Renovated Michigan Stadium takes sound to a new level

The deep blue concourses towering on the west and east ends of the stadium seem to be one reason the noise from the Michigan marching band and Michigan fans - 109,019 in all - was noticeable all game long.

“I think it’s a lot louder and it echoes more,” said Michigan alum Allison Spratley, 24. “And I’ve heard that the sound on the field is a lot louder, so it bothers the other team some more.”

“The reverberation from the student section over on the south end of the stadium makes a huge difference,” added longtime Michigan fan Mike Marcotte, 35. “I don’t know if the crowd is in it just because we’re winning but the sound is a lot different. It’s a lot different than last year.”

On top of that, “It looks sharp,” continued Marcotte, who lives in Shelby Township. “From the outside it looks great; it looks more like a stadium rather than just a big pit in the ground.”

“The stadium had a ‘wow’ factor when you walked in,” added Spratley, who lives in Alabama and attends about three Michigan games a season, “and now it has a ‘wow’ factor from the street.”