The Killers, who headlined this year’s Glastonbury Festival, have reportedly set a site record after performing the loudest set ever heard at Worthy Farm.
According to Martin Audio, the company that provided the sound on the Pyramid Stage, the Las Vegas group’s set peaked at 106 decibels.
Although that noise may be similar to what is heard inside an arena for a rock concert, the noise at Glastonbury is tightly controlled, due to the presence of other stages and its proximity to nearby villages.
The Killers played on the Pyramid Stage
Speaking to music magazine the NME, the company say they were able to control the sound levels thanks to the technological improvements and “in-time monitoring” of wind speeds and temperature, which meant the sound levels remained under the strict 65 decibel limit for “off-site sound levels”.
The band also headlined the festival in 2007, but unlike their most recent performance, their previous set was blighted by poor sound, which they said “put a cloud over their experience”.
“I remember there was some kind of restriction on the sound and the dB levels, things like that,” said the band’s frontman Brandon Flowers.
He added: “There were problems with the PA. I remember being frustrated to get to that point and have these unforeseen things put a cloud over the experience.
“We thought we were pretty good, I’m sure there were some good moments.”
Glastonbury Festival says that although it does not have a limit on the amount of noise that its music fans can be exposed to, it does recommend people should not stand at the front for every performance, in order to protect their ears.
The Mr Brightside group’s headline set was widely praised, as they played through their massive back catalogue of hits alongside The Smiths’ Johnny Marr and the Pet Shop Boys.
Sky News has asked Martin Audio and Glastonbury for a comment.
