Bill's a lovely bloke, and I sit far enough away to not really be affected at home games. However, I went to Charlton away one year and he sat right beside me with the drum. By the end it wasn't that I had earache, I was physically nauseous with the pain of having the drum banged in my ear for the entire game. (we were also quite far back in their tin, covered stand so the reverberation didn't help!)
So I can see both sides of the argument.