Lots of opinions here in all directions.
Lets take an example. Two weeks ago I saw Smashing Pumpkins and Janes Addiction at the Boston Garden. We were dead center, 20 rows back. It was so loud I had to use my Etymotic ear plugs. The sound was in Mono and there is always an echo in that venue. The light show was fabulous.
I have a Blu-Ray of the Smashing Pumpkins Oceana concert. I think it was in New York. The recording was probably taken off the sound board and was well mixed with the instruments and voices in their proper location with reasonable blackness between. Played back at 95 dB with the bass boosted just a little the dynamics are very pleasing and realistic. Given that my system is a line source top to bottom the soundstage is vary large and lifelike. The audio experience is far superior to the live concert but the light show is no where near as overwhelming.
Next is Mike Stern at the Blue Note in NYC, again dead center and two tables back from the front of the stage. We were listening to the live instruments and not a PA. I would guess a little louder than 95 dB, but still quite comfortable. Mike also has a recent BluRay, The Paris Concert. Given there is no light show the experience is scarily similar. I can match the volume perfectly. The size and timbre of the instruments is close enough that you would need do do an A/B comparison to identify the differences. Perhaps there is not quiet as much snap to the snare. I wish all live recordings could be like this one.
Creating life size images is the purview of line source systems. It is apparent that many people who have responded to this threat have not heard one, particularly one that maintains it's line source behavior down to 10 Hz. Assuming a quality recording, the sound is usually superior to what you hear at a live venue. The dynamic range may not be as great but if the volume is satisfactory you do not notice this.
