Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado is one of the most famous venues in the world. Last month, it was named a “National Historical Landmark” for its “outstanding architecture and landscape architecture.” Put plainly, the venue is breathtaking, serving as the beautiful backdrop to some of the biggest names in music history. While artists like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and U2 have graced the stage, it has recently been playing host to notoriously bass heavy acts like Skrillex, Bassnectar and Zeds Dead. This recent trend has led to some backlash from local residents disturbed by the noise levels.
Last year, Red Rocks instituted several noise restrictions with many of them addressing bass specifically. Situationally, shows were prohibited from exceeding 105 decibels and bass levels couldn’t exceed 125 decibels at the low-frequency levels of 25-80 hertz. It seems like these restrictions were considered to be insufficient, as more will be instituted for 2016. Bassnectar, or Lorin Ashton, took to Twitter to address the situation.
There will be no Red Rocks shows of any decent volume in 2016. They are gonna lower their DB level even more. We have other plans for CO 😉
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
Any show in 2016 at Red Rocks will have virtually no bass. Sad but true. Other than ambient music or rock, the venue is a bust sadly 🙁 — bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
But we’re putting together plans for something super magical in #Colorado where we can play at a decent volume and gather the freaks in 2016
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
The trick with volume is to set it at the perfect balance so it sounds warm, tight and beautiful like a good car stereo, yet plenty heavy — bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
And sadly Red Rocks is gonna have to run their sound levels so low it will sound like laptop speakers. And I’d feel guilty telling ppl to go
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
Fans and music lovers deserve the experience they expect – full sonic immersion. Not too loud, but not too quiet. Colorado deserves the BASS — bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
