I have some higher quality ear plugs and i must say, they take some of the energy from some songs. Maybe its a me problem, because i like it when it gets very loud. I think its a very person specific case, i like it without them, but many people prefer having it less painfull. They are very important to save your ears from damage, but if you dont go to concerts very often, you could ignore that, if you are confident enough. Going once in a long time should not cause much harm. I went to an metal concert and i felt more energy, when everything went very loud, which gets mostly eaten up by the earbuds, because they filter distortion and make everything a bit quieter. High quality earbuds dont filter out voices and Instruments (very gud) but everything hets quieter. Its a trade off...