My ex bought us tickets to go see the Flaming Lips because that's our band. We're broken up now, but still going to the concert together tonight. I haven't been to a show since middle school and don't know shit about concerts. Is there anything I should know before going?
earplugs, bring 'em. even if you don't need them it's good to have just in case. I wish I had done that when I was younger going to concerts.
Do not skip on this. You can get ones that have a nice flat noise reduction, and you will be so thankful you spent the like $30 when your ears aren't ringing forever.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
sorry i can't hear you over my tinnitus because i'm half dead and i never used earplugs when i was young
This. There's no shame in it. That shit is loud to the core. Bring some backups too just in case you lose or drop one. You'll still be able to hear JUST FINE.
yeah this
I own ones with little filter elements in them that reduce the noise without straight up blocking it/muddying the sound. I usually forget them though. Pretty sure I'm slowly getting tinnitus. But there have been times where I've been to shows that ended up being way louder than I expected that they were a lifesaver.
I'm forty and I absolutely have tinnitus, and it's due to a combination of concerts, driving a convertible in my twenties (north american miata-boy love association member), and working with airtools. Runner up causes are working with grinders, cutoff wheels, sawzalls, chainsaws, etc. If I were less stupid I would have used earplugs and I would not now hear a constant EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
yeah I only do that kind of loud stuff occasionally, and I sometimes wear hearing protection, so it's not bad yet, but its going to be if I don't get better about it. Teaching kids how to use power tools has really helped remind me to use hearing protection, because I would feel terrible if I taught them habits that got them hurt, but I care less about myself, in the moment.
I don't want to be like my dad who's half deaf in one ear at not-that-old of an age and spent years denying there was anything wrong (or my grandpa who bought cheap amplifiers rather than properly tuned hearing aids and made his hearing much worse)
driving a convertible is one I don't hear many talk about but yeah, I had a car with no AC and a soft top and any drive at highway speed more than like 20 mins you really wanted earplugs for
Mine live in a container attached to my keys, it means i have them everywhere, protip
it's a good idea but anything attached to my keys needs to be pretty indestructible or it gets destroyed. My first pair came in a plastic pill shaped container but it didn't last too long before breaking. A metal one would be better but so far I haven't been able to convince myself to do it lol (I go to shows like 3x a year realistically). and it has to be pretty small or it will drive me nuts in my pocket and I'll take it off my keys. I have a good number of keys but nothing bulky like car keys or pill containers or charms or anything.
I do know a perfect store to look for little metal capsules though... maybe next time I'm there
Don't be ashamed to do this. This is very important.