Neighborhoods disturbed by booming concert noise
Residents in the Inglewood-El Segundo area, and surrounding communities, are preparing to endure one last day of noise generated by the HARD Summer 2024 festival at Hollywood Park, which has drawn multiple complaints this weekend.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The sound of techno music on the five stages in Inglewood excited fans heading into day two of the Hard Summer music festival at SoFi Stadium.
To one fan named Parker, the event was worth the price of the $250 ticket.
He said, “It’s about the people. It’s about the energy. It’s not just about the music.”
But, on an Inglewood Nextdoor app, the noise from the outdoor concert is all residents were talking about. And, from one street to another, people were talking.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Hard Summer music festival at Hollywood Park triggers noise complaints from residents
A little over three miles away from SoFi, Doty says the pounding music kept him from sleeping.
He says, “I had to put earplugs in and we have a Sonos noise-canceling machine that we turned on. It was incredibly annoying because I was actually trying to read and I really couldn’t. It sounded like it was just outside my window.”
To block out the noise, Doty’s neighbor Linda Frye says she would “turn the TV up higher.” But, she says it didn’t help.
So, you can imagine what it was like a mile away where Tony Castellon says “it bothers me, but there’s not a lot I can do about it.”
And, across the street from the stadium a woman named Corrie told us, “It’s way too loud.”
Almost 8 miles away, in El Segundo, police were getting calls. In a post on X, El Segundo police told their residents, “We are aware of the loud booming sound affecting the city… there is no need to call 911 to report.”
Inglewood Mayor James Butts says, “Bass is omnidirectional and there was probably some atmospheric condition that allowed it to travel way to the west.”
Butts says he got a call from the Mayor of El Segundo about 8 miles away, “…who said they were experiencing vibrations in El Segundo.”
He went on to say, “there were similar complaints in Culver City, Westchester, and Redondo Beach.”
He contacted the concert promoters. Butts says, “I had them reduce the decibels but the reality is there needed to be some changes to the setup. They’re going to lower the stage…” to affect how the sound travels.
But to local business people like Amin Badrudin, this concert is a moneymaker for nearby businesses as it draws people from all over the country, and “it brings good dollars into the business because these kids are here to have a great time.”