Earplugs for conerts?

In a similar setting, I was absolutley shocked to see how many people were NOT wearing hearing protection at the US Grand Prix when I attended it in Indianapolis. These F1 cars are LOUD, and with stands on both side of the front stretch, the sound does not escape easily!

I've used the Eytomic ear plugs for the past several years, even when mowing the lawn, etc. They offer the most linear attenuation that I've found so far. Highly recommended.

I know what you are talking about JCdem and the plugs you are asking about are a lot different than the suggestions put forth above. The ones i've heard about range from ones that are custom fit to your ears to ones that are generic fit for a lot less money. I've considered them for use when playing live. Tried the other routes and too much gets lost so the feel of the music coming out of my amp isn't the same. An ear doc may be able to direct you. Guitar player or another similar musician mag may also help. that said, i've found that the acoustics at big halls are so bad that even the cheapie plugs clean up the sound so i can hear what's going on better rather than a big cluttered noise assault.

Piezo brings up an interesting point. Did you know the sound pressure at the end (12 inches away) of a trombone is 120 db? How do you think the guy in front of the trombone player in a symphony feels (what--couldn't hear you--or anything else in the orchestra for that matter with this trombone in my ear). It's kind of amazing because most people don't think about those kinds of sound pressures from non-amplified instruments.

I've done the napkin thing plenty of times. It's fine if there's no other option, but I always have problems with them leaking certain frequencies, as well as blocking certain frequencies, more than others (your crumbled napkin chunk may vary).

The rollable foam EAR-type plugs are great for blocking loud noise, but cut way too much high-end from music. They make everything sound way too muffled.

The best I've tried are the Hearos rubber tree-type plugs. I believe they are made or designed by Etymotic and marketed by another company as Hearos, so the Etymotic plugs should be almost identical. They do a good job of cutting enough volume to avoid damage, while maintaining a balanced frequency range. They allow you to hear all of the high end and vocals that some of the foam plugs or napkins cut out. They take a bit of time to get accustomed to, but they are worth checking out if you go to a lot of rock shows.