Tonight the Lovely Miss Kelley & I went to House of Blues on the Sunset Strip to see Matt Kearney.

It was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard. And having been a musician for 40-plus years, I’ve heard (and played) some loud stuff. This was painful, ear-numbing loud.

Plus, at House of Blues, you pretty much have to stand for the whole thing. Unless you’re lucky enough, or know someone, and can get one of a small number of tables up on a balcony, where the sound is better and you get to be comfortable. Otherwise, you stand in a crowd of people, hopefully next to a railing to lean on, usually next to someone very tall and/or very heavy, and you get to choose…

1. You can either stand very close to the stage and/or speakers, and see very well, but possibly go deaf;

2.  You can stand a little farther back, possibly next to the sound board, where the sound is probably optimal, but not see the stage very well.

For some reason, we chose the close-to-the-stage option. It’s now around 1am, and the thing ended a few hours ago, and my hearing is gradually returning.

**However – the guy is really good. I’d recommend going to see him. But probably not at your local House of Blues.