Natty Nation's outdoor concert at the Edgewater Hotel was cut short July 8 after a noise complaint.
On the evening of July 8, Madison reggae band Natty Nation was getting ready to play an outdoor concert at the Edgewater Hotel. The weather was gorgeous, downtown was bustling and the band members were looking forward to repeating the success of the free show they played last summer on the hotel’s Grand Plaza. “The vibe was really good, and that’s a precious thing,” says Aaron Konkol, who plays keyboard in the group.
But the night took a turn after the event apparently prompted a noise complaint from a neighbor — rumored to be a powerful local attorney. Event organizers turned down the music, called for an unscheduled set break and ended up cutting the gig short. “They kept turning down our monitors until we couldn’t hear ourselves,” Konkol says. “Somebody was really trying to kill the vibe.”
The Edgewater has since canceled the two outdoor concerts that were scheduled for this weekend — Friday’s show featuring The Appleseed Collective, a bluegrass band from Michigan, and Saturday’s performance by Madison disco band V05. Claire Varrelmann, a spokesperson for the Edgewater, could not confirm if more future shows would be canceled. Music at the Edgewater typically runs from 6-9 p.m.
“We are looking into this issue,” she says in a statement emailed to Isthmus. “We appreciate that concerns have been raised, especially about live music on the terrace. We have, and will continue to work with the city and neighborhood to try to find good solutions to these issues in a manner that will also allow us to fulfill the promises we made to build and program a vibrant public space and waterfront destination for Madison residents and visitors alike.”
Konkol says Edgewater staff warned Natty Nation about the possibility of noise complaints and that the band was prepared and willing to work with sound engineers to make sure the music stayed at a reasonable level. In an effort to reduce volume further, the stage and speakers were positioned so amplified sound was projected into the Edgewater and out across the lake. It wasn’t ideal for the crowd, but staffers were professional and apologetic when communicating the noise-reducing parameters for the performance, Konkol says. “The staff was trying to do everything right to appease this person, and apparently it just wasn’t enough.”
Varrelman could not say if a specific complaint prompted the cancellation of this weekend’s outdoor music, and it’s unclear who made the call on July 8. Madison attorney Fred Mohs — a resident of the Mansion Hill neighborhood and a longtime critic of the Edgewater project — says it wasn’t him. But he was pleased to learn that the concerts this weekend are canceled.
“Listen, that’s great that they’re going to do that,” he says. “It’s been a cause of great distress to the neighbors.”
Mohs, who filed a lawsuit against the Edgewater redevelopment project in 2010, says the issue of noise was “thoroughly discussed” when the hotel was going through the approval process, but it was “never resolved satisfactorily” for the neighborhood.
“Nobody can understand why a hotel that wants to be a luxury hotel wants to have cheap bands with amplified music playing outside — none of the grand hotels do that,” he says. “It’s Packers jackets welcome, there’s no dress code, it’s just inappropriate.”
Mohs also owns rental properties near the Edgewater and says he’s had tenants give up lakeview apartments and move to the other side of the building to escape the noise. He says others in the neighborhood share his concerns, noting that there have been several meetings involving city officials and police to discuss the noise issues. “I can’t think of a neighborhood that would want this, that wouldn’t consider this a terrible negative,” he says. “Everybody agrees.”
Ald. Ledell Zellers, District 2, says she’s been hearing “quite a few” complaints from neighbors — not just about the volume of the music, but also about the frequency of outdoor events at the Edgewater. “If you look at their website, they have an average of three a week,” Zellers says. “That can be pretty hard to endure in a residential neighborhood, particularly if you want to have the windows open.”
But Zellers believes it’s not just citizen complaints that caused this weekend’s concerts to shut down — it was an issue with the Edgewater’s entertainment license. The City Clerk’s office confirmed that the Edgewater had recently maxed out the number of temporary entertainment permits allowed for the year. The business now needs a permanent entertainment license, but no application has been filed.
In her statement, Varrelman says that the Edgewater operates under a Public Access Management Agreement, which was executed with the city of Madison as part of the hotel’s development entitlements. “This PAMA provides the Edgewater the right to host events, including concerts, on The Grand Plaza, 365 days a year,” she wrote. “Since opening, we have operated well within the scope of this agreement.”
City staff reached by Isthmus on Friday were unsure whether the agreement, which was apparently drafted when Mayor Dave Cieslewicz was in office, could serve as an entertainment license. An email to Varrelman seeking clarification went unanswered.
The Edgewater will honor contracts and pay the bands whose shows were canceled, Varrelman confirms. Andrew Brown of the Appleseed Collective praised the venue’s response to the situation. “We are disappointed we can’t share our music, but the Edgewater handled it in the most professional and accommodating way,” he wrote in a Facebook message to Isthmus. “I heard it was due to a noise issue, but I really have no idea. Hopefully it gets worked out and shows can continue in the future, because live music is truly valuable to the community, and having places like Edgewater be able to present it is vital.”
