Events at THE TROLLEY BARN in Atlanta.............

[Bob Tewksbury]

I just wanted to let everyone know that if you are contracted to play an event at the TROLLEY BARN in Atlanta, BEWARE of the "DECIBEL POLICE". The manager of the venue, literally walks around with a decibel meter, and you can not exceed 90 decibels. Even at 8 pm.

This was brought to our attention during our 3rd song with a FULL dance floor of guests. We were totally blindsided by this mishap.
It was a nightmare for me and my group when we performed at a wedding last weekend. If you do not comply, the people hosting the event will be fined out of their deposit. I put towels on my drums, turned off all drum microphones and our guitar players turned down to 1 on their instruments. We still had a hard time keeping it under 90,the crowd was louder at this point than we were.

So, unless you are playing for a funeral reception, bring your acoustic guitar and bongo drums and then muffle it, you may be able to play at 90 db's.




Word to the wise.

[Steven Charles]

Yikes!!! I feel blessed not to have had really major hassles like these, a few semi-large, but not quite truly horrific... Still, it's quite obvious that the low level of respect, a mindset of "tolerating us only as a necessary evil", & viewing our needs as simply an afterthought, is faced by musicians & bands in more & more venues (both public & private) around town. As this grows, coupled with the move to DJs as the preferred musical choice, it's apparent that live music in Metro Atlanta is fast becoming an endangered species, except for concerts featuring national acts, & free festival events with local acts.

Why this former home to a vibrant, kick-ass, seven-day a week live music scene, now vastly larger in population, yet with almost a parallel, exponentially diminished number of live music venues, as well as nights music is offered, has found itself this way, continues to perplex many.

While many sociological factors are at play, which I understand, what I don't, is that even among those who do go out at night, they truly do seem to prefer DJs, karaoke, or just a crowded, noisy, & overcrowded restaurant over seeing some real live human beings playing music.

Just last Saturday I played a venue, where right next door (literally adjoining), was a bar full of people hanging out, while a karaoke session was also occurring. Now, choosing that, over seeing a real live band, & for free, well, I know I can't relate... With the exception of a neighborhood "Cheers" type bar, where "everyone knows your name", & is a regular hang, I've never understood why anyone would want to go to a bar, without there being a live band.

Maybe it's just that today, a great many are caught up in stretching their "15 minutes of fame" into a lifetime, therefore, paying much attention to the creative expression of others has less allure.....?

[Kent Aberle]

I think we all have a trolley barn story and here's mine.

Typical situation. Playing a wedding w/ Justin (rock band) for a fun young couple. And the decibel nazi continued to harrass us during the entire gig. At one point in the 3rd set he said "95 guys...not good...not good at all". At this point I'm playing with a hot rod in my right hand torn down to only 4 dowels (I broke the other ones off to make the guy happy) and a brush for the snare, and a old ludwig wool beater for the 20"kick. He was really frustrating us and the party. At one point he yelled at us to turn down 3 decibels lol, and I shusshed him "shhhhhhh" I said, "You're over 90!....shhhhh!" That pissed him off so much he laughed. We all did. Finally, there was a meeting of the groom (who was pissed as hell at him and the place), Justin, and the nazi. After the meeting, the groom came out and told us to "rock the hell out of this bitch." He said, "I'll lose my deposit...well ....f' him and the deposit...I only get married once. Crank the shit up." So we did including a "big ending" that would have rivaled The Who. The place went nuts, he lost his deposit, the nazi was pissed, we got paid, and hopefully they're still married." Rock n Roll is here to stay.

The thing the nazi doesn't understand is that a room full of 100 people talking out loud is 95 decibels. Plus, he goes up to the balcony to check your volume. So, he's recording the decibels of the band, the party, and the room....not just the band. Third, why the hell do they allow live music? It makes no sense. Maybe next time I go in there, I'll play really quiet, have a gong behind me, and set the gong afire ala Alex Van Halen...I don't think the flames will affect the decimeter but in other ways, it'll be loud as hell! lol. Love you all! Keep rockin!
KA

[Jeni Michelson, Vocal/Keys/Band Leader]

About the only way you can negotiate deals in some of these rooms is to have lots of experience, ask many questions and know what you're getting into on the front end. I have SPECIAL PRICES for many of these troublesome venues in town (ha!) The Fox is on my top ten after I went thru a similar ordeal as you and then I was the last one out of the pool at 2:00am in a freezing driving rain during December. The misery of negotiating your equipment down the halls with all the catering crap lying everywhere, the funky elevator that everyone forgets to send back down-so you have to climb three flights of stairs to return it (ha!) are bad enough, but I was a lone female in that daaaaaark loading dock all by myself...no security in sight...and then I had to walk (soaking wet) two blocks to my van....scary! I cried on my way home I was so pissed. At least on non-performance nights Jim (long-time manager) is kind enough to let you thru the front entrance.

Here's another offender, Wimbush Mansion. The parking dude has a new set of rules. Now you can't park next to the building unless you pay $15.00 because his rates will jump at 9:00 for Club Opera :-) You don't even want to go thru their loading dock area (actually I don't think I can now that I'm driving an E-250 cargo van..it's too tight) One evening I got blocked in by the caterer and had to sleep in my van till 2:00, even though the gig ended at 12:00. Oy Vey!

[George Sandler]

I too have another venue to add to the list. I recently played at the Wolf Mountain Winery in Dahlonega. The on site manager is the owner's daughter and should have an armband with the symbol for a band and a NOT over it. No room for a band, let alone a band with real drums or even an electronic kit. What saved us was my Zendrum. Took up less space and we had NO volume issues whatsoever because of that. I did have my kit in the van but fortunately with the Zendrum I have a 6 space rack and my big butt that takes up the space of one person. But be warned.....they usually ONLY accept acoustic guitarist and NO drums. I honestly think that the bride should have been informed of this BEFORE she put the deposit down so as to make an educated decision.

Jeni, I agree. It is getting tougher to play out there with all the regulations. Played the Egyptian Ballroom the other night. We all know that the Fox is a bear on a good night. It just so happens that THE COLOR PURPLE is in town and was doing two shows that day. 30 tour buses circling the Fox along with fighting for position to load in and out with catering made for an interesting night. Thank God for the police officer who helped us get through all the mess or we would still be loading out.

I love to play but I swear it seems as if the wedding planner or whomever is helping to secure the venue for the wedding would know the band-friendly venues. THAT would be too much to ask, eh?

[Jeni Michelson, Vocal/Keys/Band Leader]

Ya'll must behave better than we do.... LOL!

[Michael Bastedo]

Yeah, we played Ga. Aquarium with Fran last year and had to be there to load in at 4 AM... Yup, 4 am. We had to set up on the floor and play at our lowest volume. We got through it but it wasn't much fun.

On the other hand, we have also played The Trolley Barn four or five times and never had a problem. The old guy that runs the place did let us know
about the audio level limit in no uncertain terms but he never gave us a hassle about it after that.

[Jeni Michelson, Vocal/Keys/Band Leader]

Oh My, don't get me started on this one...I'll be in a bad mood for the rest of the day (ha!) I just played there this month too (forgot to include it on my list of bewares!) It's like a comedy routine. The little power trippin' AV jerk in charge of our event introduced himself with a stern warning that if we even think about going over 90 DB's he will have us permanently barred from the Aquarium. Then he went on to brag about who had been actually banned (ha!...it was Klezmer group of all things hahahahaha!) Then by the end of the night...he asked my drummer (logistics manager for major AV company in town) for a job :-) ha!

The Aquarium has many more issues than that I'm sad to report. You should have seen the argument ensue at the loading dock when the cake baker tried to park his mini van and unload the wedding cake. They refused to allow him to have his "mini-van" in the loading dock. I was so annoyed I went to bat for him and personally chewed out the Deck Nazi myself.

Then we were treated to one of the worst bandwiches in Atlanta made by the world renowned Wolf Gang Puck Catering Co. It's amazing we didn't get botulism, but as I recall, the sandwich didn't have condiments so no worries there. Surely to God they can do better than that? :-).

It's gettin' harder to play out there folks...between the bad food, sound ordinances, rules/regulations, privacy, security, parking, 2,000.000 liability certification) issues....not to mention gas, traffic and the DJ's gettin' all the work :-) :-)...whoa!
I don't feel much like partying after jumping through all the hoops.

[Schmidty]

i reallized that i posted this as a new blog and not a comment

so here it is again, just to be proper.........bloody right !!!!!!!!!

Try doing a Show @ the Fish tank in the Ballrooom. I had the great pleasure of being the Production Manager for the GRAND OPENING on that one.........OH JOY.......of the VERY FIRST SOUND CHECK EVER IN THE BUILDING....the head fish guy and his entourage rolled in across the ballroom floor to tell us that 92 db WAS IT>>>>>>>PERIOD....!!!!!!!

Meanwhile .............i'm looking at UP at the 4 x 10 element MINI-LINE ARRAYS (yes, 40 boxes) WITH 4 double 18" SUB BINS on the Deck saying...(to myself in my internal dialog)........."well.....what the F#@K-all was i thinking flying all this in here then, where is the idiot salesman when you need him" (we know where.......)

So anyone who books this room isn't told this ahead of time and i have had to break the bad news on more then one occasion.

The REAL CRIME is that people are booking this place for all the events that we are use too. And most of them are LOUD............and SOME.....REALLY LOUD..........and i have had Rappers ready to RIP MY HEAD OFF and shove it UNDER THERE DUBS because i stand there at FOH with the SPL meter .

Lets not even enter into th discussion of how VLF (VERY LOW FREQUENCY) Effects FISH and MAMMALS (like whales, AHEMMMMMMMM).................

COULD WE BE ANY MORE IDIOTIC.............................i think not.....

Schmidty.......

[Jeni Michelson, Vocal/Keys/Band Leader]

I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die :-) hahahaha! You can see me look right up in his direction from the onset of the video (ha!) What a nightmare :-)

[Bob Tewksbury]

I just checked it out.............I am surprised the MGR was not there sticking the meter in your face so you can"READ IT FOR YOURSELF " !....ha ha