The Darling's Waterfront Pavilion kicked off its summer concert series Saturday with the return of Rise Above Fest, a daylong concert featuring a lineup of well-known metal bands. While many in the past have turned out to hear their favorite metal tunes, many Bangor residents have complained about the noise from the show, more so than most other concerts.
But city officials announced Monday that they received only 86 complaints this year, compared with 124 during the 2014 Rise Above Fest.
The city has grappled with noise complaints since the launch of the Waterfront Concerts series in 2010. Last year, Bangor hired the Massachusetts-based audio consultant firm Acentech to find a balance: an acceptable noise level for Bangor residents' quality of life that also would allow Darling's Waterfront Pavilion to remain an attractive venue for performing musicians.