[amyjared]

It happened again. 7/7/7 was a friend's wedding and we gave him the gift of our band playing at the wedding. It was at his house and we started at 8 and played until 9:15 or so for the first set. We started 2nd set about 9:45 and were going to shut down about 11 when the cops came. Oregon has no law about waiting until a certain time--if they get a complaint they shut you down, whether it's 2 in the afternoon or midnight.

Now, I don't mind people objecting to the music, but on a Saturday night, I would much prefer they do what I would do: 1) Go over to the house and find out how long this will be going on, whether it's a common occurance, etc., 2) can't find the house, I wait until 11pm, 3) are they any good? If so, I let it go on later. Ok, that last one is purely my bias, but seriously, these folks never have parties and this was their wedding and all the people had to do was wait until 11 or come by and see what was going on, but no, they called the police and shut us down. What is this place coming to?? Anyone else have these problems? We couldn't afford to rent a place so that wasn't an option.

[CaptainTrips]

Dude, all my sympathy goes out for you. I too have been in a similar situation and its a real bitch move to go about things that way. On a fuckin Sat night too. Shitty. Ive actually had the owners of a venue come over and tell me to turn my amp down. Sucks. And people wonder why the state of music is so bleak.

[AugustWest]

We rehearse in my drummers garage and our county has a 10 pm noise ordinence. It had not been a problem for 4 years. New neighbors moved in about 6 months ago and they call the cops every time we practice at around 9:45. The cops would admit that yes the restrictions start at 10 but we don't feel like coming back out here so stop right now or else. It got to the point se would stop playing electric at 9:30 (on saturday and friday nights) but one really nice night we took all of our acoustic instruments and played them in our own back yard. And they CALLED the cops again. cops came out and stopped our acoustic playing on our own property that is an acre away from their house. They have a huge security fence up so I can't really see what they're doing but if I had to guess I think they come outside and walk all the way over to the edge of their fence and try to hear if we are playing or not.

LAME!

[bodiddley]

When all else fails, throw a bag of flaming poo at them.

[d-v-s]

first off, that sucks! specially since it was a wedding present and all. I'da been pissed.

I don't want to sound like a dick, but this crisis may have been easily averted. If you're gonna throw a party, or especially a wedding, in a residential area, you should talk to the neighbors, and police ahead of time. If whoever arranged that wedding had told the neighbors that the music was gonna stop at 11, i'd be willing to bet that the cops wouldn't have shown.

Maybe I've always been blessed with cool neighbors, but this has always worked for me.

if it doesn't work, then there's always the flaming poo...

[Django]

I feel for ya amyjared, I'm sure your present was very appreciated regardless and as an 'outlaw' act may come to be a cherished memory for you all in time.
On the lighter side I had a similar incident and while the police were standing around on this patio amoungst the band my drummer said "we were playing really quiet, look I'm using brushes"; and sure enough, I don't know where he picked them up from; he had a couple of paint brushes!

[amyjared]

If you're gonna throw a party, or especially a wedding, in a residential area, you should talk to the neighbors, and police ahead of time.

We actually did this. Well, not with the police, but with all the neighbors. Even invited them and a few elderly folk showed up! But i think since it was hot and we couldn't keep all the doors/windows shut, that the sound carried too far (they're on a big hill) and someone far off called without investigating.

[grateful4booze]

I have lived in two places that sucked like that. Austin is my hometown and they are totally anal about noise restrictions. Austin is supposedly this hip music town and the cops go around with decibel meters shutting you down. It got so bad the city stopped having a summer music festival that had been going on like 20 years because the national acts would play too loud. Albuquerque was like that too. I used to work for a big liquor company and we would sponsor this alternative rock festival. One year it was Kid Rock, Limp Biscuit, and some other horrible bands. They played at the state fairground and the state pulled the plug on LB at 10:01. Caused a riot, and had to pay LB $40K for a new PA.
Now I live in SA and their are no hassles unless you are a teenager cruising the blvd with the thumper stereos. I have never seen a cop anywhere near our practices or gigs.

[jck_strw]

amyjared

Man, that sucks. But I think that's symptomatic of the larger problem with the world today--people are only interested in themselves and fuck you to everyone else. Courteousness, politeness, common decency? All gone. Obviously I'm making broad generalizations here, but I believe that if people would stop being so fucking selfish, things might improve. Fat fucking chance though.

[strumminsix]

amyjared

Man, that sucks. But I think that's symptomatic of the larger problem with the world today--people are only interested in themselves and fuck you to everyone else. Courteousness, politeness, common decency? All gone. Obviously I'm making broad generalizations here, but I believe that if people would stop being so fucking selfish, things might improve. Fat fucking chance though.

Playing the role of devil's advocate...

Isn't it also selfish to force neighbors to shut their windows and deal with loud noise while they are trying to relax and enjoy their Saturday night?

Your selfish and FU everyone else could easily be attributed to the party too.

That said I think it's important that we realize the importance of looking at things from another's point of view.

I for one would *never* go to a neighbor and tell them to turn it down. In the past I've worked as a bouncer and work-out regularly so I know how to handle myself. But the reality is there are many potential outcomes:
1 - immediate confrontation from a mob of party guests
2 - retaliation down the road
3 - poor neighbor relations

I've called the cops a few times when I hear booming subwoofers coming from my neighbors after 10 during the week or 11 or 12 on the weekends. It's not their right to rattle my walls and force me to use air conditioning.

Personally, I think Jared did the right thing and my deepest sympathies go out to him and his band. But the reality is the local laws need to change to make things fair. A band warning then shutdown? A band permit to exceeding DBs if neighbors agree? OR maybe instead of a low community agreement that each neighbor is allowed 1 blow-out a year with notification and no cops.

[amyjared]

A band warning then shutdown? A band permit to exceeding DBs if neighbors agree? OR maybe instead of a low community agreement that each neighbor is allowed 1 blow-out a year with notification and no cops.

See, I'm down with this. Strummin, you make some good points, but I moved from NY because I can't live like that. If my neighbors (whom I all know, btw) make some late night noise, I go over or I call and I expect the same from them. Some places this might not be wise, others it's the norm. Even you said you wait until about 11 to do something, which is all I would ask for. I wasn't looking to play until 2am, nor is this a common occurance. In fact, it's never happened in my friend's neighborhood (the loud party, I mean). All I want is what Jim was talking about, some common decency.

[strumminsix]

Hey Jared, is it normally a pretty cool neighborhood? My area is rather strange. And the neighbors I'd call the cops on aren't ones I'd talk to.

However, my cool neighbors I totally would.

Here's a funny for you...

2 or 3 years ago my mom bought my PS2 for Christmas. 2am, I get home and I hook it up to my home stereo and playing away having a blast. Well the phone rings and it's my neighbor. She asked me to turn it down. Then she apologized for calling so late and said it was her house guest who heard the noise! How cool is she!

She also knows I'm a musician and says she rarely ever hears me and never ever hears me playing late so I think she's happy about that.

[grateful4booze]

I forgot to mention in my earlier rant that the mighty city of Austin made the ROLLING FUCKING STONES stop playing at 11 PM last year!

[pfarrell615]

i completely agree with jack straw, the level of self absortion , lack of manners and genral apathy toward common decency is a true bummer.personaly i think money and the lack of faith are the main causes

[guilhermeful dead]

That's what is good about Brazil: You may have dick neighbors calling the cops, but there are little chances they'd show up.