Outdoor Music - Where to draw the lines.....

[theoloyla]

I have done gigs where the police have arrived and simply followed their instructions to turn it down. That generally pre empts the organizers deciding to knock it on the head. I agree with a previous poster who said to make it clear that if complaints by the police were received you would comply with them.
Theo

[ukpartydj]

I've done a couple of parties which have gone past the 1am mark, one went on until 4am keeping it loud but was a good mile from any other house.

I don't know much about if the police would attend or not but if somebody was having a party and at 1am I could tell what song was playing in my own home with the windows closed I'd expect the police to come and sort it out!!
However I know that if it's during the day it's a council thing and they just get letters until they stop or the police get involved as we had some idiot who liked to pretend he was a nightclub DJ during the day with his window wide open playing DnB shouting crap down the mic! I could see him jumping around in his room - nutter!

[Excalibur]

I have done gigs where the police have arrived and simply followed their instructions to turn it down. That generally pre empts the organizers deciding to knock it on the head. I agree with a previous poster who said to make it clear that if complaints by the police were received you would comply with them.
Theo

Pretty much my experiences also. I recently had one in a residential area where we had two visits from the Police, and at the second one, the volume went way down ( hadn't dropped it at the first visit, cos I wasn't informed of their arrival ) and we finished very soon after.

[lazersounds]

I had the police turn up at a house party I hosted about 5 years ago. They were good about it and basically said we don't want to spoil the fun but its getting on and neighbours are moaning. Told them was planning on heading into town anyway and no more was said about it, even offered us a lift.

We did have a laugh with them as the neighbour who rang them said there was around 50 of us, so they sent 3 vans full of coppers. Was only 12 of us

Its highly unlikely they will seize any equipment, as long as you do as they request they are pretty laid back about these things. Well they are in my neck of the woods.

The way I look at it, as long as you are not playing loud music till 3am every weekend and its a one off party then I have no issues with people having fun, However their will always miserable people who pick up the phone at 1 minute past the reasonable hour moaning down the phone. Thank them for noise limiters

[DJIanScott]

It is encouraging to know I'm not on my own here. I should've mentioned that its being held in a large marquee, so noise will definitely be heard in the vicinity.
My former colleague had his kit taken away under an old Parliament act called NRB ( No Repetitive Beats) or something like that.....I think it was brought in to curb the illegal raves as someone mentioned earlier. He lost his 1210's and mixer though. Luckily, the PA system wasn't his!!
I've reiterated my terms to the client and now just waiting.

[DazzyD]

I'm still not convinced you are right Dazzy.

Google 'noise complaints police'

They can't do anything but work with EH to solve problems.

Edit, though I suppose it could go down as a breach of the peace?

Excessive noise is covered under Anti-Social Behaviour guidelines and the the police do have powers to act to stop it:

Night time noise
If your local council has resolved to apply the provisions of the Noise Act 1996 (in England, Wales or Northern Ireland), or been ordered by the Secretary of State to do so, it must take reasonable steps to investigate complaints of noise from dwellings or licensed premises between 11pm and 7am. In Scotland, if your local council has resolved to adopt the provisions of Part 5 of the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 it has to ensure that an investigation is made into any complaint of noise from accommodation, shared private gardens or common property in a tenement or housing scheme (but not from licensed premises). Ask your local council if they have adopted the relevant noise control provisions. Council officers can enter premises where there is noise beyond the prescribed levels and remove any equipment responsible for the noise. Some councils have out-of-hours noise patrols who can investigate alleged night-time noise nuisances in person. The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 also grants powers to local authorities in England and Wales to investigate night noises whether or not they have adopted the provisions of the Noise Act 1996.

Anti-social behaviour
Causing excessive noise at night can be a form of anti-social behaviour. The police now have extra powers to deal with anti-social behaviour. For example, they can work with local councils to obtain anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) against residents who cause alarm, harassment and distress to others.

[source : www.environmentlaw.org.uk]

[funkymook]

I've recently taken a booking for a wedding next Spring.

If your gut feeling is it's going to be hassle then it probably will be - there's plenty of time for them to find another DJ and for you to get another booking.
(though you say 'taken' - have contracts been signed, deposits paid etc? Or is it still in the enquiry stage?)

[DJIanScott]

If your gut feeling is it's going to be hassle then it probably will be - there's plenty of time for them to find another DJ and for you to get another booking.
(though you say 'taken' - have contracts been signed, deposits paid etc? Or is it still in the enquiry stage?)

Contracts signed, deposit paid....and then they asked for the changes. Not sure they read any of the conditions at all! I spoke to them this morning and suggested they could use their own hi-fi after midnight to continue the party, to which they seemed quite agreeable. So any public nuisance caused after the witching hour will be no concern of mine! Problem solved it seems!

[funkymook]

Contracts signed, deposit paid....and then they asked for the changes. Not sure they read any of the conditions at all! I spoke to them this morning and suggested they could use their own hi-fi after midnight to continue the party, to which they seemed quite agreeable. So any public nuisance caused after the witching hour will be no concern of mine! Problem solved it seems!

Lets hope all the guests are happy about you packing up and leaving just as the party gets going!
(Let alone the hassle of moving gear through them).

[stormproductions]

I do a lot of marquee work, predominantly out in the countryside with no other close residents (for instance a nice lighting job this last weekend where the noise boys had a fairly substantial Funktion 1 system running until 7.45am with no complaints that I was aware of). However, if it's on the edge of a village as a one-off party we normally try to direct the sound away from the village and reckon to go no later than 1am if the immediate neighbours have been notified, but the very rare marquee job in a town we'll say 11pm latest.

Had a fabulous party this summer in a residential area where at 11pm we turned the main PA off and transferred everyone onto headphones for a silent disco which worked superbly. (Please Google 'silent disco' or search the forum before asking the inevitable questions if you don't know what I'm on about!). Obviously there was no music to annoy people, but the audience do get rather noisy.