Now the owners are frustrated, patrons are pissed and local bands miffed after a show Saturday night was called off after just a few songs. Quincy police responded after getting complaints about the volume, and shut the event and the bar down. The owners intend to address city council.
It's never good when this happens. I side with the bar owners and the bands. On The Rail has spent a lot of money to put together a quality live venue, and now the plug is getting pulled. As usual there is a lot to the story and both sides have issues.
It happened about a month ago there too, to a classic rock band, so I don't want to hear that the city is biased against bands who play certain styles of music. I've played in classic rock and cover bands for years and had shows shut down over noise complaints, and it's frustrating no matter what kind of music you play.It reminds me of a legendary Funions gig at a bar on Hampshire. The late Pat Cornwell was playing drums, and a Quincy Police officer walked in and told us to turn it down or we'd have to stop playing. So Pat nodded and made a motion with his hands on the knobs to lower the volume. The officer was satisfied and walked out. In fact, Pat turned the volume UP and the cop never came back, and we kept rocking.
The Hotel Elkton apartments are right next to On The Rail. Apparently it's the residents who are complaining and there are issues between them and the restaurant. Also, the Lincoln-Douglas building is just down the street, so if it gets loud, you'll get complaints from Fourth and Maine, too.
What I don't like is that the police can come in and shut it down without warning. Should the bar owner and the bands be told it's too loud and see if they can work something out? The bar owner says police told him he had to close the bar, too. Is that right?
I think the city needs to work with both the bar and the apartment residents and try to figure out a way to keep both happy. On The Rail has been a good venue for local bands and it would be a shame to see it close.
If we are talking about senior residents in either of these buildings, I would suggest a decibel meter for the bar owner and find out what the allowable volume might be. Some stages around the world have meters in the club that will shut down the stage power when the level is surpassed. Another might be to reach out to the senior community as potential customers and book some acts that bring them in on senior event nights. The municipal codes used to say that music shuts down by 10 pm, but it may be different in Quincy. At Turner Hall, we had to drag in a 100 watt Marshall stack or be laughed off the stage. Most indoor stages have moved to 20 watt amps and PA on a stick with a single sub woofer.
ReplyDeleteTimes have changed and Quincy is a retirement town with shrinking stages and less tolerance from the aged.
Casinos are just as bad with the sound Nazi attitude, but we as musicians must try to be more accommodating or stay in the soundproof garage.
Charlie Glasgow
Phoenix,AZ