Concert complaints continue, but Rock Row notes improvements

WESTBROOK — Complaints still rolled in, but Rock Row officials claim improvements in controlling the noise from a concert at Maine Savings Pavilion Saturday.

Rock Row reported roughly 200 complaints, with 130 calls made to their noise compliance hotline and another 30 or so each to the Portland and Westbrook police departments. That number was down modestly from the 247 complaints that came in after the first concert May 26.

“We don’t know how many people may have called back numerous times, we don’t have the unique call numbers yet,” Rock Row’s community liaison Lynda Adams said Monday. “(We are) compiling that data, we should have the numbers total by Wednesday, with our show Thursday we want to know where we stand.”

The indie rock bands Young the Giant and Fitz and The Tantrums are scheduled to perform at the pavilion Thursday.

On Saturday, sound monitors were placed throughout neighborhoods where complaints came from during the first show, with a roaming monitor that could actively measure problem areas as calls came in.

“People that called and complained, we specifically went to their street and took readings minutes after they called, and they were often the lowest of the night,” Adams said.

Adams noted that both this concert and the previous one never went over the sound limit of 55 decibels in the neighborhoods surrounding the venue.

“We don’t know what else to do, but we will try. We have people complaining, we go there, and it’s a low reading, what does that mean,” Adams added.

On top of active monitoring, Rock Row officials also changed the set-up of the stage to mitigate noise.

“Speakers were hung less high and angled differently to be more into the crowd,” Waterfront promoter Alex Gray said.

Subwoofers were also placed on the stage as opposed to the ground, to reduce vibrations.

Further, Waterfront’s acoustician isolated problematic frequencies that are often complained about, in order to remove them from the sound.

Frequencies such as 63 Hz tend to rattle windows and be more problematic, but it’s too early after the show to really tell if that made a difference, Waterfront manager Jon Dow said.

This touring group, Slightly Stoopid, was also further along in its tour than the groups that performed on May 26, meaning the artists and their sound people had more time to figure out what they were working with, Gray said. The Anderson .Paak tour, however, just began, meaning their own people had sound kinks to work out as well.

Part of why it takes a long to understand the data is that complaint calls were not centrally made to the Rock Row noise line, but to area police. Police are requesting that noise complaint calls in regards to the show stay on the Rock Row hotline.

“If they are calling 911 it is not getting to the right point of contact to log everything and be able to make the best accurate assessment as to what neighborhoods are being negatively impacted from the noise,” Westbrook Police Chief Janine Roberts said.

A high number of calls about the concert also clogs up the dispatch lines.

“For purposes of public safety, when our dispatch is handling incoming calls about noise, they are not as quick or responsive to other requests of other public safety needs,” Roberts said.

While complaint calls were made, some residents did not mind the noise, or felt it was hardly noticeable.

“We haven’t heard a thing,” Rick Todd said, a Westbrook resident on Colonial Drive, where a high number of complaints originated during the first show.

“Our neighbors here can have way louder parties, this is hardly noticeable,” Todd said while the show was going on.

Concertgoers certainly appreciated the new 8,200-seat venue, which provides easy access with free parking to large acts without having to struggle for parking like venues in neighboring Portland.

“I’d definitely come back again. Free parking is great and no venues really have that here,” concertgoer Keanu Lewey, of Bangor, said.

“Outside is great too, it’s so nice out it isn’t as good being stuck inside,” his friend Nick Nadeau said. “We wouldn’t be in town otherwise, this place is why we came.”

“I came for Slightly Stoopid, but there are other concerts here later I am looking at too,” concert goer Marccus Sapiel said.

Police are asking for complaints to be directed to Rock Row by calling 558-6007.

Chance Viles can be reached at 780-9092 or cviles@theforecaster.net. Follow Chance on Twitter: @chanceviles.

Concertgoers enjoy themselves at the Maine Savings Pavilion Saturday.

Matisyahu performs in Westbrook, in support of Slightly Stoopid, Tribal Seeds and Hirie.

Hirie opens the show right around 6 p.m. Saturday at the Maine Savings Pavilion at Rock Row. The subwoofers can be seen on the left side of the stage, in contrast to being on the ground at the last show.

Saturday’s show drew an older audience overall, with families in the mix, and had lower attendance than the first show, according to Row Row community liaison Lynda Adams.