What do you guys think about ear plugs? All the musicians, concert goers and concert performers... Are earplugs the go? Or are they just not rocknroll (ahhh, decadence)?

The guy who I always go see bands with always wears them and one day I decided to wear them as well. It was for Opeth. They came out and well... its just not the same! Should I give it more of a go or...

I haven't tried playing or jamming with them and after last night's jam, I think they may be a good idea (Ecoustic Madness is coming along nicely).

I used to listen to walkman quite loud, and going to shows without earplug. Now my ears are a bit damaged, i hear a background noise when everything is quiet. I was worrying about this so i looked for more info about it and got a bit scared at what can happen to your ears.
Well, some people can be just fine and never get any damage, but now i barely listen music with headphone, and i wear earplug at every show.

By the way i'm talking about earplug you can buy anywhere, but for the musicians out there, there are some earplug that don't cut off frequencies.

i'm talking about earplug you can buy anywhere, but for the musicians out there, there are some earplug that don't cut off frequencies.

Interesting, if you see any related websites about this pass it on, cheers!

When you play, you should wear some of them.( I do )
When you attend a show, that depends from you, dude! If you know you'll be spending most of your time near the wall of amps, then... you know what to do!
Lots of musicians from the 80s became quite deaf... been told that Hetfield used to sleep with the tv on 'cause he always heard a kind of humming when there was no sound at all...

take care of your ears,dude...

When you play, you should wear some of them.( I do )
When you attend a show, that depends from you, dude! If you know you'll be spending most of your time near the wall of amps, then... you know what to do!
Lots of musicians from the 80s became quite deaf... been told that Hetfield used to sleep with the tv on 'cause he always heard a kind of humming when there was no sound at all...

take care of your ears,dude...

I heard Jason had some ear problems as well.

At my rapidly advancing decrepitude - earplugs at a gig are a fucking must. I have over 20 years of gigs stored behind my eardrums and to expose myself to continuing high decibelery is inviting trouble.

Motorhead 1984 Palais Geelong (yes they actually played here) we were leaning on the stage and never heard a note - just rumbling all the way through the show - couldn't hear for 3 days.
Ministry 1995 Palace Melbourne even with earplugs I couldn't hear properly for a few days.
Dev 1999 HiFi Bar Melb. I decided to take them out because I wasn't enjoying it as much while plugged - tinnitus in my right ear for months. I'm talking: "shoot me someone, I can't sleep and I'm going insane"-type tinnitus...

So yeah, you are right Mo. It doesn't sound the same as "unplugged" but it won't sound the same in the future when Permanent Shift of Hearing comes a-knockin' on your skull either.

Be careful.

I've worn them at times, because I'm already somewhat hard of hearing (not bad enough for a hearing aid yet), but to me it just really hurts the quality of the sound that you're listening to, especially at a live show. While I do think the intentions of them are good, I have a couple of problems with them.

Is turning down the band a possibility??

I wonder how that would blow over

Eh? Whadyasay?

I'm the posterchild for 'Wear Earplugs or Else'.
My left ear (the bass player's side) is really damaged and I've lost about 50% of the hearing. Sporadically, I have tinitus.

Dude.... earplugs are worth it in the end.
You even start getting used to them at shows.

I suppose if you go to shows constantly then yeah it would be good...but seriously is it necessary for a band to crank that loud? No...

So have your mom call in and politely ask the nice gentlemen on stage, or ladies, to turn it down please....hahahaha ~~~~~~

I wear em if it starts to hurt usually

I always wear them. As an aspiring musician its important i keep my ears in top shape.

Started wearing them about two years ago at shows. I actually prefer them as the get rid of all the high pitched hisss sound that I hear and everything is much clearer. Plus I usually get headaches and fatigue from listening to loud noises. Ecept for listening to loud music in my car, complete with amplifiers, component speakers and and subwoofer.

I always wear them at work where there is tonnes of noise from tools, compressors, and radios blairing at full blast.

Started wearing them about two years ago at shows. I actually prefer them as the get rid of all the high pitched hisss sound that I hear and everything is much clearer. Plus I usually get headaches and fatigue from listening to loud noises. Ecept for listening to loud music in my car, complete with amplifiers, component speakers and and subwoofer.

I always wear them at work where there is tonnes of noise from tools, compressors, and radios blairing at full blast.

gotta have a sub, Kyuss ain't Kyuss without it.
Even if its a small sub, it'll do the job.

Or how good is the massive bass in the infinity opening?

Started wearing them about two years ago at shows. I actually prefer them as the get rid of all the high pitched hisss sound that I hear and everything is much clearer. Plus I usually get headaches and fatigue from listening to loud noises. Ecept for listening to loud music in my car, complete with amplifiers, component speakers and and subwoofer.

I always wear them at work where there is tonnes of noise from tools, compressors, and radios blairing at full blast.

gotta have a sub, Kyuss ain't Kyuss without it.
Even if its a small sub, it'll do the job.

Or how good is the massive bass in the infinity opening?

BOOOM! Same with "War"

Tool kicked my ass with massive bass at their concert.

I never gave a fuck about bass, big stigma attached to it thanks to all the nobs that prowl the streets.

But playing Kyuss on a system with a decent sub is something else.