What to do when the music is just too loud?

I always try to sit away from the speakers in clubs.

Offhand I can't recall a club which had systematically too-loud music; usually it's isolated occasions, or a DJ who simply has it cranked up too high. I have recommended turning down the music in clubs and had them comply.

So no, I've never written off a club for volume... moving seats usually fixes it.

O.

If it is a club I do not frequent, I just continue not to frequent it. It has happened at a regular club I visit. There I just mention it to the bartender when I try to converse with her. She just has the DJ turn it down.

At my age, it is more important for me to pack a package of industrial earplugs than to pack condoms...

I just grin and bear it. When the #1 topless club on TUSCL, my favorite club, continues to rape my ears and will not listen to me. What choice do I have? Give up my favorite dancers? No I won't do that! I have complained all of the way up the chain. I have hand delivered countless numbers of reviews to the owner and other club managers. Ken Wood of Kenwood enterprises is the owner. His office is located next door to Heartbreakers in Columbia SC. I can't even blame the DJ's. They are just doing what they are told to do. "Create a party atmosphere" At 11:30 A.M.? The reviewers do not like it. The dancers do not like it. The other club employees do not like it. But I can't change it. I have tried gun range ear plugs. They worked well and the dancers loved trying them on but they made my head get too hot and I couldn't hear the dancers. So I jut put up with it.

I've really only had that problem at one club I go to, but that particular club is not high up my list of favorite clubs, so I find it easy to ignore that club. The one absolutely certain thing to do is not sit next to the speakers, although at a different club I visit, that is not easily done, as it can get too crowded and if a chair opens up, I take it, ear-splitting music be damned.

Sit away from the speakers or grin and bear it. I know there is a favorite club of mine that has a nice spot for dances, but its right below a speaker. In that case, its grain and bare it. Sometimes club management forgets what this is about and they try to create a dance club atmosphere rather than provide musical background for flirting, which is what it should be.

K-Rock used to have bumpers that went like this, "IF IT'S TOO LOUD - YOU'RE TOO OLD!"

Maybe I'm getting old too because I actually like to be able to hear the dancers and the waitress. There are a few clubs that I can think of that would benefit from turning the music down some.

I was in a club last week where not only was the music too loud, but the lights were turned down so low that you could barely see a dancer from five feet away. It was awful. I spent the first 20 minutes in the place trying to see what the dancers looked like and the one I thought looked the best (from when she was on stage) turned out to be anything but good looking from up close.

Add to the mix a very low mileage level on the dances and the place was disappointing. I probably would have enjoyed the dark much more if it meant better mileage.

I'm sorry...what'd you say?

I went to the local drug store and picked up the small all foam 30 decibel ear plugs that can neatly fit in your ear. If the music is too loud, I squeeze them, roll them up and insert them all the way into my ear canal for a proper fit. It blocks out a lot of the noise but I can still hear conversation pretty good because usually the people are talking a lot louder than they realize. Actually the brand I picked up recently was at Walgreens Flents I believe rated NRR 29 or 29 decibels. I thought they worked pretty good.

I haven't even worn them in a while because I thought the Platinum Plus clubs had turned down the music volume off the deafening roar they used to always have it at. There are spots in Columbia that are definitely very loud near the speakers.

If it hurts to visit a club, I won't be visiting too often. I have worn ear plugs to sleep better if it was noisy outside, however it bothers me a bit to sleep with the ear plugs pressing into my ear if I sleep on my side. I have occasionally noisy birds at 6 AM and all day and the occasional noisy neighbor.

I thought you lost your hearing with age so it seems like older folks wouldn't be hearing the music quite as loud as I hear it. I guess if they had a hearing aid, it would be extremely bad and they would have to turn it off but then not hear anyone talking. I can see that situation being bad. I have in the past been able to listen in on people's phone conversations including the person talking on the other end of the line. That's if I'm within a few feet of them. I only hear one person talking if I'm in another cubicle but I try to block out all the noisy distractions. Right now for me, birds chirping and noisy neighbors are the big noise makers especially when I try to sleep in on the weekend. However I still bring ear plugs just in case when I go to the clubs.

By the way, I've talked comfortably with several dancers with ear plugs in. Some of the dancers would hurt my ears in that loud environment when they shouted in my ears so ear plugs can really help. If someone whispers I wouldn't be able to hear them in a loud environment with or without ear plugs. Good luck.

Thanks for all the detailed comments guys! It looks like I'm not the only one with this problem. I'm going to try the ear plugs that casualguy recommends. Maybe shadowcat should try that same brand too, so he can have conversations with the dancers. It amazes me that a lot of strip-club owners just don't get it. They think they're putting on a rock concert, when really the customers are trying to avoid the loud music. In fact, it's counterproductive to the whole strip-club exeperience.

Maybe I'll open a club that plays only soft music. I'll call it "Strip & Talk". Now there's a novel idea, eh?

According to The Wall Street Journals the purpose of blaring destroy your hearing music at some clubs is so that you'll spend your money and move on. I use to be able to spend the whole night at Angels talking with the dancers and just having a great time, but then as one club after another is closed and replacements not allowed it changes the "market." With *real* competition allowed, I don't think The Trap in its current form would last 6 months.
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If my ears start ringing shortly after entering a club, I know I should go someplace quieter or put in ear plugs. Hearing loss is supposedly permanent so I want to protect my hearing. I don't really care to visit places where I feel it's necessary to wear the ear plugs. I do take them out if I move to a quieter location within a club where the dancers aren't shouting at you but can talk at a normal level. As far as the brand I picked out I wasn't that concerned with the brand as I was the shape (yellow round like a small cylinder) and the rating on it (good for 29 decibels or NRR 29). Then you just have to squeeze or roll it up and then it can neatly hide away in your ear canal as the foam expands back out and many others may not even notice you're wearing them.

The main attraction of strip clubs for me has always been the opportunity to be able to sit and talk with a pretty scantily clad girl, without having to go thorugh the hassle that you'd have trying to do that in a normal bar (especially when you're 40+ years older than the girl.) If I can't do that in a strip club because the music is too loud, I leave and go somewhere else.

FONDL: the biggest complaint about my favorite club is the loud music and obnoxious DJ's. Yet it is still rated as the best topless club in the U.S. Should I cut off my nose to spite my face? Or just grin and bear it?

I leave...

Yup. Up and outta there. And I try to let management know (politely) why I'm leaving. There are plenty of places right across the street.

Shadowcat,

Don't cut off your nose to spite your face. Do it so you bleed to death and finaly shut the fuck up!