County Bars Rock Concerts at Ford Theatre

Rock ‘n’ roll concerts will no longer be permitted at the Los Angeles County-owned John Anson Ford Theatre in the Hollywood Hills, a representative of the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation said Wednesday.

The county has terminated the operations lease held by H & D Entertainment Inc. for the 1,200-seat outdoor theater--a major local venue for alternative rock acts--because of noise and traffic problems associated with the shows. Six rock and blues dates scheduled for June have either been canceled or relocated.

John Weber, assistant director for the Department of Parks and Recreation, said H & D’s 10-year lease, which still had nearly seven years remaining on it, was canceled by mutual agreement after the department told the company the kind of programming it was favoring was “incompatible” with the county’s wishes for the facility.

“I would imagine we will not have rock music (in the future),” Weber said.

It was unclear Wednesday what the county’s move will mean for other programs at the Ford. Weber said the county will “reconsider our uses of the theater. We could eventually end up looking for a new lessee.”

Officials with H & D were unavailable for comment on ednesday.

Last July, patrons at a Los Angeles Philharmonic concert at the Bowl were annoyed by sound from a concert by the Ramones--the veteran New York punk-flavored band.

Following those complaints, H & D agreed to use the Ford only on evenings when the Bowl had no program. But residents in the surrounding neighborhoods still complained about the noise and traffic, and some residents said concert goers climbed through their yards in order to reach the hillside theater.

As it turns out, the Ramones is one of the groups also affected by the lease termination. The group was scheduled to perform at the Ford on June 1, 2 and 4. Concert promoter Goldenvoice Productions now plans to present the band in a single show, June 2, at the indoor, 3,000-capacity Hollywood Palladium. Tickets for all three Ford dates will be honored.

In addition, Concrete Blonde’s June 23 Ford date will be rescheduled for an as-yet undetermined Hollywood facility. A June 10-11 blues festival being promoted by H & D has also been canceled. A Saturday concert featuring the band Wall of Voodoo will go on as planned, however.