As I’ve grown older, I’ve pretty much stopped attending live performances. I’m not so confident driving after dark as I used to be and there are precious few live shows in my area that appeal to me. I stopped attending rock/pop shows due to my distaste for being around inebriated audience members who talk over the music.
I can appreciate the volume issue. Some wear earplugs. Ironically, my worst experience in this regard was actually a Jazz group, The Cookers. Yes, worse than any Rock show I experienced.
Having said all this, there is undoubtedly something to be said for about being in the same room with the performers that gets lost when listening to live recordings, aside from the obvious visual factor. Musicians speak of an energetic connection with the audience; a kind of exchange that some describe as spiritual which imbues live performances with an intensity that, for me, is not nearly so palpable when listening at home. Then, with genres that feature improvisation, there is the element of surprise; no two performances are exactly the same.
There are, no doubt, still other factors that I’m forgetting at the moment.
While I’ve shifted to only listening at home, there are clear trade-offs. I’d never say this is inherently "better". It’s where I’ve ended up at this stage of life, living where I do. If I lived in a major city, with easy access to music I enjoyed, I might well still be attending live performances.