Promoter Asked to Reduce Noise in Wake of Electric Daisy Complaints

The noise from the first night/morning of the Electric Daisy Carnival in Joliet was so loud in Ross Palley's Frankfort neighborhood that he actually got in his car to try to figure out where it was coming from.

He first noticed the sound about 10 p.m., he said, and initially thought it was a car down the block using a deep bass or maybe one of his townhome neighbors.

"We actually drove around (trying to find the source) and went to New Lenox, but figured out pretty quickly it wasn't there," he said. "It literally sounded like somebody blasting his tunes from a car down the street."

The huge fireworks display that went off about midnight prompted him to go online, where he learned about the three-day electronic music festival being held at Joliet's Chicagoland Speedway. He was on the phone with Joliet police at about 2 a.m. and wrote an email to the mayor at about 3 a.m. before the music stopped at 4 a.m., Palley said.

He wasn't alone in registering a noise complaint about Electric Daisy Carnival's inaugural debut. Councilman Terry Morris, whose 5th District includes the racetrack, said he started getting complaints at about about 2:30 a.m. He heard the noise as well, although it was on and off at his home, he said.

Joliet Patch has also received more than a dozen complaints via email and Facebook from readers as far away as Orland Park and Homer Glen who were disturbed by the noise.

City Manager Tom Thanas said he, too, had heard the complaints, and spoke to the concert promoter, Insomiac, about trying to do something to reduce the problem. He said he plans to attend tonight, and he will also be driving around the area to see how far away it can be heard.

However, he also said that noise coming from a huge music festival should not necessarily be a surprise.

"We have been telling people in advance that this will be a large event and a noisy event," Thanas said. "It's no secret that this type of event's signature is loud dance music."

The bulk of the complaints seem to be coming from the area east of the track, particularly the Lincoln-Way towns of New Lenox, Mokena and Frankfort. That may be tied to the wind and the direction of the speakers, since many people in Joliet messaged Patch to say they heard nothing.

At-large Councilman Jim McFarland said he's been inundated by complaints as well but there's not much the city can do about it other than to ask the promoter to voluntarily reduce the sound. When the city annexed the property on which the track was built, it waived all city sound ordinances because of the noise that would be generated by the race cars, he said.

In hindsight, McFarland said, that is a big problem when noisy events are scheduled at the racetrack at night because the city has no control. The only thing the city approved for the Electric Daisy Carnival was its carnival permit, he said.

This is the first time Electric Daisy Carnival, a three-day festival featuring five stages of live music, huge art installations, carnival rides and fireworks, has been held in the Chicago market. Since 1996, it's been been held in cities all over the country, including Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles and Orlando, Fla. It makes its London debut this summer.

Thanas said it was a coup for Joliet to land the event, and the city stands to benefit from the hotel rooms, restaurant meals and store purchases to be made by the 30,000-person crowd that will attend daily. Of that number, about 5,000 will be camping at the track, which is located at Route 53 and Laraway Road.

Thanas also said his daughter attended the first night and loved it, and that the event itself has received many compliments.

"There have been a couple of arrests and a few overdoses, but all things considered, the first night was a huge success," Thanas said. "We have been hearing some very favorable comments."

That said, the goal is to "try to keep all quarters happy," especially those who don't like being kept up till the event ends at 4 a.m. daily, he said.

But a certain amount of noise is to be expected from an event such as this, and that may be the price that's paid for an event that brings both prestige and financial gain to Joliet, Thanas said.

Palley said he understands why Joliet would want the music festival, but questions what was done ahead of time to anticipate problems beyond those that would occur at the event itself. While it may benefit Joliet, there's nothing to be gained in the towns beyond.

"I understand they want to use the racetrack as much as they can, but to allow an outdoor concert ... that's going to go on all day with an outdoor speaker system and not really testing it out noise-wise, I really can't fathom," he said.

"I guess my biggest beef is it's one thing for Joliet to put up with it but what about your neighboring communities?"

Below are some of the comments, pro and con, left by Joliet Patch readers on our site and our Facebook page about the noise situation:

• Nicole Y.: This is an utter joke. It sounded like a rave was going on in my house until the wee morning hours. We are contacting EPA and will continue to make calls into the Joliet Police. Come on by Laraway Ridge and try and sleep, you can't.
• Dana S.: You have a lot of angry residents from the surrounding towns about the concert held until 4am. Not cool!
• Robin A.: The Joliet City Council should accept Tom Thanas's resignation over the Electric Daisy Carnival. At least NASCAR is over at a reasonable hour. What a stupid idea to ruin the holiday weekend for many residents of Joliet and surrounding communities. The complaints were burning up the City Manager's Facebook at 2am. He's swept them all under the rug now.
• Amber C.: Is it possible to start a petition to the City of Joliet to not allow the crazy Electric Daisy Carnival back? That music was so extremely loud and I heard it til 4. It's absurd!
• Nicole: So, the electric daisy carnival apparently kept up most of Ingalls Park all night (I live near Briggs and Washington) and can be heard up to 17 miles away. Apparently I am getting old and crabby, but seriously, how the hell is anyone there retaining their hearing?

• Genaro G.: Ppl need to stop crying about small things all the time...so what if u heard music...its just for the weekend.....i live across the street from the joliet stadium...every yr i deal with all the bs the taste of joliet brings....the loud music....the traffic...
• Lisa M.: It's three days. Really?! Let people have fun. Don't be such a stick on the mud!
• Joe F.: I sat in my Joliet backyard and did not hear a thing. This has been planned for months everyone knew it was coming. If its that bad but a $3 pair of earplugs. If music is what is gonna bother you, you picked the wrong town to live in. There are weekly murders and you are worried about loud music.
• Stephane C.: One weekend....it's one flipping weekend. Sorry for those who have to work, but you can't please everyone. It was announced a long time ago. Sorry to those whom missed the several articles. I live in Plainfield and knew about it!
• Eileen B.: There are always some people not liking any one having fun. They think the pursuit of happiness means we have a right to try and find it but not the right to enjoy it. A bunch of sour pusses.