I started losing my hearing a while ago and to try to save what I have left I decided to use foam plugs at last years MH gig,I said I would report back, well,better late than never.
I was amazed,first off without the plugs I could never hear Phil's guitar except when he was the only one playing,with the plugs not only can I hear his guitar but, I can hear EVERY note!
I'll be using these again on Thursday,nowadays I put myself first and don't give a damn what anyone thinks.

I will have my ear plugs with me on Sunday and a week Saturday. I forgot them last night at the Steel Panther gig, and Im suffering for that this morning. I use a phone most of the day in my work, so losing any more hearing would be a disaster. I use some proper plugs that filter the sound, and I agree about the guitar.

Absolutely gentlemen!
Losing your hearing is no fun,losing hearing range is a lot more subtle.
As a musican that makes my life hard.
I've done alot of damage to mine over the years.

So yes,absolutely,protect it or sooner or later lose it!

I use a type of musicians plugs if I go to the big shows, I can't remember the brand right now but if I do I'll run them up as they're wonderful pieces of kit. They have clear sound and just lower the decibels (By as much as -30db depending on what tips you have on the ends), they're also quite small so they don't feel like you've rammed bullets in your ears. I wore them at two shows on the '09 tour and I never had any tinnitus at all.

I must remember mine for tonight. I work in a call centre so my ears are my job basically! I agree with you about hearing Phil properly (shame about his singing lol)

I have a set of these and they seem to do the job. The negative reviews are mainly about prolonged usage, but as I go to 1 or 2 gigs a month, that isn't really an issue for me.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000UJ8RHE/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

I just the cheap ones that I bought at the Clas Olhson shop,ten plugs for £2.99.

Try Bilsom swim and music plugs, they work good for me..

I can highly recommend those.

I use them for years now. Great sound and very comfortable to wear, even for 4 or more hours.

And, as I'm not getting tired to write: Protect your ears! Once your hearing is gone, it's gone

When I saw Motorhead in 82, it was so loud that my ears were distorting. It was just very loud white noise but the drums were pretty clear. At the time I never used earplugs. It would have been a much nicer experience if I had earplugs since I would have been able to hear the music rather than noise. I wore earplugs when I saw them in 2010 or 2011. I took the earplugs out for the last couple of songs. They weren't nearly as loud as the 82 show and the music was extremely clear (with and without the earplugs).
It's good to carry a set of earplugs when going to a concert even if the show isn't loud and you don't end up using them.

My ears ring constantly. After a concert it rings louder for 2 days. After a Motorhead concert it feels horrible. Will not attend a gig without plugs, the cheap ones but well stuck in. I recommend all to wear, ears are sensitive and some day these problems come and hardly disappear.

Another reason I'm wearing the plugs this Thursday is that I have a Northern Sinfonia concert on Saturday and Vaughan Williams,The Lark Ascending is not exactly the loudest piece of music.
Regards how loud Motorhead play now compared to 70s & 80s, has anyone asked Dave, the front of house sound guy?
If anyone knows he will.

I applaud you all for being responsible!!

Motorhead back in the 80's was one almighty walls of sound.
If was kind of the spirit of the age.
There was a volume war going on.
I never used ear plugs back then.
I was also in a band at the time and we were just as bad in our own way.

We live and learn.

I think Venom won the war.
Ridiculous.
It was strange last year though to be able to hear every note of Phil's guitar.

The APD Tour was vicious volume wise. Without doubt the loudest gig I've ever attended

Dave Hobbs ?.. Has retired i think the stage moniter guy Arnie Annables 'big beard' is doing the front of house sound now. So has Ian 'Eagle'Dobbie he retired 2-3 tours ago. I honestly think Motorhead don't turn it up etc its more about sound quality now. I've heard some dredful bootlegs from the 80's. I think it's a pure gimmick, whats the point in having a sound guy if he's just going to blast the fuck out of the PA ??. They are much quieter these days. The loudest band i seen in the 80's was surprisingly Whitesnake in 1981.

Venom is a real kick.

Motorhead bought a new PA system just prior to when I saw them in '82 which they likely did to get a bit more publicity as the newspapers and magazines just made fun of them back then. The first show they (reportedly) used the new PA on was the show I saw in Toronto '82. There are no bootlegs that are even fair quality from that show. I ended up finding a couple of people who taped the show and they said the recording was really poor due to how loud it was. Unfortunately they didn't keep the recordings. I would have liked to hear them just to hear all the crazy stuff happening between the songs. I'm not sure how long they played using this PA but they likely used it on the APD tour. I didn't go to the APD tour because I expected not to be able to hear the music. At the time I was a teenager and hadn't even considered going to a show with earplugs or that loud volume can have a permanent affect on your hearing.

Regarding Venom, I never seen them live but someone I know saw both Venom and Motorhead around the same time. He still claims Motorhead was the loudest concert he has ever been to.

PS. If anyone ever finds a bootleg of the Toronto 82 complete show, I would be very interested even if it's bad quality.

i went to Venom's big Hammersmith show in (i think) 1984 or 1985 and they were very loud, but the overrding memory was the bloody flame jets, didn't quite sear the eyebrows off but not far short! APD tour at Hammersmith was loud, as was front row stage left on the Saturday 10th anniversary show. Michael Monroe is the loudest act i ever saw at the Camden Forum (aka Town and Country Club as was)
I've orderd some of the plugs recommended on here as taking the wife to Paris with me

The 80s were crazy with that volume thing, anyway.
Couple of my friends were on an AC/DC show, must have been around 1986. I also would have been there, but had the flu

Anyway, one of my friends was close to some PA speakers, just to his right side. Even days after the show the ringing in his right ear didn't disappear and he said that it feels as if water would be in it, as it sometimes happens when you go swimming.
He finally went to an otologist. He suffered from an acoustic trauma and had lost 20% of his hearing ability on that ear

Imagine that - one show, one night. 20% gone. That was when I finally decided to never attended a concert without ear protection and I kept it that way. Back then my mates called me "sissy", now I can call them anything at low volume in a loud pub or so - they don't understand it. Hearing damaged, irreversible...

One mistake I made a few times was being too close the PA. People should try not to do that as it can be unbearably loud.

The Guiness book of world records removed the loudest band category from the book. Too many band were constantly trying to be the loudest at the audience's mercy.

Yes mate,I was there "Ipswich Gaumont",at the time the loudest indoor gig ever,I remember Lemmy announcing it

I caught the tour at Poole Arts Centre aged 13. It was my 1st ever gig, and it was so loud it actually put me off seeing bands for a year or two.

I can understand that mate.

I'm still scared of Motorhead shows mate, I keep checking if my plugs are enough tucked in my ears and even though I still get ringing ears for 2 days!

I laughed at my Mrs 3 years ago when she put ear plugs in before her first ever Motorhead gig in Leeds.
But the volume that night was hellish, and even worse as it resonated in the upper circle where we were.

I was in pain for a few days, and I have been deaf in one ear for the the last 6 years anyway! So basically my one remaining ear was out of commission for a few days. Scary stuff.

She has worn earplugs ever since (4 more gigs) but I have still never worn them. Too proud... too stupid?

Just wear them mate cos I heard when you get deaf you also get a feeling of desperation which costs a lot of money to treat with psychiatrist therapies..

Fest,it won't matter if you were too stupid or too proud when you go deaf!!

I am sure you do not want to live the rest of your life unable to hear the voice of your loved ones,or the birds singing,OR never listen to a Motorhead album ever again!!!

PLEASE,wear those ear plugs.
Life is long,deaf is as Motorhead once said "Forever"

Ha ha .... Nah, can't bring myself to do it.

They ain't as loud as they were a few years back, Leeds was an aberration.
Manchester has been fine the last 3 years.
Although Llandudno was a bad one, in terms of sound quality and distorted volume.
Having said that, I got to meet Lemmy in Llandudno, so it was a great night all in all.
I wanted to post my picture with him as my Avatar on here, but it seems that you need a URL link to a picture, and not just a jpg picture.

You can host a picture at a site like photobucket

Right.... I'm on the mother-fucker (as they say in Pulp Fiction)

Thanks once again Terentek!

No worries mate.
Let me know if you have a prob with it.

I think.... I might have done it.... (I Think!)

Yep, there it is!

Back in 2004 I took my girl to see Motorhead play in Chicago. She had never seen them before, nor anything even close to it in terms of volume and intensity. In the lobby we bumped into Campbell, who signed her ticket stub for her. She said thanks and then she said, "I am a Motorhead virgin, Phil, any advice?" As he walked away he yelled over his shoulder, "Wear your ear-plugs, luv!"

One of the times it was a Black Sabbath show. My seats were front row and I was between Tony Iommi and the PA. It was so loud where I was sitting that I was cringing each time I noticed Tony about to use his volume pedal. Black Sabbath isn't known for being very loud but I learned my lesson about being too close to the PA.

Excellent!

My band "Gunslinger" back in the early 80's were well known for pushing the volume out.
But you're young and invincible and it can never get loud enough LOL
One day we had the police raid our rehearsals because the volume we were putting out was a "Traffic Hazard"
Always been a bit proud of that day LOL..........

I m 48 yo... and never used foam plugs...
I think I m ok despite a little noise in the ears ...

Surely there is is legislation to say how loud a rock band is allowed to play? If a factory owner exposed his staff to noise levels that damaged their hearing, people would sue his ass off.

Other than misguided machismo, there is no reason why a band needs to play at ear-shattering volume. It doesn't make the music any better. Having ringing in your ears for days afterwords may seem tough at 25 but is no joke in middle age.

the volume is to let you feel the power, not to make you deaf!

Well 6 shows in and im fucking deaf....another 14 to go gonna have to get some plugs....

I've already decided to be far from speakers as well as wearing plugs cos my ears seem to be even more sensitive lately.
Being deaf is bad enough but having ringing ears constantly is too punishing.

There was a study recently that showed Acetaminophen found in pills like Tylenol, cause a person's hearing to get damaged more easily with loud sound. I don't know the full details of the study but that was mentioned on the news about a month or two ago. I take Tylenols so it's interesting to know.