I've worked in a refinery for 37 years. I know a little about hearing protection in the real world. We have places where I'm sure it's 140db 24-7. You can scream as loud as you can and the guy standing next to you can't hear anything. At the end of the day, you feel bad from the inside out, not your ears. Fortunately, I don't have to work in areas like that anymore. I believe that the high levels affect your body through more than your ears. Interestingly, the area of the refinery with the highest noise levels have operators with the highest divorce rate.
+1 I spent some time doing gas well production testing, flowing back frac sand at 5000PSI, no amount of hearing protection helps when your whole body is rattling, it definately helps to take frequent breaks from the high sound levels. I don't know how the punters can stand to be infront of the stacks for an entire show