LOUDEST Concert and Tinnitus

The Who. I sat about 3 or 4 rows back from the stage on the floor off to the side. A huge horn speaker was hanging off to the left side of me, close to my ears. My ears rang for almost a week. After that, I always brought ear plugs with me to concerts. At 70, my hearing is shot, everything sounds muffled now.

1968.  The Village Theater on 2nd Ave, later known as The Fillmore East.  Canned Heat opened, and they were deafening.  In the back row of the balcony! My ears rang for the better part of a week.  After the Heat, Cream played their set, maybe louder, but musically more rewarding. The ‘Spoonful’ that show was much better than the one on Wheels Of Fire.  In 1969 I heard Hendrix at Hunter College Auditorium.  The opening act was Soft Machine, whose music I hated AND which was WAY TOO LOUD.  Many others, but those stand out.  My tinnitus is constant, more in the left ear, and it definitely detracts from my appreciation of sound quality.

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.

My Tinnitus is really just from years of headphone use. 

Deep Purple, circa 1976, was the first time I recall that the volume deafened me for a week.

Nowadays, I always wear ear plugs to concerts.  Still, I’ve had to leave a few shows that were still too loud.  Dangerous to my hearing and, frankly, not fun, no matter who’s playing.

Some of the shows I’ve had to leave recently…Steve Morse Band; Hot Tuna; Dixie Dregs; Robbin Ford; Greensky Bluegrass.  I hid in the bathroom during the last half of a John Hyatt show a few years back…I would have left but he’s a favorite of my wife and she stayed for every note.

Many bands I won’t even go see because I know I won’t enjoy it or maybe not even see the whole show.  And there are certain venues I avoid altogether because the sound is always deafening (The Boulder Theater, for one).

I do have tinnitus, which varies in intensity and intrusiveness.  I try to protect my hearing now, wish I’d started that younger.

Atari Teenage Riot in 1998 at a festival. They were extremely loud during their set but when they were about to end they let their keyboardist shower the audience with an incredible onslaught of just digital noise. A pure, screeching, overdriven, chaotic cacophony that went on for quite a few minutes. I loved it. But as I felt my body bending backwards from the sheer power of the sound I noticed that maybe it´s a bit loud. Too late: For a few days I felt like I had pillows covering my ears, which, as it eventually went away, left a slight high-pitched tinnitus-beep that´s been with me ever since. I took it as a warning, I really like my hearing, and now I always put something in my ears.

Here´s a recording from a year later that gives you an idea of what happened there. I love how the it seems to start with a song only to descent into noise at 0:37.