Ok so this is the official result from going to see the doctor yesterday: I have lost hearing in in the upper ranges (high notes) in my left ear. Yes it was caused by being there through all three shows on Tuesday night. I'm not that frequent of a concert goer (and by this I mean the first live show I saw since an Amnesty concert in the 80's was the HSF this year). I don't listen to loud music. I don't work in a noisy environment. I don't have overly sensitive ears. I am relieved to report that the ringing has definitely faded - it's still there but much fainter and/or I have started getting used to it. It was driving me berserk yesterday morning. This is the link to the story on the guy who sued Smashing Pumpkins:
http://homepages.kdsi.net/~sherman/hearingloss.htm I heard from another person who attended and did not have earplugs and was in the back and left with her ears hurting and feeling heavy. According to these links she probably has damage:
http://www.portlandtribune.com/archold.cgi?id=13192 http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0939.html People you're insane if you think this is something that only afflict older people or that it doesn't affect musicians as much as you think (just check out the founder of hearnet.com). According to the statistics (see second to last link) little kids are 400 times deafer than they used to be. The hearing aid industry will definitely be a solid growth industry to invest in.
And thanks for the link on the plugs! I think I may spring for custom made after this. I'm not going to stop seeing shows but I am damn well going to arm myself the best that I can.