I made the stupid mistake of putting my head in a bass bin at the Leeds Queen's Hall, Iron Fist tour. I've had tinnitus since. Saw them on pretty much every UK tour after Iron Fist. My tinnitus never got any better ( or worse ). Damage done!. Wouldn't trade those memories.
Oh, man! The loudest concert I ever went to, in my younger days, was Motorhead at the Engine Room in Houston, TX, in 2002, on the "Hammered" tour. I was maybe 30 feet (if that) from the stage, on the outskirts of the pit. When Lemmy walked onstage, he comes up to the mic and growls out "It's nice to be back in Houston, Texas," hit the bass once, and my hair flew straight back. No lie. Then the rest of the band started playing, and it was like 3 of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse descending on that stage in very close proximity. My ears rang for days, the lights and sound flickered a couple times at the end of the set, Lemmy did his usual thing at the end of the gig (we all know what that was), and I wobbled out of there feeling like I'd been in a blender for 90 minutes. No. Regrets. At. All.
@@Scarecrow6459 At the end of the set he'd unsling his bass, pound on the back of it a bunch of times, then prop it up in front of his stacks with the pickups facing the speakers. Dogs would howl for blocks around, probably!
You should have regrets because your ability to actually hear has been affected. Your wife despises you because she must repeat everything. Regrets. Yes. All. The. Time.
I saw motörhead at the "Everything Louder Than Everything Else" tour at The Chance, in Poughkeepsie ny. Lemmy, walked out and said, "We're Motörhead and we play rock and roll". And then it was just noise. No discernable notes. No tones. Certainly no music. Just noise. I put in ear plugs and could actually tell what the music was. I've never experienced anything remotely like that before or since. It was absolutely crazy.
Never saw them but had a friend who went to see them with a couple of guys from work. Said when he started the car to leave he kept grinding the starter because he couldn't tell if the engine was running. The loudest concert I've ever been to was Foreigner around 1998 - believe it or not. It was a private show for about 150 people and I was close enough that Mick Jones was handing me guitar picks instead of throwing them. Pain like a drill slowly cutting its way through my left ear and then permeant hearing damage after that. More than 20 years ago and a single hand clap still feels like an icepick in the ear.
@@mnetzer6777 I know, right? Me either. I can't say it was "Motorhead" loud but I still have serious hearing loss in my left ear. I felt the damage during the concert and it was different. I knew it would not return.
@@warshipsatin8764 Almost. The stack was sitting on the stage maybe 10 feet to my left. The stage was low enough for Mick Jones to hand out guitar picks instead of bending over, and I remember the stacks being pointed inward toward the center of the room because I had to turn my head to break the beam drilling through my ear drum. The show volume was actually mild but the encore went from "WOW this is great to WTF??? who killed the front of house guy? I'm 100% sure it was the encore that did it, and my own dumb ass for not getting out of the way, but in my defense I was lit like a Christmas tree by then and didn't GAF until it was too late. Foreigner. Who would have thought? .
I saw Motorhead just the once, back in 1991. I got dragged to the show by a mate who said we'd regret it if we didn't. He was absolutely right. It was in the early days of a 15 year stretch in Sydney doing reviews for magazines (and my own leisure) and I was going to at least 2 gigs a week. By the turn of the century I'd been to over 3000, and many more since, so I'm no stranger to live music. That Motorhead gig was the LOUDEST show I ever went to. My ears were ringing for 3 days after. Man, it was like being assaulted for 2 hours. Like Slash said, it was almost violent. Phenomenal. Every time I see that mate who insisted I go with him I thank him. A few weeks later I heard this story about a tall English bloke in a hat and boots who had rolled up to a big bottle shop near me with a truck and wanted to buy a "case" of Jack, and there was some confusion over what he actually wanted, mostly (I guess) because of local terminology. A "case" to us is a box of 12 bottles, but no, it turned out he wanted the entire pallet, and his road crew had backed the truck up so the pallet could be forklifted into the back. He paid for it and off they went, presumably for the rest of the Motorhead tour. It had to be Lemmy, who else would do that? Fantastic stuff.
I saw them live in Luleå, Sweden in the late 90s and i was standing in front of one of the giant towers of speakers right up against the barrier (very small venue, like 1000 people or so) and my hearing was almost gone after the gig. Good thing i was like 15, i got most of it back! After about three songs, Lemmy told the sound guys to turn it up and it was MENTAL! Should have used plugs, but the gig was awesome. Mikkey Dee's drum solo was fire! It's very cool they came to Luleå, a town of like 70.000 people about 100 miles south of the arctic circle.
I first saw Motorhead on the Overkill tour. They turned everything up after each song. At least one person at the front was stretchered out! I have attended hundreds of gigs over the last 50 years. None have been as loud as that was.
I saw that 1981 Blizzard of Ozz / Motorhead gig in Buffalo, New York USA. Lemme, Eddie and Philthy weren't well know in the States but my friends and I were in the know. 3rd row and truly louder than BOMBERS!!! Fan- fuckin- tastic!!!! Just 2700 people stupified with melted faces and the stunned look of a Religious epiphany!!! And Randy Rhoades as well!
Physical ear pain starts at 130 decibels, it was louder than that at a Joe Satriani concert in 1998, it took about five days for my normal hearing to come back. All the toilet paper was gone, people were stuffing it in their ears because the three bands were all painfully loud from start to finish, the security had lots of thick cotton wool blocking their ears. I was six rows back from the stage and it was a seated indoor concert.
Right, I’m not going mad. Besides Motörhead, of course, I keep telling people that one of the loudest shows I’d ever been to was Joe Satriani. Couldn’t believe how painfully loud it was! 😂
2003 saw Motor Head and some other bands in a 3000 person venture. I’ll never forget when the drummer first kicked the bass drum. It was exponentionslly louder than the first two bands. Like how in the fuck did they get that much more power out of the subs? Then Lenny hit some notes and I can’t remember the rest of the night. It was literally so loud I was in fight or flight mode.
I went to see Anthrax and Motorhead at the Manchester Apollo, about ten years ago. Anthrax were loud, but Motorhead were LOUD. I was about twenty feet from the front of the stage. My brain was bouncing around my skull from the noise.
Saw them in '78 0r '79 at the BBC Radio Theatre at Haymarket, London. The tickets were free for these radio broadcast gigs and a lot of the audience didn't know any thing about the bands they were there to hear. When Motorhead started half the audience left straight away, one quarter went to the front to bang their heads and the remaining quarter were quite literally pinned to the back wall by the force of the sound. The headbangers down the front kept yelling at Lemmy to turn it up louder and he refused as being too dangerous to their hearing (the theatre was very small and close to suffering structural damage!) Happy days!
Been front row at Motörhead in Christchurch. Couldn’t get any better right? Went looking for a poster after the concert. Ended up partying with Lemmy and the new guys and Pete Gill. Far out man Lemmy is one of the most incredible people you can ever hope to meet. Loved him like my favourite Uncle.
I first saw them on the Bomber tour (Newcastle City Hall). Yes, it was ferociously loud, but TBH the sound quality was awful. There was an article in Sounds saying that even their sound engineer didn't know which song they were playing. Saw them again on The Ace Of Spades tour (Mayfair, Newcastle) and the sound quality had improved enormously. Good times!
loudest gig ever went to, MotorHead at the Family Inn Sydney Australia, 84, my head seemed like it was going to explode. The Inn got closed down that night and fair dinkum,, it had cracks in the brick walls, true story.
First time I experienced a Motörhead show was in 1980 on their Ace of Spades tour, at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. Ranger a.k.a. Night Ranger had opened for them. I had a Motörhead ache for a week and my ears are still ringing from that show. So loud. So good.
Saw them at Nautica Pavillion in Cleveland opening for Sabbath (that terrible album Forbidden). We were dead center, 3 rows back, and after about 20 minutes I had no idea what song they were even playing. You could actually feel a concussion hit you from the drumming.
"Can I have everything louder than everything else" can be heard on Made InJapan, just before Strange Kind Of Woman and it's said by Ritchie Blackmore and repeated by Ian Gillan.
I’ve seen Motörhead 2 times. One in 2008 Metal Masters tour with Sabbath with Dio and Judas Priest and Mayhem Fest 2012 with Slayer and Anthrax. Those venues were open space but wow Motörhead is definitely on my top 5 loudest bands i’ve ever seen. Pure badass rock n roll.
You weren't at the Glasgow Apollo, Overkill tour in 1979 or the legendary Heavy Metal Barndance at Stafford Bingley Hall. Loudest gig I ever saw and heard..
First concert i ever went to was Motorhead in bournemouth, back in 2009/10 or around then, a bit fuzzy on the year, but i was 13/14 at the time and i remember my ears ringing for probably a couple of days afterwards, worth it though
Years ago, seen Motorhead and had lawn tickets. Couldn't hear a damn thing or anyone next to me. A week later seen Crue at the same place and could easily hold a conversation with anyone. Yes, Motorhead was LOUD. even outside... didn't see them inside so I can only imagine...
I thought KISS was the loudest band around back in the 1980s. 120-130 dB IIRC. I went to one of those KISS shows in a small arena with a few friends, my ears were ringing for the next two days. Never got to see Motorhead live so I can't compare (although I probably would have brought earplugs).
7:35 "Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing. Loud noise above 120 dB can cause immediate harm to your ears. " -CDC
I was in a band called Rattlebone for a short while in the 90s. We opened for Motörhead in San Francisco for two nights. Something happened with the promoter and the venue was changed to some warehouse with a TIN ROOF and cement walls. Jesus F*ck!!!! After we loaded out, I pushed myself into the middle of the floor to watch them. I immediately threw up.
Saw Motörhead at an outdoor festival so wasn’t crazy loud but was awesome. Loudest band I ever saw was Panthers. When dimebag was shredding I could feel my skull fracturing with the treble.
The first loudest concert I went to was Status Quo back in the late 70s.. Metallica were also out there 90s/2000s.. AC/DC blew my eardrums in 2015............. Never saw Motorhead........ I'm partially deaf now but happy I experienced the best in metal/Rock'n'Roll............................. I'm 64 and have got a ticket for Guns'n'Roses this November........... I hope it's LOUD............
If I may nominate 2 runners up for the Loudness Award: The Damned, Paradiso Club in Amsterdam, 1977 and the Ramones in the same venue in 1978. Tinnitus for 3 days...
Everything Löuder than everything else is probably Motörheads best live album from Hamburg since no sleep till Hammersmith. Released in 1998. Still raw and rockin!
The loudness is why I don’t attend concerts anymore, 120-123 dB peaks as measured by someone in the audience is just ridiculously stupid!! I have this insanely loud 15 watts amplifier that I plugged into an extremely efficient loud 2x12 extension cabinet. At a distance of 2 meters from the speakers I registered a peak of 115 dB! Trust me - you don’t want to subject your ears to those levels. I don’t know if an entire Marshall stack on its own hits 123dB? Maybe but just barely
saw Motorhead support Alice Cooper, easily the loudest show ive ever seen. also, i saw Linkin Park at download in 2007 and Motorhead were on the 2nd stage and you could hear them over the top of the main stage PA at points
I saw Motörhead twice at the Hammersmith Odeon. 80’s & early 90’s. I got front row on one occasion. The sound was so loud it was brutal. My ears were ringing for a week. It was such a fantastic experience! I’ve never forgotten just how loud it was. Much louder than other bands.
as someone who plays a lot of live gigs it can feel a lot quieter on stage,, you have your monitor and thats it i often cant even hear my guitar from my own amp and have to rely on it coming from the monitor too and then the front of house gets boosted to the volume required. so i see why they would just turn everything up because it makes you feel like youre part of the show more instead of just a performer. volume makes you feel more energy
Playing loud isn't hard nor heroic. All it takes is two fingers to turn a knob to the right. But I get why it's done. It makes music physical. I love loud concerts (Swans, Sunn o))), ...) but I use earplugs when it get's painfull. Alas it is too late for me, and hearing damage is as permanent as it is irreversible. For me there is an airplane drone AND a vacuum cleaner on ALL the time when I am in a quiet space...
My loudest concerts in order: 1. Neil - Young Reactor tour 2. Rush - Tour of the Hemispheres 3. Motörhead - No sleep ’til Hammersmith tour All in Gothenburg, Sweden
120 dB's is going some.Saw them many times and you know you have been the following morning before work.Ringing in the ears that lasts all day.Insane but so good.
The Peace and Love festival in Borlänge, Sweden (don't remember the year, 2003?). They had Motorhead playing the central stage, right in the fucking city centre on the main road through the town. I remember storefront windows shaking three blocks away.
