All those places are closed now, BTW (in case you no longer live around these parts)… I guess technically the Masquerade is still around, but it’s in underground now. I was asking students about the new venue recently, and one student just said the new place is going to be “trash”. He’s likely right.
I’m gonna go feel old for a while now…
I will say that KMFDM always played the masquerade and were loud as shit. But the loudest show I saw back in the 90s was probably the Swans on their “final” tour, and they played over at Variety (still going strong!).
It IS punk rock to protect your hearing!
Overall, the 90s at least were in the midst of the “loudness wars”. And I’d guess location is also a factor - smaller clubs probably are louder, I’d guess, because there is less room for the sound to bounce about and dissipate? (am historian, not sound engingeer).
