Also Maoris in NZ often use their thumb on chords in guitar playing whether lefties or righties.

The loudest I heard was a Jimmy Barnes concert in Australia (the Working Class Man guy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erSJGrpfnOI).

I knew the old boy bass player (long family story) and got in via the band list even though I was 17 and broke. The first guitar hit then nothing. People were moving their mouths with no sound coming out. The band were playing their instruments but nothing. It was so loud it was like a loud silence (“roaring silence” isn’t an oxymoron after all). When all frequencies are up to 11 you can’t discern anything. It was comic.

I spoke to my friend after the concert and complained about the ridiculous volume and he said “You should try it onstage.” Of course he wore earplugs but they are a weak line of defense against assault rock.

The aftermath was interesting. Of course my ears were ringing the day after. But they were also ringing the morning of the next day too. I’ll blame that concert when my hearing starts to go.

Tolerance for loudness is influenced by: alcohol consumption and hearing loss. Drunk people are loud. Hard-of-hearing people are loud. They don’t know they’re loud, and you can’t inform them. It’s a lack of external self awareness, and a kind of willful obliviousness.

If the club is too loud for you, a couple of drinks will help you cope. So will earplugs. But there ain’t nobody going to turn the volume down for you.

Choose your battles.

Now, it’s very possible a guy of Dick Dale’s age in the 1990s might have been very deaf, and might not be aware that he cranking’ it at 11.

Saw Marty Stuart with the McGuinn and Hillman from Byrds last year – they played it just right: nobody ran out to the rest room to get toilet paper to stuff in their ears.