Topic '[Rant] volume level at rock concerts' in forum 'Rants, Raves, and Praise' - dslreports.com

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:27:57 EDT

KoolMoe posted : AC/DC was loud (3 tours), but they should be...though the cannons in whatever show that was (Razor's Edge?) were a bit excessive, but cool!

Metallica was on verge of overly loud (Justice tour) but still a good show.

Kinks at the small college venue ('91) was the first time I ever thought a concert was WAY too loud. I walked out halfway through and enjoyed the rest of the show at a very decent volume outside the hall.

These days, definitely prefer either outdoor venues, or small, more acoustical shows/venues.
--
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:23:31 EDT

Jackarino posted : ACDC is by far the loudest I've heard live

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:03:40 EDT

CylonRed posted :

said by J E F F:

My first concert was to see Boston at Copps in Hamilton. Way too loud, ears rang for about a month afterwards. Never again. The outdoor concerts have always been okay, but perhaps the venue doesn't want their patrons losing their hearing.

It is just that in the out door venues, the sound does not bounce around...
--
Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:07:33 EDT

J E F F posted : My first concert was to see Boston at Copps in Hamilton. Way too loud, ears rang for about a month afterwards. Never again. The outdoor concerts have always been okay, but perhaps the venue doesn't want their patrons losing their hearing.
--
If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. - Albert Einstein

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 02:55:57 EDT

Thaler posted :

said by nocannothave:

I always have a pair of earplugs with me. Always.

Even in the bathroom?

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 23:54:34 EDT

AVD posted :

said by alg:

The idea that "louder = better" for a rock concert is about on par with the notion that "colder = better" for beer.

a) its not the size of the wave, its the motion of the ocean.

b) more than a mouthful is wasted.
--
--Standard disclaimers apply.--
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:12:34 EDT

nocannothave posted : I always have a pair of earplugs with me. Always.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:21:27 EDT

CylonRed posted : Young people have been that way since........ well forever.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:01:50 EDT

Zoder posted : It's not just concerts. It seems like that's what young people like. At my cousin's wedding last year, the band was so loud it was painful to me after a few minutes so a stuck cotton in my ears for the 5+ hours. Everyone else's ears were all ringing when the party was over.

My sister is getting married in a few weeks and using the same band and I recommended they don't have it that loud but her and her fiance thought the volume at the other wedding was fine even though they both had ear ringing afterwards.

They just don't seem to care about the damage they are doing to their hearing.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:30:28 EDT

Bink63 posted :

said by jimi419:

ya but The Brat Stop is like the perfect venue for concerts imo for indoors

House of Blues Chicago is even better, I've seen Queensryche and Ted Nugent there and the sound was stellar!

Much better than The Aragon Brawlroom, The Vic, The Auditorium or that dismal dump in Rosemont.

The UC isn't the greatest, but all the shows I've seen there had good sound engineers.

UIC was decent, back in the day, when I saw The Kinks, Billy Squier, Def Leppard and others there.

Outdoor arenas, I think is another thread altogether!
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:49:13 EDT

alg posted : The idea that "louder = better" for a rock concert is about on par with the notion that "colder = better" for beer. In both cases it's just a cheap way to dress up crap.

Yeah, cold beer is great but when you're relying 100% on the notion that "our beer tastes like cold!" then it's clearly shit.
--
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Not with a bang but a whimper.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:16:02 EDT

zod5000 posted : I've been going to concerts for a long time. When I was in my teens my dad would always bug me about wearing ear plugs. I thought it was lame to wear plugs to concert.

Then I saw Soundgarden plan at the PNE Forum in Vancouver in 1996. Holy Crap! It was an awesome show, but I literally couldn't hear anything after the show for a few days. I'd ringing ears before. This was different, everything sounded like cracking static. I couldn't make out what people were saying. The friends I went with seem in similar shape.

After that show I heeded my dad's advice and started wearing ear plugs to concerts. I'm a big fan of concerts and go to alot of them. If I hadnt done that, I imagine I'd have some pretty bad hearing issues right now (I already have mild tinnitus if there is no background noise).

I've noticed alot more people wearing plugs to shows these days. Maybe its because I got to shows where the average age isn't 20... lol. People with concert experience probably tend to wear them.

I also remember forgetting them for Metallica in '98 in Toronto. That did a number on my ears as well. Not as bad as Soundgarden at the forum though.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:34:41 EDT

jimi419 posted : ya but The Brat Stop is like the perfect venue for concerts imo for indoors

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:53:03 EDT

anon posted : Wow a complaint that rock concerts are too loud?

What is your next complaint? That the coffee at McDonald's is hot?

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:19:38 EDT

Thaler posted :

said by TheMG:

From what regular concert-goers have told me, this is quite normal for concerts.

Why the hell do they have to put it so loud? What's the point?

Yeah, complaining about the volume level at a rock concert is like getting upset people are drinking at a bar.

As for why they do it...who knows - it's just what happens. Plan accordingly and bring ear plugs.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:53:12 EDT

powerage66 posted : I've been to many concerts over the years, mostly hard rock, metal and thrash, and every show has been loud, but not overbearingly so, and just about all sounded great. The loudest was AC/DC back in 1983. My ears were still ringing 24 hours after the concert. That might have been from the cannons being fired off in a small arena though. Priest and Megadeth were pretty loud back in '87, and sounded killer.

I guess when I go to a concert, I expect it to be loud.
--
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:01:02 EDT

fruhead posted : ^There aren't enough 'approval' options available for this post.^

I've been gigging for almost 40 years and damaged my hearing at a young age by standing in front of amps turned up way too high. That's what garage-bands / bar bands did in those days. No local venue had a sound system like most do today, so we had to shlep our cobbled-together PA from gig to gig, dance to dance, party to party. We didn't have the capability (or the gear, or the money) to mic the amps to keep the backline quieter - besides, we were Rock and Roll Animals!

Still gigging, but much smarter now. Good monitors, smaller stage amps (no more Marshall full-stacks & Sunn 2x15 reflex bass cabs), reinforcing the backline thru the PA with a good sound engineer.

I gave myself a touch of tinnitus, a mild 'hissing' in my ears (not constant, but frequent enough), and I don't want to make it worse or cause damage to our couple of fans.

Sarah is spot on - wear hearing protection or at least have it with you. Spend a few extra bucks for plugs specifically designed for music instead of sticking your fingers in your ears. Every big-box music store (Sam Ash, Guitar Center, all the rest) and most mom & pop music stores carry them - their employees wear them constantly, especially on Saturdays, when every wank-wizard feels the need to play 'Crazy Train' or 'Stairway to Heaven' with their amp and axe dimed. It's a special level of Hell. :D

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:40:01 EDT

Bobby_Peru posted : Don't give up on experiencing live music, just take the good advice of Sarah , and others here, to use protection, just like in another area of mutual human pleasurable interaction (both of which coincidentally(?) involve at least some degree of timing, coordination, friction, vibrations and maybe even some humor, and often are enhanced by each other.. ;) ).

Buy at least two sets of good earplugs made specifically for protection and enjoyment of music, and keep at hand (and clean, in their own little cases).

Having been to literally hundreds and hundreds (thousands) of musical events, both amplified, acoustic, and mixed, of all most every "type" of music ((actually, as Duke (Ellington), I think, said, there are only two types of music, good and bad...;)) from completely acoustic solo, chamber, orchestral, symphonic, 'Eastern', old-time, bluegrass, jazz, rock, reggae/ska... , punk, hardcore, and their myriad of wonderful interminglings, in venues as varied as living-rooms/garages/barns/backyards, quads, lawns, parks, stores, street corners, bars, churches and other places of 'worship' (both consecrated and 'converted'- 'Revival' anyone?), warehouses, tents, boats, and small through large concert halls, ('dinner') theaters, clubs and arenas and stadiums, farms, ski resorts (a few winners: The Main Point - even after it's expansion to around hold a whopping175 including standing room, The Academy of Music, The Fox, Alex Cooley's Electric/Agora Ballroom - though they often had their upper-mids horns mixed too high, The Great Southeast Music Hall, The Moon Shadow, Denver's Ebet's Field, J.C. Dobbs, and of course Red Rocks) all usually as front/center as possible ....two things became _painfully_ clear:

The first was that size does matter - smaller is almost always way way preferable, with good site lines and sound apparently much easier to obtain (though by no means assured - and if one somehow manages to get in the best seats/spots for even large venues, shows can be quite intimate); The second was that fellow attendees (and performers) were in fact suffering temporary to permanent progressive hearing damage.

While I began using protective earplugs relatively late, fortunately, it was before too much damage was done, though some probably did occur (also possibly by small aircraft cockpit noise).

Even paper (clean bar napkin, t-paper) can help give protection in an emergency (sacrificing clarity for long-term hearing).

As mentioned by others above, besides the particulars of the venue's acoustics, the sound reinforcement system physical set up, EQ, balance and overall loudness, your proximity and orientation to the speakers, other factors which come into play are both the overall length of time of exposure to different frequencies and their persistence.

For amplified music (shows, or movies), whether it's Tracy Nelson, Social Distortion, Lucinda Williams, Michell Shocked, Sonic Youth, or Wild Flag, it's all in the mix, and not just a question of overall dB level (so long as it is not sustained at damaging levels), as, for one instance, even with the air in ones lungs vibrating along with Phil's Lesh's bass, front and center at Red Rocks, the proper sound presentation (low distortion, good EQ, reasonably loud levels) made for a magical, _safe_ experience!

The worst offenders (horrendous EQ/sound pressure levels that caused pain) that I personally experienced that quickly come to mind were:

Al Di Meola, Atlanta, GA. It was so absurdly loud, with horrendous EQ, at our seats, we tried moving way way back, and then even tried the balcony, all in vain, and so we left.

Hot Tuna: Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom, Quarter-Beer Night?, front row table. When Tuna ended their "Electric" set, no one that I could hear, or see, made more than the most perfunctory efforts at the universal encore demands - the crowd was apparently happily suffering from a combination of musical euphoria and serious ear-ringing - 'Earblood Bedlam', and was simply too exhausted, and deaf, to submit to any more. It was a wonderful performance, but at a price of hearing loss, which, fortunately, at least in the case of myself and those I knew at the show, was only temporary, with recovery occurring over the the next two days. Hopefully, everyone there similarly effected, also fully recovered.

Little Feat/ Traffic: The Omni: The mix was so bad (EQ, reverberation, sound level way too _low_), in a musically terrible venue, that so many people were yelling that they could not properly hear the music, that S. Winwood apparently though they were being booed, and walked off stage.

[EDIT: 1) I noted another post, while composing this one, referenced the Dead's great use of sound. 2) It is increasingly common for musicians to employ custom fitted wireless earpieces that provide both protection, if they don't set them too loud, and their personal monitoring mix.]

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:40:17 EDT

fruhead posted : Oh, and for the headbangers...

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:38:56 EDT

fruhead posted : The notion that rock has to be loud to be good is pretty lame. Too many 'bands' (and amateur 'sound engineers') replace talent with volume. Their 'fans' eat it up, headbanging, devil-horning - not much more pathetic than a 50-something with a Motorhead t-shirt living in Mom's basement because his dream of becoming a Rock God just hasn't panned out yet. I see these guys all the time; when the band sucks, they just crank it up louder. It's really funny to watch...

Some of the best shows I've been to (and there have been hundreds since '72) had the best sound-systems and the best mid-range volume. The Grateful Dead had, in the 70s, their 'Wall of Sound' PA system (pictured above). They understood that it wasn't volume that was important, it was clarity of the music and the vocals. Unfortunately, at a Dead show, that could be a blessing or a curse, depending on the night... :D

Seriously, this whole 'if it's to (sic) loud, you're too old' thing is just silly. Even bar-band musicians like me know enough to keep our amps quieter in the backline (the amps behind the band) to save our own hearing, and have a sound engineer that understands the properties of the room to mix us in the frontline (the PA) so we're legible and the music is mixed properly for the people who come to see us. That's just 'Band-101' stuff.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:46:45 EDT

intok posted : QWHAT!?!?!?

Loudest band I've ever seen, drone metal so loud the whole building shook.

»www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1HEiQJEmBg

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:26:22 EDT

Juggernaut posted :

said by AVD:

IF IT'S TOO LOUD; YOU'RE TOO OLD!!!!!!1111

If you have to 'shout', you're half deaf too. :D
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:24:27 EDT

AVD posted : IF IT'S TOO LOUD; YOU'RE TOO OLD!!!!!!1111

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:25:14 EDT

TheMG posted :

said by Sarah:

If you decide to get earplugs, it's worth getting special music earplugs (I use these) instead of the plain foam ones.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into these.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:08:15 EDT

Sarah posted : If you decide to get earplugs, it's worth getting special music earplugs (I use these) instead of the plain foam ones. The foam plugs take out all of the treble, but the earplugs meant for music have a flatter frequency (not perfect by any means, but much better). Plus, they are much more reusable than the foam ones so the price works out in your favor... and they come with a little case to keep them clean in your pocket.

I used them at the Secret Chiefs 3 concert where the music was so loud it was making the straw in my cup bounce around, and if I put the drink down it would crawl/vibrate across the table of its own accord due to the vibrations from the sound system. Standing in the front row leaning on the subwoofer... no pain, no tinnitus, no problem...
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:36:00 EDT

TheMG posted : This concert was Our Lady Peace in Ottawa at the Bronson Centre, which is a fairly small venue (900 seats I think).

The loudness was absolutely ridiculous. So loud that the highs were distorted. I don't think it was the speakers distorting, it was my ears that were distorting due to the excessive loudness. It was bordering on painful.

I think those of you saying it may be a venue with bad acoustics or a bad sound engineer may be right. I had a hard time hearing the vocals over the music. The sound was just bad, too loud and not EQ'd correctly.

To those of you saying "if it's too loud you're too old", or "check inside your pants", grow up. If you don't care about being half deaf where you're older, go ahead and keep blasting your tunes 'til your ears bleed, but personally I have very good hearing and would much rather keep it that way for as long as I can. Since when is permanently damaging your own body a "manly" thing to do? Ridiculous.

I will definitely bring along some earplugs if I ever end up going to another concert.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:44:58 EDT

hurfy posted : ahhh, J.Geils band long time ago in a small venue of 1000 people i think. They had it cranked up so much you couldn't understand a thing til you got out to the concession area. 4 Eight foot cone speakers cranked to 11 in a small theater setting. Some of the biggest speakers i've seen. I think they hired the homeless guy on the corner to run the sound system...

Molly Hatchet was awesome there tho, so it wasn't the venue.

On the other hand and more recent...
KISS at 10000 person arena, the vocals were too soft for a fair part of the show and the video displays were messed up. Setup FAIL :(

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:47:50 EDT

battleop posted : If it's to loud you are to old.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:37:34 EDT

bionicRod posted :

said by The Pig:

I think some of you dudes need to look down inside your pants!
Next time go see Susan Boyle or Charlotte Church if Rock is to much for you!

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:34:49 EDT

Sukunai posted : Some music is simply no damned good at any volume level.

Yeah everyone has their own likes. I just can't fathom some likes.

I'd love to see Il Divo in concert.

Lately I am being told all my music is 'chic music'. So?

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:09:33 EDT

jabarnut posted :

said by CylonRed:

A friend of mine who has been to may a concert always said that the Kinks were the absolute loudest he has ever heard. The loudest I ever went to was Rush but I was not on the floor and just under a set of speakers...

Funny, the Kinks were one of my favorite bands back then. Saw them several times in concert. And while they were of course 'loud', they were nothing compared to some of the others.
Oh, and Sarah I'm sure has some good points as far as the venue, and I'm also pretty sure some of the sound engineering is better than it was back in the 60's and 70's when I was a huge concert goer as well.
But a lot of the bands I saw were in places like Madison Square garden, Carnegie Hall, and others like the Filmore East, Academy of Music, etc.
The sound wasn't 'distorted' at all that I can recall...sounded awesome! Just really LOUD.

One other good point you made. The seats had a lot to do with it. Obviously when I had seats right up front next to a stack of amps that were as high as the Empire State Building (which was often), it was a 'bit louder'. Those were the ones that did the most damage, I'm pretty sure.
Although, I'n not so sure it was the sound alone that did some of the "damage" back then. :o ;)
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:52:12 EDT

Sarah posted : Some of the posts in this thread are making me crack up :D This kind of volume is not "normal" for concerts except at venues where the acoustics are so bad they are trying to overcome it with sheer volume. Don't fool yourself into thinking this is normal or that they do it because it's more fun or sounds better. It's because the venue is crap. (Or, in a few cases, because the band thinks no one will notice how hard they suck if they play loud enough.)

I am a frequent concert-goer (probably 120+ concerts in the past two years) and while most professionals know how to make it loud without damaging your hearing, there are always a few asshats who don't know the difference between "good and loud" and "distorted and painful." 95% of shows I go to, my ears are not bothered afterwards. 4%, I have a touch of hissing for a couple of hours. 1% are the stupid ones where your ears are ringing for two days. (I started keeping earplugs on me at all concerts to prevent that from ever happening again.) Those are the shows where the music is so loud it causes actual pain. I have no interest in subjecting myself to that. Don't let other people tell you that's OK... it's not.
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:26:05 EDT

DarkLogix posted : All concerts do it.
the only concert I ever was at was at some fair and it was so f***'ing loud that it was totaly distored and unlistenable, why do they do it? only guess is stupidity.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:54:30 EDT

anon posted : Went to lots of concerts back in my younger days. Primarily indoor, but a few outdoor as well. Lots of "loud" bands. Probably saw Slipknot 10+ times since the Des Moines area is relatively "local." I never really had a problem with truly excessive/painfully loud and poor sound, except for once.

Marilyn Manson played the Five Seasons Center in Cedar Rapids, and one of their opening acts was a band called Nashville "cat" (OK, not exactly cat, but a synonym thereof). Just a nonstop brickwall of distortion at what had to be easily 10dB louder than the main event ended up being. I actually had to hold my hands over my ears the entire time they "performed."

I definitely agree with the folks recommending earplugs in this thread, though I do have a suggestion. If you're spending big bucks on concert tickets, don't use cheapie foam ones. Spend a little bit more $ and get some of the 3-flange rubber Hearos. Much better frequency balance, in my opinion.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:26:18 EDT

footballdude posted : A few years ago, Ted Nugent was verified as the loudest concert ever (measured in decibels). Not sure if the record has been broken or not. I believe the Nuge has a few hearing problems these days.
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:36:57 EDT

CylonRed posted : A friend of mine who has been to may a concert always said that the Kinks were the absolute loudest he has ever heard. The loudest I ever went to was Rush but I was not on the floor and just under a set of speakers...
--
Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:01:06 EDT

jabarnut posted : Heh...I "hear you". :D
I was just doing a quick search. Isn't it funny two of the bands (Zeppelin and the Who), where among many I saw back then that 'hurt", and are listed here:
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudest_ba···he_world

I can think of many others I saw that made my 'ears bleed' just as much (or more), but I don't see them in that link. (I'm sure there are other interesting links on the subject though).
--
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:45:07 EDT

Juggernaut posted : I have a bad case of tinnitus. It's constant, and a PITA. It reminds me of the old WW2 joke, "Does the ringing in my ears bother you?".

The reality is, it isn't a joke.
--
Better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:30:25 EDT

jabarnut posted : I went to a lot of incredibly loud concerts in the old days (mostly in the late 60's and early to mid 70's if you know what I mean). ;)
Went at least once a week, sometimes more...(mostly in NYC).
Some were so loud my ears hurt and rang for three days.
Makes me wonder if people like Eric Clapton (Cream back then), or Townshend, can hear anything at all these days.
Anyway, being a crazy youngster, I really didn't care at the time...the louder the better. But now that I'm, um, 'getting up there in the years', I really wish I had done more to protect my ears. So yeah, let it be a warning.

My hearing is pretty seriously damaged. If there is anything good at all that came out of it, it's the fact that I can't hear a damn thing my wife says. Even when she's yelling at me it's soft enough to be tolerable.
She wants me to get a hearing aid, but no way.
I know a good thing when I can't hear it. :D
--
I had a life once.....now I have a Computer and a Modem.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:46:44 EDT

lordpuffer posted : I've been to at least 20-25 rock concerts in my life. The only ones that really bothered me were twice when I saw the Marshall Tucker Band. I saw them in like 1977 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and again in the 90's outside in downtown Richmond, VA. They were so F'n loud!

I don't remember any of the other concerts being so loud that my ears were ringing afterwards. I think Marshall Tucker had a sound guy who just loved to crank it.

Gotta throw in that the best concert I ever saw was Pink Floyd in 1988 or 89 in Rotterdam, Holland (Momentary Lapse Of Reason Tour). I was in Amsterdam before the concert so I stocked up on some goodies. ;)

Oh, and I did see about 2 big name concerts at the very small Viper Room in West Hollywood, CA (I lived down the street for 13 years). However, I was so drunk at those times that I don't remember the sound volume. Probably cranking loud.

I would advice that if a concert is too loud for you, to walk out. It's not worth your hearing.
--
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:14:55 EDT

anon posted : It can be really dependent on the venue. I know in Calgary, AB at the EPCO Centre they have a multi-million dollar solid oak (or something like that) natural sound amplifier hanging from the ceiling.

Naturally I am sure that it is designed more for an orchestra performance, and to ensure that the sound is just as brilliant at the back of the theatre as it is at the front, but when you throw a rock band in there (Theory of a Deadman my last time) it can get real loud.

As a person who sees over 5 concerts a year, and spent last year standing front-row perpendicular to a main speaker for the whole stadium, you quickly learn that you should always bring a set of ear plugs for those overly loud concerts.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:20:20 EDT

quatrix posted : I haven't been to many concerts, but yeah, those few (in hockey arenas) have all had the volume so loud that it was heavily distorted. Most were in hockey arenas.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:28:20 EDT

Red Dog9 posted : If it is too loud, blame the sound engineer. The band has no idea how loud it is to the audience (unless it is a really small venue).

I guess sometimes the lowest bid gets the contract and they just put up some big speakers and go for it...but typically the good engineers really want to maximize volume without bringing in distortion. That's why they get paid the big bucks.

Many people who are replying to this thread mention all the loud concerts they have been to that sounded fine, then pick out the one or two 'painful' ones. That pain can be blamed directly on a under-qualified sound engineer. If they don't know how to correctly EQ for the room, there will be issues - guaranteed.

Considering the fact that hearing damage cannot be repaired, I am amazed that:
1) People still try to get the lower priced sound guy
2) more venues/acts haven't been sued for hearing damage - especially out here in California ( the 'sue me' state)

If you wake up the day after a concert and your ears are still ringing or hurt. That is seriously bad news.

Of course, if you wake up after a concert and you are still in the venue - you probably can't blame that one on the sound tech!

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:26:29 EDT

Juggernaut posted : Actually, I'm referring to just lots of people talking. Add music to that, and I leave the room, or the party depending how bad it is.
--
Better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:22:47 EDT

wolfy339 posted : Which makes you one of the few people who can and/or cares to actually learn how to and try to lipread in a noisy environment. The rest of us: meh, we don't need it that loud, and would probably ask anyone playing music that loud at a house party to turn it down

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:10:07 EDT

Juggernaut posted :

said by wolfy339:

said by rollin :

if its too loud, you're too old!

WRONG. If its too loud, its because myself, the OP, and others actually value our hearing.

Yea, I've lost a fair bit of hearing. Mainly frequencies that were lost, but also levels of sound as well to the point where, if I'm in a noisy environment like a house party, I also lip read.

So yea, party on dudes! Turn it loud!
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Better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:33:47 EDT

moes posted : I ran sound boards for a few years and when the band wanted the shit so loud it was distorting and hurting my ears, I knew it was to loud. so I'd make some adjustments while they we're playing, fuckers never noticed a difference.

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:11:05 EDT

Mike posted : 2012-03-31 21:23:30

About three and a half hours too early man

Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:31:51 EDT

wolfy339 posted :

said by rollin :

if its too loud, you're too old!

WRONG. If its too loud, its because myself, the OP, and others actually value our hearing. Foam earplugs, as has been suggested by some in this thread help somewhat but are not a 100% solution. BTW: I have been to many concerts (both indoor and outdoor/open air) and movies myself and generally find the volume excessively loud for the venue. I also have not been able to find any point or purpose to having the volume so loud.
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Re: [Rant] volume level at rock concerts

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:30:35 EDT

Liberty posted : About 6 or 7 years ago we went to a Brooks & Dunn and Reba MacIntire concert
I thought my ears were gonna bleed it was so freakin loud

Usually I bring foam ear plugs to concerts but didn't that time because I never dreamed a country concert would be so loud

btw it was an awesome show, volume aside...