Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen at The Spectrum in Philly. I won front row seats to the show (row 1, seats 1 and 2!). My friend and I ended up getting backstage as well and met Dio and Yngwie's band (Yngwie was nowhere to be found).
Anyway, great guys. Yngwie's singer was "discovered" while singing inside an outhouse! From my vantage point, the concert was LOUD! I mean, Holy crapballs, loud. Shake your pant legs, loud. There must have been a speaker array and subs right below the stage not 15 feet from us. I did not wear earplug back then (I was only 19) but somehow managed not to get tinnitus that night over over the corresponding years (it helped that I started wearing earplugs about 20 years ago). Now I'm a grumpy old man and actually have an SPL app on my phone. A week or so back we went to a baby shower with the family in NY and the DJ had the music pumping. It was averaging 95db in that place. We got out of there pretty quickly.
Anyway, great guys. Yngwie's singer was "discovered" while singing inside an outhouse! From my vantage point, the concert was LOUD! I mean, Holy crapballs, loud. Shake your pant legs, loud. There must have been a speaker array and subs right below the stage not 15 feet from us. I did not wear earplug back then (I was only 19) but somehow managed not to get tinnitus that night over over the corresponding years (it helped that I started wearing earplugs about 20 years ago). Now I'm a grumpy old man and actually have an SPL app on my phone. A week or so back we went to a baby shower with the family in NY and the DJ had the music pumping. It was averaging 95db in that place. We got out of there pretty quickly.
The Hot Tuna concerts in the 1970s were the loudest things I ever heard, or felt. Once at Carnegie Hall, in NYC, the sound was bouncing off the back wall and cracking into the oncoming sound. I could hear Jack's bass in my sternum.
On the drive home, I thought my car's engine had turned silent - I was deafened for about a day afterwards.
I wonder if that's why I have tinnitus today...
Thems was the days, mates.
On the drive home, I thought my car's engine had turned silent - I was deafened for about a day afterwards.
I wonder if that's why I have tinnitus today...
Thems was the days, mates.
Back in the late 60's I was at a club with a band performing with all black Kustom amps and PA. I observed to my friends that night that the band was so loud that I couldn't hear it. The overwhelming "noise" made the instrument's and vocals impossible to break out. Off course, those old Kustom's weren't known for their clarity either.
My first experience with a "band that was so loud I couldn't hear it".
My first experience with a "band that was so loud I couldn't hear it".
Went to see a french funk band which was very fun but OH MY F**k the kick drum was beating everyone in the face and i was 2m above the main desk....
I recorded few songs with my stereo recorder and on the DAW you can see the kickdrum, like 15dB above everything else!
And the bass was so low it was like hearing him from another show...... same as always in France.
I recorded few songs with my stereo recorder and on the DAW you can see the kickdrum, like 15dB above everything else!
And the bass was so low it was like hearing him from another show...... same as always in France.
Been to hundreds of shows in the 80's on. Pressed again subs/mains. Played at absurd volumes in the 80's/90's myself.
Motorhead/Wasp @ the old Ritz in Metro Detroit mid 90's. My guess 400-600 capacity.
As We are approaching the parking lot...Thunder. Large crowd in the lot. Thought the show was sold out.
Walk up, valet/door guys all had ear muffs on. Tried to talk to the door guy I knew.. All I could hear was "see you in a min"?
Opens the door --- WOW...Literally felt like I was smacked in the face and groin. People outside were waiting for their set to be over.
People curled over holding their guts. Some vomiting on the way out..... Managed to order a beer, waitress comes back, beers table to floor in .05 secs..
Managed to stay long enough for them to finish Ace of Spades. Door guy - "wink".
Motorhead/Wasp @ the old Ritz in Metro Detroit mid 90's. My guess 400-600 capacity.
As We are approaching the parking lot...Thunder. Large crowd in the lot. Thought the show was sold out.
Walk up, valet/door guys all had ear muffs on. Tried to talk to the door guy I knew.. All I could hear was "see you in a min"?
Opens the door --- WOW...Literally felt like I was smacked in the face and groin. People outside were waiting for their set to be over.
People curled over holding their guts. Some vomiting on the way out..... Managed to order a beer, waitress comes back, beers table to floor in .05 secs..
Managed to stay long enough for them to finish Ace of Spades. Door guy - "wink".
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
See - this is what I just don't get. If you went into a restaurant, and the food made you vomit, and the drink you ordered fell on the floor, the response wouldn't be "well, that's what you should expect - you went there".
Roger that. Best I can figure is that the insane volume level trip is about artistic 'tude. Sure ain't about sound quality. Or a pleasant experience for the audience, either.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I'm on the same page with ya. But that theory is the best explanation I can come up with for bands that blow everybody out of the building with stoopid-level volume.
Last edited:
Let me ask a question. I'm not a Deadhead and I never, ever went to a Grateful Dead concert so I have no experience with their sound. I've seen photos of their immense walls of speakers. But I know they were always on a quest to improve the fidelity of their sound, both from their instruments and from their PA. Did they pummel their audience with the volume that a wall of speakers could no doubt produce?
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
HUGE difference between quality and quantity. I've never heard of anyone having to leave a Dead concert puking (at least because of the volume of the band).
The band I play in usually has two mains and a sub per side, even at most smaller venues - doesn't mean we are too loud.
That's what I was wondering. I couldn't imagine that band--whose desire for good sound led to the formation of Alembic--using all that power to overwhelm just because they could. I mean, why go to all that trouble to sound good, just to lose it all to blare? But that wall of speakers sure was impressive.
Me and some friends went to see Van Halen on their 1984 tour. After the show, we were walking out of the venue, and suddenly one of my buddies smacks me on the arm. I say, "What was that for?" He replies, "I've been talking to you for 10 minutes. Aren't you listening?" Apparently I was still half deaf from the concert. Thankfully this was in high school and I've been more diligent about conserving my hearing since then.
On Rush's Power Windows tour, Blue Oyster Cult opened for them, and they were SO loud. I covered my ears for most of their set.
On Rush's Power Windows tour, Blue Oyster Cult opened for them, and they were SO loud. I covered my ears for most of their set.
Long time Deadhead here - I took many first timers to Dead shows and without fail every person said "I thought they would be louder". The wall of speakers was never meant for volume, it was for clarity of sound. Unfortunately the thing was a logistical nightmare and didn't last long. The Dead's long time sound man, Dan Healey, was constantly looking for gear and ways to have the cleanest sound possible in all areas of the venue. He was the first to obtain structural drawings of buildings in advance of a show and design the PA setup specifically for that building.
I attended many, many concerts besides the Dead and can honestly say they had the best sound reinforcement of anyone.
Re: the baby shower - it's amazing how many places you can go where loud volumes happen where you least expect it. There are several restaurants in my city where I refuse to eat because of the volume level. A local magazine recently did a decibel test at a few of them, and some of them approached 100db. And these aren't nightclub-type restaurants - they're hip/trendy places with a dinner crowd.
