Listening to Sweet Sounds of Harmony : Pacific Amphitheatre Strikes Peace Chord With Neighbors by Lowering Decibel Level

The music emanating from the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa this month may not have amounted to the sounds of silence, but it was a lower-decibel, more eardrum-friendly medley of country, rock and rap that left the neighbors largely in peace.

The amphitheater, on the grounds of the Orange County Fair, began hosting concerts in 1983, and the following year nearby residents began filing lawsuits claiming the music violated a county ordinance limiting noise. After years of trying to compromise, the fair wound up buying the amphitheater last year and promising to turn the volume down. It was a needed gesture on the good-neighbor front, and it appeared to have survived its first test this month.

Though there was a concert earlier this year, the 17-day run of the annual fair provided the first consistent test of the new noise limits, providing a bill of musical fare each night. Fair officials wisely decided to put the lawn area of the theater off limits. That cut the capacity from 18,500 to 8,500, but it meant there was no need to boost the amps to make the music reach the lawn. To be sure the decibel level was not violated, a specially hired monitor kept tabs on the sound engineers.

Another smart move was halting the concerts by 9:30 p.m. Fair officials said some neighbors called to point out they could hear the music, even at lower levels, but were happy to have it end early.

The fair can use lessons learned this year to book events next year, perhaps even hiring a management company to promote a full season of music before and after the fair’s 17 days. With 8,500 seats, the Pacific has 2,000 more seats than the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, another nice place to listen to a concert beneath the stars. As the Neville Brothers and Queen Latifah, Vicki Carr and Tim McGraw showed, there is no reason why good music and peaceful neighborhoods cannot coexist.