Why does rock concert sound suck?

Sound men start with the drums, getting a great-but-too-loud sound from the kit.  Then they do the same with the bass.  After that there's nowhere for the higher pitched instruments and vocals to exist.  And it all sounds like crap.

My wife and I were once at a Los Lobos outdoors show and the sound was so bad we decided to go home.  As we were walking away we hit a point where the sound was decent enough so we sat there and stayed for the rest of the concert.  So it can be a relative thing.

The most painfully loud band I ever heard was the 13th Floor Elevators at the Safari Club in Baytown, Texas ca. 1968.  This was long before big PA systems so I'm not sure how they managed to do it.  Small room, I guess.

I’ve become very picky over the venue choice v. the performance to be attended. Leaning towards smaller halls, outdoor venues, and who is headlined and what they do....

Larger venues, esp. outdoors, draw fans that either spend too much time on a cell or loud chatting with whomever you came with. Esp. with the $ for even a mediocre seat (tending to under a balcony or nosebleed...

The cheers/yowling of the audience is my downfall, the 'beige racket' typically louder than the flown drivers on stage.  I've literally had my ears go 'pop' and toss the towel.  Between that and loud machinery, my hearing required earplugs, later aids for just the day by day...

I’ve been to enough concerts over the span to ’who/where’ determines go or no go.
Overall, it’s served me well...but I still take 3 earplug pairs with me:
Vibes, a ’high fidelity’ version which knock Everything down 15 dB, or...
Hearos, a ’roadie’ plug from Guitar Center. Attenuation varies with fq, 2.7 to 4.9,
’Shop plugs’, used in our wood shop, that slam the door on everything (great ’escape’ plugs, last used for a Dave Matthews gig in a basketball bathtub...worst ever of his attended...spouse is a fan of the ’early’ stuff...)

Fortunately, more good than awful. The occasional ’flawless’:

Paul Simon, Cyntia Woods Pav., north of Houston. Terrific thunderstorm prior to and delaying the opening of the set, we watched as the front rolled in, soaked Everyone (we had grown a brain, rented chairs and brought a tarp (had noted the forecast and the radar...). Opened with ’rainforest noodling’, perfect choice that brought cheers...
Same venue, The Blue Man Group to a 33.3% crowd, the Complex Tour. (A lot of which is on YT; ’I Feel Love’ w/Venus Hum vocal is a good example). More percussion horsepower imaginable handled nicely. And just f’n Fun...

Talking Heads~David Byne: Previous at the Greek Theatre, Berkeley, Byne twice right here in AVL, small hall. Both times, front row balcony dead center. Pefect.
First tour had a player on a Stroh violin, which went great with what was being performed. Second tour had St. Vincent as guest vocalist on some of her ’compostions’....

Others: Anything Bill Graham had anything to do with back in the Bay Area.....within ’practical limits’...

I suspect all had their own mix crew, sure sounded that way...

Over the last decade or so, about 90% of the concerts I've attended have had atrocious sound.   I just don't go to many anymore...bad sound damages my ears; bad sound is unpleasant; bad sound prevents me from hearing the artistry that drew me to the concert in the first place; bad sound wastes my money and my time.  I've never understood why a band would carefully craft an amazing sounding album and be content with lousy live reproduction of it.

@77jovian , down with that....👍

Living where we do, most concerts are min. 2+ hours away (Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Knoxville...Atlanta is an overnight, and it had better be 'early seat pick')

If I expect it to be an issue, we don't go.  So much easier to cue up a file of some source and enjoy it on my own sound reinforcement...and my own 'mix'. ;)

Don't have to tip-toe through the too-tripped with beer at ridiculous $s', can light up something of a non-retail variety without making the 'down-wind' crowd start head swiveling for source, Sal stoner with gal Sally either howling like wolves or loud on the cells...

I often wished for a jar of ether with a battery fan....My version of The Cone of Silence...*L*

That, and aerosol LSD...

"You're not f'd up enough...."  *psssht*

Any further yowls will be far more primal, and we'll 'relocate'....😏