festivals

Following a flurry of noise complaints about HARD Summer 2024, Inglewood, Calif., Mayor James T. Butts Jr. has released a statement about the issues experienced at the electronic music festival that took place last Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 3-4) at the city’s Hollywood Park Complex at SoFi Stadium.
“We were perplexed at the sound propagation experienced in the South Bay, because there have been multiple outdoor concerts on the SoFi campus without this issue,” Butts wrote in a statement released by the Mayor’s Office Friday (Aug. 9) and provided to Billboard. “After meeting with representatives from the event promoter and the venue, we conducted a thorough review of the modifications and changes made between Saturday and Sunday of HARD Summer, specifically in response to noise complaints from neighboring communities.”

This is the first time HARD Summer, which has been happening at locations around Southern California since 2008, has been held at Hollywood Park.

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Butts’ statement continues, “It is important to clarify that the sound and vibration issues experienced over the weekend were related to certain bass frequencies,” adding that such frequencies can be affected by stage position, reflection off of buildings and weather factors like the wind.

Butts notes that bass vibrations were first reported in nearby El Segundo on Saturday afternoon, not long after the two-day festival began, although online commenters first reported experiencing the noise issues on Friday (Aug. 2) while the festival was doing sound checks. Local paper The Daily Breeze reported that “the El Segundo Police Department received so many complaints on the festival’s first night that the law enforcement agency posted a notice on the social media platform X asking residents to stop calling 911.”

HARD Summer is produced by Insomniac Events, which puts on many major global electronic music festivals including EDC Las Vegas. The HARD Summer 2024 lineup featured electronic artists including Disclosure, Major Lazer, deadmau5, Sub Focus, Chase & Status, Sofi Tukker and many more. The 300-acre Hollywood Park Complex adjacent to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood featured four stages during the festival, with one of them located in the Stadium’s American Airlines Plaza and the other three located around the Complex’s sprawling parking lot.

Butts’ statement notes that the stage in the American Airlines Plaza was “a major contributor to the issue” given that the area is elevated. He adds that no stages will be permitted in this area for future events and that “we will require even greater sound engineering with a more comprehensive plan when it comes to addressing sound and bass frequency management.”

Following the noise complaints, Butts writes that “city authorities engaged the event promoter and the venue and implemented several critical adjustments to each stage and established enhanced monitoring plans for overall sound and bass levels. Additional sound engineers were strategically positioned in areas of concern from Saturday afternoon through Sunday and were promptly dispatched to make necessary adjustments in real time. As a result, a significant decrease in call volume was observed on Sunday in the initially impacted areas.”

He continues that despite these changes, some in the area continued to experience the effects of the bass vibrations — including rattling windows and doors — adding that “with the lessons learned this past weekend, we are prepared to better monitor and supervise future event organizers to minimize the sound and vibration impact on the community outside the venue.”

Two other festivals are currently scheduled to take place at the Hollywood Park Complex: Fool In Love on Aug. 31 featuring Lionel Richie and Diana Ross and, in March 2025, Rolling Loud. The lineup for the latter event has yet to be announced.

“Over the past 10 years Inglewood has re-emerged as a premier hub for sports and entertainment,” Butts’ statement concludes. “That title comes with significant responsibility and we are committed to maintaining the highest standards.”