One of the problems with the volume at James' club was that the walls, floors and ceiling were all concrete. The highs bounced around mercilessly, especially when the place wasn't full. The times that I was there were necessarily off-peak times, and the band couldn't or wouldn't adjust to the fact that peoples' ears were bleeding.
I'm very carefull about setting up where there isn't some protection from the dancers. I once left a job in the middle of the night because my equipment was in danger.
DonM