... I can count on one hand the number of concerts I've been to; both times the music was not unreasonably loud, though the system was very noisy at one of them. However, the music was *much* louder the one and only time I went to a "Jukebox Saturday Night" put on by Sydney radio station 2WS. I also rarely use headphones.
Whilst this means I've missed out on a lot of concert/performance culture, it means at 30 I have much better high-end hearing than many 20 year olds. I doubt I will need a hearing aid later in life. People often tell me the tradeoff is definitely worth it, but I cannot successfully evaluate this.
Wade.