Re clubs: it’s the drugs. Especially ecstasy. You need to feel the music. You NEED it. And feel empty without it. And will stay ALL night buying $8 waters if you have it.
There’s generally an inverse correlation with quality IME. It’s the audio equivalent of trying to add lots of chilli sauce to a bland meal.
The loudest clubs I’ve been to are those playing generic house / electronic to a pretentious crowd. Precisely no-one is really enjoying the music, but you sure can’t ignore it…
I’m not dissing house or electronic music as such, but a lot of places play an utterly forgettable set of that kind of music.
Oh yeah and concerts, I agree with the sentiments above. I’ve only been to one or two, and probably got permanent hearing damage from them.
I go to ball games, not to yell “Day-oh” but to talk about the game with my sports-minded companion. I have just left games where conversation is impossible.
Ever try playing trivia in a loud venue? For a short while my team played in a restaurant where the trivia host cranked up the music to 11 in between each question. We had to shout at each other in an effort to discuss our possible answers.
It was miserable.
mmm
I spent many years mixing live front of house for a couple of very loud bands. And unto you folks I say, musician’s earplugs. Designed, unlike the foam plugs, to turn down the sound like a volume switch, without altering its character. I have worn the Etymotics for decades now. I carry them with me all the time. You never know when the world is going to get all noisy on you.
I am 48, of the perfect age to have grown up with Walkmans and such. If there is a hearing loss epidemic in my age group, it has certainly escaped my notice. I know not a single person in my age group who has suffered from early hearing loss.
That’s still better than being subjected to the Cha Cha Slide. “Everybody clap your hands!”:rolleyes: Fortunately that one has never made it onto the playlist at Wrigley Field.
As a performing musician, my rule is “if the bartender can’t hear orders and sell drinks, it’s too loud.” You’d think more establishments would think of that, but there you go.
Sadly, the stupid expression, “if it’s too loud, you’re too old” has taken hold and informs DJs, bar owners, sound men (bane of my existence) and others. Too loud for things to function correctly is simply too loud.
We hates that song, we hates it so!
I frequently go to casinos, mostly during the week and daytime.
Most of the patrons are older than 70.
In the pit area (table games) the music is extremely loud and they play crap Contemporary music.
I have asked the pit bosses to turn down the music, but they always say that it is controlled at corporate HQ. {sigh}
Not a club guy, but I do hit a small venue concert once in a while. Generally it’s so loud that my eardrums only pick up all the bass and nothing else. Which I justify to myself with: if I want to hear the music, that’s what earbuds and a dark room are for–but I’m here for the energy and to see the performance. One exception that blew my mind was Radkey. The band was definitely loud but also managed to be crystal clear. It’s like they understood the venue and how sound works. It was earbuds clear, AND I could feel it in my chest. Then the main act got up and delivered a wonderful visual performance amidst unholy distortion.
My friends and I have discovered that we are much more comfortable with even the cheap foam earplugs in clubs and concerts.
The volume of the music is greatly reduced, and it is actually easier for us to have a conversation.
Long time concert goer here. I have noticed in recent years that many big shows seem to have stadium-filling clear sound that you can scream to without hearing yourself, yet is still not ear-shattering like the concerts of old. I’m thinking G’n’R specifically. which was the first time I noticed this, but there have been many since. They - and you - can make all the noise needed and more, but you don’t have ringing ears for a couple of hours afterwards. I have no idea how this is accomplished.
At concerts of any kind, IMHO the idea is to get lost in the music and stage show. Volume helps.
Grew up with headphones on - both over-the-ear and Walkman-style. Lot of volume without actually having to turn it up. Impossible to get that same feeling of actually being in the music through speakers, but turning it loud helps.
“Stay the blazes home” - Stephen McNeil, Premier of Nova Scotia (and turn it loud!)
I dropped by to echo greyspacepoof. Take Care of Your Hearing.