Sorry Skyscream but Motorhead isn't the loudest band on the planet let alone the universe, that would be a title reserved for these guys (hold the world record for loudest band on the planet)
What can I say? I'm still trapped in the eighties. lol.
However, my interest was sparked. I say they are the loudest simply because I've gotten it full in the face. They are the loudest band I've heard. I think my ears rang for three or four days the first time. Had that underwater thing going on.. what's it called? Oh yeah. Hearing damage.
What?
So, I looked into it. I haven't looked deep and few of the blurbs I've found say what the distance was from the speakers. Mostly I hit Wikipedia and verified a couple things. I don't count studio stuff. Phh. Real bands assault their audiences. haha.
Quite frankly, it seems there is a fair amount of misinformation/disinformation out there. For example, getting an actual decibel number on the 1984 Manowar performance seems rather difficult. I found mention of a band called Sleazy Joe all I found was stuff on the bands site, wikianswers, softpedia, and facebook. Meh. I trust none of those at all. heh. Need better evidence than that in my opinion.
Like I said.. I got interested. ;D
Deep Purple (in 1972) at 117db for the guinness world record.
The Who hit 126db at 32 meters from the speakers. (1976)
Manowar held the Guinness record for loudest musical performance in 1984 but I haven't found how loud that performance is. Greater than 126db and less than 129.5db I imagine. I find it odd they are there instead of band. Musical performance could be anything really. Playing Wipeout with nukes would be pretty loud but not really a band. lol.
Motorhead, in 1986, reached 130db at the Cleveland Variety Arena which was appearantly damaged by the loud. heh.
Manowar hit 129.5db in Hannover in 1994.
1996 Leftfield, house/techno band reached 137db in Brixton Academy. Reports of the building being damaged. (plaster and what not)
2009 Manowar reached 139db during a sound check, but, not the performance. Guinness had stopped doing the loudest band thing by this time, not sure when they stopped and not really worried about it. Appearantly to not encourage hearing damage, which I get.
In 2009, KISS, in Ottawa, Canada, reached 136db during the performance. They were asked by authorities to turn it down due to complaints from the neighbors. lol. I'm surprised I didn't know this.
So, for performance it appears to be Leftfield as the unofficial loudest band in the universe. Followed by KISS, Motorhead, Manowar.
For pure volume it looks like Manowar is the unofficial loudest band in the universe. No contest. (( Upon reflection I've come to the opinion that someone might have decided that was way to loud to blast at their fans. lol. So I edited this line. Cheers! ))
Normally in a situation like this I'd toss up some Leftfield here.
But I'm a member of the KISS army since 1979. Oh yeah. You heard me....
KISS - Detroit Rock City, Live at Budokan Hall, April 2, 1977
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfiV77Q_8zkKISS - Rock and Roll all Night, Live 1975 (I posted this one even though it's not great quality because Paul is losing his voice in this one. hehe. Yeah. I'm evil. ;D )
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1sJhRuAahkKISS - God Of Thunder, Live (unknown date, about 7 minutes. Gene doing what Gene does)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgkLhfiGIqYKISS - Love Gun, Live
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyDBLTApEUoKISS - Black Diamond, Live (it says 1974 but it's the Alive tour. And the footage quality is SO not 1974.
)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXnx8qF-2i4