Ear plugs at concerts

Started by word_on_a_wing, July 08, 2019, 14:00:37

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

word_on_a_wing

Reeves re-tweeted this link, and I was interested to hear others thoughts:
nprmusic -ear protection

The only time I ever wore ear protection during a concert was for a dreadful band that were on before NIN at the 2009 Australian shows. I didn't have earplugs the first night and it was torture (of the worst kind). I was about to hop on a plane and see NIN at more shows (and hence anticipating repeated torture of that band before them) so I took some cheap earplugs with me. I've never worn them when the bands I want to see/hear are playing though ...but starting to re-consider, perhaps I should. What are others thoughts? Anyone invested in the better quality ones?
"Where the flesh meets the spirit world,
Where the traffic is thin..."

SueC

Hello, @word_on_a_wing:) This to me raises the question - why can't bands limit the sound level below the pain threshold / damage threshold anyway?  I've heard bands that do, and bands that do not.  The worst offender of the latter category in my experience was U2 back in 1988.  I had to tear up paper tissues and stuff them in my ears, which rather affects sound quality, but so does turning the volume up to starting jet airliner level... it's so unnecessary.  I like bass reverberation in my thorax but this felt like it was squashing me, and the whole thing was so horrible on a physical level (ears, body) that I didn't enjoy the concert and have never been back to a U2 concert since.  It seems disrespectful to the audience, to me, to subject them to sound levels that are unenjoyable and physically damaging for them.  I wasn't happy to have spent money on that experience.

Yet I've been super happy with many other gigs I've been to, where people did not turn up the sound to that insane level. (Granted, not generally a problem with classical and folk gigs, but both of us here have also been to "modern" concerts where the sound was great and needed no earplugs!)

SueC is time travelling

Ulrich

Quote from: SueC on August 10, 2019, 01:35:28I had to tear up paper tissues and stuff them in my ears, which rather affects sound quality, but so does turning the volume up to starting jet airliner level...

I've been doing the same thing since 1994 or so! Still, I have an issue with tinnitus (at least a little bit sometimes). :1f631:

When I was in Switzerland years ago, they were giving out free earplugs at a concert, I kept some of them and use them from time to time.  :cool

As to "why" they have to turn up the volume, I guess it is a difficult one to answer. Especially in a stadium gig or open air, they need to make sure that you can hear the band in all places (wind and other things might become a problem).
Of course, some bands give out the order "turn it up", which is unnecessary in most places. Rock music with its distorted guitars (mostly) and drums does have a tendency to be "loud" (but I saw some gigs where the sound was crystal clear and not too loud).
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

dsanchez

Quote from: word_on_a_wing on July 08, 2019, 14:00:37I've never worn them when the bands I want to see/hear are playing though ...but starting to re-consider, perhaps I should. What are others thoughts?

After seeing some hundreds gigs ear plugs are a must for me since about two years ago. It does not matter whether they are a cheap 1,00 EUR 3M Classic Foam Earplugs bought in a supermarket or 10,00 EUR ones such as the one produced by Earlove (I bought similar to these in Amsterdam before a Massive Attack gig early this year), the fact is I MUST use them, specially in a small venues or in large venues if I am close to the stage. As we get older, ear problems are pretty noticeable specially if attending gigs is one of your hobbies!
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

Ulrich

HUH? What did you say?  :winking_tongue  :1f631:
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

dsanchez

2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

Ulrich

YOU NEED TO TALK LOUDLY OTHERWISE I CAN'T HEAR YA, I'M NEARLY DEAF!!! ;)
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

SueC

SueC is time travelling

SueC

Quote from: dsanchez on October 06, 2019, 13:50:33I am old :(

You're 42, Mister!  That's not old.  :winking_tongue   That's just the answer to life, the universe and everything...  :cool

Maybe if you go volunteer in an old people's home and meet people more than twice your age, you will understand the definition of old.   :P   You're barely middle-aged, David.  The 40s are a great time of life - not young and silly anymore, not advanced in decrepitude yet.  The prime of life, when you look at the whole person!  Creativity, thinking etc.  And you still rock a road bike. :)

This is our good friend Bill, who's 84, pictured with Brett (who's 46 and very serviceable), having lunch with us.  He's old, really truly, and would looooove to be 42.  He had a heart attack a couple of months ago but has recovered from it reasonably, so we can now have him over for lunch again.  :)



By the way, riding a bicycle is his prescription for fitness, and he was still doing laps around the block until just before his heart attack.  (Not allowed now because he has balance problems and is on blood thinners.)  Heart disease runs in his family - his brother died of a heart attack - and they think he would have had one much sooner if he'd not ridden his bicycle religiously all his life.

Right now he's scooting around with a walking frame with wheels, because of balance issues.  At least he finds that an enjoyable experience.  But you're a long way from that yet! :)
SueC is time travelling

Ulrich

Thank gawd I had my earplugs on me last night, otherwise I might be totally deaf now...
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

SueC

Don't knock it though, haha.  A friend of ours who unfortunately died a few years back (in his 80s) had a hearing aid, courtesy of working with farm machinery without adequate hearing protection a long time ago.  Sometimes if you visited, he'd gesture to you, and say, "Wait a moment, got to turn this thing on!"  I asked once why it was off, and he said to me that he'd heard so much rubbish in his lifetime that it was a relief to be able to turn off his hearing aid at the right moments!  He told me it was very convenient, especially if a politician was giving a speech etc.
SueC is time travelling