaf from all the shows I went to as a youth).

That is to say, I only saw DJr 1990-1992... never before or after.

I did see MBV on one of the reunion gigs a few years back, it was pretty loud but not as much as I remembered (maybe I am deaf from all the shows I went to as a youth).

The most unexpectedly loud band I ever saw was Broadcast circa NMBP, I think this is discussed on a couple other threads. That was fukkin loud as fukk.

funner discussion would be 2008-era MBV vs original motorhead tour. dino jr is loud, assuredly, but not loud enough that it doesn't surprise me there's an entire discussion about it... p much every 90s grunge act was comparable, methinx

nah, not really

other bands that used feedback as much as Dino Jr. didn't play that loud, no one is ever like "loudest gig ever - MBV vs Sonic Youth"

maybe that's partly cause Dinosaur Jr and MBV toured together though

Dino wasnt loud when i saw them back in 2008

― nostormo, Monday, 19 September 2011 20:09 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

idk, i remember seeing dinosaur at an atp they picked, & i guess because it was after seeing a bunch of other shows/being on your feet all day, it was like just being repeatedly kicked in the face. and they played for ages. i think this is where the delineation between their various kinds of noisiness comes in -- mbv's, which is warm & enveloping & quite immersive*, vs dino's which is kind of more of a racket and spikier & squallier.

* i think one of my first ilx posts is unconsciously quoting a ned interview w/kevin shields, in which he talks about 'stomach loud' or something, in respect to kinda balls-out volume loud versus the kind of thing you feel.

mbv this time around were pretty nutso loud anyway.

https://www.reddit.com/r/shoegaze/comments/1grhhg2/my_parents_were_friends_with_mbv_in_the_90sfrom/

To the thread question. 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. I've got a high tolerance for volume but they were legitimately painful.

i can't take high-pitched treble at all anymore. my ears are too fucked up for it. i saw the band Midnight play in a huge cavernous theatre and all the way up in the balcony their insane in-the-red skreeeeeeee nearly made me pass out. i didn't think i would need ear plugs. their sound was just obnoxious. i mean it sounded like shit and it was so loud. kinda like a noise act. but a noise act that gets to play in a massive old space.

The Body though. in the basement of my store. they were as loud as when i saw Swans in the 90s. they are a really really loud band.

there is no way i could take MBV at this late date. they would kill me. i deejayed a Dino Jr. gig at the basement bar here in town awhile back and i was afraid but they just sounded awesome. not sickening. they had a lot of family there. maybe they didn't want to kill their families. they are a band who i think has just gotten so good at what they do. it sounds really cool and they can probably do it forever a la neil young.

First time I saw Dinosaur was at the Cat's Cradle and I was totally unprepared for how loud it was. Of course I got there early and stood directly in front of J. That was/is (?) a small place in a strip mall. I mean seriously really in front of J and his 3 full stacks. I'm lucky I can still hear anything.

I remember MBV being loud, but not painfully so. They gave everyone earplugs on the way in, I don't remember it being a suggestion either lol. Also I wasn't anywhere near the front of the stage that time. Anyone else see their ATP in the Catskills in 2008? That was a fun time, probably the most fun I've ever had at a "festival."

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.

Mogwai has still been the loudest show i've ever heard. closed their show with "My Father, My King" and i remember the ringing didn't stop until late in the following day.

given that, i fully expected the Dino Jr show i saw (Scott, maybe it was that show you're referring to!) to beat the Mogwai one but it was great and kind to my ears.

Yeah most times I’ve seen Mogwai they’ve been apocalyptically loud, ironically the best was on the last tour when noise regs meant they had to turn it down

Killing Joke, 1982.

Acid Mothers Temple is probably the loudest I've seen

I saw two out of the three nights of the Loveless tour. You made me realize was amped up. They were so much louder in 2018. It was so loud that I was plugging my ears, that was when somebody gave me earplugs. They turned it up after every song, it was nuts. I also saw Dinosaur Jr. In November of 1994 and that was also ear crushing loud.

I think my loudest show was Built to Spill at Slims in San Francisco - 1997?

Raves were louder and I spent one and a half chasing them in and around LA
warehouses. My hearing is shot bur probably should be worse as I never wore plugs.

Xp Matt, small world/nation! Yeah that day was a stinker!!! I’d just graduated high school, booked my ticket, flew down, met someone from the internet at the front gate and then begged a security guard to let me in because I was still 17 haha. The purple official mbv shirt and black bootleg mbv shirt I bought on the day still get a lot of wear. You’ve made me realise I might have undersold the volume. 15 minutes of You Made Me Realise to finish it all out was definitely testing my tolerance after a long day hah

Deerhoof is my recent painful live experience. God I couldn’t stand any more of it by the end, very much come to the acceptance that I rarely need “that” sort of music. + My eyes nearly rolled out of my skull every time the drummer stopped the set to do the worst standup routine of all time

I’ve seen really loud shows and Mogwai like 3 times but I’ve never really experienced that sublime religious violent loudness that I read about here.. Sonic Youth in the late 00s was probably the loudest but it was a lot of high pitched feedback. Great show but the loudness didn’t alter my consciousness or anything.

My dad saw Neil Young and Crazy Horse in the early 90s and said it was so loud that it scared him, that’s the kind of shit I want lol.

Sunn O))) was the most powerful body-vibrating noise I’ve experienced

Not sure if I mentioned this anywhere upthread but I saw MBV and Dino Jr on February 19, 1992 in Orlando, Florida. MBV seemed like the louder band, but then they did play first and they used feedback and noise more than Dino Jr did. The volume didn’t bother me that night, I was young and just enjoying everything.

seen sunn o))), mbv and dinosaur jr
sunn o))) was the most loud

but I guess also the smallest venue

loudest/best: Unwound, Kawabata Makoto solo @ Terrastock 2008
loudest/worst: Nice Strong Arm circa 1987, Gary Numan circa 2013

(Unwound show was in a tiny basement, right before Fake Train but after Sara had joined)

Hüsker Dü 1985 were pretty loud

Buzzcocks FOC were ridiculously loud at Dingwalls. Painful.

In the early aughts they used to say Black Dice were the loudest band ever but I saw them once and didn’t feel they were uncomfortably loud.

Sunno))) is a very specific kind of loud, well mixed, not a lot of sharp painful treble. Definitely need plugs, but a very unique sort of discomfort. As opposed to a couple of early High on Fire shows I saw, or I want to say Mogwai. Though honestly, a couple of the louder shows I saw were arena shows by Nine Inch Nails and Metallica.

Loudest of the loud for me would be Manowar 1984 vs Motörhead any time, indie kids can't compete with that sorry

picture i took of swans at limelight. i was standing directly in front of the huge speakers on the left side of the stage. kinda god-like. i did not care about ears back then apparently. it was massive. ted parsons was massive.

https://scontent-bos5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/10014149_10152989872817137_1844411752821021782_o.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=a74216&_nc_ohc=c_rHlK5uM0MQ7kNvgFi-fWK&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-bos5-1.xx&_nc_gid=AT4Q1VZjkU2GRV1NJy9bvSG&oh=00_AYDia43YN_WGZZu9LARj7A1bkjfJ_ilcV90CnAJ_he2gCA&oe=67609641

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.