Are sound levels at rock concerts too high?

I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, it's "common knowledge" that concerts are loud. It's hard to believe, with his studies of music, that he did not realize this. On the other hand, his greatest love, fine music, is now lost to tinnitus because of the only rock concert he ever attended. Should that kind of damaging volume be produced without even a warning at the gates? Other 'noisy' industries require hearing protection ...

It's probably a good idea for maximum volume info to be posted, but this guy seems pretty clueless. OF COURSE the volume is going to be high at a Smashing Pumpkins concert. If you don't like it, don't go, bring earplugs, or leave once you begin to be bothered. Out of all the thousands of people who went to that concert, I'd think others would complain if the volume had *really* been unreasonable.

Um, from the stories I've seen about this, he was wearing earplugs.

Oh, and he wasn't "attending" the concert--what I read said that he went in to find his teenage son.

The high volume levels are part of why I've lost interest in going to rock concerts.

I damaged my hearing in high school attending a mandatory too-loud rock concert in the gymnasium. The freshmen all had to sit on the floor in front of the HUGE speakers, the music was terrible even from farther than ten feet away, and about ten minutes into the show my right ear popped.

Meanwhile the teachers hid out in the faculty lounge and yakked about how bizarre it was that we kids all thought this kind of thing was fun. I had asked to be excused to go to the library instead, but they wouldn't let me because if they had, one of them would have had to come watch me. Besides, they put all this effort into arranging a fun activity, and I was bloody well going to go and appreciate it.

The special I saw on this didn't mention the earplugs, but they are mentioned in the suit. He's in fact suing the manufacturer, too:

http://www.disasterandlove.com/sp/news.html

The father said in the interview (60 Minutes?) that he 'took his son to' the concert, so he made it seem like he was in there the whole time with him. I can't find more info either way, though.

Rock concerts are incredibly loud. Also, Three-Card Monte is fixed, and hookers don't really love you.

Concerts should [not] be subject to the same hearing-protecteion laws as workplaces are now? Or should they be mandated to be the same by definition? (i.e. By reference or by value?)

My favorite thing about rock concerts is the volume. I love to feel the music in the ground.

The music - it's making my pants vibrate!

I even get annoyed at movie theaters now too. Often the volume there is too high as well. I'm becoming a crotchety old man! That's too loud, sonny - turn it down!

I just don't buy his claim, especially in light of what hunter said. He was wearing earplugs, he just went in to get his son, and yet he, unlike the thousands of other people who attended the concert for hours and without earplugs, suffered damage? I suppose we are to infer that he has extremely finicky hearing, since he's a music scholar, and also that his hearing loss is impeding his pursuit of his profession. How conveeeenient. I think the whole thing is a silly ego trip for this guy. Even if he really did suffer hearing loss, I don't think bands and venues should have to cater to one person with unusually sensitive hearing, and deprive everyone else of the rock concert experience.

bill: You can ask them to turn it down, and they will, at least in my experience.

elijahblue, if I ask them to turn it down I will have become my father, and I'm just not ready to accept that yet.

I used to work in a large club and I saw a number of VERY loud bands, plus endless hours of bone-jarring techno music. If you aren't used to it, you'll definitely feel the effects afterwards. In this case, I don't really think the father has a leg to stand on; its a rock concert. It's all about the noise. If you don't like that volume level, you better not go..or at least stay away from the speakers.

Bill: I recently passed a kind of milestone when I went upstairs and asked my neighbors to keep it down, please. (I resisted, but it was after 3 a.m., and they were making frequent pounding noises so loud that the windows were shaking in their frames. As it turned out, they were "doing an interpretive dance." I just didn't want them to wake Tom.)

What's the old saying? If it's too high, then you're too old?

hey! where'd my comment go?

He should have left! duh. It would then have been reasonable of him to ask for a refund of his ticket.

I'm not familiar with hearing-protection laws for workplaces but I think workers in concert venues should be provided with appropriate hearing protection.

Hm. reading hunter's comments I suppose it's just possible that his earplugs were defective, in which case he might have grounds to sue the manufacturer. But that doesn't seem especially likely. And I still think he shouldn't have been there. Who the hell can find a teenager in a rock concert anyway? If he went in to find his son, it's not like he sat down in his seat and was suddenly assaulted by a wave of sound he wasn't expecting. He would have been able to tell exactly how loud it was as he approached it.

going to a concert is a choice.....if you are too stupid to realize that a concert may be loud...then you deserve to be
deaf for eternity...totally idiotic lawsuit filed by a dweeb!!!

How about, if the band/venue sustains a maximum volume that could reasonably be expected to do permanent hearing damage, AND they don't post this information visibly, THEN they can be sued. But if the guy was a music scholar, you'd think he'd know a reasonable amount about these things to begin with...

Uh, rock concerts are supposed to damage your hearing!