Are Concerts too loud?

[macker]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/20...certs-too-loud

I would like to be able to put away the ear plugs when I go. Hard to convince bands though as many of them don't seem to be able to hear the issue and need it louder

[Hemi-Cuda]

Never go to a Motorhead concert then

[Flash Walken]

Yes, concerts are too loud.

So are hockey games.

[Daradon]

Dunno why you'd want to 'convince' the bands. That's the way it is. It sounds like you already bring ear plugs, just use them when you'd want to. I know it's kind of a pain, but it makes a lot more sense than the music being too quiet for some.

Also, it's a live concert, feeling the music is part of the experience. It's kinda supposed to be 'too loud'.

[Burninator]

I found a lot of rock concerts at the Dome had a terrible balance. The loudest two things are guitar and kick drum followed by vocals then the rest of the drums and the bass player probably didn't even need to show up. Some concerts were just a wall of noise.

[macker]

Surveys show that fans want quieter concerts. Also in musicians best interests.
http://listverse.com/2011/07/25/10-f...earing-damage/

Not wanting a quiet concert just more reasonable noise levels seem to be the way to go. Why bother having to cover up your ears with ear plugs so that the music sounds ear muffled. Takes away from the live experience.

[Inglewood Jack]

I'm convinced that all the guys working the sound control boards are completely deaf, which is why they have to turn it up to 11 for it to sound normal to them. A couple years back I went to a Naturally 7 concert at an old church downtown. a crazy talented a cappella group that put on a good show, but their sound was butchered by the dude at the controls, who decided that the only way to make human voices sound natural is if the walls shake so hard that the stain glass windows damn near shatter.

I don't like the sound through earplugs that much either, but I'll take that over not being able to hear at all a couple decades down the road.

[photon]

I would have thought there was laws or standards that these kinds of things have to adhere to, no?

When you do something that can injure someone, one would think that measures to protect your audience against injury is a requirement.

[gottabekd]

Yes, they are always too loud. I never go to a concert without a pair of these:

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

Excellent sound, no ringing in your ears the next day.

[lazypucker]

Yes, concerts are too loud, especially the local, small-venue shows.

I went to Tubby Dogs on a Friday night after a Flames game to grab a bite, and there was a punk band playing there. Everything was turned to 11 and it was just a bunch of out-of-tune noise.

I appreciate music but I appreciate sounds that are msuically done well.

[GreenLantern]

Yea I really should be using ear plugs more.. I hit a lot of shows every year and I have noticed my hearing getting steadily worse. I have a friend who attends the shows with me regularly, his hearing is also screwed. We actually had a funny conversation the other night at a show, we see the same couple a lot, very hipsterish with ear plugs in:

Me: Hah, looks like hipster ear plug couple is here again
Friend: WHAT?
Me: I said that hipster couple with the ear plugs are here again
Friend: Ya, lol, lots of hipsters here again
Me: No EAR PLUG HIPSTERS *points at ear*
Friend: OHHHH, ya, haha, what LOSERS

*moment of self reflection followed by sad face*

[CaptainYooh]

Loud is relative, especially at the Saddledome. There's good loud and bad loud. When performers' sound staff adjusts well for Saddledome acoustics, it' could be very good loud. Sting, Santana, Deep Purple were all excellent loud concerts. When they don't, it's dumb loud, like Van Halen and Foo Fighters concerts, which were really difficult to enjoy for me.

The loudest concert I've ever heard was Alannah Myles at the Back Alley bar. We had to wait outside for an hour in line in the minus 30 degree cold weather to get in and then I had to leave ten minutes after she'd started; the only time in my memory when my ears did hurt and I couldn't stand it anymore. And I did play in the band myself when I was young, so it's not that I don't like loud rock.

[East Coast Flame]

I should use them more. I usually wear them for dub step shows and louder club shows (usually Republik or Dickens). Outdoor shows or Dome shows I don't find loud at all....Although I think the loudest show I have ever been to was Ozzy at the Dome, that was mental. My head was pounding for a week. Bassnectar at the Big 4 was a close second. I thought the cement pillars were shaking.

[troutman]

I was at a Teenage Head gig that was so loud, we could only communicate by pointing to letters on our beer cans to spell out words.

I think most bands play much louder than they need to.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by gottabekd

Yes, they are always too loud. I never go to a concert without a pair of these:

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

Excellent sound, no ringing in your ears the next day.

Having used Etymotic's listening products, I have no doubt that those are an oustanding product.

[East Coast Flame]

Has anyone seen My Bloody Valentine live? They are famously crazy loud. My friend said it was so loud he almost threw up.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by photon

I would have thought there was laws or standards that these kinds of things have to adhere to, no?

When you do something that can injure someone, one would think that measures to protect your audience against injury is a requirement.

For a reason that is mostly inexplicable to me, our society doesn't seem to view noise and sound as a threat, inconvenience or something to be improved upon but rather something to exploit. You see it in lots of places, efforts to break sound or noise levels. http://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=438071

I can't really go to music venues or sporting events anymore without ear protection. It is absurdly loud.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Never go to a Motorhead concert then

When I saw them at Flames Central, Lemmy's bass was so loud my face was moving. I've only been to a few shows where it was beyond ridiculous. My right ear has never been the same since I had floor seating in the 80's where the cannons all went off during AC/DC's For Those About To Rock.

[calumniate]

Dinosaur Jr

Too loud

[East Coast Flame]

Originally Posted by calumniate

Dinosaur Jr

Too loud

Yes! I even saw them outdoors and it was still crazy loud. It was at Coachella and you could hear them from three stages over.