I can relate to what Brian has gone through, along with many others of the era, no doubt, although I am personally very lucky as my hearing is more or less good. For those of us who went to dozens of concerts in the '60's and '70's, the impact on one's hearing has to be significant, both as an audience member and, of course, the folks in the bands, who played so many gigs loud, practiced loud, and went to loud concerts or clubs themselves. I pick and choose far more than I used to when deciding to see someone in a club. We rarely go to the "big concerts" any longer in venues like the Toy Box or the Erwin Center here in Austin due to the decibel level - my ears can ring for weeks and I worry that someday the ringing won't go away. My significant other is starting to turn up the TV louder than I like, but won't get her hearing tested, not yet. One concert that stands out is seeing Hendrix in the Sam Houston Coliseum, pre-S.O. My seat was no more than 30 feet from a huge stack of speakers and Jimi's shows were loud. I moved to the front middle halfway through - yes, I was one of those people that got close to the stage, regardless of my ticket, dragging the chick along with me - everyone was standing up anyway. We became part of the mob. After the concert my hearing was shot. It was around 3am when I realized that it was back to "normal," more or less. I doubt that Brian is the only musician who's been forced to quit due to his/her hearing. My guess is that we simply don't hear about the others, no pun intended.
I guess I'm a bit confused by his hearing loss issues. Does this mean Brian performs each show without any kind of in-ear monitor buds to mitigate the high sound levels? I mean...wouldn't every hard rock act basically be going deaf now? I thought the purpose of the in-ear monitor buds was to get a clean sound of the band's parts at a controlled volume level filtered from the crowd noise and to provide hearing protection at the same time? I'm not a live act...so I dunno. I thought all musicians wore these things and it provided protection?
During the bulk of his career and the career of others that are famous, and not so famous, the things didn't exist. Hell, all the guitars, for example, had cords, which could be a trip to handle, literally. Wireless was the old term for radio. Technology has come a long way. Perhaps the devices just aren't good enough to protect his hearing due to the severity.
I'd rather pay to see AxlDC than the GnR partial reunion: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/462uMHi0mgI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I've been to many rock/metal concerts over the years. I never really had an issue with my hearing because my seats were never up close on the floor. It wasn't until I started getting the better seats that I ended up in uncomfortable situations where I like have a PA speaker hanging right in front of me. I sat front row at one show...no problem whatsoever. I sat twentieth row at another show...pain in my ears at times. And, at one particular Rush concert, there was a feedback issue going on that just killed me. I left that concert with the worst ringing in my ears and...for a while...I thought it was permanent. Yea...it is pretty scary when your ears ring for a week or longer not knowing if it is going to go away or not. Unfortunately, I still haven't learned my lesson. The last Rush show I saw...I was tenth row floor. I brought ear plugs but didn't use them. But, I came away from that show with no problems. The mix was good and the volume wasn't excessively loud...at least from the spot I was in. It seems to depend on four main factors including how well the sound is mixed, are there feedback issues, how loud are they pushing it, and where you are sitting. But, no more Rush so I may have seen my last concert at this point. There is no one I really want to see nowadays. I certainly don't want to see fricking AC/DC at this point. I've seen them three times and that's enough for me...regardless of who is singing. I don't like being mooned by Angus, anyway. lol
im a musican and have been playing in bands for over 20 years. ive seen hundreds and hundreds of performances, some blisteringly, painfully loud...when i saw my bloody valentine they were so loud that my shirt was actually moving as if i was standing in a light breeze. im in my early 40's and my hearing has significantly degraded. my right ear is ok, but i have tinnitus in my left ear and the high end is gone. as a musician, it makes it more difficult to perform in a band b/c i cant hear myself or other musicians with optimal clarity. with any group im performing with i have to sit on left side of stage so i can utilize my "good" ear. it would seem like if your hearing is not as good then you could tolerate louder noises better, but its actually the opposite. volumes that used to not bother me are now downright painful. there might be something to that saying "if its too loud you're too old". last time i went camping when i slept on my side with my right ear up i could hear a symphony of crickets, but when i turned to the other side it was dead silence. kind of scary. sucks for brian, but i get why it would be dangerous for him to continue.
I took serious lasting damage at the ATX 09 show, I still have constant ringing in my left ear, F you MBV.
I've played in 0 bands over the last 20 years and can testify to this. All the loud music delivered to me by my VMODAs has significantly damaged the hair cells on my organ of corti.
I could write a trillion pages about this. I'm 35 and only go to maybe 20 concerts per year (18 around this college town, two or three for touring acts) and both my ears are constantly ringing. Tinnitus has been a part of my life for over a decade, starting from playing in bands from ages 13 to 25, with the 21-25 years spent bartending in rock clubs/theaters in Chicago. A lot of those included me running either a beer tub or video bar directly in front of the high stacks of PA. On Saturday night, my lone night off in a week, I had to pass on heading out to a show with my wife that featured local hipster kids doing hipster things and playing loud music that I really would have loved hearing live. I have to pick my spots when it comes to choosing which show I want to give me a setback (pass on this great band of kids here, but choose to see Paul Weller down in Indy next week), and it sucks. Again, I could go on and on for ages, but it's an unfortunate thing for those of us dumbasses that loved to "hear" our transistor amplifier's speaker cones distort. Put it this way, and this isn't a shot at Fender guitars or amps: Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton did their best work on Gibson (or, in Pete's case, possible Gretsch) guitars, with Marshall/Hi-Watt/Music Man amps. Loud guitars and loud amps. Now they play Fender products, because all they can hear is the high end at this point. Again, that's not a dig at Fender players or Fender products; it's a dig at classic songs being played on inappropriate guitars and smaller amps. They have to go that route, though. Because it's what their ears will transmit back to them. I don't blame them for a second.
The story I heard was the damage didn't happen on stage, but Brian races cars as a hobby and not wearing protection around the track is where the damage occurred.
I've been playing in bands since I was in high school and I HATE it when **** is too loud. One band I played in during college, our sound man would always have a gigantic monitor by the drums and have everything blasting through it. He could never seem to figure out how to adjust anything on it, so I would finally just give him a 'thumbs up' like "everything is good now, great job!" Then I'd unplug the monitor when he wasn't looking, stick my earplugs in and play the gig. Why did he think I needed to hear guitar and vocals blasting in my left ear? Idiot... Don't get me wrong, I like my share of loud music....but if it's so loud that it's physically hurting your ears, what's the point? Luckily, my current band has a wireless in-ear monitor system. I can adjust my own mix via my phone and the ear buds I use are thick enough to where I can't hear anything other than my mix - just the way I want it. I dial everything way back except for the bass, kick and snare. On the way home from gigs, I still have to drive in silence so my ears can recover.
Ah yes, the long "quite" drive home; I love how the road will take the place of the evenings rhythms, steadily keeping time through the wheels..
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Third thing... The venue in Houston for the Back in Black tour was the Sam Houston Coliseum. Tickets were 5 bucks each. Best concert me and my buddies went to to this day. Edit. I see that they also played that year at the Agora Theatre
He can stay on the curb as far as I'm concerned. W. Axl Rose does the Bon songs much better anyway, and even gives a great BJ - Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EyR4N444ruk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>