Well lets do a fun audio test and get the Rush Live in Rio disc and see how high we need to turn it up to get 'reference' level....
If it's mastered correctly reference level is always 0. Soooo, that's how high you need to turn it up.
Basically it's just a scale problem. If you properly scale a soccer stadium's noise to account for the larger audience at the Rush concert it would, at minimum in my estimation, be competitive.
Besides, we're talking about two different things. If we're talking about pure noise, then yea the Rush concert wins, but then again the whole point is to make noise, isn't it? Music, singing, cheering, pretty much sums up the event. In a sporting event, noise is a by product of watching the game. Plus there's the scale issue mentioned above. A Stadium only has so many seats, concerts, especially large one's are usually standing room only, which allows for a much larger audience. So from a pure noise perspective the concert might have it, but arguably at best.
Now you mentioned energetic fans and then how loud they are. I mentioned passionate fans. Again, we're talking about two different things. If you dig deeper into it, passion then subdivides itself between the two events. A concert is more or less a one off event, a great atmosphere for that single point in time with a bunch of people you more or less don't know singing along to songs and cheering. Passionate fans no doubt, but for a much shorter period of time. I doubt the fans are living and dying by every concert Rush puts on and following them in person or on TV as they tour (or at least a very small percentage of fans). With the EPL, La Liga, etc you're getting fervent and fiercely loyal fans, pulling from a relatively small area that gather 19+ times a year for their entire lives, while passing along that passion through generations, while also singing and cheering, living and dying by every missed pass, goal and close call. For the concert you have a high level of passion that also fades quickly after it's over. With the sports teams, that passion is sustained year round, year after year. So from my perspective it's two different conversations depending on which way you mean passionate.
Concerts are fun and I've been to some reasonably large one's, but they just don't do it for me like those soccer matches. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I find the viewing too passive and most "artists" except for "real" bands (like Rush) and some solo acts they sound like crap live anyways. Too much hopping around and explosions. I like the smaller, more intimate locations instead of the mega tours for the most part.
Can anyone tell I'm bored at work?
