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Moby concert and ear damage?

The other night I saw Moby performing at the Sydney Opera House and it was a stunning event with superb amplified sound filling the Concert Hall to the delight of 4000 enraptured fans.
The hall is really a vast volume (too big for any symphony orchestra to adequately fill) yet the volume produced by the amplifiers and speakers became so deafening that at times I had to crouch down behind the seats and block my ears......and I was sitting in row W of the Stalls?
I am sure that I must have suffered some permanent hearing loss over the 2 hour concert duration although thankfully there were some slow melodic songs to break the continual 100-110dB sound pressure levels.
The band members must surely wear ear-plugs to avoid early permanent deafness?

But this is not my question.
My stomach lining and chest cavity were vibrating and pulsing with the volume of sound but the bass drums and bass guitar were the lowest frequency-producing instruments on stage and I know that the lowest notes of the electric bass guitar is not lower than about 32Hz and most notes were way above that?
My home system with 2 Vandersteen 2Wq Subwoofers can produce 26 Hz in my listening room but my innards do not vibrate when I play low organ music?
So it must be 'volume' combined with frequency that vibrates the guts?
Is there a mathematical formula for determining what volume at 40 Hz is needed to vibrate materials compared to that at 20 Hz?
128x128halcro
gregfisk
118 posts
 
Hey Jax2, I like the Moore a lot and the Zoo is a great place to see a show. The zoo used to be really stricked about the drinking, but they seem to be better now. I've only been to the Gorge once myself also. I saw Steely Dan on there first tour in 20 years. That show sounded amazing, the sun was setting and we were in the golden circle seating area. I wouldn't go back thou unless I stayed at Cave B. It's owned by Dr. Bryant who was the mastermind who started the gorge. I've been fly fishing with him a couple of times, really great guy. Otherwise it's a tent in the parking area and I'm not into that anymore. It's good to know there are some audiophiles in Seattle.
David 12, My hearing loss is in the mid freq. range, so I guess that is noise related. I'm not surprised, I've gone to a lot of really loud shows in my day. We never even thought of using ear protection, just dumb kids I guess.

Take Care, Greg
seditious3
184 posts
 
I got permanent hearing damage - not too bad i don't think - from The Clash. I was young and stupid and my ears were ringing for 3 days.
ackman00
67 posts
 
After having the misfortune of being in the front row of a "concert in the round" with a bank of speakers less than 10 feet in front of me, my ears rang/buzzed for 3 days. I'm sure it did some minor lasting damage.
The band was "Whitesnake" which opened for Jethro Tull up in L.A. around 1980. Tull was outstanding.
jpreb
2 posts
 
If you're experiencing hearing loss after a concert you guys HAVE to read this article https://saywhathearing.com/en/articles/hearing-loss/how-to-soothe-hearing-loss-after-a-concert

You need to rest, avoid coffee, avoid alcohol, and use an ice pack on your ears. It works!
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