The Metro Parks Board is doing some fine-tuning after the first season at Ascend Amphitheater. Some of the changes are in response to noise complaints from residents as far away as East Nashville.
To reduce noise pollution, the city has banned sound checks before 3 p.m. Concert volumes will also be capped to 85 decibels, just like those at Live on the Green.
The Parks Department, however, is not considering physical sound barriers, as some have suggested.
And director Tommy Lynch says he will not make an earlier cutoff for concerts. He favors treating Ascend Amphitheater like any other city park.
“Parks close at 11, and we’re gonna continue with that curfew so that we don’t make anything different here than anywhere else,” Lynch says.
Lynch says while two concerts were permitted to play beyond the curfew because of weather delays, every other show has ended early or on time.
This first season began in July, so concerts occurred more frequently to maximize the available time. Lynch hopes next year will be less disruptive because the first show will be in April; therefore concerts should be more spaced out.
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