MONTAGUE — RPM Fest last summer was loud. Too loud, some residents say.
“There was no single event that I have heard people more upset about in terms of the intensity,” Town Administrator Steve Ellis told festival organizer Brian Westbrook at a Selectboard meeting last week.
Ellis advised Westbrook of complaints about the weekend-long heavy metal festival, which is now in its fifth year.
“(There were) people saying that we had a weekend where it was too loud to enjoy the outdoors,” Ellis said. “I feel that it’s really critical that you get it right this year.”
RPM Fest started in Greenfield, and was hosted by the Millers Falls Rod and Gun Club for the first time last year. Selectboard Chairman Rich Kuklewicz said he supported RPM Fest and other events that bring people into Montague, and Westbrook said that festival organizers like the new site.
Still, the Selectboard and Ellis were concerned about the noise.
“We just wanted to have this chat so people know that we’re serious about it and we’re aware of it,” Kuklewicz told Westbrook.
Organizers are confident that last year’s festival did not exceed Montague’s noise ordinances, Westbrook said. Last year, organizers routinely checked the area around the Rod and Gun Club using decibel meters, he explained.
Regardless, Westbrook, who works as an audio technician, said organizers will try to address the noise issue with some logistical changes. He added that he is working on calculations to model how far the noise will travel this year.
“We’re doing everything under our power,” Westbrook said. “We like this site a lot. We want to stay here for years to come.”
■RPM Fest is being held during Labor Day weekend this year, a week later than last year. Westbrook said that people will likely be celebrating outside during the holiday weekend, and so may be more comfortable with noise. And some may be away on vacation, he said.
■Music will end at 10 p.m. all three days — an hour earlier than last year — and will start an hour earlier. Music festivals in Greenfield like the Green River Festival and StrangeCreek end their music at 10, Westbrook said.
RPM Fest’s music will start on Friday at 5 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. Before and after music there will be quiet activities, like yoga and whiffle ball, he said.
■Sound-dampening structures are being added to the stages. The main speakers all face south (away from Turners Falls), Westbrook said, so he guessed that the complained-about noise issues were caused by the stage-facing monitor speakers that musicians use to hear themselves.
One stage, which was covered by a canopy last year, will be covered completely by a tent with a sound-absorbing back wall, Westbrook said. For the main stage, a truck will be parked behind it with sound-absorbing panels. The third stage is under a pavilion, and only ran until 8 p.m. last year, so it probably wasn’t an issue, Westbrook said.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 261.