I can't claim to be a musician like Alan (apart from home piano tinkling) but I do attend gigs, from pub rooms & village halls to festivals - so I experience similar problems.

The first thing to emphasise is that IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT. The next thing is DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I would urge anybody with hearing problems to go to their GP, see any hearing specialist they may recommend, and ACT ON THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS. It took me years to get to the "do something about it" stage, coming near to alienating everybody around me. Ignoring the problem is very common and understandable of course but not helpful.

I persevered with an NHS analogue aid for a few years - then the digital revolution finally hit my local NHS trust. However, I found the local drop in hearing centre wasn't drop in any more because of their enormous workload, also the choice of digital aids was limited. As usual, it depends where you live!

So after a lot of kicking from friends, I too popped into Specsavers. I was very lucky as the audiologist took great pains with the hearing test and based on the fact that I was still working at the time and under pressure, recommended 2 Siemens sophisticated in ear aids. These worked like a charm and really improved my life - BUT they did cost nearly £3k. Still a lot cheaper than certain national outfits (won't name names, but their ads, apparently written by the same people who offer to tarmac your drive, are always falling out of magazines like the Radio Times! You have been warned)   

I had 3 programs installed - "normal" (automatically adjusts for the environment & phone calls, also learns), "quiet" (eg for home & office conversations), and "music" (really just boosts the volume a bit and doesn't apply any adjustments so there is greater headroom).

A facility called E2E is built in which constantly monitors both aids and gives you a reasonable spatial awareness approaching what you had before you were deaf. Programs are swapped via a tiny button on either hearing aid - the software knows the button has been pressed and swaps both aids to the new program. Plus a remote control which can change the program and the volume if needed.

These facilities are built in to most digital aids these days - the spatial features come extra. Some are fitted with Bluetooth which means that your aid(s) will direct your mobile calls to your aids. You can also listen to the TV and stereo etc via Bluetooth. However, this ability costs about £500 extra - but you don't have to decide when you buy the aid(s) as the WiFi's built in.

After 6 years or so, I've just bought my second set of aids from Specsavers. Improved processing & music program, they now have up to 5 programs in total, and this pair cost £2k, much cheaper this time! Early days yet, they do need tweaking, but this is inevitable - you get free return visits and a free annual hearing and aid check.

The main thing to do if you have hearing aids is to establish a relationship with the audiologist. Quite a few good ones do home visits for tweaks, etc. Don't expect this from Specsavers though at their prices.

By the way, do NOT go swimming with them in, do NOT go in the shower with them, do NOT drop 'em down the loo, and take care when you take your Aran sweater off - sooner or later you will knock an aid out of your ear.

Sorry this has been a long post but I thought my experiences might be of interest - best of luck!