It finally happened…shut down by the cops!

[Bullitt5135]

My band just played a Halloween block party today …or “attempted to play,” I should say. We even had a permit and notified the neighbors (they all showed up and we’re having a great time). I ran sound and erred way on the side of “just loud enough to get the job done.” Standing 30 feet in front of the mains, I had a conversation with my friend without raising our voices. Most of the neighborhood (who was not at the party) was outside trick or treating or doing yard work. We were no louder than a couple of freaking lawn mowers.

The opening band played for an hour, then we switched over and started our set. About 5 songs in, the cops showed up. This was 3:50pm on a Sunday afternoon…Halloween day no less. One @$$&#% neighbor called the cops. We were shut down not even half way through our first set. The cops were just doing their job (although they were lying out their &$$ about decibel levels and fines and confiscating our gear if we failed to comply). When we asked them to show us the ordinance, they could not. They did not have a decibel meter, nor would they have known the difference between a decibel and a doorbell. “You can have a party as long as nobody complains, and somebody has complained.” It was an anonymous call, so they claimed to have no way to go back to the complainant to say we were in compliance, we’d be done by 5pm, etc. By the time 5 cops and a sergeant showed up, We just decided is was a no-win situation. Hours of prep work, hauling and setting up gear, having the support and encouragement of 99% of the neighbors… down the crapper.

No more block parties for me. Yeah, I’m still a bit cheesed, to say the least.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

Where I live, until 10pm? Tough poopie. Sheriff doesn't roll on noise calls unless several calls come in.

 

[DWBass]

Been there, done that. I used to have a band at my annual BBQ. Haven't had one since. I play canned music but very low now. It really sucks.

 

[Ostie]

When you fight authority, authority always wins.

 

[Torrente Cro]

Better to be shut down by cops than by the chops

I've been on booth sides. Once I called a cops to a business Christmas party just under my apartment. They were that loud that my plates jumped out of kitchen elements. I tried to talk to them first but the guy in charge was drunk and shouted at me to call the cops, so I did.

 

[two fingers]

Man, these days it's dog owners. The Next Door app around here goes NUTS right before July 4th with dog owners who have their dogs on medication for their nerves begging (literally begging people) not to shoot off fireworks. (Those same people, in my experience, have no problem sharing their animal's fecal matter with the whole neighborhood and get righteously indignant if you say anything about THAT.)

I bet Fifi, the miniature husky doodle, whimpered 200 yards away one time and somebody called the cops.

 

[Old Blastard]

Years ago a friend had a once a monthly party at his joint out in the sticks on 5 acres and it always had lots of beer, an outdoor jam band of talented proportions and copious amounts of Satans Kale and Houdini mushrooms For consumption.

I'm a bourbon guy so only the occasional partial nudity was of interest.

One night we had a particular exuberant rendition of Crossroads that started slow and RObert Johnson and broke into heavy whipping Cream.

Just as we finished the lights came on. County cop and a trooper had driven up the long driveway and waited until we're done to bust is. Told us the neighbors had complained and they had actually sat at the bottom of the hill at the start of the driveway to see how loud it was. They also said we were really good and waited until we were finished the song to shut us down. They must have sat down there a while because they mentioned a couple Of other tunes we'd played.

While they're talking to the owner, one of the guitarists starts strumming and singing Oakie from
Muskogee. The we don't smoke verse, specifically.

It was a bit Salvador Dali, but the fuzz were cool and we shut it down.

Sorry. I'm old and this brought back bizarre memories. I'll shuffle
Off now

 

[Zooberwerx]

Been there, done that. I used to have a band at my annual BBQ. Haven't had one since. I play canned music but very low now. It really sucks.

Busted in the Running Man neighborhood ($$) a few years back. It was an all-frills, well-staged nighttime BBQ. Police were surprised to find a bunch of middle-age men and not some wanking kids. It was crime-fighting at its finest plus we fixed 'em with food-to-go plus we agreed to shut-down by 9:30.

Riis

 

[bobba66]

Got shut down quite a few times in my younger days. Cops were generally pretty cool about it.

 

[primusfan1989]

My one band used to joke "the cops are our biggest fans, they come to all our shows"

 

[equill]

Man, these days it's dog owners. The Next Door app around here goes NUTS right before July 4th with dog owners who have their dogs on medication for their nerves begging (literally begging people) not to shoot off fireworks. (Those same people, in my experience, have no problem sharing their animal's fecal matter with the whole neighborhood and get righteously indignant if you say anything about THAT.)

I bet Fifi, the miniature husky doodle, whimpered 200 yards away one time and somebody called the cops.

It's terrifying for a lot of animals; been there, had to comfort them through some stupidly loud neighbourhood NYE fireworks. They have no clue what's going on or why it's happening, just that they want to get as far away from it as they can. Please try a bit of empathy for them, even if their owners are jerks.

The fecal matter issue is bad behaviour, I agree completely.

 

[Dana R Gregory]

Yeah, nothing ever changes. There always has been, and always will be, one Anus Rectumus in the neighborhood who will complain just for the sake of complaining. I went through this in the 60s and 70s when I played in garage jam bands. Always one constipated tight a&s who didn't want us kids playing that "long haired pot smoking hippie music". I finally joined a gigging band and didn't have to deal with this anymore. I feel bad for the OP. You did everything right and still got screwed. Nothing changes, mean people still suck.

 

[Keyser Soze]

The cops that show up at our house when we're playing music here are greeted by my wife, a retired police lieutenant. Never had any problems. "I don't smell anything funny, do you?" (Just kidding, never had any noise complaints from our very nice, understanding, music-loving neighbors.)

A/f/a snowflake dog owners; Seriously, you're asking folks not to celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks? How about YOU make the adjustment and take your dog camping or something? Asking everyone to accommodate you is pushing it, no? (I am a long-time dog owner who has and have had dogs that hate fireworks. Suck it up or do something yourself but don't whine about it.)

 

[Marc valero]

For an afternoon gig like that you should have been fine. We play house parties quite often, but they are usually out in the country. I was surprised when I drove to a gig about 6 weeks ago and it was a small house with neighboring houses, but the homeowner who hired us said he checked with the neighbors and everything was O.K. I think we played 6 -9 in the evening. We had no problems and they had good food and drinks.
We played in the backyard.

 

[RichardW]

I'm going to have to try calling the cops when my neighbor's landscaping crew arrives with its blowers and mowers. I work from home and it's like sitting next to an idling jet engine for an hour.

My band used to play a venue that was close to a residential neighborhood. It was a typical bar/restaurant in which bands would start at 9 or 9:30. Since our fan base is older, we always negotiated an earlier start time--usually 8p. At a couple of gigs, some neighbors called to complain that the music was staring too early. We were like: "you'd prefer we play until 12:30am vs finishing at 11?"

We don't play there anymore.

 

[BassToGoGo]

The cops that show up at our house when we're playing music here are greeted by my wife, a retired police lieutenant. Never had any problems. "I don't smell anything funny, do you?" (Just kidding, never had any noise complaints from our very nice, understanding, music-loving neighbors.)

A/f/a snowflake dog owners; Seriously, you're asking folks not to celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks? How about YOU make the adjustment and take your dog camping or something? Asking everyone to accommodate you is pushing it, no? (I am a long-time dog owner who has and have had dogs that hate fireworks. Suck it up or do something yourself but don't whine about it.)

AS a "snowflake dog owner" I have never complained to any authorities abou people shooting off fireworks, I've shot off plenty myself. We use medication, "thunder shirts", etc... to help our dogs get through it. If it was only on the 4th of July it wouldn't be so bad but as I'm sure you know It's not just one night; it's usually at least a week of morons shooting off fireworks all night. That does get old.

Still I have never called anyone. I curse them but that's as far as it gets.

Idiots.

 

[James Collins]

I can understand both sides. I think you did everything right.

You were performing in a residential area though and sound can carry pretty far sometimes. I can hear the highschool ball game that is about a mile from my house loud enough that it sounds like people talking on my porch.

Also, your neighbor might not be a complete jerk. I've been on the side where I just got home from a 30 hour work day and am trying to sleep when my neighbor's band decided to have a session. If similar happened with your concert, and I didn't know who you were, I'd call the cops. Though I might have held some reserve with it being Halloween and definitely if you had gone door to door with an invitation.

 

[themickster]

That would be upsetting. Much better are these two

 

[James Collins]

AS a "snowflake dog owner" I have never complained to any authorities abou people shooting off fireworks, I've shot off plenty myself. We use medication, "thunder shirts", etc... to help our dogs get through it. If it was only on the 4th of July it wouldn't be so bad but as I'm sure you know It's not just one night; it's usually at least a week of morons shooting off fireworks all night. That does get old.

Still I have never called anyone. I curse them but that's as far as it gets.

Idiots.

When someone takes a thread about someone shutting down a Halloween concert because of noise complaints and then brings up "snowflake dog owners" and fourth of July fireworks, he or she is already triggered. If people want to make a lot of noise with disregard for neighbors, there are a lot of rural areas available to live in.

 

[HolmeBass]

What I hated the most about it is there are intricate noise ordnances but in reality they get ignored. Often the police know you are not actually in violation, but SOMEONE COMPLAINED! So they say a bunch of BS to get you to shut down anyway. There is no reasoning involved, no way to compromise. I remember asking an officer to take a reading with the decibel meter and we’d turn down the PA until we were 5dB below the threshold. He snarkily told me if took a dB reading he would be writing a ticket. And they’re harder on bands than on DJs or canned music. It’s such a crock of BS.