Earplugs for conerts?

I'll second what Danvetc had to say, with a twist...I worked for several years, on and off, doing concert stage work (sound, lighting, security, etc.) and had to be able to clearly hear not only the music, but also my two-way radio, the stage manager barking orders or the fanatic fan explaining why he/she just HAD to get backstage...you get the idea. Anyway, I always used the expandable type from a company, I believe, called EAR. These are the bright yellow foam type of earplug and are really inexpensive. The twist is to cut one plug in half and use half in each ear. This way, the sound level is lowered enough to avoid hearing damage, but is not so muffled. An added benefit is that you don't have napkins hanging out of your ears (grin). No one will even know they are there, unless they are standing beside you looking into your ear. Just be careful not to insert the half-plugs too far, or they could be difficult to remove...especially if you have large fingers. Hope that helps you enjoy the show!

If I'm not mistaken Headphones.com has some. They are similar to the inserts for the etyomatic earphones. They are plugs that allow a portion of sound, and supposedly even attenuation over the band width, but the narrow cavity reduces the sound pressure to the ear canal. These were designed for sound engineers on the road that need to hear, but don't want to damage or be exposed to the loud live levels of a concert.

What?

Yeah Matt8268, I concure as well. The old "tear off a piece of napkin" thing has been saving my ears for years as well!
THE ABSOLUTE BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT WAS FROM BOTH MY DAD AND A FELLOW AUDIO ASSOCIATE, IN REGARDS TO PROTECTING MY HEARING!
I look back at all the years of going to the drag races and such, and all the times my friends wanted to play their music WAY TOO LOUD, and I thank God I had people there to warn me ahead of time! In such cases, I always plug my ears up with something, or ask people to "turn it down!". I certainly know of many many people around me who don't even consider it, or presure others into thinking that "if it ain't loud, your too old"...and other FOOLISH PIER PRESSURE!
I'VE ALWAYS BEEN MAN ENOUGH TO NOT FOLD TO THE PRESSURES OF OTHERS HERE(again, thanks to good parenting and relationships I guess)Also, I think having some grandparents and relatives that have virtually lost most all of their hearing from factory work and heavy loud machinary over the years, I also learned from their mistakes and ignorance!
I like to think my hearing is excellent and very accute! So my best advice EVER TO ANYONE ABOUT AUDIO AND YOUR EARS, is "PROTECT YOUR EARS/HEARING!!!!"..YOU ONLY HAVE ONE SET!

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!