For the past quarter of a century, Warren’s Summer Concert Series at Burr’s Hill Park has rocked the bandshell during the most seasonally favorable months of the year to the joy of its attendees.

But when Tara Thibaudeau, Parks and Recreation Director, went before the Warren Town Council last week to get the annual fiscal approval necessary to put on the series, she was met with a resounding chorus of resistance by a group of neighbors who felt that the event has gotten a bit out of hand in recent times.

“All in all, I think essentially the music is played too loudly, it’s amplified too much, it reverberates throughout the neighborhood to the north of the bandshell all the way up to the Town Common and beyond,” said councilman Brandt Heckert, who received a letter from a neighbor of the park airing his complaints about the noise of the series. “So, I’m asking that there should be some consideration to that.”

His wasn’t the sole grievance, either.

“The concerts were louder last summer. I live on the edge of the park…I had company out on the deck on Sunday and we couldn’t sit and talk. Couldn’t hear,” said Aubrey Donnelly, who plays in the popular local folk band, Atwater-Donnelly. “It’s very simple. You have to do a decibel check and turn it down.”

“I don’t think it’s fair for those of us who don’t want to hear the music, to hear it,” said Pat Mues, a Broad Street resident. “I’ve never gotten a response other than ‘Call the police if there’s a problem’…I didn’t call the police because I don’t think that’s what we should be doing. I think we should find a way to work this out. So please find a way to do this.”

The series, which runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. each Sunday for eight consecutive weeks, beginning in early July and concluding in late August, is subject to the Town’s noise ordinance, and Thibaudeau said that the contracted sound engineer for the series has conducted tests each year to confirm that the amount of noise has not surpassed that limit.

“They checked and monitored the sound…We were well below the town ordinance,” she said. “I also live in those neighborhoods and the concerts have been going on for 26 years since they’ve built the bandshell and I have been listening to them for 26 years from my backyard as well. There are those who do not like it but there are those who do like it as well. It is a give and take. Some are inconvenienced by it, others really enjoy it…It’s a mix. I don’t want everyone to think that it’s all negative.”

Some council members agreed that the perceived problem was a non-issue.

“Out of everyone here, I live the closest,” said Council President John Hanley, who lives northeast of the park. “I have no problem with it whatsoever. It’s three hours on a weekend.”

“Are we really having this conversation?” said Council Vice President Steven Calenda. “This has been going on for years, it has been going on prior to us being here and it will go on after we’re long gone. So what are we going to do? Not have a concert series?”

Heckert took issue with that ultimatum.

“It’s not a black and white situation,” he said. “There can be things to remediate the situation. It doesn’t have to be either or.”

Councilman Joe DePasquale agreed with Heckert.

“I don’t take this as frivolous. I think it’s a real issue and I think it does depend on how people view it. But that being said, if they live in a house and they don’t want to, there’s no way to turn it down or blinds that can be drawn,” he said. “So I do think that we should investigate some processes to take and see if it works, because our job is to try to solve problems, not make believe that they don’t bother everyone so they don’t exist.”

At DePasquale’s suggestion, the council made a request to investigate between now and the start of the concert by simply turning the amplifiers down a bit when the series is being set up, to see if it makes a difference for the amount of noise generated.

“We have some time to figure something out,” DePasquale said. “We can go down there and make some moves to the amplifier and see if something works…I hear you loud and clear.”

Variety of music also criticized
While the noise issue was being discussed, some also took the opportunity to critique the choice of musical acts included — which features four rock and roll bands, a classical music group, a dance group, an R&B group, and a country group.

“Last summer, for those eight weeks, it sounded like the same band, the same hard rock back every single week, and it was loud,” said Julie Blount, co-owner of Blount Boats. “It was too loud.”

“We need a little more diversity with the lineup with different kinds of music,” agreed Donnelly. “I don’t usually get involved with different concert series…[but] because I live in this town and pay taxes, I’m just looking at this lineup and I would have liked to see more variety.”

Councilwoman Keri Cronin agreed that more variety was needed.

“I do actually have a problem with all of these classic rock cover bands,” she said. “We have an amazing program in our schools with all of this talent, musicians and vocalists, could we have them? We have wonderful musicians who live in town. And I know some of these bands do have people who live in town, but I think we need to offer a greater variety of music to the public.”

Thibaudeau said that she delegates the choice of musicians to a concert coordinator. DePasquale said that the variety of musicians would have to be something looked into in greater depth next summer, as it was too close to mess with the lineup now.

“If we’re going to be involved with changing something, it has to start with the concert promoter,” he said. “So that will be next year’s discussion.”
But for some neighbors, the issue had nothing to do with what type of music was being played, simply the impact on their quality of life due to its volume.

“You can play whatever you want, it’s fine with me, it’s just too loud,” said Nick Haywood. “It truly is not possible to avoid the music. And my whole house really does vibrate. You can put your hand on anything and it feels like you’ve hit a piano tuner. It’s wild.”