8:24 Guest, I had much the same response when we were doing a New Years Eve show in a gym in Annapolis. The doorwatcher was told to not let in anybody during the sound check. He thought we were being needlessly cruel to the folks standing out in the cold, so we were amazed to see him letting people in anyway.
When our SE started exploring the acoustic properties of the room to find problem frequencies, he got some pretty harsh feedback.
Several folks dramatically clamped hands over their ears and started shouting about the noise.
I stopped that sound check, and told them that they were in early without our permission, that we knew it was painfully loud, that we needed this work done to insure the best sound during the actual concert, that our SE was doing his job, and that they could leave if they found it too much to bear; because the sound would not be lowered until we were satisfied with that aspect of the sound check.
We replaced the doorman.