LOUDEST Concert and Tinnitus

@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.

My loudest concert would have been long ago. Led Zeppelin at the LongBeach arena sitting 12 rows from the stage. My ears rang for 4 days after. the shows at the LA Forum where longer. But did not seem as loud.

@cd318 

Thanks man! I went to war with cancer in 2020 and learned that keeping a positive mindset wins half the battle. Good luck to everyone dealing with tinnitus, it can be rough.

@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.

Two days ago, I had a flash-bang grenade detonate within close proximity of my head during a training session. I was not wearing ear protection. 1 ear drum ruptured and I’m experiencing VERY loud “test tone” tinnitus on both sides. I can barely engage in conversation and my own voice sounds like I’m speaking into an empty bucket. Brutal. I decided to power down my rig since I won’t be doing any listening anytime soon. as I was turning off the components, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’ll ever turn it on again…this should be an interesting adventure.

If I've been going to loud concerts since the ’60s and considering my advanced age it's no wonder I can't tell the difference between live or Memorex

What is the loudest concert (or event) that you have attended?

The loudest was Rush on the "Hold Your Fire" tour on 2/22/1988. House lights go out, the three stooges theme played and then the downbeat to "The Big Money". The pressure wave off the speaker array was so loud you could feel your clothing move and you were pushed back a bit. A good friend complained about ringing in his ears for days after. I did not have this happen just yet.

Fast forward 7/22/2011 and U2 @ Vanderbilt stadiumn. This one did me in. I was right by the stage and while I did not notice it at the time, after the show the ringing as there and stay with me for years. I thought it would never go away

How long have you had tinnitus, is it getting better or worse and how are you dealing with it?

After the U2 show I avoided all live events and even movie theaters for years. I used white noise therapy extensively, especially while going to bed at night and made adjustments in diet to reduce salt intake and other activities that could make it worse.

Eventually you start to map around it and do not hear it as much but it can take years to get to a point your do not notice it.. Note, it never truly goes away. The ringing corresponds to the frequencies you can no longer hear. What happens is the cilia in your ear is damaged and just continues to vibrate at all times. This is what produces the ringing.

Reduction in stress is very important as well.

I have only recently started going to shows again, but my audiology clinic make me custom ear molds for earring protection. They have custom inserts for various levels of reduction but typically I keep the -20dB insert in them. These work well and I do not experience any ringing after shows anymore.

Top three:

1. The Who 

2. ELP

3. KISS

The Who and Kiss were so loud and distorted it was hard to know what they were playing  ELP was amazingly loud and relatively clean sounding. 

There were a couple of mentions of Electric Hot Tuna and I would agree. I went to a Hot Tuna concert at Plattsburg State College in NY back in 1972 and it was deafening and painful. If I remember correctly, it was held in the gym so the acoustics were terrible. It was just LOUD. After a while it was like getting an earful of pain. I walked out after 3/4 of the concert was over and was half expecting to see many people in the lobby trying to escape the painful experience, but surprise, I was the only person in the lobby! In the car driving back from the concert with my friend Dennis, we were almost screaming at each other and we still couldn’t hear or understand each other. I couldn’t hear a thing for 10 days and looking back I’m surprised that I didn’t suffer long term hearing damage. I’m 70 years old, do not have tinnitus, and can still hear up to 16kHz. Lucky me.

@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.

Loudest concert I've been to that made my ears ring for days was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Civic theater. It was a combination of loudness and a poor sound engineer that made it hard to enjoy. Ears rang for a few days after. 

Worst loudest concert was the Go! Team at the Black Cat in DC where distortion, loud volume, and a terribly designed acoustical space combined to make it painful to listen to. I had to resort to tearing off pieces of cocktail napkin and making impromptu ear plugs. It helped but only modestly. 

Best loudest concert was Front 242 at the Mammoth. I had ear plugs for that but they just didn't matter. Bass you could feel deep inside your guts. Chest getting hit w/ soundwaves and I was mid-crowd. 

I have tinnitus in my left ear and it's a constant high pitch frequency. Sometimes it bothers me sometimes not. I have to have absolute silence when I sleep because even white noise machines bother me.  

Lots of loud bands and clubs, and the ringing always stopped. Except for one fateful day. Treated myself to titanium dome tweeters for the car. Pioneer separates. Subwoofers. An hour driving to the fantastic The The - Mind Bomb as loud as it could go. Had tinnitus ever since. Over 20 years. Not too severe but it's never silent anymore. 

Tesla The Band around 2013

at Bogarts Auditorium in Corryville/ Cincinnati. OH

great concert but a small venue.

I attended way too many loud concerts in the 60’s and 70’s. Many of them were in large (for those days) venues - the Spectrum and original Electric Factory at 22^nd and Arch in Philadelphia (saw Jefferson Airplane at both - most memorably the Electric Factory, in 1968), Baltimore Civic Center (as it was then known) - that somewhat mitigated the sound intensity via cubic footage and crowd size.

It was the smaller venues that exacted their toll, mostly due to Hot Tuna. I saw them at Ryder College in NJ in a small auditorium (loud!) They played almost all night at The Academy of Music (now the Palladium) in New York in the early 70’s; it was so painfully loud that my ears didn’t stop ringing for days. (I saw them at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in NJ in 2014 and 2015. They weren’t as loud as they had been “back in the day”, but my wife and I came equipped with ear protection just in case.)

I also had an Olds W31 that I ran with open headers, mostly at Atco Dragway in South Jersey. The ends of the header collectors were right under the front seats, and even with a helmet it was like being in a closed oil drum that was being whacked with baseball bats thousands of times a minute.

My tinnitus has been present for so long that I can’t actually remember when it started; maybe 10 - 15 years ago. It’s in both ears and loud, but not something I tend to dwell on. I have noted that some things make it worse, for example NSAID medications. When listening to music at home, a moderate Scotch, etc. helps mitigate the tinnitus (although it seems to make it a little worse the next day - a relatively small price to pay, I guess).

I have also found that my hearing anomalies make me extremely sensitive to distortion in recorded music. In response, I have put together a system that is very clean sounding and prefer AAD CDs, Qobuz 24bit/192K recordings and really cleanly mastered vinyl.

For me, it’s a tie:

- Bruce Springsteen at Max’s Kansas City. It was a very small club on Park Avenue South near the NE corner of Union Square that became famous as Andy Warhol’s hangout (his studio was on the NW corner of Union Square). I think Bruce thought he was playing before a stadium crowd of 50,000 instead of a room that could barely squeeze in 170. My head was ringing for days. 
The album can be found here: 

- Fela at Studio 54 - it was so loud that the distortion became part of the instrumentation. 

Siouxsie and the Banshees at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium- by far the loudest

The Who at Los Angeles Coliseum

The Who at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Grand Funk Railroad. Circa late 70s. It was so loud and unpleasant that my buddy and I cut out early. I remember listening to the sound flooding out as we exited the arena while my ears were still ringing. Any hearing impairment I have, I blame on that concert.

High on Fire

Death Is This Communion tour

The only concert I've ever been to where they handed out earplugs at the door.  I already had my own.  It was a small venue and my whole body vibrated.  I had a nice, snug fit so I didn't dare take my earplugs out in between acts!

At some point, maybe in my late 20s or early 30s, I went to a concert and my ears rang for days.  It was painful.  Ever since then, I've worn earplugs.  I have tinnitus, probably a minor case.  I used to use crappy earbuds cranked to the max so that didn't help.  Most of the time I don't notice it.  Usually only in very quiet places do I hear it.  I find using noise canceling headphones soothing.  It seems to tamp down that ring for me.

@classicalpiano 

Serious commiserations.
However…if I ignore upir obvious loss, I find this interesting. 

What is the mechanism that caused the loss?
I am assuming it was a structural thing in the inner ear?

And thank you sir… I think I’ll now keep a set of ear plugs near the bicycle pump.

I worked for 33 years at Delta Airlines on the ramp , also went to 96 Grateful Dead concerts. But the loudest has to of been hawkwind my ears hurt for 2 weeks . But I did not develop tinnitus in my left ear till after I retired from Delta . I have had tinnitus for the last 17 years but still enjoy my stereo . I am 70 now and very grateful I still enjoy music but not many live shows anymore. When working at Delta I also had season tickets for the Chicago symphony for 6 years what a wonderful experience that was . I probably saw another 100 concerts in addition to the above.

Marc

@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.

As noted, it is hard to say since we didn’t have SPL meters with us, but I’d say The Replacements at a small warehouse bar show. They had brought in some speaker stacks and enough power for a large arena and played LOUD. I ended up going outside to be able to better hear the band. LOL.

A few years ago, I went to an Umphrey’s McGee show in Greensboro at a very poorly thought-out venue. It was atrociously loud and echoey. I had some not so good ear protection ear plugs that didn’t do much of anything. Not long after that I developed 8000Hz tinnitus.

The tinnitus is always there. Sometimes it is louder, other times softer, but it never goes away. I simply resign myself to try to ignore it since there are no legitimate treatments at this time - none. Don’t fall for any snake oil crap on YouTube either.

As an aside, I hate that some medical professionals advertise or even call themselves things like, "Carolina Hearing and Tinnitus" when they can't offer any real treatments for it.  Seems like false advertising and just a hook to get you to come in so they can sell you hearing aids that you might not need. 

In fact, it isn’t even well understood by medical science yet. They aren’t even sure how it is related to hearing or even if it is, or if it is some underlying brain/nervous system interaction perhaps set off by loud sounds. One theory is that the brain has been switched or forced to hearing the sounds of your own nervous system’s "sampling rate", hence the often 8000Hz that people hear. That’s just a guess.

I’d hope more money might be spent on figuring out its causes, its nature, and developing a treatment. With 15% to 20% of people affected by it, you’d think there’d be some financial payoff in finding a cure.

For most shows now I go to a small venue in Winston-Salem called The Ramkat and they are smart about it. They turn the music up enough to make it impactful but not stupid loud.

Black Sabbath 1972 maybe or some local Blues Clubs that are way too loud. Always carry earplugs to any kind of show. Start young.

I have had Tinnitus for 8 Years. It only gets worse and never goes away. It is pretty loud but somehow the brain tunes it out most of the time. It doesn't seen to interfere with listening unless I think about it, 

Woodstock was very loud. So were two Jimi Hendrix concerts; a number of Jefferson Airplane concerts; Jeff Back. But the loudest, the one that hurt me in the moment and continues to, was Junior Brown at the Turning Point, a tiny cellar club in Piermont, NY. I sat ~11 feet from him. He only used one Fender Reverb Twin, but cranked it like crazy. By then I used earplugs, but forgot to bring them (oh, well). My ears started ringing that night and never stopped.

Not complaining. It’s actually OK. I still can listen to music (sometimes moderately loud for short periods) and hear it/enjoy it.

BTW, the loudest bang recorded was Krakatoa which was said to be defining at about 100 miles away and lead to huge numbers of deaths.

I read that as "the loudest band ever recorded" before I realized what you meant. But still, Krakatoa would be a cool name for a heavy metal band, no?

Motley Cru at BC Place this past September.  Every 3 gun competition I have attended/competed. Tinnitus 15 years and keeps getting worse.  Have been following a tinnitus treatment modality (cure?) being developed by the University of Michigan.  It looks very promising in clinical studies … http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/10/422/eaal3175?rss=1

Chris Stapleton, Great Woods, Xfinity Center.  I had bought great seats as soon as the event was announced.  Covid came and the concert was delayed to 2 years. In years before I had learned about and bought special "musicians ear plugs".  I had them years earlier at the Nissan Center in Nashville, and due to bad acoustics in my seating area, they saved my ears.  In the years between concerts I forgot to bring them.  The lead female in the first warm band was awful and literally Painful to my ears.  I debated trying to get away, but decided by the time I reached a safer distance, she would hopefully be done.  A few months later the ringing started.  

My biggest ear hurt was my left ear after driving a NASCAR car at POCONO when the exhaust pipe was on the drivers side. I have done  this drive two more times with ear protection

Has to be some shows in this small club I went to called waterstreet music hall.  I believe they are out of business.  I do not have Tinnitus, and am lucky.  I now always wear ear protection.

BTW, the loudest bang recorded was Krakatoa which was said to be defining at about 100 miles away and lead to huge numbers of deaths.

Jeff Beck with Jennifer Batten at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. Brutal. I had to leave, the SPL had to be exceeding 90dB. The higher notes in the guitar solos were making my face peel.

Oh yeah the tinnitus part. That started longer ago than I can remember. Most of the time I can increase the volume and drown it out. 

I've been to Emerson Lake and Palmer concerts and Yes concerts and while loud, the concert that was absolutely painful enough that it just wasn't fun was Ted Nugent. The worst music listening decision I ever made. Oh my gosh it hurts thinking about it. I did finally leave. 

Triple bill in 1979 or so:  Pat Travers / Scorpions / Sammy Hagar; I was in first few rows and the cabinets were all sitting on the stage (not flown from ceiling)--ouch!  Plus Rush Hemispheres around that time as well (fantastic concert).  I do have tinnitus, though not at a level that it bothers me much of the time.  It does bother me some of the time.  I cannot tell if it is getting worse or not.  I suspect that mine is more due to car audio poor judgement (and not only when I was young(!)).

The single loudest show was Neil Young and Crazy Horse, painfully loud and annoying. We walked out.

To many 70’s Electric Hot Tuna shows, most of them 5 hours plus is what took its toll on my hearing. Loved it!

My tinnitus is neck muscle related (cervicogenic tinnitus) or what I call IPad neck. Neck exercises and PT have been helpful, but it’s taken its toll on my enjoyment of listening to my system.

Without a doubt, YES at Duke Indoor in 1972.  Worse, I moved to FL after graduation that year and saw them again at the old SPORTATORIUM in Hollywood, FL.  I had to do the same thing I did at Duke--I went to the furthest seat available at the very rear of the place and it was STILL hurting my ears.

I had just left our band, which itself was loud after playing for years in various bands at high volume standing in front of amps.  I personally had a SUNN Scepter, which was no shrinking violet itself.

THANKFULLY, in spite of attending MANY concerts over the years--the first was Ray Charles at the DOME in Virginia Beach in 1962--my hearing seems to be just fine.  Selling high-end audio beginning in 1974 helped me develop a more discerning ear.  I consider myself LUCKY based on my past exposure to very loud music for many years.

I confess, I still crank up the volume on the Maggies for some songs--Dicky and Duane's back-to-back guitar solos on "Stormy Monday" Live at the Fillmore East, Heart's version of the great Nillson tune "Without You" on Magazine, Felder and Walsh guitar solo on "Hotel California," Eagles version of the Charles Brown tune "Please Come Home for Christmas," and many others.  Since Maggies don't cause in "listening fatigue," it is a pleasure to crank them up sometimes.

Cheers!

Bob mould with sugar was stupid loud and distorted. 
a few other notables- Catherine wheel, rage against the machine, Metallica, even Jeff Buckley hitting those high notes was too loud but it was oh so beautiful, 

Loudest sound fortunate enough to Not be next to:

1/4 mi. from me, a local cranking up an Allison 12 on his dragboat, straight exhausts. Even at my young age (Jr. High), I knew I shouldn’t (and wouldn’t) be next to it. Even at idle, the popping sounded like cannon shots....

Loudest sound I made on a personal level, Work-Related Division:

’Breaking up’ a 4’ x 8’ sheet of 1" thick brass on a panel saw for a client who could afford such cut into graphics (before CNC, we did it that way). 5hp Dayton motor on the rails, DC driven, pnematic ’hold-downs’ up to max.
Best speed was +/- 2" minute, since you couldn’t raise the saw to take multiple passes at it. Had cut aluminum sheets of similar thickness and Knew this would be slower and louder for a good while, and not pleasant to be around. Went into the office for a heads’ up: "If you’ve got a good reason or merely an excuse to leave the building, I’d recommend you do it." How long? "Best guess, 2 hours."

Closed the 3" fire door between offices and shop. Earplugs AND Earphones. Constant spraying of cutting fluid helped damp ’blade screech’, but still....🙄

The architects office next door asked wtf I was trying to kill, and could I be a little quieter about it.

"No, and I’d be the first to do so....."

"Oh..."

My tinnitus is better of late, my aids are dialed in to compensate....Phonex Audeos’.

Loudest concert?

Relatively recent: Smashing Pumpkins at the Orange Peel here in AVL, starting their latest tour at the time, sold out in less than an hour.

Wayyy too small a venue, a tighter-than SRO crowd, so loud from note one that it was hard to distinguish one song from the next. Yelling Into the Ear of one next to you brought 🤷‍♂️/🤷‍♀️🙄 mostly....

Only respite was to exit to the ’smokers’ gulag’, where it was still loud...but you could at least hear someone next to you....kinda....

We left early.....

Most of the damage to my hearing occurred from work-related machinery, even with the use of ’phones.

Concert sound systems, as a rule, didn’t make my ears freak.

The howling of the audience, the ’dirty white noise’ they could amass...

Would. My ears would give a ’pop’, and I knew I was done for the night.

Lately, I pull my aids and insert Vibes (re-usable) or Hearos (’roadie’ grade) plugs, but carry both....and stay back aways from the stacks.

I still go, but I’m picky ’bout it....

The local symphony is an ’aids event’, however.

Yup, surprise, I do ’do symphonic events’. Always a pleasant event to ’dress down’ for.... ;)

Thank you, cd318, for your thoughtful response. I guess I should emphasize to all to be cautious of potential loud sound levels and ear damage. That is the first order of business! Avoid or use ear protection when you know your ears may be assaulted by excessive levels of sound. Losing critical musical hearing is hard, especially when you can not hear your wife or kids voices the same again.

@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.

Jam sessions at my buddy's home studio in the mid 1970's. Ear sufferin' succotash!

Led Zeppelin at the Fabulous Forum in LA 1975 tour. We had second row center VIP seats courtesy of my friend Scott of Casablanca Records. He provided me with ear plugs. I used them, but my ears still rang for two days. Great concert!

1971 Steve Miller Band Milwaukee

1990's ish Robert Palmer this was the killer. We were there with another couple, and no one had the sense to walk out, including me. At the Orpheum in Minneapolis when Dylan owned the theater. Not his fault.

2005ish drive-By Truckers in St Paul. I had the sense to walk out of this one. Arena's are mostly terrible for sound.

Had a terrible onslaught of tinnitus in 2007-8. Learned I had hearing loss and started wearing hearing aids. I used an expensive treatment repped by my audiologist. Whether it helped or my symptoms lessoned over time, not sure. But I listened to the program every night for years and it gave me a sense of being in control.

I can always tell when I sit down to listen to music and have forgotten to put them in. It's a volume issue, but mostly a quality of sound benefit for me.

Tower of Power at Westbury Music Fair; so loud and painful that we had to leave. I have no tinnitus even here in my 70's, but then I was always more of a folkie than a rocker...

The Raveonettes at Mercury Lounge NYC spring 2005???

Small room, low ceiling - band cranked up to 11 or 12!!!  I think they wanted to hurt us.

Ears were ringing for 2 days.

I was a DJ at The Peppermint Lounge way back when BUT we never hand any band play nearly as loud as them. Of course it was a gigantic venue compared to Mercury - but Jeez!!

As far as tinnitus, I notice in the winter ( dryer air?) that I get some background noise almost like tape hiss or test tones that comes and goes.

Luckily nothing that normal listening levels can't override BUT I'm no spring chicken and I have spent many years working in clubs, arenas, recording studios, mixing /editing rooms, etc. I'm surprised how good my hearing still is.

I don't know how long my luck will last....

I use a dB app on my phone now if I doing "critical" listening at home to help monitor the enjoyment  

I have spent 60 years learning and studying classical piano, and have been an audiophile since 1975. Currently I own refurbished and modified Apogee Divas, Velodyne sub, Rosinni cd/streamer/dac with clock, a pr of stereo D'Agostino amps, a ARC SP-20 preamp, and a Walker airbearing turntable fitted with a Sumiko MM cartridge. I designed and treated the room for dedicated listening 30 years ago. I am a patron of the Cleveland and Chicago Orchestras, but enjoy almost anything from classical to jazz to folk and techno. I've protected my hearing because I honestly value that sense over even sight! I am passionate about music and it's performance and reproduction. 

On 9/3/22 my musical life abruptly changed permanently in an instant. 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. I did not wear ear protect like I always did when piloting or at the gun range. I treated myself with high dose steroids (I'm an MD), saw the ENT and multiple audiologists. The first time I played the piano 14 days later it destroyed me to hear my Bosedorfer concert grand piano so distorted, out of key or missing notes - I literally cried. 65 dB loss of hearing from 500-5000Hz, with substantial distortion of what I can hear, and tinnitus! It sucks - real bad.

Tinnitus is clearly associated with hearing loss, and it deserves medical evaluation. I auditioned 4 different aides, even the Earlens which has a broader range of frequency amplification. What worked best for me (although still compromised) was Resound aides for voice clarity. I use noise-canceling headphones while practicing piano (still distorted sound). I bought a Roon Nucleus+ for its equalization ability on streaming music. Finally, I traded the tubed SP-20 for a Trinnov Amethyst preamp so I may equalize vinyl and cd's. It's room correction showed a 2 dB emphasis at 20 and 50Hz, but was otherwise flat. It really helps, but it still has limitations. I am learning to listen a different way that is still satisfying, but WITHOUT wearing hearing aides in my lstening room. At a CO concert last week Vikingur Olafsson beautifully interpreted the Ravel Piano Concerto in G. His encore was heavenly - his piano transcription of Bach's 4th Organ Sonata, Andante movement. Music can still bring tears of joy, even with the help of limited aides!! But I wonder what it would have sounded like without my hearing loss. Still, I'm considering what else I can do to improve the timber of voices, violins, piano and choruses at home. Some recordings are better than others, but none are even 6/10's now. Nothing sounds like it did before.

I share this so that I might impress upon even one audiophile to protect your hearing! Avoid excess sound levels - most music has an optimum level to fully appreciate a performance. It might be a loud concert or a bike tire that takes your hearing from you permanently and irreparably. When it happens you might never pray so hard to get it back! Music cannot sound natural with even the best hearing aides, which I might add is the $12k Earlens. One exposure to a loud sound can destroy your hearing, sometimes permanently and suddenly; some persons are genetically predisposed to that traumatic neuro-sensory hearing loss. The movie Sound of Metal should be experienced by anyone valuing their hearing! Do not abuse your ears with loud music and noise.

May your enjoyment of music remain a divine gift! 

Classicalpiano

@boxcarman 

I find loudness depends on the venue.  The Joint at Hard Rock Casino In Vegas was wayyy too loud.  I saw Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper there and lost 90% of my hearing for two days.

Deep Purple July 2/71 St Lawrence Market in Toronto. A small shopping mall with about 300 people in attendance. Seating was on the floor, stage was about 2 ft high. I was about 6 rows from the front, dead center. I was lucky I had some kleenex in my pocket, even then it was so loud I felt like I had been physically abused. Rush was another loud band, played at our pub nights in college. Hearing is still OK at 69, I have been wearing hearing attenuators to concerts for years.

Loudest concert - Oingo Boingo - Early/Mid 1980's Uptown Theatre K.C. Mo. Ear bleeding loud.

Honorable Mention; 

Rolling Stones - Kemper Arena K.C. M. O. Dec 1981

The Tubes - Memorial Hall K.C.K.S. April 1985

@sejodiren - and I worked in the local wholesale record business at the time, so one of our local WEA reps (Bam Bam!) also got me a Warner Brothers live U2 promo-only album; I think that's pretty rare these days.