Oh man, definitely The Crash Test Dummies. Shit was ear-splitting, yo.

Followed closely by Tori Amos. When she hits that high note on "Me and a Gun", I thought I was about to go fucking DEAF.

mogwai or my bloody valentine

boris or sunn

recently i saw sex negatives in an underground carpark and that made my head swim. the concrete just bounced the sound around so much it hurt.

roughly in order of loudness

mbv (clearly the winner)
dinosaur jr
boris
mogwai

from there, i'm sure there are a lot of bands who are jumbled in together.


a friend of mine says the early 90s tour that Swans did in Europe was the loudest thing imaginable....the sound made his eyes quiver.

I was at both Glasgow gigs, right beside the PA, but I had earplugs in. I don't think I would hear so good if I hadn't!
I saw them on the Loveless tour when they started doing the "holocaust", but I'm sure it was WAY louder at the reunion gigs (unless I've just gone soft in the meantime!).

I was beside the PA also at that Glasgow show. I didn't wear the earplugs though.

January 28, 1990 - Dallas, TX

Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste Tour

my ears are still ringing.


I saw them open for Skinny Puppy, and honestly, I wasn't that impressed. it would have been better if they just made noise and didn't try to "sing".

The loudest show I've seen that was unaided by a PA system was Electric Wizard. Total majesty.

I've probably said this elsewhere in this thread, but those of you seeking the eye-wobbling effect could do worse than a proper Jungle or Dancehall night.

Listening to Dancehall give me hives.

lightning bolt were pretty loud but some harsh noise bands i saw a while back take the prize. microphone feedback amplified to 11.

Deathroes were pretty damn loud.

Probably gonna get scorned but The Mars Volta.....3 straight hours of them.....yea

I don't think they were singing from what I remember..

I just remember the mice costumes and this one dude had a giant cross he was swinging around. I got wasted and so did my friends and my friend davey grabbed the cross and started throwin it in the air, haha, the band seeemed to love that tho.

it was a fun drunk time, not something I'd buy tho.

Whoa, dude, I didn't know you've been to Hell!!! How is it down there?

My REAL loudest show ever was probably some dumb rave I was dragged to. The bass drum made me feel like i was going to have a heart attack. The only way to cure it was to eat 2 hits of x and grind up against some sweaty bitch.

Rave is where it's at for noise. The problem with noise is that it tends to take place in places with rubbish PAs. Raves tend to have the best PAs, and also the most liberal relationship with hearing/ sanity.

Yeah man, that rave kills any "harsh noise"/"power electronics" show I've ever attended. Not only was it loud as fuck, but it was harsh. Those fucking alvin and the chipmunk pitchshifted, trebly-ass vocals screaming "GET ON DA FUCKIN FLOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!!!!!!!!" with this insane reverb that made the word float out for minutes. It was insane!!!!!!!

acid mothers temple & the cosmic inferno last year in manchester. afterwards i couldn't hear anything!

Pretty amazing....

i saw AMT last night...the 4 piece. good stuff, but my ears didn't unravel. 4th time, too.

Lightning Bolt.

Shannon Wright and Sleater Kinney @ the Highlands in Hollywood Sept 02

that shit was FUCKING LOUD. I could not hear for days, it was like living at the bottom of a pool, me and my girlfriend were straight screaming at each other on Hollywood Blvd just to have conversation..

loud loud loud..

and I have been to some exceptionally loud shows, but that shit was painfully ridiculous..

Boris a few years back were seriously fucking loud, but then again it was in a small club and my first "proper" loud gig experience, so....

Keiji Haino and Merzbow playing together in a church definitely crushed some eyes.

add to that list melt banana and my bloody valentine, not throughout the gig, they slowly intensified the volume during the gig and by the end of it it was deafening....

after that
lightning bolt
!!! and the fall

I was a bit surprised when Dälek (both times I've seen em) or Boris didn't blow my soul off as they've both been touted as wonderfully loud. Boris were loud but didn't exceed the ridiculous level.

the obvious answer, my bloody valentine are fucking loud

slayer were pretty loud

My bloody valentine by far.

Yes, My Bloody Valentine.

Deep Purple don't ask me the year maybe 75 outside and they were up in the 125 decible range

Testicle Hazard a week ago. Not stupidly loud though...

HEALTH.

Sister Iodine

this might sound lame but when i saw MEN play a few months ago at the 9:30 club i almost threw up from the noise level. the sound guys had pumped the bass up way too loud for silly electro pop.

i saw melt-banana the other night. they were pretty damn loud. i'm still sure boadrum 9 was louder and maybe boris were too, but melt-banana are definitely up there.

LOOP were pretty loud - especially in a small venue, but the loudest gig by a long way was SWANS at the ZAP in Brighton. First gig of their UK Holy Money tour.
The PA was the same as they used for the rest of the tour, playing big venues like the Astoria and National Ballroom, but the ZAP in those days was about the size of a double garage. When the bass and drums hit together, it drove all the air from my lungs and I could feel my guts churning. Took about 3 days for my hearing to recover - I was deaf on the train home.

my bloody valentine

Lightningbolt at UCONN....ceiling tile flakes were fallin'