I took over as editor of the New Westminster Record in spring of 2018. What I learned, quickly, was that people complain a lot about noise.

From trains, from vehicles, from musicians, from…wait, what?

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People get angry about music?

No, I’m not talking about a neighbour’s stereo blaring at 1 a.m. – I would be upset about that too.

After the 2018 Uptown Live party, the Record received some letters to the editor complaining about the noise.

It was pretty shocking to read people being that upset about one day of live music each year.

The 2019 version was on Saturday and, yep, the Record received another complaint.

“It seems that every year the Uptown street party gets louder and louder,” someone wrote in this morning. “I find it unbearable listening to the loud music until 9:30 p.m. Some of the music is just loud off-key screaming. We live a block and a half away and it sounded like they were in my driveway. Certainly there must be a better venue for this event. Parties are great but the pounding music until 9:30 is unfair to residents in the area who would like to have a quiet dinner and relax at home. Maybe the music should stop at a reasonable time.”

Yikes – 9:30 p.m. is considered late? In Brazil, they are just finishing dinner and getting ready to rock the night away.

Have we really become this sad in our society that people can’t party until 9:30 p.m. – once a year?

Just suck it up and let people have a little fun.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.