WESTBROOK — After receiving noise complaints from across the city and Portland about the first concert at Rock Row’s Maine Savings Pavilion on Sunday, organizers said they will try to make changes before the next show on June 15.
“We are working with the city of Westbrook and Waterfront concerts to make adjustments based on your feedback,” Rock Row owner Waterstone Properties Group said on its Facebook page. “We take our partnership with our neighbors seriously – your input has been valuable in guiding our work each step of the way, and we’ll stay in touch as we go forward. Our goal is to ensure a positive experience for the entire Westbrook and Portland community.”
The concert venue is the first site developed at Rock Row, a multi-phased commercial, retail and residential development on the Portland-Westbrook line.
The event compliance coordinator hired by the city could not be reached about how many complaints came in during the May 26 hip-hop and rap concert, which featured Thundercat, Earl Sweatshirt and Anderson .Paak.
But throughout the concert residents from all over Westbrook and parts of Portland inundated Facebook, indicating they could hear the music, at varying levels, at their residences.
Promoter Waterfront Concerts reported 80 complaints were logged and said the organization will be reviewing the data and adjusting sound levels for the next show, which features Slightly Stoopid, Matisyahu, Tribal Seeds and HIRIE.
Westbrook Police Department reported it too fielded noise complaints and is working with Waterfront and Waterstone on a plan to address concerns.
“Once a review of Sunday’s event is completed, including identification and analysis of all complaints received, we will identify the steps being taken to address noise concerns prior to the next scheduled event,” the department wrote on Facebook.
Westbrook resident George Rodrigues said he could hear the concert at his Carlson Street home, 2 miles away from the concert.
“The noise in my neighborhood was quite loud on Sunday night,” he said in an email. Rodrigues said he would like to see a noise monitor for his neighborhood, which lies just north of East Bridge Street.
As part of its approval, the Planning Board required noise monitors at the end of Colonial Lane, on Forest Street, and in the Deerhill neighborhood in Westbrook, and in the Nason’s Corner neighborhood in Portland.
“Based on the locations from which we received noise complaints, additional noise meters may need to be installed and monitored during performances. We will also be working with the concert promoter and property owner to see if any on-site noise mitigation is appropriate,” Westbrook Police said.
Lois Steele told the Portland Press Herald, the concert “kept us awake until 11 o’clock.” Steele, 77, who lives in Pride’s Corner in Westbrook with her husband, Bob, 79, told the paper they recognize the economic benefit the concerts and development bring to the city, but they were still disturbed by the noise.
In Portland, Graham St. John, 37, told the paper he was surprised by the level of noise that carried to his Holm Street residence, the closest residential road in Portland to the pavilion.
“You could definitely feel the bass vibrating in our house,” St. John said.
He added, he is “hopeful that when the rest of the project is finished it will mitigate some of the noise.”
Alex Gray, owner of Waterfront Concerts, told the Press Herald he anticipated some criticism from residents during the first show, but as the summer progresses, he plans to work with neighbors to try to minimize the nuisance factor.
“You can’t graph a single data point,” Gray said. “We need real shows to really work on the data to see what affects the neighborhood. It’s going to take some time for us to get used to the neighborhood, and for the neighborhood to get used to us.”
Representatives of Rock Row and Maine Savings Pavilion will hold the first in a series of neighborhood meetings June 10 at 6 p.m. at the Westbrook Community Center to discuss noise compliance and other issues that may need to be addressed. Additional meetings will be held July 8, Aug. 12 and Sept. 9.
As of now, there are 11 more concerts scheduled this summer, including Young the Giant and Fitz and the Tantrums on June 20; Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Shepherd on June 22; Joe Bonnamassa on July 28; Alice Cooper, Halestorm and Motionless in White on Aug. 10; John Fogerty Aug. 11, and Wiz Khalifa, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, YK Osiris, and iyla on Aug. 31.
The initial Maine Savings Pavilion offering attracted concert-goers from near and far. Stephanie Symonds and Kevin Belyea came from New Brunswick, Canada – a five hour drive – and said they were particularly looking forward to seeing Thundercat, the show’s opening act.
“I am excited,” Belyea said as he and Symonds waited to get into the venue. “This is going to be fun.”
Gabe and Mariya Michelson came from much closer; the Westbrook residents were not familiar with the artists performing, but the lure of seeing the first show in the space was too much to pass up.
“We’ve been seeing Rock Row’s plans for development and following it. At the last minute we decided to buy tickets,” Gabe said.
Gary Winthorpe, an Oakland resident who got his tickets through the University of Maine at Orono, said he was impressed with the venue and the size of the performance space.
“It is nice. Nothing wrong with it,” he said prior to the concert. “That pavilion is huge.”
Michael Kelley can be reached at 780-9106 or mkelley@keepmecurrent.com or on Twitter @mkelleynews.
Fans react to Anderson .Paak May 26 at the Maine Savings Pavilion in Westbrook. But people throughout Westbrook and Portland complained they could also hear the music at their homes, several miles away.
Rapper Earl Sweatshirt waves to the crowd after his set at the new Maine Savings Pavilion Sunday, May 26, in Westbrook.
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