The Motongator Joe Country Music Festival cranks up at Prairie Village this weekend, much to the chagrin of Todd and Lori Norby, who live right across Highway 34 from the concert site at Prairie Village. The Norbys tell the Madison Daily Leader that they've suffered long sleepless nights the last couple years during the festival due to music blaring from the beer tent long after the main stage entertainment closes down around 10:30 p.m. Lori Norby says they've asked concert organizers to reposition the big speakers to reduce noise levels
The Motongator himself, Joe Grinsteiner, tells MDL that Todd Norby has threatened him, that Norby will not be allowed on the Prairie Village grounds even with a law enforcement escort to check the position of sound equipment, that it's awfully difficult to move that sound equipment, and basically that the Norbys can sit on a tack.
Grinsteiner alleges that Todd Norby (in MDL's words) "threatened to drive his four-wheeler through the grounds and ram the stage." Now come on, Joe: you're all about the "hillbilly testosterone outlaw" image. Wouldn't crashing a four-wheeler into a stage be the apotheosis of the hillbilly testosterone outlaw ethos?
Of course, this assumes that Todd Norby actually made such a threat, which has not been established in any formal proceeding. And really, ramming a stage with a four-wheeler sounds like a pretty futile gesture, one in which the guy on the four-wheeler is likely to come out worse than the stage.
But on with the show, brought to you in part by financial support from Knology and the Lake Area Improvement Corporation, whose money will be hauled back to Michigan by Mr. Grinsteiner. Perhaps he can buy some four-wheeler barricades to protect the beer tent.
This may be the best sentence I've ever seen on a blog.
"Wouldn’t crashing a four-wheeler into a stage be the apotheosis of the hillbilly testosterone outlaw ethos?"
I don't know anyone else who could contextually use "hillbilly," "apotheosis," and "ethos" in rye same sentence. Amazing!
I suppose this is a source of revenue for PV. Never having been to one of these Motongations I dont know the atmosphere, but it sounds like perhaps the Village should take that in consideration beyond just revenue. Also I dont believe "it’s awfully difficult to move that sound equipment", I've worked as an A/V hand before, we moved entire shows in less then three hours..... ~Here, hold my beer, I can do it better. ~
We deal with this on Lake Madison several weekends each year. The Broadwater has bands scattered throughout the summer and they play until 1 or 2am. Their stage is setup so that the sound carries over the water. A couple years ago we called the sheriff to complain any they refused to do anything. So, I can totally understand the frustration. But in lawless South Dakota that just seams to be life I guess.
Funny how sound travels. I live in Wentworth Park, just down the road from the Broadwater. In my eleven years I have had maybe 1 or 2 complaints with the loud music. I have more problem with fireworks. If my lake directory is correct you live nearly a mile away and I live a couple of tenths. I guess everyone is different.
(brought over from Facebook where I commented)
He's not taking "all" the money to Michigan.
People will eat, gas up and maybe even buy food and trinkets at shops in Madison. This is when downtown should be doing a sidewalk arts festival, or a crazy days. Draw people in while you have them here. This is when Madison should be promoting Madison!!
Examples or loud noise and profit.
Yankton Riverboat days: 130,000. Beer garden going until 2:00 am. Bands every night. Although not directly in a residential area the sound carries throughout a large portion of town. It also fills every hotel in the area. When I managed a hotel here in town the closest I could get people rooms during riverboat days was Sioux Falls, Mitchell or Sioux City.
azzfest Sioux Falls over 100,000 people music for 3 days well into the night. Residential to the south and east.
Czech days: 10-15 thousand people with street dances AND polka music in a little tiny town where everyone can hear everything.
One of two nights of discomfort to make a LOT of money and build up a reputation as a "go to" festival. I guess that's a sacrifice I'd be more than willing to make.
Oh and the Yankton Sequicentennial concerts, held in a park in the middle of town with 3 bands the first night and 5 the next, surrounded by residential on every side...the heart of residential Yankton actually, made so much money and did so well that the city is looking to do it every year with an investment of $140,000.00 plus. I live about 2 miles away and could hear the music well into the night on my front porch. Every hotel full, park packed, vendors in town (permit fees), happiness, shuttles, laughter...it was like a dang Chicago song!!!
Were people probably inconvenienced by the music and their sleeping patterns? I have no doubt at all that they were, but not a single word has been said to the paper or the news or anything. I think it is understood that the needs of the many...
I think with any festival there are going to be inconveniences like traffic, litter, lines at places you don't want lines because your "turf" is being intruded on. But I honestly think that the benefits FAR outweigh the negatives in these situations.
Just my two cents from another lake town...
Shane
All great examples, Shane, and all successes I'd love to replicate here in Lake County. At the same time, I do not want economic development to cause any resident to lose sleep in his or her own home. We can make plenty of money and still keep quiet hours from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
I respectfully disagree my friend. I think you can make money between those hours, but I don't understand limiting your money making options.
We've had discussions like this before here and it's just something I know you and I will never see eye to eye on.
No problem, Shane. I just have a nagging inclination to put certian things above making money. This is probably related to my decision several years ago to never again pull an all-nighter to get homework done (or student homework graded).
Perhaps the promotor could have created good will by offering to pay for a stay in a hotel in say Sioux Falls or somewhere out of the area so that it could have been a win win for both parties.
The other question I have is where are the Prarie Village people at? If there was a problem they should have been involved to help solve it.
People will put up with a lot for a short period of time but over the course of a couple of nights along with the days especially noise, it gets to be too much.
I like quiet. The hum of a street light is the loudest noise in Rutland after dark.
We photographed a wedding at Prairie Village last Saturday. I had forgotten how much road noise traffic on the highway caused. How could anyone sleep through that?
Steven Kant.....the Lakes Golf Course is maybe 2 blocks away and we very rarely hear music when the have events there but yes I travels over the water from Broadwater....
Michael, I've noticed that the irregular noises of the highway imapct sleep differently from the rhythmic sounds of loud music. On a quiet night, we can hear the occasional midnight truck or car whoosing along Highway 34 across the lake. It comes, it goes, it doesn't disturb us. But play some thumping bass from that distance, and the mind seems to fix on it, creating more distraction.
Just so I understand, you feel having some musicians, artists, street vendors, etc. entertain the dozens of people that would go would be able to revitalize Madison, but dare to have a concert on the very grounds you feel are not being used properly, that goes past your self-imposed quiet time of 11pm, that has people in town filling the motels (including the Super 8 that you thought was perhaps closed), eating at restaurants, buying gas, maybe even getting some groceries at Sunshine while they are at it, and you have a problem with that? Sorry, but I can't see where the problem is. Of course I do not live near Prairie Village, but I do live near DSU (your workplace) and I can hear the music and activities from the commons area during the "Welcome To DSU and Madison" festivities every fall.
Cory, there will always be someone, somewhere that feels "put out" by any activity, and I sympathize with those folks, but the added value these activities bring to the community should far out weigh a few days, or nights, of inconvenience.
Jim, I think a quiet time of 11 p.m. is perfectly reasonable and does not restrict our ability to promote cultural and economic development. We're not talking being a little "put out" by a minor inconvenience; we're talking about a family not being able to get to sleep. I take that freedom very seriously. If DSU is keeping you awake with its festivities after 11 p.m., I would totally support your effort to get DSU to shut those activities down, or at least hold them earlier in the evening. The fact that musicians and students bring us money does not serve as a blanket excuse for any inconvenience they may cause.
We want *THAT* money...
....not *that* money.
Careful what you wish for Madison.
There is always another town more than willing to take on an inconvenience.
And that's just it: I don't want to get into a bidding war with towns that are willing to stay up all night, just as I don't want to get into a bidding war with towns that will hand back a million dollars in sales tax revenue to a private company while streets remain unpaved. It's the same with gambling, prostitution, or even mixed martial arts fighting. The mere fact that one community thinks the revenue is worth the personal/social/moral inconvenience does not dictate that all communities should come to the same conclusion. Quality of life is more than sales tax revenue.
Besides, we're missing a key point: the music festival could still generate just as much revenue while providing better service and respect to the citizens making his enrichment possible. The organizer's "There's nothing I can do about it" and "impossible" are not the words I put in my customer service vocabulary.
It all seems very "having cake and eating it too" in my view.
This Utopia you long for of economic prosperity where no one is morally offended, sleep deprived, inconvenienced, upset, over taxed, under educated, under funded or unpaved...when you find it; can I come and visit?
:)
[CAH: When I find it, yes, you may! I can't guarantee everything, but I will guarantee a good night's sleep.]
Having been one of the folks in town for the festival (and yeah, I helped keep Todd and Lori up Friday night), I was very impressed with all the people I met, the food I ate (I had one hell of a good steak on Saturday!), and the lodge I stayed at. I had a blast, and I am looking forward to being back next year, and every year after that. I agree that during the Motongator Joe festival, get your groove on and get those campers in town! We enjoyed your hospitality, and look forward to it again. And if that yellow Strat is still up on the wall at the pawn shop, I'm buying it....