The World’s Loudest Bands

The sound of a pounding bass, the scream of an electric guitar and the thud of the drums. Nothing beats a good song played really loud. It’s even better to hear your favourite musicians live. You’ll always have that faint ringing in your ears after you leave a club or a concert but some bands have been battling it out to be the loudest bands in the world.

The Who

The most famous gig ever held was back in the 1970’s. 126 decibels of The Who in London in 1976 set the benchmark for loud bands and ear-splitting sound. At that volume, it’s literally ear-splitting. The Who made it into the Guinness Book of World Records with their concert.

Image

AC/DC

Consistently loud, always ready to blow your socks off. Angus and the boys always prepare a massive sound system that is guaranteed to leave you with a lot of damage to your ears after a concert. During the Back in Black tour, they pushed their volume to 130 decibels for a couple of songs, but apparently, the neighbors complained to they had to turn it down.

Motorhead

Deafening sound, pure rock genius and great concerts. Motorhead are considered by many to be the world’s loudest band. Lemmy once stated that he wanted the band to be the sort of band that “if they moved in next door to you, the lawn would die.” Manowar, who opened for Motorhead on several occasions have tried to top this by performing at over 130 decibels. As one concertgoer said, “It was just a long, loud scream.” 

Image

My Bloody Valentine

These guys were prepared for their Toronto show where they handed out ear plugs at the door. Always nice to have a band that is considerate when preparing to rock your socks off.

Image

KISS 

 

KISS pushed the loud record to 136 decibels during a concert in Ottawa in 2009, but again complaints from the neighbours, at that level it was probably complaints from neighbouring towns, forced them to dial back on the volume button.

Rock bands are notoriously loud and continue to push the boundaries of how loud they can go. Remember that at over 120 decibels, the damage to your ears is permanent. But that’s just the way we like it.

Image

 

Many thanks to DV247.com for their help putting this article together. DV247 specialise in musical instruments and pro audio equipment including brands such as Sure, Gibson and Fender.