LOUDEST Concert and Tinnitus

No, it’s not a joke.

I still remember a nightmarish evening spent listening to an early Pink Floyd tribute band in a fairly small pub (bar).

They  were good but the sound seemed to be bouncing off the walls stupidly loud and I should have walked out, but I didn’t as I was the one driving that night.

So instead I put some scrunched up tissue paper in my ears and tried to find the quietest area in a very loud room.

That did help.

Thank God I remembered .

What’s the point of being an audiophile if you don’t protect your hearing?

@lancelock

Motorhead was ridiculously loud

Not entirely unexpected, surely?

Some friends saw Motorhead at an old theatre where they said the whole balcony where they were stood was shaking. They were scared that it might even collapse.

 

@bivbat

My Bloody Valentine. Roseland Ballroom, NYC. 2008.
I couldn’t believe sound reproduction could attain that level. I had been to very loud shows in the past; this was at the level of an air-show.

 

I’ve heard enough about them to never attend a concert.
Not even on my doorstep. I think the figure 140db was mentioned.

 

 

@kb54

Another (dis)honorable mention to every wedding and bar mitzvah I’ve gone to in the last 20 years!

 

Things seem to be better these days.

I remember some nightmare wedding receptions during the late 80s and 90s. Everything loud, everything distorted, everyone too drunk to notice.

Of course once you’re blissfully drunk, there’s no such thing as too loud.

 

@larsman

The Killers (everything super-loud and super-distorted)

The Verve (everything super-loud and super-distorted)

Yes, a most deadly and unpleasant combination. Physical and musical torture. There’s really little excuse for poor PA systems these days.

 

From Wikipedia - Loud Bands

1972 Deep Purple was recognised by The Guinness Book of World Records as the "globe’s loudest band" for a concert at the London Rainbow Theatre, during which the sound reached 117 dB and three members of the audience fell unconscious.

1976 The Who were next to be listed as the "record holder" at 126 dB, having been measured 32 metres (105 feet) from the speakers during a concert in London at The Valley on 31 May 1976.

1984 and 1994 The Guinness Book of World Records listed Manowar as the loudest band for a performance in 1984. The band claimed a louder measurement of 129.5 dB in 1994 at Hanover, but Guinness did not recognise it, having discontinued the category by that time for fear of encouraging hearing damage.

1986 An article by Scott Cohen appeared in February 1986 issue of Spin entitled "Motörhead is the Loudest Band on Earth". In it, Cohen alluded to an undated concert during which Cleveland’s Variety Theater actually sustained damage from Motörhead reaching a decibel level of 130. This he reported was 10 decibels louder than the record set by The Who.

1990 The 1990 edition of the Guinness World Records contained the following entry: Largest PA system: On August 20, 1988, at the Castle Donington "Monsters of Rock" Festival a total of 360 Turbosound cabinets offering a potential 523kW of programme power, formed the largest front-of-house PA. The average Sound Pressure Level at the mixing tower was 118dB, peaking at a maximum of 124 dB during Iron Maiden’s set. It took five days to set up the system."

1996 The English House/Electronica band Leftfield, while on tour to support their debut album Leftism, gained notoriety for the sheer volume of their live shows. In June 1996, while the group was playing at Brixton Academy, the sound system caused dust and plaster to fall from the roof, with the sound volume reaching 135 dB.

2007 British punk band Gallows allegedly broke Manowar’s penultimate record, claiming to have reached 132.5 dB; however, this record claim was made in an isolated studio as opposed to a live environment.

2008 Manowar registered an SPL of 139 dB during the sound check (not the actual performance) at the Magic Circle Fest in 2008.

2009 On July 15, at a Canadian concert in Ottawa, the band Kiss recorded an SPL of 136 dB measured during their live performance. Noise complaints from residents in the area eventually forced the band to turn the volume down. (136 dB is approximately the threshold of pain, and about as loud as a jet taking off 100 metres (330 ft) away, or the loudest human voice shouting 1 inch (2.5 centimetres) away from the ear.)

 

 

@hifiguy42 

Yes, there can be no band louder.

Apparently Douglas Adams was a huge Pink Floyd fan.

"He named their 1994 album ‘The Division Bell’, and played guitar with David Gilmour at his 42nd birthday party. (The number 42 having particular significance for Hitchhiker’s fans).  Pink Floyd also helped inspire Adams to create Disaster Area."

 

 

@macg19 

I had the pleasure of meeting Douglas Adams - related to an immersive “game” called Starship Titanic about 2 parallel universes on board a ship

We provided authoring software

he died too early

 

Yes, his death at only 49 back in 2001 was a great loss in so many ways.

Amongst other things Douglas may well also have been the greatest writer of these past 75 years.

 

Reading some of these accounts here of people losing their hearing for a few hours (or even days in some cases) is slightly concerning, particularly on an audio forum.

The loss of certain frequencies will no doubt have an effect upon the enjoyment of a Hi-Fi system.

In rare cases, the effect could be a good one according to maverick ENT doctor, Alfred A Tomatis who believed that hearing damage in his right ear helped Caruso achieve his greatness.

 

 

 

@boxcarman 

@classicalpiano 

In retrospect, I was careless inflating an old bicycle tire. At 48 psi the tire blow up, causing a traumatic sudden and nearly complete hearing loss.

 

You shouldn't be too hard on yourself because that's terribly unlucky. That blast must have been aimed at your ears by pure chance.

I remember once trying to change a tyre single handedly and I used a screwdriver as a wedge against the wheel spokes and the tyre rubber when all of a sudden the screwdriver slipped and suddenly shot out at speed across the room.

I wasn't wearing any goggles at the time.

Now if it had struck me in the eye or face...

 

When it happens you might never pray so hard to get it back!

Oh dear God, isn't so much of our life ultimately like this?

 

Thanks for sharing your story.

I wish you all the best in making the best possible recovery.

So much of the ways the body works is still unknown and the ear brain connection is mostly a mystery.

Anything that helps to improve the circulation to your ears is certainly worth a try.

@moonwatcher 

With 15% to 20% of people affected by it, you’d think there’d be some financial payoff in finding a cure.

 

I would never have guessed that the percentage was as high as that, but after reading the posts above I can now believe it.

Unfortunately, tinnitus still appears to be yet another area where the science is still in its infancy awaiting a major breakthrough.

@bipod72

Bass you could feel deep inside your guts.

 

Yes, it’s quite shocking when you first experience it.

I’m too much of a coward to enjoy it, I couldn’t bear to damage my hearing. Music matters far too much to me.

The only times I have enjoyed being bathed in pulverising sound were those times when I was drunk. Unfortunately I’m not very good with drink, I have trouble knowing when to stop.

There’s been a few occasions where I let it get the better of me and then spent the next few days paying the price.

The last occasion, some 20 years ago, was so bad that I’ve never got blind drunk since.

 

@jl1ny 

That's a great attitude.

Nothing to do with tinnitus but I've had to make similar mental adjustments myself.

No one ever tells you.

Best of luck with your recovery.

Ruptured eardrums are fairly common in boxing and people recover but no one talks about the extent of that recovery.

@jl1ny 

I went to war with cancer in 2020 and learned that keeping a positive mindset wins half the battle.

 

Absolutely.

You cannot separate the mind and the body.

Particularly the unconscious mind/mood and the body.

Best of luck to you.