To Alan Surtees I would just say that I have been doing PA longer than he has been doing festivals.

I would have thought that the most obtuse of organisers would realise that when the audience desert the venue, and sit on the grass outside because its the first place where the sound levels are tolerable, the sound levels are too high.

I go to Shrewsbury because I enjoy the music. However when it is at levels that are likely to damage my hearing, and that of many of the audience, I find an attitude like that of the Surtees incomprehensible. Perhaps if he climbed out of his ivory tower and talked to some of the people in the audience he would realise what was happening. Just because people keep buying tickets (and lining the organiser's pockets) is no reason to be complacent.