ok, i’m gonna preface this rant by saying i support the idea of attracting big name acts to play in halifax, using my tax dollars to increase tourism and local business is an acceptable idea, and i have nothing against the acts that played on the commons (ie personal taste).
ok, rant time. who’s bloody idea was it to stage on open-air concert in the middle of the city that has around ten acts. i was awaken at around 8:30 am with the first round of gear checks. there were several of those that lasted till noon when the the real fun began. for the next 11 hours i get to listen to acts performing 3 blocks away, sound bouncing off the nearby apartment buildings creating a numbing echo effect. i could swear when great big sea was singing in vocal harmony, my windows were vibrating a little. i don’t want to imagine what it was like for people who are living right next to the commons and near the main stage.
i suggest the next open air concert be at point pleasant park. it is surrounded by water except for one side and if there’s not enough room for the stage and audience, the stage could be on a large barge floating in the harbour. if the people living just north of point pleasant oppose the idea, just tell em it’s for the good of the city.
This article appears in Aug 28 – Sep 3, 2008.
At least it’s one day a year or so when they have a shindig like that on the common.
agreed. there has gotta to have been noise bylaws violated.my (now old) apartment was on the 4th floor of the quinpool tower above the superstore. just high enough to be above st pat’s, and not have the sound obstructed. i could hear the fingers scratching on guitar strings during the soundcheck in my apartment, with my roommates music blaring. at 9 in the morning. on a saturday. on a weekend when half the city is moving.i dont really care about the type of music, or the munucipal funding, but i care about respecting the neighbourhood. i guarantee that 90% of people who showed up, live outside the vicinity of the concert, and were not being woken up by ‘check.. check.. one two.. check.. hey bill can you turn up the monitors.. check.. check..’the point pleasant park does sound like a decent idea, except water is a better conductor of sound than air, so instead of hearing it in the entire midtown, youd hear in in purcells cove, dartmouth, and armdale.they should have big concerts on the hill, like summer sonic did, with the speakers pointing towards the hill to absorb the sound/kill the amplificatory echo.