Noise complaints still echoing after Fredericton rock concert
Last Updated: Monday, June 22, 2009 | 10:53 AM AT
CBC News
Fredericton's three-day rock festival is over but the debate over the controversial event is continuing between organizers and local residents.
Heavy rain during Saturday's top show featuring the Black Crowes kept many people away, but the weather did not drown out the loud music.
"It was extremely noisy, it was extremely bothersome," said Chris Baker, a Fredericton resident who has led the opposition against the FredRock music festival.
He said the rain helped limit the number of people who showed up for the concert, and those who did show up left quickly after the band finished.
But Baker was still upset with the noise, especially since the Black Crowes continued their set well beyond the 11 p.m. deadline.
Baker said didn't he expect the plug to be pulled at the deadline, but he said the promoter took advantage of that.
"Mike Babineau said, 'Well, you know, we're going to need some extra time' and stuff like that. But he clearly left us with the impression it would be shorter rather than longer," Baker said.
However, Babineau, the event organizer, said he received permission from city council to go to 11:30 p.m.
"Should there have been problems on the stage or they wanted to go on for an extra encore, we wanted to have that buffer zone to 11:30," he said.
Babineau said about 6,000 people turned out Saturday, an acceptable crowd given the weather.
More meetings planned
Many people in the Sunshine Gardens opposed the concert plans from the outset. A community meeting was held to give residents an opportunity to voice their concerns with the event.
Fredericton's transportation committee eventually approved parking restrictions for the neighbourhood.
Now that the concert is over, Baker said, another meeting will be held to discuss FredRock's impact.
Baker said he and many others will object if promoters want to have another rock concert next year.
"It might have been successful for [the promoters], but it certainly wasn't successful for us," Baker said.
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