Am I missing something not being able to listen to 100 plus?
Only you can answer that question. But as you've stated at one point your ears were hurting, regardless of whatever you may be missing, your first priority (IMO) becomes protecting your ears from permanent damage. There are plenty of ear plugs available if your desire is to attend concerts and you're finding the SPL to high.
You may be interested in reading a related and recent thread here on Audiogon. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/does-it-have-to-be-loud