What's it like at your local stadium? Because we're about to force a "Free Ear Plug Giveaway" at Frontier. Hard data on noise and interruptions at Rochester-Minnesota match last Friday night: http://www.sick-boy.com/rd071305.htm You'll have to speak up when you respond, because my ears are still ringing . . .
Same problem here in Charlotte. Add the horns blowing constantly and it almost makes it unbearable for someone just wanting to watch the match...I guess the ads are a necessary evil for the club to make some money but it is sensory overload for 2 hours...It has to keep fans away or they go once and just don't go back...
Our only noise level is from the fans, the other stuff, if it happens, is very low, the fans will blow the DB rating! RCTID!!!!!
Awful music and annoying commercials but especially awful music like hearing the "Macarena" blasting over the speakers (yes, literally they play the Macarena) on the plus side all you hear is chanting and drums on the away side where The Port City Firm sits, one game this year they left the speakers on the away side and someone took it upon themselves to cut the wires shortly thereafter, perhaps not the best way to deal with it but it was effective. Absolutley nothing kills stadium atmosphere then the music, let the crowd create the noise not some bombastic announcer!
Absolutely the best way to deal with it. A few years ago when they stuck huge speakers in the southside of our stadium we unplugged them. Next game they were gone. I'm sure if they were back the next time we'd have cut the wires.
My rating of USLD1's loudest stadiums (fan noise only, piped-in music/cheers/commercials do not count). 1. Portland 2. Puerto Rico 3. Montreal 4. Vancouver 5. Rochester 6. Richmond 7. Charleston 8. Seattle 9. Toronto 10. Atlanta 11. Virginia Beach Minnesota N/A, I have not been to a game at their current stadium. I have not been to Vancouver since they started piping in cheers and music over the loudspeaker. They may have slipped a bit since I was there in 2001 if that is keeping the crowds silent. I also think Montreal would probably be louder than Puerto Rico, but the stadium in Bayamon keeps in the sound better than Montreal's does. The all-time loudest music I have ever heard in a stadium, so loud it was badly distorted and hurt your teeth if you were too close to the speakers was in Syracuse. This is only one person's opinion.
The only music piped in to the stadium is the Whitecaps song "White is the colour" which they usually do at halftime. Unfortunately they usually have somebody singing along badly to it, and last game it was played right after the second half kickoff. The canned chants are an embarrassment, and a waste of time. The Whitecaps organization seem to think that this is a good way to teach the fans in the main grandstand to learn words and join in. What they fail to realize is that playing canned chants, especially chants that aren't the regular ones sung at Swangard actually causes the opposite reaction. Fans that aren't into singing won't and ones that may want to join in don't bother because the PA is doing all the work, why bother to compete? I don't know how it is in Montreal when one is actually in their stadium, but from the few games I've seen on TV and the radio broadcasts I never hear any noise from their big crowds. 2001 is a long time ago I'd wager Swangard is a lot louder than back then.
The way CCR is built, a strong wind blows towards GA and a lot of the sound gets muffled. The other side could be loud if anyone made some noise, because of the roof. The Ultras are also on bleachers, which means the sound doesn't bounce of ANYTHING. Standing with a handful of people cheering at Gilette Stadium for the GC made me realise how much louder we'll be at SS. I agree that the Montréal crowd isn't as loud as it could be, but the sheer size of it gives it a presence and a certain noise. As for music, we had a meeting with the club where we said "Listen, no one comes for the music or the sound effects, you need to turn it off. There's no point". They'd been playing some music, mostly the We Will Rock You stom-stomp-clap as well as annoying sound effects (Do not go in there, Yabadabadoo, Smoking!, etc.) when something happened. Saputo was saying that they need to compete with other forms of entertainment but I think he listened because we only get PA announces during the game, this season. It's still annoying and intrusive, but we're going in the right direction. The worst is usually near 80' when they throw a t-shirt with a pasta company logo into the crowd. These people don't even go that crazy for goals . You'd think they only owned the shirts on their backs. And, completely unrelated, I think the Impact get the most amount of pretty women (although most are young) of any Montréal sports team .