Credit: Far Out / Heinrich Klaffs
Sat 19 September 2026 1:00, UK
While many rock bands like to brag about their loudness in a live music context, there’s frankly no need to be able to eclipse the decibel levels that your closest rivals have achieved at their loudest.
From Deep Purple rendering a trio of fans unconscious at the Rainbow Theatre in London in 1972 after reaching 117 decibels to slightly more recent examples like Swans and My Bloody Valentine frequently being cited as the loudest live acts in the world, it’s clear that wanting to destroy people’s eardrums isn’t something unique to one particular strand of rock music; it’s been adopted by acts from numerous sub-genres. It isn’t even just rock music either; I’ve personally felt my ribcage rattling at a Blanck Mass gig due to the sheer power of the throbbing industrial basslines, and frankly wanted to vomit afterwards.
Arguably, the only point to being the loudest band on the planet is to acquire bragging rights. People think it sounds cool to be able to say that you’re the biggest noisemakers in the world, and for some reason, audiences seem to love to punish themselves, knowing full well that they’d be putting themselves at risk by attending excessively loud shows.
But where exactly is the enjoyment in this? For one, you can’t necessarily get any more clarity when something is played loud; it needs to be balanced more than anything else in order for you to be able to hear a band at their best.
Secondly, you’re ultimately going to do permanent damage to those around you if you play every show at an excessively high volume. If people passing out at a Deep Purple show isn’t enough of a warning sign, then perhaps knowing that you and your fans will eventually develop hearing loss is a sign to play at a more sensible level.
Nevertheless, it didn’t stop bands like Led Zeppelin from reaching ridiculous highs on a sound level meter, presumably just because they could, and even on early tours of the US in 1969, they were gaining the wrong sort of attention from the American Speech Language Hearing Association, who argued that their “earthquake of sound” at 130db was, frankly, far above a safe volume.
You might think that loud bands contributing to widespread health concerns and city-wide noise pollution is the sort of thing that only a square would complain about, but Led Zeppelin quickly became aware of how notorious they had become for their loudness, which genuinely concerned both the band and their tour manager.
Further reading: From The Vault
In fact, Richard Cole, who was in charge of Led Zeppelin on the road at the time, reportedly approached a city council member before their show in Vancouver, Canada in March 1970, snatched a decibel meter out of his grasp and smashed it to pieces in the fear that the noise levels it might record would lead to the show being pulled.
It may well have been one of the loudest tours ever performed, but at the end of the day, it’s also probable that nobody there can tell you just how loud it was, given that they were deafened by the noise. Now, look after your ears, everyone.
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