No Bass For Bayside

The Viejas Concerts at Bayside series in San Diego will be subject to some new noise restrictions following a decision by Port District commissioners, but Viejas Entertainment President Steve Redfearn is taking the regulations in stride.

Viejas has been promoting concerts at Embarcadero Marina Park in recent years, and as the number of shows has increased each summer, so have the noise complaints from residents across the bay in the city of Coronado.

Before issuing the promoter’s permit for the 2007 season, which falls between mid-April and mid-September, the Port District outlined new restrictions on the number and types of shows that can take place in the park and detailed penalties for noise violations.

While Viejas promoted more than 23 concerts during the 2006 season, 11 shows will be allowed this year, and most must end by 10 p.m. Four concerts will be allowed to run until 10:30 p.m, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. No performances featuring hard rock or heavy bass will be permitted and sound checks will be limited to two hours in the afternoon prior to a show, the paper said.

Should concerts exceed cutoff times or the 95-decibel sound limits outlined by the commission, Viejas faces escalating penalties of up to $15,000 and a possible cancellation of the season.

Redfearn explained to Pollstar that the new regulations didn’t come as a shock, and said discussions have been under way for some time.

"We didn’t consider this a setback," Redfearn said. "This is something that had been planned and negotiated and went before the port commissioners, and when you do that, it’s more of a public deal."

The 95-decibel limit is the same as it has been for years, and Redfearn said that acts that don’t meet the new regulations will simply be redirected to one of Viejas’ other venues.

"It may be that there’s some shows that end up playing for us at the ipayOne Center or another one of our venues," he said. "But it’s not a big deal. It’s a great venue and we’re still going to book the venue."

And along with the Embarcadero, the tribal-owned Viejas will continue promoting not only in the San Diego area, but also for other tribes around the country. Viejas has been called the first tribal concert promoter in the nation producing concerts off-reservation.

"We’ve done Green Bay before and Milwaukee," Redfearn said. "In certain casinos we kind of help them get going and then the goal is really for them to do it themselves.

"Viejas Entertainment was really started to help and work with other tribal casinos around the country," he continued. "If anything, we’ll do more of that, because we like doing that. It’s one of our core businesses."

The company only leapt into concert promotion about two years ago, and Redfearn said Viejas is content with how things are going.

"We’ll see what happens a year after this," he said. "There might be a possibility of doing something somewhere else in San Diego."