I am running a percussion workshop using bhangra dohl drums tonight, and I will be issuing ear plugs. The number of regularly playing musicians suffering hearing damage is a very sad thing and I'm sure is avoidable in a lot of cases by elementary precautions. A rock musician using high levels of foldback many nights a week is I'm sure at more risk than audience members who occasionally go to noisy gigs, but I think it's something we should all be aware of. And yes. I do think amplification is normally ridiculously loud, particularly at folkie events when you are dealing with acoustically based music: surely "loud enough to hear" is what you need. heavy metal is something else: noise is part of the experience.