Rock Concert : Noise Level at Equidome Passes Test

Burbank city officials on Sunday said the first of a controversial concert series at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Griffith Park Saturday night met noise standards, although neighboring Burbank residents said the music was too loud.

Councilman Michael Hastings and City Atty. Doug Holland said they sympathized with the complaints of residents who live near the center. But they said a decibel meter used to measure the noise did not register high enough for them to ask center officials to turn the music down.

“The noise is not extremely excessive, but I can understand how people who live around here can find it annoying,” Holland said. “They can’t open their windows to enjoy the breeze because the music comes in. This is not a situation you generally find in a residential neighborhood.”

Holland and Hastings, along with Burbank Mayor Mary Lou Howard and several Burbank residents, sat by the pool in the rear of the Terra Verde V Condominiums about 500 feet from the center while the pop-rock group Three Dog Night played to a crowd of 2,200 people inside the center’s Equidome. The concert, which was delayed for an hour, began shortly after 8 p.m. and lasted about one hour.

Decibel Readings OK

Even though every lyric could be heard in the cool evening air, the officials said the decibel readings fell within acceptable levels.

“As a councilman, I’m satisfied that they are within their legal limits,” Hastings said.

Holland said he planned to meet with Los Angeles city officials next week to discuss the noise levels at the concert series.

The concert series is being staged to introduce a larger and broader audience to the financially troubled center by combining professional polo matches with concerts. The center, which lies on the Los Angeles side of the Burbank-Los Angeles border, is in debt.

The residents had tried to block the concerts, saying that the noise and traffic would disrupt quiet neighborhoods. They also argued that the concerts fell outside the purpose of the equestrian center. But Los Angeles officials declined to stop the concerts.

Equestrian Center President J. Albert Garcia said he was “very, very pleased” with the start of the series, even though the crowd was 2,100 people below capacity. He said the broadcast of the Live Aid concerts, an all-day international rock event to raise money for African famine relief, may have kept down the audience.

He added that he was especially happy with the reaction from Burbank officials.

“We have complied with the city, and we are happy about that,” Garcia said. He said the center spent about $5,000 in upgrading its acoustics for the concert and putting sound mufflers on the Equidome.

Garcia said he would continue to muffle the sound in future concerts. “If my neighbors are happy, then I’m happy,” he said.

Geoffrey Sindon, an attorney who lives in the Terra Verde condominiums, said Saturday’s concert was less noisy than previous events at the center, such as a Mexican rodeo.

“I think Al Garcia is taking steps to muffle the noise, and that is moving in a positive direction,” Sindon said. “But I want to continue to monitor what’s going on. It’s still disturbing to all of us.”

Garcia said he is hoping that the concerts, which will be staged Saturday nights through Aug. 10, will draw larger crowds. Scheduled to perform next Saturday is country group Sawyer Brown. Subsequent weeks will feature a Beatles impersonators concert, an “oldies but goodies” show with radio personality Wolfman Jack and the Platters, and a rock-jazz concert featuring jazz artists Tower of Power and singer Frank Stallone.