I find it no fun playing live WITHOUT earplugs. I wear them all the time. I even wear them when my girlfriend vacuums the house (the noise it makes disturbs me so much I have to leave the room that's being vacuumed whenever we do some cleaning.) I play live a lot, do a lot of band practices as well with loud amps, be them as a drummer, bass player or behind a set of electronic devices, and I yell at my bandmates if they start playing when I don't have my earplugs on. Without them, it really becomes painful for me to make music. I think it's a matter of frequencies.
