Stones Quiet Things Down; Fans Are on Best Behavior

If you went back to see the Rolling Stones a second time after opening night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, you might have thought your hearing was failing. Don’t worry--it was louder Wednesday than on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The Stones turned down the volume by 15 decibels after the Los Angeles Police Department South Bureau received more than 300 complaints from area residents.

Sgt. Chris Berglund, special events coordinator for the bureau, said Monday that his office asked City Attorney James Hahn to approach the Stones about the noise after Wednesday’s opening-night show. The band and its production company agreed to turn the sound down, and only four more complaints were received during the three remaining concerts.

“We got a lot of calls thanking us for our actions,” Berglund said, adding that atmospheric conditions on Wednesday contributed to the excessive noise in the neighborhood.

Berglund reported that the Stones fans were well-behaved too. An average of fewer than 80 arrests were made at each concert, which drew approximately 72,000 fans each. Sunday, with 122 arrests, was the busiest day for the police department, which for the first time at a Coliseum concert used its mobile jail unit.

Berglund said that about 90% of the arrests were for narcotics, mostly marijuana possession. Given the six-hour length of the concerts, which also featured Guns N’ Roses and Living Colour, Berglund said the crowds were less trouble than those at Raiders football games. “For the amount of people it was a very orderly crowd,” he said.