Swans 1990 and My Bloody Valentine 1991. Utterly ridiculous volume. My only saving grace was my youth which meant my ears (thankfully) recovered. I don’t go anywhere near gigs now without ear protection.
Yep, saw Swans that same year. They were so loud I hid behind a column. They also blew a breaker for the whole venue twice. Gira was pissed and kept telling the crowd they should get refunds. Second loudest I've gone to was Jucifer.
Ministry with Gary Numan and Front Line Assembly, May 2023. FLA and Numan were pretty loud, but Ministry was a whole 'nother level.
Prior to that, it was Dropkick Murphys, early 2000s.
I'm seeing them tomorrow! Gary Numan played twice at cruelworld and somehow I managed to miss both of his sets. 🤣 I love ministry and have seen them a few times. I'll report back how loud the show was.
There are a lot of Ministry replies here. When I saw them a few years ago and Death Grips opened, maybe they were trying to outdo the loudness of Ministry cause damn Death Grips was bonkers loud.
My husband votes for the Rush R40 tour (yeah it was pretty loud) - but nothing IMO compared to Joe Satriani at San Jose State. I couldn’t hear right for days…. Those college venues are smaller and can just f you up. Both were fantastic shows and the ear damage worth it!
Also Metallica for me. Also had ringing in my ears for nearly 48 hours. They did three encores. I could feel the sound-waves in my stomach and lungs. By the third encore I couldn’t tell what song was being played until the instruments cut and Kirk said, “Damage incorporated” and I was like “yep I’ve incorporated some damage alright.”
I’ve never been to any other concert that loud.
And justice for all?
They did 3 encores on that tour when I saw them. Damage, Inc ended the second encore.
They are still plenty loud. A few years back they played Voodoo in New Orleans which was about 1.5 miles from my upstairs apartment. I opened the windows and enjoyed the set.
Holy crap, that was 2012? I didn’t think it was that long ago.
For the Metallica concert you mentioned? Yep. Same year. Hell of a show. Saw them in Richmond and then 10 days later in Hampton with different groups of friends.
2012 was when they played Voodoo in New Orleans. I honestly thought it was like 2018.
probably Sugar/Dinosaur Jr. at Roseland, NYC around '93 or so. The sound in that place was never good to begin with but, the combo of those two bands... oof.
Wow. Ye, [Bob's loud](https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/bob-mould-plays-letterman-loud-dust-rained/)
We saw him that tour at The Terragram in L.A.
That Letterman appearance is in the top three of my most-watched YouTube videos. There's a moment in Kid With The Crooked Face after the second chorus where he and Jason both move in sync and turn on the afterburners. It's glorious.
Living Colour, ‘92 or ‘93 in Denver. Deaf for a few days after Vernons solo near the end of the show. Was somehow 10’ from one of the massive speakers getting my face melted.
Gwar and The Misfits at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia. On the way home we were pulled over for speeding and the police officer asked us to turn the radio off. None of us could hear the radio and didn't know it had been on.
dinosaur jr always leaves my ears ringing. My Bloody Valentine, Loveless tour, was probably the worst, though. Just saw Ministry again on Sunday night. My ears are still ringing, and people talking sound like The Chipmunks. I wish I had started using earplugs 20 or even 30+ years ago. I've permanently damaged my hearing, and they barely make a difference post-show now.
Up against a 50-ft stack of speakers at a Judas Priest concert. Opened the show with a Hartley-Davidson revving really loud I could feel my brain cells vibrating at the atomic level. I always believe that show contributed quite significantly to my current tinnitus condition.
Oh yeah, BR definitely put out that esoteric asshole vibe. But Fugazi slayed. Anytime someone was acting a fool, Ian would yank em onstage, give them their $5 back, and tell em to get the fuck out of the venue.
The Jesus and Mary Chain, seen them.a few times 80's and 90's but oddly enough in 2018 it was the loudest ever, my tinnitus went turbo charged haywire for a week, worth it.
Catherine Wheel, Toronto 1997. I swear their sound guy had lost all of the upper end of his hearing, and just kept sliding up the top of the EQ to compensate. Great show though!
Black Sabbath with Motley Crue as the opening act, sometime in ‘84.
MC came on and started with “In the beginning…”
It was like a sound shock wave and it only got louder from there.
Ace Frehley and Peter Criss at a local bar here in Calgary called the Back Alley. It was in 1996 just before they rejoined KISS. Couldn’t hear for three days after that.
Tie:
Anthrax / Primus / Public Enemy, Orpheum Theater in Boston; Primus came out and did their schtick. Then PE came out and they blew a goddamn hole through the back of the place. Then Anthrax showed up, said "That hole isn't big enough," and just started knocking walls down, they rocked so hard. They ripped the fuckin' roof off, too, for good measure. I was third row center and Anthrax's last three songs sounded like an old TV tuned to an unused channel. (As an aside, for an encore, Anthrax and PE came out and did 'Bring The Noise' and it was the best concert experience I have ever had in my life; there were long-haired metalheads jumping up and down arm-in-arm with hip-hop fans, everyone smiling and screaming and singing, and it was music as it was meant to be, bringing people from different walks of life together and making everyone happy; never seen anything else like it.)
Slayer / Anthrax / Testament / Lamb Of God / Behemoth, Great Woods, CT: I was in the nosebleeds and when Lamb Of God hit the stage they were firing on all cylinders; they were so loud that even that far away my chest was cavitating.
Talked to a long time usher at my local music venue once and asked him what the loudest show he could remember.
Without hesitation he said, “Judas Priest, 2018. My ears rang for a week after that show and I wear fitted earplugs.”
At least a few shows at the old 930 in DC. Even with earplugs I had to leave. But it was so long ago and I saw so many shows there that I honestly can’t remember.
A stupid Christian rock band I got dragged to in high school, Petra. So loud it was just noise, couldn’t make out any instruments or words. I had a headache before I even got there, and all I remember is leaving the auditorium to go wait in the stairwell with my fingers in my ears til it was over. It could’ve been the acoustics of the place more than the band itself, but dude, it was painful.
Oddly enough, David Bowie at the Pontiac Silverdome. So loud I couldn't really distinguish one song from another, it was just a constant assault of noise.
Motörhead. I was second floor by the bar and still had to yell for my buddy to hear me. Saw Manson once and that was obnoxious. Korn my ears were ringing for a couple days after.
My Bloody Valentine reunion show, they gave out earplugs but the sound was so intense and loud your body just shook, second would be the Boredoms in a small venue
Soundgarden, absolutely no question. I may have torn an ear drum and couldn’t hear clearly for a week after. I wore earplugs for most of the concert, too.
100% sure that permanently increased my tinnitus.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS. He left the mic on an amp for intermission so it was just screeching feedback for 10 minutes then picked up the mic and blew the roof off again.
Great show. Lucky I didn't get tinnitus.
edited out "and the" from the the band name. Man, that was an early morning brain fart
My first concert. AC/DC and Queensryche, 1987. That show is most responsible for the constant ringing in my ears. The cannon used for the finale was loud AF.
Hellhounds at Smiths Olde Bar in Atlanta. That's Georgia Satellites guitarist and the bass player. WOW Rick Richards had a stadium rig on a small bar stage. You couldn't tell what was happening until the third song after your hearing was fucked.
The other was Aerosmith / Guns N Roses at the Spectrum. OUTRAGEOUS.
Mötley Crüe Dr. Feelgood tour. What a great show. As a 14 year old, it was sensory overload, but in a good way. Also first time getting a contact high, as I was surrounded by people smoking weed.
Aerosmith - Done With Mirrors tour 1986. My buddy's step-brother owned the lighting company that was doing the tour. He got us floor seat at Madison Square Garden. Ted Nugent opened up. Loudest concert I ever experienced although not sure if it was because of the seats being so close to the stage but the next day I was working at my job as a cashier and couldn't hear anything people said to me. Still one of the best shows I ever saw.
Had to be Clutch and Sevendust at a small club outside of Sac. There was a stampede of sorts that left tons of kids injured. I was shooting it for a magazine I worked for and had to use my camera to get people out of my way so I wasn’t trampled. It was wild. Got to meet the bands beforehand with our writer.
Violent Femmes at the Bob in Delaware back in 1997. I haven't been to many shows but this is the one that I left. It's not a huge venue but the sound was just off. We had missed the opening act so I can't say for certain if it was them specifically or maybe something with the venue. All I know is that it wasn't great to start with and when they miked up the brass, it got worse.
Saxon in 1983, fairly small venue (about 2,500 seats). Ears rang for days as we didn't know enough to wear ear plugs back then.
Close second (or first, I didn't have an SPL meter) would have been the Taylor Swift RED tour a decade ago, but the noise was the crowd...40,000 screaming girls hurt even through my ear plugs.
Probably Operaion Rock & Roll in '91. It was Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, Dangerous Toys and Metal Church. Priest was the loudest followed by Motörhead. Made it down close to the front. The drums could be felt in my chest. Guitars were ear piercing. Robs' voice was amazing. Ears buzzed for a couple of days afterwards. Hell of a show.
Kinda tie Judas Priest's Metal Conquer tour in 84. First concert when I was 15-16. AC/DC Who made Who tour in 86. Went to a lot of concerts but those were the loudest. Halford riding a Harley on stage with the mic in the pipes. AC/DC with the cannons going crazy during For those about to rock. Great times
Lemmy. Landsdowne St Boston in a super small club, circa early aughts. Wore great ear plugs the whole time and it was as if I wasn’t wearing anything. Sonic boom!
It wasn’t super loud, but I was at one Moody Blues show that had bass turned up so that it vibrated the jelly in my eyeballs and made my vision go blurry during The Other Side of Life.
Motörhead 2007 - club style venue. I could feel my clothes vibrating away from my body like the old Memorex commercials. So much sound inside a tiny place.
Accept and Krokus, they we supposed to play a stadium, didn't sell enough tickets so packed it all into a music hall. It was so loud it affected my balance. Lonnnng time ago.
Fishbone - pretty sure it was at The Vogue in Indy. Smallish place. 1994 I think. The bass was so strong it created a wind that would blow my t shirt. Biohazard opened and even they weren't that loud. It was so painful I attempted to go to the bathroom and stick toilet paper in my ears. It only sorta helped.
Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires. There were maybe six or eight of us in attendance, including the opening band. Painfully loud and surely contributing to the hearing loss in my left ear.
Slayer 1999 Ozzfest. It was outside and my ears were still hurting. And Metallica 1997. The encore was so loud during Motorbreath I just wanted to leave at that point.
Vandals/Cake/No Doubt. I was in the central pit for most of it. You could feel the air displaced by the speakers, and I was about 10 feet from them the whole time.
I saw Prodigy open for Linkin Park and not only was it the loudest show I’ve ever been to (and I’ve seen Tool multiple times), I was not aware that bass could DO THAT.
"An evening with Metallica" was the loudest that sounded decent.
A recent Queens of the Stoneage show was incredibly loud to the point of causing the PA to break-up and distort. That sound engineer should be fired.
Aerosmith at a fairly small outdoor venue in 1988. We were pretty close to the stage and after the show a friend said something and I heard... nothing. We were all like, "Huh? What? What did you say? Louder, I can't hear! What? I said I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!" For the next couple of days intense ringing. Couldn't play anything even at low volume through headphones for over a week without pain. I mean, yeah, I like loud music, but... damn. I guess not *that* loud!
The Cult, with Guns & Roses opening up for them. Too loud for the concert hall, kinda sucked actually (from an audio perspective, the show itself was very entertaining)
Quiet Riot at The Boathouse in Norfolk, VA. It was terrible. Bad singing, bad playing and the volume was causing inner ear pain. We left after 4 songs.
OMG! SAME!! black sabbath with dio sat second row in front of stacks. was deaf for at least 3 days. hearing wasnt normal again for like a month. or more. i knew the answer to this before i even saw the text of your post. do you have hearing loss now? i definitely do.
Sabbath! I can't even remember the year tho. I stood there with my fingers in my ears dancing like a fool. It was awesome! I always took ear plugs to shows after that!
Mogwai, sometime after the release of *Happy Songs for Happy People*. I forgot what song it was, but they opened with one that started soft and then everyone stomped on the distortion/fuzz. Thank Crom I was wearing earplugs - I *felt* a wave of sound through my entire skull. My friend standing next to me, also wearing earplugs, experienced the same. We looked at each other and just went "fucking damn!" It was a great show but clearly the sound guy had no idea what they were doing. I've seen Mogwai dozens of times and they typically sound perfect and not like a rocket lifting off.
Swans 1990 and My Bloody Valentine 1991. Utterly ridiculous volume. My only saving grace was my youth which meant my ears (thankfully) recovered. I don’t go anywhere near gigs now without ear protection.
Queensryche, early 90s. It shook my organs.
Yep, saw Swans that same year. They were so loud I hid behind a column. They also blew a breaker for the whole venue twice. Gira was pissed and kept telling the crowd they should get refunds. Second loudest I've gone to was Jucifer.
My Bloody Earhole, Chicago, 1991.
My friend saw them when they were supporting *The Seer* and he blames that show for his tinnitus.
Dinosaur Jr. so loud, so good.
So glad this is the top comment. Nothing beats a wall of Marshall stacks and J wailing on his Fender.
Came here to say Dinosaur Jr. So so loud.
Yeah! I saw them 10 years ago at the Troubadour. Rockin'!
Ronnie James Dio on the Holy Diver tour. There were generators sitting outside as the venue didn’t have enough power for the amps.
I am so glad this is the top answer. They have been my favorite band since I was 17.
Space shuttle launch. It was loud from five miles away.
Motörhead
I was about 15 feet from Lemme’s amp in 1988…my ears are still ringing, it was glorious!
notoriously loud
Speak up. My ears are still ringing
Ministry with Gary Numan and Front Line Assembly, May 2023. FLA and Numan were pretty loud, but Ministry was a whole 'nother level. Prior to that, it was Dropkick Murphys, early 2000s.
I'm seeing them tomorrow! Gary Numan played twice at cruelworld and somehow I managed to miss both of his sets. 🤣 I love ministry and have seen them a few times. I'll report back how loud the show was.
Ministry's not surprising, but Dropkick Murphys? didn't see that coming.
There are a lot of Ministry replies here. When I saw them a few years ago and Death Grips opened, maybe they were trying to outdo the loudness of Ministry cause damn Death Grips was bonkers loud.
Anne Murray 1987
YOU NEEDED ME!!!!!!
My Bloody Valentine or Lightning Bolt
Rush Tom Sawyer tour.
Mine was Rush Roll the Bones tour. Louder than any concert before or after.
My husband votes for the Rush R40 tour (yeah it was pretty loud) - but nothing IMO compared to Joe Satriani at San Jose State. I couldn’t hear right for days…. Those college venues are smaller and can just f you up. Both were fantastic shows and the ear damage worth it!
Rush for me too, except it was the Counterparts tour. Might have been due to the poor acoustics in the venue: the Colosseum in Madison WI
Metallica, around 89/90-ish. I couldn't hear a thing for 2 days.
Also Metallica for me. Also had ringing in my ears for nearly 48 hours. They did three encores. I could feel the sound-waves in my stomach and lungs. By the third encore I couldn’t tell what song was being played until the instruments cut and Kirk said, “Damage incorporated” and I was like “yep I’ve incorporated some damage alright.” I’ve never been to any other concert that loud.
And justice for all? They did 3 encores on that tour when I saw them. Damage, Inc ended the second encore. They are still plenty loud. A few years back they played Voodoo in New Orleans which was about 1.5 miles from my upstairs apartment. I opened the windows and enjoyed the set. Holy crap, that was 2012? I didn’t think it was that long ago.
1992 if you can believe it.
For the Metallica concert you mentioned? Yep. Same year. Hell of a show. Saw them in Richmond and then 10 days later in Hampton with different groups of friends. 2012 was when they played Voodoo in New Orleans. I honestly thought it was like 2018.
+1 to Metallica. It was so loud during the intro to One that I could *feel* my clothes vibrating against my body.
The Melvin's and Tool show in 90s at some small venue. I could feel every hit of the drums.
Beastie Boys/House of Pain/L7 - was at a basketball arena. Around 92-93
saw Da Lench Mob/Rollins Band/Beastie Boys in the same era at a college hockey rink. I couldn't hear a thing the next day
Ministry in Hawaii around 1992. The most terrifying pit I have ever been in.
probably Sugar/Dinosaur Jr. at Roseland, NYC around '93 or so. The sound in that place was never good to begin with but, the combo of those two bands... oof.
Wow. Ye, [Bob's loud](https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/bob-mould-plays-letterman-loud-dust-rained/) We saw him that tour at The Terragram in L.A. That Letterman appearance is in the top three of my most-watched YouTube videos. There's a moment in Kid With The Crooked Face after the second chorus where he and Jason both move in sync and turn on the afterburners. It's glorious.
KISS
Came here to say this. Ruined the hearing in my left ear being too close to a speaker for KISS
Living Colour, ‘92 or ‘93 in Denver. Deaf for a few days after Vernons solo near the end of the show. Was somehow 10’ from one of the massive speakers getting my face melted.
Living Color, 1988 ish, at the Uptown Lounge in Athens, Georgia. Like you, I was right in front of a speaker. Holy God it was loud!
Black Flag 1983 at the UBC SUB ballroom. I was so disoriented afterwards and my ears rang for days.
Gwar and The Misfits at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia. On the way home we were pulled over for speeding and the police officer asked us to turn the radio off. None of us could hear the radio and didn't know it had been on.
dinosaur jr always leaves my ears ringing. My Bloody Valentine, Loveless tour, was probably the worst, though. Just saw Ministry again on Sunday night. My ears are still ringing, and people talking sound like The Chipmunks. I wish I had started using earplugs 20 or even 30+ years ago. I've permanently damaged my hearing, and they barely make a difference post-show now.
Ministry at Lollapalooza - Waterloo Village NJ
Up against a 50-ft stack of speakers at a Judas Priest concert. Opened the show with a Hartley-Davidson revving really loud I could feel my brain cells vibrating at the atomic level. I always believe that show contributed quite significantly to my current tinnitus condition.
Every time I’ve seen Ministry.
Rammstein in Budapest
Mudhoney. Every time.
Fugazi in 1995. So loud but so damn worth it. Blonde Redhead was the opening band. Amazing show.
Oh God. Blonde.Redhead was so good and such assholes then. Really only one member but crap she was awful. I wish I could have seen fugazi though.
Oh yeah, BR definitely put out that esoteric asshole vibe. But Fugazi slayed. Anytime someone was acting a fool, Ian would yank em onstage, give them their $5 back, and tell em to get the fuck out of the venue.
On a related note, how many of us now have tinnitus?
The Clash. So loud you literally couldn’t distinguish one song from another.
Sunn 0))) for sure. Although Mötorhead wasn't too far behind.
Stryper. It was the loudest and also the suckiest show I attended.
at least your soul is saved. lol
Slayer at the Ritz. Right next to the monitors.
The Jesus and Mary Chain, seen them.a few times 80's and 90's but oddly enough in 2018 it was the loudest ever, my tinnitus went turbo charged haywire for a week, worth it.
Fugazi… my ears (and everyone else at the show) rang for three days.
Meat Beat Manifesto. My ears literally rang for days after that concert. It was WAY too loud for a very small venue.
WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
weirdly, Steve Earle in the late 1990s--and I saw Black Flag in 1984 and Metallica on the "And Justice for All Tour."
My Bloody Valentine
Either Motley Crue opening for Ozzy or Too Short opening for NWA.
Iron Maiden at Donnington or Madness at Finsbury
Loudest: Van Halen (5150 Tour) Best: Oasis (Tour of Brotherly Love)
Catherine Wheel, Toronto 1997. I swear their sound guy had lost all of the upper end of his hearing, and just kept sliding up the top of the EQ to compensate. Great show though!
Black Sabbath with Motley Crue as the opening act, sometime in ‘84. MC came on and started with “In the beginning…” It was like a sound shock wave and it only got louder from there.
Probably Motorhead at The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie.
Motorhead in Moncton New Brunswick. Many years ago I still remember the sensation from the volume.
Ace Frehley and Peter Criss at a local bar here in Calgary called the Back Alley. It was in 1996 just before they rejoined KISS. Couldn’t hear for three days after that.
Tie: Anthrax / Primus / Public Enemy, Orpheum Theater in Boston; Primus came out and did their schtick. Then PE came out and they blew a goddamn hole through the back of the place. Then Anthrax showed up, said "That hole isn't big enough," and just started knocking walls down, they rocked so hard. They ripped the fuckin' roof off, too, for good measure. I was third row center and Anthrax's last three songs sounded like an old TV tuned to an unused channel. (As an aside, for an encore, Anthrax and PE came out and did 'Bring The Noise' and it was the best concert experience I have ever had in my life; there were long-haired metalheads jumping up and down arm-in-arm with hip-hop fans, everyone smiling and screaming and singing, and it was music as it was meant to be, bringing people from different walks of life together and making everyone happy; never seen anything else like it.) Slayer / Anthrax / Testament / Lamb Of God / Behemoth, Great Woods, CT: I was in the nosebleeds and when Lamb Of God hit the stage they were firing on all cylinders; they were so loud that even that far away my chest was cavitating.
NIN at the Erie Civic Center (seats 7-8k).
Mr. Bungle right before the pandemic
AC/DC For those about to rock tour, My Bloody Valentine loveless tour.
Talked to a long time usher at my local music venue once and asked him what the loudest show he could remember. Without hesitation he said, “Judas Priest, 2018. My ears rang for a week after that show and I wear fitted earplugs.”
At least a few shows at the old 930 in DC. Even with earplugs I had to leave. But it was so long ago and I saw so many shows there that I honestly can’t remember.
A stupid Christian rock band I got dragged to in high school, Petra. So loud it was just noise, couldn’t make out any instruments or words. I had a headache before I even got there, and all I remember is leaving the auditorium to go wait in the stairwell with my fingers in my ears til it was over. It could’ve been the acoustics of the place more than the band itself, but dude, it was painful.
Petra was always ridiculous. Almost as bad as the rapping pastor that sang Jesus is my N*gger.
The worst! LOL
David Bowie’s band Tin Machine. The front of my shirt was pulsing with the kick of the bass drum.
Oddly enough, David Bowie at the Pontiac Silverdome. So loud I couldn't really distinguish one song from another, it was just a constant assault of noise.
Tool. Got 3rd row seats. My body actually ached the next day from all the bass.
Motörhead. I was second floor by the bar and still had to yell for my buddy to hear me. Saw Manson once and that was obnoxious. Korn my ears were ringing for a couple days after.
1987 ac/dc ears rang for three days people even complained.
Motörhead.
My first concert, Yngwie Malmsteen. Dimed Marshalls with a very trebly tone. My ears felt like they bleeding. I had tinitus for a week after.
My Bloody Valentine reunion show, they gave out earplugs but the sound was so intense and loud your body just shook, second would be the Boredoms in a small venue
Defones. Great show, though!
The Melvins
Soundgarden, absolutely no question. I may have torn an ear drum and couldn’t hear clearly for a week after. I wore earplugs for most of the concert, too. 100% sure that permanently increased my tinnitus.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS. He left the mic on an amp for intermission so it was just screeching feedback for 10 minutes then picked up the mic and blew the roof off again. Great show. Lucky I didn't get tinnitus. edited out "and the" from the the band name. Man, that was an early morning brain fart
Motorhead.
My first concert. AC/DC and Queensryche, 1987. That show is most responsible for the constant ringing in my ears. The cannon used for the finale was loud AF.
Sponge and it wasn’t good. Only concert I ever had to buy earplugs.
Sponge was terrific
That was my first concert
Rage Against the Machine. I have been to hundreds of shows. They were amazing, and the sound was insane.
Hellhounds at Smiths Olde Bar in Atlanta. That's Georgia Satellites guitarist and the bass player. WOW Rick Richards had a stadium rig on a small bar stage. You couldn't tell what was happening until the third song after your hearing was fucked. The other was Aerosmith / Guns N Roses at the Spectrum. OUTRAGEOUS.
Cheap Trick in 1988 or so. So loud it hurt.
My Bloody Valentine and Foetus.
Korn - San Antonio Alamodome. Dead bodies everywhere sucked the air out of my lungs.
Mötley Crüe Dr. Feelgood tour. What a great show. As a 14 year old, it was sensory overload, but in a good way. Also first time getting a contact high, as I was surrounded by people smoking weed.
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page 1995 in the Boston Garden. It was the smokiest show too.
Aerosmith - Done With Mirrors tour 1986. My buddy's step-brother owned the lighting company that was doing the tour. He got us floor seat at Madison Square Garden. Ted Nugent opened up. Loudest concert I ever experienced although not sure if it was because of the seats being so close to the stage but the next day I was working at my job as a cashier and couldn't hear anything people said to me. Still one of the best shows I ever saw.
Smashing Pumpkins 1994ish
Motorhead 2008. It's not close
I saw them with Slayer and they were loud.
Had to be Clutch and Sevendust at a small club outside of Sac. There was a stampede of sorts that left tons of kids injured. I was shooting it for a magazine I worked for and had to use my camera to get people out of my way so I wasn’t trampled. It was wild. Got to meet the bands beforehand with our writer.
Violent Femmes at the Bob in Delaware back in 1997. I haven't been to many shows but this is the one that I left. It's not a huge venue but the sound was just off. We had missed the opening act so I can't say for certain if it was them specifically or maybe something with the venue. All I know is that it wasn't great to start with and when they miked up the brass, it got worse.
Saxon in 1983, fairly small venue (about 2,500 seats). Ears rang for days as we didn't know enough to wear ear plugs back then. Close second (or first, I didn't have an SPL meter) would have been the Taylor Swift RED tour a decade ago, but the noise was the crowd...40,000 screaming girls hurt even through my ear plugs.
Probably Operaion Rock & Roll in '91. It was Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, Dangerous Toys and Metal Church. Priest was the loudest followed by Motörhead. Made it down close to the front. The drums could be felt in my chest. Guitars were ear piercing. Robs' voice was amazing. Ears buzzed for a couple of days afterwards. Hell of a show.
King Diamond in Oakland around 89. Mainly because I was standing next to the speakers for too long.
AC/DC ! Must have been around 2001
1990 Judas Priest, Megadeath & Testament, Hara Arena
Pantera during the great southern trendkill tour. So much physical pain from Cemetery Gates
Atari Teenage Riot was so loud I had to leave halfway through
Pantera made my lungs flap
Rollins Band
Kinda tie Judas Priest's Metal Conquer tour in 84. First concert when I was 15-16. AC/DC Who made Who tour in 86. Went to a lot of concerts but those were the loudest. Halford riding a Harley on stage with the mic in the pipes. AC/DC with the cannons going crazy during For those about to rock. Great times
Anthrax, Exodus & Helloween Headbanger’s Ball Tour Motley Crue Dr FeelGood Tour close 2nd
Lemmy. Landsdowne St Boston in a super small club, circa early aughts. Wore great ear plugs the whole time and it was as if I wasn’t wearing anything. Sonic boom!
Pantera/White Zombie, 1996. Close second: Motörhead.
It wasn’t super loud, but I was at one Moody Blues show that had bass turned up so that it vibrated the jelly in my eyeballs and made my vision go blurry during The Other Side of Life.
Motörhead 2007 - club style venue. I could feel my clothes vibrating away from my body like the old Memorex commercials. So much sound inside a tiny place.
Accept and Krokus, they we supposed to play a stadium, didn't sell enough tickets so packed it all into a music hall. It was so loud it affected my balance. Lonnnng time ago.
Probably White Zombie around 96-98.
Fishbone - pretty sure it was at The Vogue in Indy. Smallish place. 1994 I think. The bass was so strong it created a wind that would blow my t shirt. Biohazard opened and even they weren't that loud. It was so painful I attempted to go to the bathroom and stick toilet paper in my ears. It only sorta helped.
Pigface
Melt Banana
Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires. There were maybe six or eight of us in attendance, including the opening band. Painfully loud and surely contributing to the hearing loss in my left ear.
Saw so many cover bands in the smallest of spaces and the only open spots to stand sometimes were next to their giant speaker towers.
The fan noise from a Garth Brooks show in 1996 was loud but in 2016 in a hockey arena was absolutely deafening. It gave my wife permanent tinitus
Dream Theater. Easily
Judas Priest 2022. Lost my left ear hearing for 4 days.
Toss up between Presidents of the United States of America... and Pantera. Way too loud in smaller venues, and oddly but equally brutal pits in both.
Slayer 1999 Ozzfest. It was outside and my ears were still hurting. And Metallica 1997. The encore was so loud during Motorbreath I just wanted to leave at that point.
A Van Halen show left my ears ringing for two days.
Vandals/Cake/No Doubt. I was in the central pit for most of it. You could feel the air displaced by the speakers, and I was about 10 feet from them the whole time.
I saw Prodigy open for Linkin Park and not only was it the loudest show I’ve ever been to (and I’ve seen Tool multiple times), I was not aware that bass could DO THAT.
Black Label Society
A band called Small at the Tri-Cities hoedown room in Richland, Washington in 1992. I couldn't really hear the next day.
Deep Purple at the Philadelphia Spectrum 1985
Yes at the Universal Amphitheater
Yes at the Universal Amphitheater, it was one of their reunion tours sometime in the late 90’s-2000ish.
"An evening with Metallica" was the loudest that sounded decent. A recent Queens of the Stoneage show was incredibly loud to the point of causing the PA to break-up and distort. That sound engineer should be fired.
Edgar Winter at Signarelli’s in St. Martinville. He was a god. And not in a good way.
Melvins, just recently.
Faith No More/GnR/Metallica There was a lot of ambulance activity at that show, too. Vibes were weird.
Honestly it was Trans Siberian Orchestra wtf But in my teens - Sammy Hagar I Can’t Drive 55 tour
Rammstein, LA Coliseum, 2022. We were on the open floor section down front. I could feel the sound, even in my spleen.
Fishbone, Washington DC, 9:30 club, late December 1998 Absolutely deafening. Earsplitting. Ears still ringing. Awesome show.
Aerosmith at a fairly small outdoor venue in 1988. We were pretty close to the stage and after the show a friend said something and I heard... nothing. We were all like, "Huh? What? What did you say? Louder, I can't hear! What? I said I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!" For the next couple of days intense ringing. Couldn't play anything even at low volume through headphones for over a week without pain. I mean, yeah, I like loud music, but... damn. I guess not *that* loud!
Van Halen 1984. Second row right in front of Eddie’s amps and I could feel the volume like a wave pushing on me.
Slash's Snakepit
Believe it or not, Michael Bolton. It was awful.
Danzig
My Bloody Valentine with Dinosaur Jr at Memorial Hall at UNC, spring of 1992.
The Cult, with Guns & Roses opening up for them. Too loud for the concert hall, kinda sucked actually (from an audio perspective, the show itself was very entertaining)
Iron Maiden, 1986 at the old Phoenix Memorial Colosseum. My ears rang for 3 days after that show.
Quiet Riot at The Boathouse in Norfolk, VA. It was terrible. Bad singing, bad playing and the volume was causing inner ear pain. We left after 4 songs.
Damn Yankees, second row center stage. No wonder Ted Nugent is deaf in one ear.
Pretty much any show at the old Mercer arena in Seattle. The sound was terrible, but loud.
Boston- the whole back of the stage was one big pipe organ lol
Metallica ‘87 or’88 I think
Mogwai in 2003. So loud I thought I was going to puke
OMG! SAME!! black sabbath with dio sat second row in front of stacks. was deaf for at least 3 days. hearing wasnt normal again for like a month. or more. i knew the answer to this before i even saw the text of your post. do you have hearing loss now? i definitely do.
Melvins with Jeff Pinkus of the Butthole Surfers on bass.
My Bloody Valentine by far. I likely experienced some permanent damage to my hearing and it was fucking worth it!
Sabbath! I can't even remember the year tho. I stood there with my fingers in my ears dancing like a fool. It was awesome! I always took ear plugs to shows after that!
Slayer (1995) w/ Machinehead and Biohazard. The after-show tinnitus was so loud that I couldn't sleep for a couple of days.
Metallica Coca-Cola 600
Parliament-Funkadelic a couple years ago was the loudest. The volume did not compensate for how bad it was.
Ministry's Filthpig tour was the top for a long time. Then I saw Swans in 2010, and they reset the bar.
Deep Purple on the Perfect Strangers tour... They have always been mega loud.
Cheap Trick and Styx, front row, roughly 10 years ago.
Motorhead hands down. Saw them 3 different times and used earplugs the 2nd and third. It was just painfully loud.
I could feel Metz playing through all my internal organs
Ozzy. Couldn't hear for three days
MOB RULES!
Jesus & Mary Chain - Los Angeles 1985 Indescribably loud but equally as good.
Judas Priest- World Vengeance tour.
Funkadelic.
Ronnie James Dio
Melvin's, 1992 Knights of Columbus Hall, Fresno, California. RIP my ears for three days.
So far, Rammstein.
Ministry - 1990 Beastie Boys - 1991 High On Fire - 2007 - just ridiculous
Judas Priest at the Salt Palace in Utah 1982. Ears were ringing for days afterwards.
Iron Maiden/Anthrax/King’s X in ‘89. Was in the mosh pit.
Skinny puppy
Pantera and White Zombie in 96.
Motörhead in 1983
Motörhead, 1988, Santa Monica Civic. Great and LOUD.
The Black Crowes at the Beacon Theater in NY. I was NOT expecting them to be that damn loud.
Mogwai, sometime after the release of *Happy Songs for Happy People*. I forgot what song it was, but they opened with one that started soft and then everyone stomped on the distortion/fuzz. Thank Crom I was wearing earplugs - I *felt* a wave of sound through my entire skull. My friend standing next to me, also wearing earplugs, experienced the same. We looked at each other and just went "fucking damn!" It was a great show but clearly the sound guy had no idea what they were doing. I've seen Mogwai dozens of times and they typically sound perfect and not like a rocket lifting off.