East Nashville residents fume over noisy Beck concert at Ascend Amphitheater

Complaints from East Nashville came in steadily Sunday night as residents from across the river once again found themselves protesting all that racket at Ascend Amphitheater.

The latest headliner to rock residents miles away was Beck, who brought his famous mix of alternative rock, folk, funk and rap to the city-owned outdoor concert venue.

Metro in 2016 instituted new rules over sound at Ascend Amphitheater including an 11 p.m. curfew and limits on sound decibel levels capped at 102 at the sound mixer and 98 at the furthest property line of the park.

But based on the feedback from Sunday's show, the problems have not gone away.

"I REALLY wish I had gone to the show but I can actually hear it from my house in East Nashville," tweeted Eric Jans, who lives in the Lockeland Springs neighborhood.

"We were at the show and left early but we didn’t miss anything since we could hear it when we got home," tweeted Randall Gilberd, who lives in Edgefield.

"From the corner of eastland and gallatin it was crystal clear, definitely over a mile away. Good thing I like Beck," another person tweeted.

Jackie Jones, spokesperson for Metro Parks and Recreation, said the department is aware of the complaints.

"We are in agreement with the residents of East Nashville that the music was too loud," she said in a statement. "The complaints and comments have been forwarded to Live Nation. We have an agreement in place with Live Nation to not exceed certain sound limits."

Jones said the city has ordered new sound monitoring equipment that they expect to be in place within the next few weeks to help monitor the issue.

"We will be working closely with Live Nation to determine what additional steps we can take in the future to more quickly adjust and correct when there is an issue," Jones said.

But Live Nation, in a company statement, said that "at no time during the Sunday night Beck show did decibel levels eclipse the acceptable level that Metro Parks and Live Nation have agreed for shows at Ascend."

"If it had, then Live Nation would have issued a notice of violation and imposed a financial fine in accordance with the offer language they agreed to for their engagement at Ascend Amphitheater."

More: Live Nation: Beck kept decibels down at Ascend show that sparked East Nashville complaints

The statement said Live Nation has committed to install additional sound monitoring equipment to address concert volume in downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Weather a factor in noise travel to East Nashville?

Noise complaints from Ascend Amphitheater have been consistent ever since the $52 million Metro venue opened in 2015. In addition to bemoaning shows that sometimes go late on school nights, some have complained about soundchecks during the day.

The amphitheater, which is operated by music entertainment giant LiveNation, has drawn the ire of condo dwellers immediately next-door to the venue and as far away as the Rosebank neighborhood of East Nashville.

Metro Councilman Brett Withers, who represents parts of East Nashville, has directed constituents to contact the parks department staff if they have complaints.

He said the number of complaints from the Beck concert was "off the charts" — probably the most complaints since the "infamous Janet Jackson concert."

"It's quite frustrating," Withers said, adding that the situation got worse last year from the previous year and that this year's summer lineup is "off to a rocky start."

"One of the real challenges is that weather is a real factor," he said. "It's our anecdotal observation that when we have precipitation or cloud cover the sound carries quite a bit further than it does on a clear day."

Live Nation agreed, saying that the dew point and humidity indexes created a condition that allowed sound to carry further than usuasl during the Beck concert.

"While we can’t control the weather, as part of the Nashville community we are committed to being good neighbors by imposing decibel level standard, and will continue to work on this issue with Metro Parks," the company said.

Withers said there's "early discussions" about not booking rock shows, which tend to be louder, on school nights.

"We're not there quite yet, but we're looking at that," he said.

Petition started aimed at amphitheater's 'noise pollution'

East Nashville resident Peter Greaves has started an online petition to "Stop the East Nashville noise pollution from Ascend Amphitheater." It as nine signatures so far.

"I have lived on Fatherland Street in East Nashville now for two years, and every few weeks their (sic) is a concert where the noise pollution from Ascend Amphitheater gets out of control," he wrote. "On the night I wrote this petition Beck is playing, and inside the house with all the windows closed the noise from the concert interferes with watching TV."

He suggested that the city measure the volume at the start of each concert and that the volume be turned down if it exceeds limits. He said if this process makes concerts unworkable then the city should pay for design modifications at the amphitheater.

"This is an issue that affects all us in East Nashville and in the area surrounding the amphitheater. It disturbs our sleep, prevents us from sitting outside in summer, and keeps our children awake on school night," he said.

More: Ascend Amphitheater's best shows from year one

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8326, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.