I remember a funny story from Paul Simenon from The Clash. He said they were playing a gig somewhere and what can only be described as a homeless man got on the stage and started flaliling about dancing. Simenon was well and truly pissed off at this liberty and kicked him off the stage… then someone told him it was Patti Smith!
Great story Hawksmoor. Still on The Clash, not a particularly loud stadium gig, but I stumbled into their last ever (not of course the original line-up) in the Olympic stadium in Athens, supported by among others The Cure who did a superb set. Fearing the worst because of the Cut The Crap backdrop we were treated to a fantastic night with loads off the first three albums and plenty of dear Joe's wayward ramblings.
At about 2.30 in the morning, with stage lights out and encores done I was working my way to the exits in front of the massive speaker stack when I was blown off my feet by a very loud White Riot. They'd crept back on against all stadium regulations. Still reckon it was the small venues / too loud systems that have really taken their toll though. My hearing seems particularly poor when commentators are telling me how special the atmosphere is at Anfield because I can rarely hear a bloody thing!
Any Prodigy gig I have been to, especially in smaller venues like Cliffs Pavilion Southend
Mine was also at the Cliffs: Echo & The Bunnymen. Not just for the volume but the high pitched screeching too. I can't remember just how long afterwards my ears rang for.
I read a story once about a kid who, hoping to see the show without a ticket, sneaked into a venue before a Deep Purple gig. Whilst he was in there he heard foosteps so he hid underneath the stage. The footsteps turned out to be stagehands who, not knowing he was there, shut the door on him. He remained locked underneath the stage for the whole gig, but never heard anything again.
Went to the second Who gig at the Valley, loud for an open air gig, but not as loud as their indoor gigs. The laser show on Baba O'Reilly was the main memory (delayed by the numpties who climbed the floodlights during the day and messed up the mirrors that the lasers bounced off).
Chap I work with saw the Who at Portsmouth Guildhall in the 70's, it was so loud he was deaf for 3 days. No wonder Townsend is mutt n' jeff.
Obituary upstairs at the Dome in Tufnell Park the first time they played.... first few seconds in and I thought I was going to sH1te myself..... Electric Wizard last year at the Scala was the loudest I'd been to in a while... could actually feel my hat and face vibrating with riffs of Dooooooooom.......
Loudest for me were quite different in venue's and genre - Meatloaf at the NEC 1995 ish.....2 1/2 hours non-stop, Bat out of Hell etc etc. so loud and ears were 'whistling' for a good 24 hours afterwards.
Groundhogs at the Old Lycem Ballroom in the Strand......again early 70's (1972 I think).....now that was rocking!!!
Vinegar Joe (lead singer was Elkie Brookes) and supporting was a certain Mr D Bowie (had never heard of him then).....this was at the Avery Hill Teachers College student hall and it was early 70's......beer was somthing like 30p a pint.......very small venue and a cracking night.....couldnt hear (or walk due to alcohol consumed) for days......still remember all these years later.
I went to see Air at a music festival once held in a large marquee it was pretty difficult to be too far away from the stage. The warm up band was a Japanese noise outfit called Cornelius who's music consisted of industrial levels of feedback. The next day I was somewhat mutton jeff.
The other loud gig I remember was Spear of Destiny way back. A mate was a big fan and insisted we stand in front of the stage.
Great story Hawksmoor. Still on The Clash, not a particularly loud stadium gig, but I stumbled into their last ever (not of course the original line-up) in the Olympic stadium in Athens, supported by among others The Cure who did a superb set. Fearing the worst because of the Cut The Crap backdrop we were treated to a fantastic night with loads off the first three albums and plenty of dear Joe's wayward ramblings.
At about 2.30 in the morning, with stage lights out and encores done I was working my way to the exits in front of the massive speaker stack when I was blown off my feet by a very loud White Riot. They'd crept back on against all stadium regulations. Still reckon it was the small venues / too loud systems that have really taken their toll though. My hearing seems particularly poor when commentators are telling me how special the atmosphere is at Anfield because I can rarely hear a bloody thing!
Apart from This Is England Cut The Crap is an appalling album, I think you'll agree. It says it all when Sparks did a better version of We Are The Clash than The Clash MkII. First of all, Strummer should never, never, ever have sacked Mick Jones (Topper Headon was having all sorts of drug problems, so that was different, although I never liked Terry Chimes' drumming when he returned), but even so, once he did sack Jones, he should have left well alone. At least Strummer redeemed himself with The Mescaleros albums.
I think Joe Strummer later acknowledged that sacking Mick Jones was a mistake, but I don't think that would have saved Cut the Crap, by then they looked and sounded knackered. Definitely a case of one album too many, but the deal they'd signed meant it had to be released - along with a couple of other live albums which crept out after.
Agree with both but thanks for the memories, eh? Strange how they've taken on such god-like status over the last few years, thoroughly deserved but aided no doubt by now-ubiquitous London Calling cover and title track. Whilst never scaling those heights another utterly sincere band (influenced heavily by them) were possibly more consistent without taking such directional chances. Anyone for SLF?
Yep, My Bloody Valentine are the winners. Saw them a couple of years ago for their reunion gig at the Roundhouse. They were handing out free earplugs as you went in (which I foolishly declined!) I stood too near the front as well, went almost deaf in my right ear for a while and had tinitus for weeks after
The encore had about 10 minutes of solid feedback thrash which sounded and felt like the Space Shuttle taking off. Its the loudest thing I've ever heard. Jets, bombs, rockets... none of them have been louder than My Bloody Valentine!
OK, last post off thread, but yeah, I liked SLF, even though Jake Burns' voice could clear a room. I saw them at a Fleadh festival (the one with Bob Dylan and Van Morrison headlining), and SLF were the highlights of the day for me. Bruce Foxton was on bass.
Metallica at the old Hammersmith odeon on the Justice tour. That was f***ing loud, especially being about fifty feet from the stage, with seemingly every part of the backline aimed straight at my head Obituary/Napalm Death at the Astoria blew my eardrums Sepultura at the New Cross Inn (how mad is that?!) were ridiculously loud in a tiny, sweaty, cramped-up venue The absolute loudest though has to be Prong and Godflesh at the Venue. Far, far too small for the PA they used. Was a mammoth wall of sound
Open air, Korn at Download a couple of years ago were punishingly loud (and much better than I expected them to be)
Hendrix and Cream (different dates) at Bromley Court Hotel. But that place was sooooo small that everyone who played there was L O U D
Dream of seeing those two, anywhere, anyplace, any price!....... killer gigs!
Me: Uriah Heep at the Black Prince, They had a saying very humble, very heavy........ A wall of of Marshalls .......
I heard the who concert on my Balcony at Springfield, so must have been a decent set up.
Pink Floyd: Hyde Park, there PA ' rig' I think one of the first was very impressive. After the concert I heard the music through the PA at Centre point above the traffic in Tottenham Court road.....
Was at the Valley for the 2nd Who gig and I don't remember it being really loud, but I was very young at the time (my story and I'm sticking to it).
I was also at the Who gig in Lewisham mentioned above, as it happens.
I saw Motorhead at a holiday camp in the 80's - that was LOUD - environmental health were called in and recorded 70 decibels from the other side of the road to the venue!
Another loud one was Extreme at the NEC Birmingham. Great gig, great band.
I'll be amazed if there's a band out there as loud as Metallica. The great thing about them though is that although it is so loud and heavy, the music is distinguishable.
Incredible live act. Wembley Stadium in 2007 was a different level.
Dillinger Escape Plan at Brixton academy a few years back, proper thrash metal. Andy C at a festival outside of Aberystwyth in mid-wales run by The Rare One
Comments
Great story Hawksmoor. Still on The Clash, not a particularly loud stadium gig, but I stumbled into their last ever (not of course the original line-up) in the Olympic stadium in Athens, supported by among others The Cure who did a superb set. Fearing the worst because of the Cut The Crap backdrop we were treated to a fantastic night with loads off the first three albums and plenty of dear Joe's wayward ramblings.
At about 2.30 in the morning, with stage lights out and encores done I was working my way to the exits in front of the massive speaker stack when I was blown off my feet by a very loud White Riot. They'd crept back on against all stadium regulations. Still reckon it was the small venues / too loud systems that have really taken their toll though. My hearing seems particularly poor when commentators are telling me how special the atmosphere is at Anfield because I can rarely hear a bloody thing!
Mine was also at the Cliffs: Echo & The Bunnymen. Not just for the volume but the high pitched screeching too. I can't remember just how long afterwards my ears rang for.
I read a story once about a kid who, hoping to see the show without a ticket, sneaked into a venue before a Deep Purple gig. Whilst he was in there he heard foosteps so he hid underneath the stage. The footsteps turned out to be stagehands who, not knowing he was there, shut the door on him. He remained locked underneath the stage for the whole gig, but never heard anything again.
Status Quo - Lewisham Odeon 1976....very loud.
Went to the second Who gig at the Valley, loud for an open air gig, but not as loud as their indoor gigs. The laser show on Baba O'Reilly was the main memory (delayed by the numpties who climbed the floodlights during the day and messed up the mirrors that the lasers bounced off).
Chap I work with saw the Who at Portsmouth Guildhall in the 70's, it was so loud he was deaf for 3 days. No wonder Townsend is mutt n' jeff.
Meatloaf at the NEC 1995 ish.....2 1/2 hours non-stop, Bat out of Hell etc etc. so loud and ears were 'whistling' for a good 24 hours afterwards.
Groundhogs at the Old Lycem Ballroom in the Strand......again early 70's (1972 I think).....now that was rocking!!!
Vinegar Joe (lead singer was Elkie Brookes) and supporting was a certain Mr D Bowie (had never heard of him then).....this was at the Avery Hill Teachers College student hall and it was early 70's......beer was somthing like 30p a pint.......very small venue and a cracking night.....couldnt hear (or walk due to alcohol consumed) for days......still remember all these years later.
I went to see Air at a music festival once held in a large marquee it was pretty difficult to be too far away from the stage. The warm up band was a Japanese noise outfit called Cornelius who's music consisted of industrial levels of feedback. The next day I was somewhat mutton jeff.
The other loud gig I remember was Spear of Destiny way back. A mate was a big fan and insisted we stand in front of the stage.
I have hearing damage and tinnitus due to hundreds of gigs, nowadays i see people wearing earplugs at shows over here.
I did see stoner rock legends Sleep a couple of weeks ago, they were shockingly loud but the show was outdoors so the noise dissipated a bit.
Yep, My Bloody Valentine are the winners. Saw them a couple of years ago for their reunion gig at the Roundhouse. They were handing out free earplugs as you went in (which I foolishly declined!) I stood too near the front as well, went almost deaf in my right ear for a while and had tinitus for weeks after
The encore had about 10 minutes of solid feedback thrash which sounded and felt like the Space Shuttle taking off. Its the loudest thing I've ever heard. Jets, bombs, rockets... none of them have been louder than My Bloody Valentine!
was out of my tree that night. what a weekend that was.
Obituary/Napalm Death at the Astoria blew my eardrums
Sepultura at the New Cross Inn (how mad is that?!) were ridiculously loud in a tiny, sweaty, cramped-up venue
The absolute loudest though has to be Prong and Godflesh at the Venue. Far, far too small for the PA they used. Was a mammoth wall of sound
Open air, Korn at Download a couple of years ago were punishingly loud (and much better than I expected them to be)
I was also at the Who gig in Lewisham mentioned above, as it happens.
I saw Motorhead at a holiday camp in the 80's - that was LOUD - environmental health were called in and recorded 70 decibels from the other side of the road to the venue!
Another loud one was Extreme at the NEC Birmingham. Great gig, great band.
Incredible live act. Wembley Stadium in 2007 was a different level.
Andy C at a festival outside of Aberystwyth in mid-wales run by The Rare One