We wanted to respond to any complaints you might have received from your Village's residents concerning the concert at Merriweather Post on May 31. Their observations were shared by a few others and we would in fact like to apologize for the louder than usual show that Sunday. 

While it is generally understood by all that an amphitheater is indeed an outdoor music venue, and that means, yes, those in proximity are going to hear it, we have been more and more successful at minimizing that through various acoustical tricks with sound placement, and other adjustments.

Unfortunately, a couple of the acts that weekend presented new challenges that we hope to learn from. Again, there will always be sound emanating from Merriweather, but we will continue to figure out how to keep that at a reasonable level.

Among the plans to help control the sound level at our shows are:

• Limiting the number of speaker cabinets placed directly on the concrete to reduce reverberation. 
• Angling the raised speakers downward, toward the audiences versus emanating straight out over the lawn and  into the community - note: the roof being raised is part of the next construction phase and will help to facilitate this directional placement.
• Implementing sound cancelling technologies and keeping up to speed on emerging technologies.
• The lawn sound system, which is owned by Merriweather, will be monitored and volume levels reduced.
• Contractually
  ,we will make it clear that there are fines associated with excessive sound levels.
• We will continue to remind the artists' production personnel about the show decibel levels throughout the day and evening as needed.

Also,  when there are any additional stages, we will be more focused on the direction of sound propagation from these stages so it will not go directly out into the community.

Hopefully, these efforts will help us better monitor the sound levels throughout the rest of this season and beyond.

Please continue to let us know how we are doing by calling 410-715-5550, both during and after the shows (our phones are open for at least an hour after every event) or writing us at [email protected] .  

Best regards,

Jean S. Parker

General Manager

Merriweather Post Pavilion