Waking Up the Neighbourhood

Bono kicked off U2‘s tour by telling the 90,000-strong crowd packed into Barcelona’s soccer stadium June 30 that the area’s “been our neighbourhood for the last couple of weeks.”

But the act’s had a mixed welcome from those living around the Camp Nou stadium as some locals have complained the act’s rehearsals have been too long and too loud.

The band rehearsed until midnight at sound levels measured at 70 decibels, the equivalent of standing a metre away from a vacuum cleaner, local newspaper El Punt reported.

While the city said it is proud to host the beginning of U2’s world tour and accommodate the show and production rehearsals, the local council has also said it’s received a formal complaint about the band playing after permitted hours and making too much noise.

“The District of Les Corts has fulfilled its duty in attending to neighbours’ complaints and has acted administratively in the face of a possible failure to comply with time and noise creation regulations,” read a statement from the city, raising the prospect of the band being fined for breaking noise regs.

The El Mundo newspaper reckons that under current noise pollution legislation, the Irish rockers could be fined up to euro 15,000 ($21,000).

“While business outlets cash in on fans flooding in, residents can’t even open their windows at home,” local businessman Alfons Huescar told journalists.

After the Barcelona show, the tour moved on to Milan, Paris, Nice and Berlin.