Muscle Worship is really a considerate band. Anybody familiar with their work knows they’re one of the loudest local acts of the past decade. When you combine that with the dungeon-like atmosphere of the Taproom basement, you’ve basically got a death sentence for your hearing on hand. So it’s no surprise the band was handing out a specific little gift ahead of their set on Thursday night.

“Do you have some earplugs?” Some audience members implied they didn’t, so frontman Sean Bergman pulled out a jar of earplugs and started handing them out. Most of the audience then comfortably enjoyed the vicious and roaring set. Others opted to ditch the earplugs and take it full on (some men just like to watch the world burn).

After just one song, Bergman announced “Now’s the time when I normally reach for the volume to turn it up, but I won’t turn it up.” He was cautious about the sound level that generally quadruples in the Taproom basement. The audience laughed at his cautionary ways, and urged the band to get louder. “It’s real fucking loud, right?” The crowd yelled out “No!” You could then see Bergman’s eyes light up, as if to say “All right!” as he went ahead and turned it up to eleven. The band, now armed with a more brazen and uproarious sound, comfortably plowed through their set while the icy winds howled just outside the door.