I went to last week’s VCPORA meeting (see Alex Rawls’ blog), where there was quite a bit of give-and-take from residents of the Quarter and musicians. Since that meeting, Councilwoman Kristin Palmer and Scott Hutcheson of the Mayor’s Office have put together a working group to come up with an amended ordinance that will take into account the city’s musicians, businesses and residents.  The first meeting of that group is this evening.

One thing that stuck in my mind was that the residents at the meeting last week did not seem to comprehend that musicians make a living by playing on the street. I perceived a sort of elitist attitude from some of the residents at the meeting. To hear someone protest that the musicians are driving business away from the Quarter is patently absurd. A person who owns property on Frenchmen Street was the first person to speak at the event and said that two of her long-time tenants who live on Frenchmen near Chartres were leaving because of the noise of the brass band that occasionally plays on that corner. I don’t believe the band plays there every single evening, so this was sort of a lame excuse. And it also harks back to the fact that Frenchmen Street is a commercial entertainment area. If living almost inside an entertainment area bothers you, then you need to be living elsewhere.

I’m hoping that the group tonight doesn’t take the recrafting of the noise ordinance lightly, and that all opinions and needs are considered. Let’s hope that there are not only residents on this task force; some musicians and local businesses need to be represented as well. Whatever happens, the noise ordinance also can’t be modeled off what other cities do, because these other cities don’t have the vibrant nightlife and street culture that New Orleans has, so using another city’s decibel level standards won’t cut it.

A huge problem that needs addressing has to be involved with city zoning standards. We need more entertainment districts. We need more places where brass bands can play at night and during the day. Brass band music is integral to New Orleans street life and the city’s culture.

One person suggested that all the brass bands have a zone on the riverfront (presumably Woldenberg Park) where they could play. This lady meant well, but still doesn’t understand that the main reason that brass bands play where there’s foot traffic is that they make money. No foot traffic, no tips.

Another important issue is Bourbon Street noise. What, it’s okay that the bars on Bourbon (and the T-shirt shops throughout the Quarter) can blare amplified music onto the streets, and live musicians can’t play? That’s just ridiculous.

One of the meeting attendees was sure that it was a great opportunity for some club owner to give the brass bands a place to play on Bourbon Street. Yeah, right. Obviously this person doesn’t understand that it’s much cheaper and easier not to have live music than to play crappy, unbearably loud recorded music.

This is an extremely complex issue which is going to take a while to be resolved, and not everyone is going to be 100 percent happy. But at least it’s a start, hopefully, in the right direction.