Austin Sound

Thanks to the public outcry last week over the KGSR’s Unplugged at the Grove series at Shady Grove being shut down, City Council Member Mike Martinez was able to get a resolution passed at yesterday’s City Council meeting that extended venues’ outdoor music permits until a Sept. 1 renewal deadline. Permits that were set to expire between March 21 and June 18 were given a reprieve, so the Shady Grove Series, which was shut down last week following a noise complaint and realization that the restaurant’s outdoor music permit had expired, was allowed to continue as usual this week. There were no reported incidents with the Band of Heathens’ set last night, possibly because of the public shaming that the Statesman put on the original 911 caller. (For the record, we think outing the caller was a reckless and irresponsible move on the part of what is supposed to be a respected news source. The caller was perfectly within their rights to lodge the complaint, and outrage directed at the call should be more properly directed at the Council’s inability to find a proper balance in the noise ordinance issue).

We wondered back when Freddie’s became the victim of the new noise ordinance rules (Did City Council Surreptitiously Screw Live Music in Austin?) what would become of popular outdoor concerts and venues like Shady Grove’s “Unplugged at the Grove” series, and it seems now we know. In a letter to the editor in this week’s Chronicle, the Gourds’ Kevin Russell relates how their show at the Grove was cited last week due to a sound-ordinance violation. As Russell declares, “In its race, which is already lost, to move people Downtown, this city is going to lose something that cannot be replaced,” and he calls upon all musicians and fans to finally take a stand against the ridiculousness of the new noise ordinance rules before it is too late. We couldn’t agree more!

This week the reports have been all over about Freddie’s Place on South First having to finally shut down their outdoor music after receiving a warning from the Austin Police Department for noise violation. The battle between Freddie’s patio music and the surrounding neighborhood has been ground zero in the noise ordinance debate the past few years, and Freddie’s has been careful to maintain a strict policy of no outside music after 9:00pm and that the decibel level doesn’t exceed the traditional level of enforcement for live outdoor music at 85 db. So what went wrong?

10/23/07
Both the Chronicle and Statesman last week brought attention to new noise ordinance proposals being discussed by the Austin Planning Commission. This is a battle that was waged about 5 years ago and never really settled, seeming to be deferred by an unenforceable code. But now as the smoking ban has driven more venues to host music on outdoor patio areas, the debate has risen again, especially in more residential neighborhoods like the Bouldin Creek area.