Quote:
Originally Posted by twoplanekid
I attended the Tommy James & The Shondells concert at the Sharon last night. It’s a delight to be entertained by an original and a professional who is a year older than me at 75. He performed almost all of his greatest hits of which there were many. It was also nice to have him spent time meeting and greeting the audience.
I thought that the sound system at the Sharon would be great. However, for us it was set way too loud. My wife left half way through the performance as did several others. As long as I kept my ears covered, it wasn’t too bad. I was a little surprised that the sound was at levels typical of 50 years ago when we were much younger.
So, be warned that the sound levels at the Sharon may be set way too high for many paying customers who attend this type of music venue. It may talk a day or two for me to recover so I may be continually saying “I can’t hear you”.  |
Well said. I avoid rock concerts for just that reason. For most of our lifetimes there has been a belief that rock concerts should be FELT whether or not they can be HEARD. Feeling the music requires enough volume to cause hearing damage. But music loud enough to feel encourages people to want to dance, and that’s the idea. The amusing thing is that I suspect most of us heard the Shondells on little transistor radios or on 45s played on little record players or on television. We didn’t hear the original hits played at volumes loud enough to feel, so why now? The Shondells really only played songs to be heard, not felt. Did they have albums, too? I certainly never bought one. Not my kind of pop music.
I’ve only been to a few concerts in The Villages. Some were so loud they hurt, and wearing earplugs simply ruined the music. Others were loud but bearable. Even the excellent Beatles tribute last summer wasn’t too loud. It’s pretty sad when we are judging concerts by whether or not they were too loud, isn’t it? But, alas, I do.
It is easy to use a decibel meter at the sound board and establish what volume causes pain to us—and hearing loss—and require that the volume not be above that level, whether or not the sound guy wants it louder. I wish that would be done. You can even buy a decent decibel meter app online for a few dollars that lets you check the volume and see if it’s safe for you. It’s right there on your phone. For me, 100 decibels or above will cause me more pain than pleasure and make my ears go numb.