SEATTLE -- Tuesday marked the first concert at Marymoor Park since the mayor of Redmond asked King County to turn down the volume.
In a strongly-worded letter to county leaders, Mayor John Marchione said the music levels at the August 29 and 30 Sublime concerts were "completely unacceptable" and asked King County to be a good neighbor and honor Redmond's noise ordinance.
"The concert was so loud it was rattling windows," said Marchione. "I live three miles away and my windows were rattling."
Tuesday's show is the second-to-last of the Marymoor Summer Concert Series, but Marchione said he felt it was important to write the letter now because the debate over noise levels at the park has been going on for more than decade.
"That's always going to happen, no matter what you do," one concert-goer said. "Every city and every town it happens. People are always going to complain because they want to go to sleep by a certain time."
That's also part of the agreement between Redmond and King County: the concerts must be over by 10 p.m. Tuesday's show appeared to abide by that rule with the venue almost entirely empty by 10 p.m. Still, people who live near Marymoor Park say more needs to be done.
"You can't talk over it. You can't play over it. You can't watch television. You can't drown it out," said Diane Althaus, who lives atop Redmond's Education Hill. "Not in one room in the house with all the doors and windows shut."
King County Parks Director Kevin Brown admitted the music levels were too loud during the Sublime concert.
In a statement, he said in part:
Right away, we want to apologize to our Marymoor Park neighbors for the higher noise levels coming from the Sublime with Rome concerts Aug. 29 and 30. During the concerts, our own readings confirmed that several times the decibel levels went over the limits agreed to in our contract with promoter AEG. We immediately alerted AEG to the excessive noise and were informed steps were taken to reduce noise levels. We have since followed up with AEG about our concerns and believe that AEG, too, is committed to ensuring that bands are adhering to sound limits for its shows. We take these complaints seriously because we work very hard to be a good neighbor and to make sure the concert series continues to be wonderful local entertainment amenity and a positive shot in the arm to the Redmond-area economy.
Both the parks department and the concert promoter monitor the decibel levels at every show. The agreement states that decibel levels won't surpass 90 beyond 100 feet from the stage. During the Sublime concerts, a spokesperson for the parks department said the average high-end reading was 100.
During Tuesday's shows, concert-goers had no complaints about the noise levels. Many were seen carrying on conversations while sitting on the grass inside the venue.
Brown said that overall the King County Parks Department has received very few complaints about concert volumes but promised to work with the community to evaluate potential changes that would improve the process for people living near Marymoor Park.
The goal is to find a balance between putting on a good show for concert-goers and being a good neighbor to homeowners in Redmond.
"This back and forth has gone on for more than ten years," said Marchione. "Some years are better than others."
In his letter to King County leaders, he called the noise levels during the Sublime concert "the highest and most disturbing of the season".
Brown will be meeting with Redmond City Council next month and Marchione hopes some progress will be made towards a compromise that can be put in place in time for next year's summer concert series.
