Loud, Lewd Concerts Irk Neighbors

Carson residents who were shocked by the vulgar language and annoyed by the noise from a recent concert by the heavy metal band Metallica are trying to keep other loud groups from playing at the Olympic Velodrome site at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

But they still face the Lollapalooza concert with 13 bands for Labor Day Weekend.

Metallica drew 23,000 to the concert grounds next to the Velodrome, an oblong, outdoor cycling arena with banked walls that was built for the 1984 Olympics.

Neighbors were particularly bothered by the band screaming profanity between songs. “If they brought Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles, you could turn it up as loud as you want,” said the Rev. Raymond LeBlanc, pastor at the First Lutheran Church of Carson and leader of a citizens group concerned about university concerts.

Neighbors say concert-goers at the July 26 Metallica concert took over the streets, turning them into bars, bathrooms and parking lots.

Operating the Velodrome costs the nonprofit Dominguez Hills University Foundation $300,000 per year, much of which comes from concerts, said Nick Curl, Velodrome general manager. But Curl says the foundation is prepared to spend an estimated $10,000 to ensure that the university and its neighbors can continue to live side by side.

The first test will come Sunday and Monday , at Lollapalooza, a festival that features acts ranging from rock band Smashing Pumpkins to rappers the Beastie Boys. The sellout crowd is expected to swell to 30,000 each day.

Curl said the Velodrome will hire extra sheriff’s deputies and private security officers, close off nearby streets and direct traffic with electronic message boards.

He said the Velodrome will also place ads in the Carson Chronicle to inform neighbors of large, upcoming concerts.

Concerts that draw 20,000 to 30,000 people are held two to three times a year, Curl said.

“We are trying to find a happy medium,” he said, “between keeping our doors open and not offending our neighbors.”

A petition signed by more than 200 neighbors warns that Lollapalooza “is certain to be much worse in quality and quantity (than Metallica).”

But LeBlanc said he understands that the university cannot break its contract and cancel Lollapalooza. He said he will discuss the concert with local officials at a Sept. 8 meeting at his church. Residents and local officials have met twice.

LeBlanc said he hopes to negotiate a written agreement regarding future concerts. He also hopes to form a three-member citizens committee to monitor bands that play the Velodrome, he said.

Curl says he does not expect Lollapalooza to drive a wedge between the university and residents because the bands will not be as vulgar as some heavy metal bands.

The university has been regularly holding concerts for almost three years, including a large one by Peter Gabriel, without any major incidents. But almost everyone agrees that the Metallica concert was uncharacteristically loud and profane.