Wow! Poor ol' SF.
I was gonna post this in the smoking thread, but thought it might get buried.
SAN FRANCISCO
Music from Stones' show heard across city
'Bigger Bang' tour proves true to its name as noise complaints roll into City Hall
Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
The Rolling Stones' new album "A Bigger Bang" lived up to its reputation during the band's concert at SBC Park Sunday night, as evidenced by the swarm of noise complaints still rolling into City Hall the next day.
The mayor's receptionists, members of the Board of Supervisors, their aides and the Entertainment Commission, which issued the sound permit, reported that they fielded scores of calls Monday from constituents still angry at the concert noise. The Police Department was bombarded with citizen gripes during the show at the waterfront stadium.
"I had my windows closed and I could still hear every chord,'' said Ted Weinstein, who lives near Church and Duncan streets in Noe Valley, miles from the China Basin stadium. "I've got no artistic judgment against the Rolling Stones, but just because they're too old to hear their music doesn't mean their music has to be so loud.''
Bob Davis, executive director of the Entertainment Commission, knew there was a problem soon after the aging rockers took the stage. "My cell phone started going off the hook,'' he said Monday.
"It was loud. It was bad. It was a shock. It was unacceptable,'' Davis said. "The city wants to be friendly to concerts, but not to the detriment of the citizens.''
Among the areas with the loudest complaints from the Stones' first of two concerts were Potrero Hill, Bernal Heights and Noe Valley.
The Stones, heralded by many as the greatest rock-'n'-roll band ever, are scheduled to plug in at SBC Park for another concert tonight. Davis said city officials probably will have a sound meter on hand this time around to determine whether stadium officials comply with the rule that concert noise not travel far beyond the walls.
A representative for the Giants baseball team, which owns the stadium, said efforts will be made to reduce the sound impact on the city's neighborhoods during tonight's show. Pat Gallagher, president of Giants Enterprises, said concert producers have agreed, as a start, to realign the speakers.
He said weather also is a big factor. The calm air Sunday night provided the perfect conduit for the music to carry.
Chronicle senior pop music critic Joel Selvin said in his review of Sunday's concert that "the music (was) blasting with surprising clarity for the volume.''
No one had to tell that to Kepa Askenasy, an architect who lives on Potrero Hill. She said she loves the Rolling Stones, and welcomes concerts in San Francisco, saying it makes her feel part of the city. But Sunday's performance, she said, was too much.
"You couldn't be outside,'' she said. "It was over-the-top loud, almost violent.''
Gallagher said the Giants want to be good neighbors, but added, "I don't think we can say that you're not going to hear the concert in some of the neighborhoods.''
There have been 10 concerts at SBC Park in the past six years. The city has given the Giants permission to have 14 major nonbaseball events at the stadium each year.
Jim Meko, who serves on the Entertainment Commission and heard from plenty of people who were livid about the noise Sunday night, said he will call for a hearing to take another look at the sound permits for SBC Park. He said he wants to see if changes are warranted to better balance the goal of fostering a vibrant climate for entertainment with the needs of residents.
Daniel Homsey, who runs the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, which received a lot of angry calls Monday, said the complaints have been "nothing proportionately like the calls we get when the Blue Angels are in town.''
From:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 002&sc=710
fp
eter, aka 
usty 
halk