As has already been mentioned above: Elacin ER-20s (or similar) are the way to protect your hearing, and still feel that good old thump in your chest when the band hit a big note. I, too, value my hearing, and I never do practices/gigs without earplugs.
Of course, as with smoking (the ban of which I was a proponent, I might add), the key is to protect workers - ie bar staff, security, etc etc. The establishment already has a duty of care for them under current legislation (and how expensive is it really to buy them all good quality custom ear protection, when compared with the potential cost of litigation for not doing so!!).
It's for this reason - that current legislation is sufficient to protect workers' health, if implemented properly - that the Government should NOT be wasting their time and our money on a venture which we pretty much all also agree will put the final nail in the coffin of live music in the UK.
Roo