If you’ve ever attended a 5 Seconds of Summer show, you know how deafening the crowd can be: thousands of screams are unleashed when a sea of mostly under-21 females catch a glimpse of the Australian heartthrobs. The fandom was on full display last weekend at the iHeartRadio Music Festival, where 5SOS performed in front of an unrelentingly loud audience at the iHeartRadio Village in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 20).
How noisy, exactly, have 5 Seconds of Summer shows become? Singer-guitarist Michael Clifford told Billboard that’s he already lost some of his hearing, at the age of 18.
“I went to a hearing check-up, and I’ve actually lost high-pitched… noises in my right ear,” Clifford said backstage at the iHeartRadio Fest. “I think they’ve lowered or something.”
“That’s the effect it has,” drummer Ashton Irwin chimed in.
iHeartRadio Festival: Friday Highlights | Saturday Highlights
Of course, 5 Seconds of Summer played to especially loud crowds as the opening act on One Direction’s latest stadium tour. 5SOS will kick off its 2015 headlining run in Las Vegas next July.
Another fun fact about 5SOS: they’ve already started writing for their sophomore album, two months after their self-titled debut hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Click here to watch the guys discuss their upcoming music and more at iHeartRadio Fest.