i thought when i got old loud music would only piss me off.  rather, i love, still, feedback, distortion, guitars, bass & drums.  i love rock&roll.  of every era.  but i had seen an article about 'heavy' music.  whatever that means to each auditor.  yet, it is an interesting subject to think about.  when i listen to rock&roll i like to crank up the volume.  but that doesn't necessarily mean 'heavy'.  black sabbath might be called 'heavy'.  they are one of the first bands to invent the genre of 'heavy metal'.  electrona artists that practice harsh wall noise, such as artists vomir, are heavy too.  i can handle heavy but loud?

i've been to loud, & even louder, concerts.  i recall when slowdive reformed.  their tour took them to s.f.  i was thrilled to see them.  i took my very good friend b.  both he & i were nourished on punk music.  we are no strangers to noise.  but seeing slowdive live was such a sonic bath b. told me he never heard a louder, heavier, band.  he didn't expect that.  

i was thrilled.  the syncopation & swirling guitars of slowdive, married to the vocal harmonies of the singers rachel goswell & neil halstead,  put me in a near trance state.  & yet, i can't say, for me, slowdive was the loudest band i had experienced onstage.  that honor goes to ozzy osbourne.

i am a huge black sabbath/ozzy osbourne fan.  ozzy, at the time, was reputed to be quite the wild man.  so when he & his band, the rhythm section of black sabbath - geezer butler on bass & bill ward on drums -, & guitarist zakk wylde, stopped at the old arco arena in 1989, i was sure to be a witness.  the arena was the second one for the basketball team the kings.  the kings arrived in sac in 1985.  they were the first pro sports team for my beloved town.  the first arena was this little box.  the second arena was a bit larger but its acoustics sucked thus earning it the nickname 'echo arena'.

& boy, did echo arena earn its dollars for horrible sound.  again, i was thrilled to see ozzy play with ward & butler from black sabbath.  i thought i should see the great rocker before his habits forced him off this mortal coil.  i recall many tunes both from the sabbath catalogue.  wylde's guitar was pure fuzz & feedback.  it was torture to endure.  i would've confessed to almost anything.  the vocals were muddied.  the great rhythm section sounded like plops of slurry.  & wylde looked like the rock god onstage but when he hit the high notes i felt my fillings fall out of my teeth.

holy shit.  that was some night.  the sound was awful but i do recall ozzy & co. were in fine fettle.  they rocked hard.  but that sound.  it was awful.  i've been to many many shows since then.  some, like slowdive, are very loud & 'heavy'.  but ozzy at echo arena in 1989 was off the charts, next level, kind of king shit.  i'm glad i was there for the show.  would i do it again?  the answer is yes, because, i do love rock&roll.