Too loud, walked off

[Stub Mandrel]

The only  name band* I walked out on was Black Star Riders.

 

What's the point of bringing back Ricky Warwick if the sound's too loud and so bad that what he's playing is indecipherable. 

 

I don't count Cornershop in their ramdom feedback era.

[casapete]

Black Sabbath, Hammersmith Odeon around 1977 IIRC.

Gut wrenchingly loud ( and also the worst rabble I’ve ever heard - sorry Ozzy ).

We lasted about 3 ‘songs’ before leaving. My hearing was still affected for a couple

of weeks afterwards. 

 

The Count Bishops at Dingwalls in London, late 70’s. Large banks of stacked Bose 802

cabinets for PA, and again my ears were assaulted by the harshness as well as volume.

Moved to the back of the room, just as bad so had to leave. 
 

 

[Skybone]

12 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

The only  name band* I walked out on was Black Star Riders.

 

What's the point of bringing back Ricky Warwick?

 

I don't count Cornershop in their ramdom feedback era.

Fixed it for you. 😄

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, Buddster said:

Can I cut this off a the pass, before it decends into another 'sound engineers are rubbish' thread. 

It's about amps/guitarists being too loud on stage and the fact PoliceSquad did the heroes thing, and walked off

A very good point there, in pubs & smaller venues with no FOH it’s only band members (and more often than not the lead gtr) to blame.

[Hellzero]

The 30th of October 2016, with a friend of mine, we went to see Dinosaur Jr at The Atelier, a quite small venue, in Luxembourg.

 

I stayed at my usual place with my pal, just before the mixing desk, and after the first track I turned to the venue sound engineer (who is always good) and told him to lower Jay Mascis a lot in the FoH as he was way too loud.

 

His response was unequivocal: "I muted him from the beginning, this asshôle is completely deaf and put his 4 amps on full blast, so he's louder than the FoH!"

 

We went to the bar, were the sound was half audible...

 

Awful gig for sure.

[jazzyvee]

I left the house band at a weekly pub open mic night after almost 2 years after the volume started creeping up and up especially when another guitarist was sitting in. I mentioned it to them many times about the volume and refused to turn my volume up. Eventually I left when nothing was changing. Not too many weeks after that they lost that gig as also the regulars had been complaining about the volume.  Another band took over the spot and they were even louder.

 

[Bluewine]

On 11/08/2025 at 04:06, Sean said:

If it's not a band where you can have a sensible discussion about things like volume, then it's not a band to be associated with. 

 

 

 

Agreed 100%.

 

Daryl

[police squad]

I never once turned up my bass at this gig on Saturday

I've been a guitarist in a 2 guitar rock band many times.

There is no need to keep turning up and up.

[Woodinblack]

From the Jam in weymouth, we went and sat in the hall outside, where it was quite a good volume.

 

In your position, seeing as I am wireless I would have probably gone and stood outside, maybe the levels were better there!

[TimR]

On 12/08/2025 at 23:05, Hellzero said:

His response was unequivocal: "I muted him from the beginning, this asshôle is completely deaf and put his 4 amps on full blast, so he's louder than the FoH!"

 

You would think that he or the stage manager would have the power to stop the show on health and safety grounds for the audience. 

[Hellzero]

37 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

You would think that he or the stage manager would have the power to stop the show on health and safety grounds for the audience. 

Nowadays legally speaking as there's a calibrated decibel meter in each and every venue in Luxembourg, yes, and they have become very strict about that.

 

But I don't see the point of your remark, as it's simply another anecdote about way too loud gigs.

 

Edited Thursday at 18:35 by Hellzero
Bloody big fingers

[mike257]

On 12/08/2025 at 23:05, Hellzero said:

The 30th of October 2016, with a friend of mine, we went to see Dinosaur Jr at The Atelier, a quite small venue, in Luxembourg.

 

I stayed at my usual place with my pal, just before the mixing desk, and after the first track I turned to the venue sound engineer (who is always good) and told him to lower Jay Mascis a lot in the FoH as he was way too loud.

 

His response was unequivocal: "I muted him from the beginning, this asshôle is completely deaf and put his 4 amps on full blast, so he's louder than the FoH!"

 

We went to the bar, were the sound was half audible...

 

Awful gig for sure.

 

I've had them through a venue I used to mix in. 

 

J Mascis has the loudest guitar rig I've ever stood in front of. Three full stacks behind him, dimed, and then just in case he can't hear himself there's a Fender Twin stood on a flightcase at ear level just off stage to his right 🤯

 

Great band though!

[TimR]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

But I don't see the point of your remark, as it's simply another anecdote about way too loud gigs.

 

The venue should be controlling the volume.

 

There's another thread from a couple of weeks back where people are complaining that venues are being forced to stop playing loud music due to compliants from neighbours, even though the music venues were there first.

 

 

 

 

Just because you were there first, doesnt give you carte blanche to act as you please. 

Edited Thursday at 20:20 by TimR

[Hellzero]

13 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

The venue should be controlling the volume.

 

There's another thread from a couple of weeks back where people are complaining that venues are being forced to stop playing loud music due to compliants from neighbours, even though the music venues were there first.

 

 

 

 

Just because you were there first, doesnt give you carte blanche to act as you please. 

Thanks @TimR, I've been almost lynched for what I dared to write there, so I understood that those in the mentioned thread are the defenders of "I make as much noise as I want, because I was there first and it's my property...".

[police squad]

17 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

From the Jam in weymouth, we went and sat in the hall outside, where it was quite a good volume.

 

In your position, seeing as I am wireless I would have probably gone and stood outside, maybe the levels were better there!

if I was wireless and IEM (and I am normally but it wans't my PA etc , I would have done this) but actually I was sort of making a point here, without trying to be  a prima donna

[Woodinblack]

35 minutes ago, police squad said:

if I was wireless and IEM (and I am normally but it wans't my PA etc , I would have done this) but actually I was sort of making a point here, without trying to be  a prima donna

 

And did they get your point or just think you were being over dramatic? I mean do you think it will actually have an effect and make them realise that there is a problem?

[tinyd]

On 12/08/2025 at 11:30, Skinnyman said:

I’ve been through this dance with every band I’ve been in. In general, it seems to be that the less skilled the guitarist is, the louder they need to be.

I agree. Excessive volume is a great way of hiding bad playing and every good guitarist I play with is quite capable of upping the intensity of what they're doing without turning up their amp.

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, tinyd said:

I agree. Excessive volume is a great way of hiding bad playing and every good guitarist I play with is quite capable of upping the intensity of what they're doing without turning up their amp.

 

Many years ago at rehearsals with one band, I used to switch off the guitarist's fuzz box to get him to play stuff right and not hide the mistakes.

[police squad]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

And did they get your point or just think you were being over dramatic? I mean do you think it will actually have an effect and make them realise that there is a problem?

I don't think so no.
We normally do one gig a year and it's outside
But I'll never do another indoor gig with them, because it will happen again, I know it will.

Normally the outdoor gig, I supply the PA and go IEM, so they really can't bother me.

They're all in their 60s/70s. They're all a bit deaf too but they are old school when it comes to guitar amps (one of the players is a world class amp designer)

 

I could have told them that if they don't turn down, I'll walk off but I couldn't think straight at the time

[ian61]

Things do seem to hv changed somewhat . I played in a pretty good 6 piece prog rock outfit years ago with an old school JBL, ATC, EV pa and you cld talk to each other on stage with raised voices . Sound guy was strict as hell and would just press ur mute button if you started messing with the onstage.  

[Shaggy]

I guess one guy's hell is another guys heaven; I remember when in Liverpool Uni around 1980, seeing one of the NWOBHM bands (Saxon maybe?) playing the student union; predictably loud but not crazy loud.      I saw one guy in the audience spend most of the gig with his head inserted fully into the sub cab of the speaker stack - I doubt that he had a functioning brain by the end of it, let alone his hearing.  

 

As posted here; modern gear is so much more adaptable for playing at a range of volumes; both guitarists in my band play through smallish all valve combos and get a great sound at comfortable volume level.   We recently auditioned for a drummer - an eye-opener for me, as it's been a while.  One guy turned up with a kit that would have put Cozy Powell's to shame for sheer size, plus his own PA.  He mic-ed himself up to it, and before playing put on a pair of big industrial type ear defenders.    Sure enough he was shockingly loud; nothing could be heard except drums, and though the guy clearly had technical ability, he totally overplayed absolutely everything.   Spot eventually went to a guy from the Charlie Watts school of drumming; tight, precise as a Swiss watch, and able to play reasonably quietly when needed......

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

 

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

On 12/08/2025 at 17:08, Stub Mandrel said:

The only  name band* I walked out on was Black Star Riders.

 

What's the point of bringing back Ricky Warwick if the sound's too loud and so bad that what he's playing is indecipherable. 

 

I don't count Cornershop in their ramdom feedback era.

Me and my friend walked out of a Black Star Riders gig a few years ago , because we thought they were dreadful !( sorry 😬) 

 

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

The very first gig I went to was at the music Machine ( now koko?) 

The lineup was Quartz (headlining ) , Girl ( second on the bill) ,and Praying mantis.!

Girl was awfully loud and not enjoyable at all !

 

The 2 loudest indoor gigs I’ve been to , Iron Maiden metal for muthas at the Lyceum ,and Manowar at Hammy O on the Blow Your speaker’s tour !

You had a feeling that Manowar did use All of the Marshall Stack ! A great gig though and we were near the back of the venue.

Regarding the Maiden gig , we managed to stay until halfway through the song of the second encore ! ( How many encores were there ?)

Many of us couldn’t take any more . This wasn’t helped by Mr Dianno asking the guy at the mixing desk to turn it up ! 
 

@police squad have you had band discussion yet?