Loudest live guitar player

[ElMuchoDingo]

So the Jake e Lee tone video and the volume of that setup got me thinking. Who is the loudest guitar player you’ve heard live compared to a) the band and b) the pa.

I was directly in front of George lynch in sturgis and one head and a matrix power amp into 2 cabs was insanely loud but at least I could still hear the pa a little and the singer. But the loudest was 2004 EVH, I was in the ring in the stage in front of his cabs. Every single one of the cabs was plugged in. His playing was not good but he was so loud you could hear nothing else. You couldn’t hear his monitor, the pa or the drums. An honorable mention goes to rick Nielsen of cheap trick also at sturgis. His side of the stage was all him and when you went back the pa was all him. You would hear the singer screech and then his amps would screech, brittle bight tone.

 

[RaceU4her]

AC/DC in the 90s, my friends father somehow got us front row at Jones Beach in NY, couldnt hear anything but Angus up that close

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

Zakk Wylde with BLS in 2005 in a small club in Minneapolis with 4 cranked 2203 full stacks on each side of the stage. 8 total. Deafening and a bit head cutting on the bright side ao it was more painful than enjoyable.

 

[EyesOfTheSouth!]

Zakk Wylde with BLS in 2005 in a small club in Minneapolis with 4 cranked 2203 full stacks on each side of the stage. 8 total. Deafening and a bit head cutting on the bright side ao it was more painful than enjoyable.

I saw that same tour in a mid sized club in Dallas and you are absolutely right. My 2nd place would be that pedo freak that was in Manowar.

 

[70 Mach 1]

About 15 yrs ago. Jimmy herring.
Was maybe an 800 to 1000 seat theater in Brooklyn NY

He Was so fucking loud i left after the 2nd song and went into the lobby.
Was still deafening there.
Then went outside to the parking lot and waited for the dumbbells i was with.

Parking lot was full of us trying to escape. Weed and booze were flowing and we still heard the show fine

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Ross The Boss

 

[Geo]

Loudest concert I ever went to was Hall & Oates at the liberty science center overlooking the statue of liberty that was under construction.

5 story tall PA system.

 

[CarlF]

The loudest guitarists I ever heard (coming off the stage) were, without a doubt, Blackmore ('75) and Trower ('76)

The loudest show I was ever at was Black Sabbath w/ VH opening in '78. VH had a great sound. Not too loud.
Sabbath was another story. It was INSANELY LOUD. We weren't even close to the stage. We literally said "fuck
this" and walked out. Outside of the main arena, where the Concession Stands were, those guys were holding their ears.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman of Slayer on the Clash of the Titans tour, in particular the Lakeland Civic Center show that ended up being the first disc of the Decade of Aggression double cd. They, AIC, Anthrax, and Megadeth were all blasted through the same PA, but Slayer alone was in the Guiness Book of World Records for the loudest indoor arena concert ever. Crazy loud doesn't even begin to describe it.

 

[thegame]

If you’re talking about pie holes then Glenn Fricker without a doubt

 

[PurityS.L.G]

AC/DC in the 90s, my friends father somehow got us front row at Jones Beach in NY, couldnt hear anything but Angus up that close

Same here homie. ACDC takes the cake all the way but that's part of their charm.

2nd place goes to Slayer at the Forum and 3rd goes to Dinosaur Jr at the Troubador. Levels to where you can't even enjoy the show. I hate that shit. Fuck all yalls that say if its too loud, you're too old. My bad bro...I value keeping my hearing intact.

 

[riffsfordaze]

I wasn't there but the lore is in the early 90s that Sleep's Matt Pike would play so loud in the clubs that people in the audience would get nauseous and throw up.

Beautiful if ya ask me!

Matt is a Bad Man. Any dude that eats a steak with his hands is alright in my book...

One of my favorite guitar players of all time.

 

[DanTravis62]

I've seen Dragon Cartel and Jake is Lee is pretty loud

Yngwie is also pretty loud - most of those amps are on, sure, but it's not ridiculous volume wise

Matt Pike was using 2 cranked SLOs with High On Fire and was quite a bit louder than either of the previous two

But for sheer volume, Phil Campbell and Karl Logan were both, much much louder than anyone I've ever seen live and it isn't a competition

Like, I've played thousands of gigs and seen a few hundred more on top of that, and I've never, ever heard anyone as loud as either of those two, and I'm not sure there's a close third

I can't tell you who's louder because if you've ever experienced motorhead or manowar live before, you know it's in the realm of "your body getting the fight or flight response" because the volume is so crazy

 

[WizardAmpIphoneClip]

I've seen Dragon Cartel and Jake is Lee is pretty loud

Yngwie is also pretty loud - most of those amps are on, sure, but it's not ridiculous volume wise

Matt Pike was using 2 cranked SLOs with High On Fire and was quite a bit louder than either of the previous two

But for sheer volume, Phil Campbell and Karl Logan were both, much much louder than anyone I've ever seen live and it isn't a competition

Like, I've played thousands of gigs and seen a few hundred more on top of that, and I've never, ever heard anyone as loud as either of those two, and I'm not sure there's a close third

I can't tell you who's louder because if you've ever experienced motorhead or manowar live before, you know it's in the realm of "your body getting the fight or flight response" because the volume is so crazy

Saw Manowar on a Saturday then Motorhead on a sunday in the late 90's
Good times

 

[mentoneman]

i had a 103 fever.
a wall of dimed dual showman amps and his byrdland periodically screaming with feedback…
my ears rang for two days

be metal my friends.

 

[boogieman1187]

Saw vai in Philly back in the late 90s and my ears were blown out by the end of the night, definitely the loudest concert I've ever been to, second loudest was Kotzen at a little dinner theater type venue in Maryland, great show but way too damn loud.

 

[angelspade]

I've seen a lot of shows....Motorhead in a mid-sized club venue in Boston was painfully loud.

 

[alund]

Vernon Reed. Small club in Raleigh ~90? Hurt for days

 

[Exo-metal]

Saxon/Malmsteen/Slayer. I still hear Saxon to this day.

 

[DanTravis62]

Saw Manowar on a Saturday then Motorhead on a sunday in the late 90's
Good times

Are your ears still ringing? Because mine would be