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Friday, February 10, 2012
The Refuge takes on its second concert
by Lexie Tiongson, published on July 5, 2009 at 6:44 PM
Storyline: music
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The Refuge took on its second concert Friday with performances from Will Craig, Crimson Sky, Method Echo and Dawson & Marie.
The Refuge is an all-ages venue where young musicians can play and show off their talent. These concerts are held at St. John's Lutheran Church off of L Street in Midtown.
The venue gives a concert-like feel where the audience can stand up and dance right in front of the performers. It also gives a cafe-like feel with a lounge area, chairs, couches and umbrellas. There's also a snack and coffee bar called Cafe Rwanda where all proceeds go to the Mumea Hospital project in Rwanda.
"We have two goals," said Amy Chance, organizer of The Refuge, "to create an all-ages club where anyone can enjoy a concert and to create a venue where young musicians can play. They get the advantage to play somewhere with no age limit."
"Brett's band, Dead Scott, won the Jammie and he played at Club Retro in Orangevale. A kid or a parent said, 'Why don't we have a club like that.' That's where we stimulated the idea of having an all-ages club here in Midtown," said Darren Zinzer, director of Youth Industries and St. John's Lutheran Church.
The Refuge is starting these concerts on a trial basis. As long as the venue doesn't lose money, organizers will keep it going and do it more regularly in the fall.
"After these three trial shows, we want to see how it goes. If it's good, we expect it to be going on indefinitely until December," Zinzer said.All-ages is the main goal of the Refuge. "It's a safe place for teens to hang out from 7-11 p.m. on Friday nights," Zinzer said. "Parents can know that they can drop their kids off and that there will be parents and kids around to supervise. We don't sell alcohol, and it's all about hanging out for four hours."
On Friday, Will Craig performed as a musician for his first time. "It was a blast, I had a lot of fun performing tonight. My grandpa use to play and so I just decided to play after he died. I jumped in and here I am tonight, and it's awesome," Craig said.
Crimson Sky, a newly-formed band, also played Friday night. Crimson Sky threw out a lot of energy as the second performance.
The bass player was originally from The Squires, until the band fell apart and he created a new band called Crimson Sky.
"It felt great playing tonight," said Eric Childs, guitar player. "A lot of the audience got involved." Crimson Sky found out about The Refuge through playing at The Jammie at the Crest Theatre where members met other young musicians who helped them play everywhere.Local band Method Echo was the kick-line, the band that everyone came out to see, on Friday night at The Refuge. Method Echo and Crimson Sky played together at The Concert in the Park at Cesar Chavez Park and got booked together at The Refuge.
"It was cool performing here. I didn't know what to expect tonight but the crowd filled up, and we just love to perform. If it's in front of ten people or a thousand people, we give all we've got. Performing in front of these teens at a church is great," said Josh Guerrero, lead singer of Method Echo.
The Refuge ended the night with a performance from Dawson & Marie. "We played at Borders in Roseville for an open-mic competition and Phillip, the sound person here at The Refuge, heard us play and he asked us to play here tonight," Marleena Sheetz said, guitarist and singer from Dawson & Marie. "The Refuge is really cute, I guess that's the one word I can describe it. It's cool for people to just kick back. I mean, there's really no place like this in Sacramento that's all ages."
The Refuge has one more definite show with live music from Autumn Sky, The Shreds, Josiah James, Dead Scott and Northern Lights on Frday, July 17. The Refuge is located at 1723 L St. The cover charge is $8 and the concert will be held from 7-11 p.m. For more information visit www.myspace.com/therefugesac
All images photographed by Fino Balanza
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Unfortunately, the City's efforts to "bring people downtown" by oversaturating residential neighborhoods with alcohol, noise and mayhem magnets, is defeating the proposed "Most Livable City" concept.
The area around 18th and L Streets is already so inundated with "nightlife" and disruptive businesses, the leadership at St. John's apparently forgot that people live here.
While people may be familiar with great "all ages" venues like True Love Coffeehouse and JavaLounge -- small cafes with performance space -- the huge hall at St. John's was set up as a nightclub. The excessive volume from the stage made it impossible to hold conversation at the entrance. St. John's plan to open a concert hall for amplified bands without regulation, noise ordinance compliance or neighborhood outreach is shortsighted.
Sacramento does not need a new generation of people trained to think Midtown neighborhoods are a place to come party in, disrupt and disregard. The excessive sound levels send that message, with or without alcohol.
The story said it is a no-alcohol venue, geared toward a younger crowd.
Somehow I don't think that comports with your comment that, "Unfortunately, the City's efforts to "bring people downtown" by oversaturating residential neighborhoods with alcohol, noise and mayhem magnets..."
A music venue for youth is a "mayhem magnet"?
If someone lives in an urban area, there will be noise.
Perhaps you may want to investigate the option of moving to the suburbs?
As I stated during our conversation (I spoke with Ms. M on the phone Friday night during the event) we (staff, parents and youth volunteers) will do everything we possibly can to respect the neighborhood and all those folks who live in the Midtown area in proximity to “The Refuge”.
Below are a few perspectives I want to illuminate regarding "The Refuge".
We (the leadership of St. John's) have not forgotten about our neighbors! In fact in the last year we at St. John's instituted a policy of no more homeless or transient individuals on our steps and surrounding areas because we took seriously the request to contribute to a safer and more comfortable Midtown area. Our neighbors spoke, we listened, and we took action! We never forget that we are part of the Midtown community. St. John's has been in the same location and proudly part of this community since 1912.
Now if I may state our motivation for "The Refuge". It's important to keep in mind that we started "The Refuge" events for one reason and one reason only, “To give teens a safe place to spend time and listen to music.” If you ask teens what is important to them and what they spend their time doing you’ll find that quite often it involves music. Teens love music and they will spend their time finding bands that play the music they like and will travel to watch those bands play live. We simply provide the place for teens who listen to music to connect with those who play music. This is part of my job as Director of Youth Ministries at St. John’s and I love my job! Also, I can think of a lot more unsavory activities our youth could be participating in and watching live music at "The Refuge" is not one of them.
The sound engineer and I also set up the order of bands to reflect the fact that our sound gets lower between the 10 - 11 p.m. time slot. We have the loudest band playing between the 9 - 9:45 p.m. time slot. This was planned because we wanted to be mindful of our neighbors.
When I received your call our front door was open and the level of sound was louder than the ambient noise level coming from the street corner a 18th and L streets. When I shut the front door the level was lower than the ambient noise level at the corner.
Regarding your statement: “Unfortunately, the City's efforts to "bring people downtown" by over-saturating residential neighborhoods with alcohol, noise and mayhem magnets, is defeating the proposed "Most Livable City" concept.”
I must politely disagree with your statement being descriptive of "The Refuge" and point out that we DO NOT serve alcohol and are vigilant about checking to make sure our kids and adults are not indulging in adult beverages during the evening. We have over 20 youth and adult volunteers who are present in the room and out in front during the event. This may seem like an ‘over-kill’ of volunteers. From my view it’s nothing but due diligence on our part. I can’t give my promise to parents that their child will be safe spending time at “The Refuge” for the evening if I don’t first trust that our volunteers and staff are maintaining a safe place through constant monitoring and contact with our kids. I am indeed confident in my volunteers. There will be NO mayhem magnets carousing in or about "The Refuge" I assure you.
Bottom line: I’m sorry if our event disturbed you in any way. We will be compliant with the law regarding sound ordinances in the Midtown area and hope you’ll give “The Refuge” a chance to be a safe place for our youth in Sacramento. After all, these youth are our future leaders and may someday grow to be a City Council Person, Mayor, or business owner.
Sincerely,
Darren Zinzer
Director of Youth Ministry
St. John’s Lutheran Church
As a side note I noticed two things as I was driving away from the “The Refuge” that night: First, the bar on the corner of 17th & Capitol was still playing loud music. The time was 11:54 p.m. Secondly, a group of about 15 very loud and inebriated twenty-somethings were making their way down Capitol coming from the higher numbered streets. I believe those two instances are in the realm of "mayhem magnets"?
Another side NOTE: I agree that True Love Coffee House is a great venue to see live music in!
Noise Levels
Both the amount of noise and the length of time you are exposed to the noise determine its ability to damage your hearing. Noise levels are measured in decibels (dB). The higher the decibel level, the louder the noise. Sounds louder than 80 decibels are considered potentially hazardous. The noise chart below gives an idea of average decibel levels for everyday sounds around you.
PAINFUL
150 dB = rock music peak
140 dB = firearms, air raid siren, jet engine
130 dB = jackhammer
120 dB = jet plane take-off, amplified rock music at 4-6 ft., car stereo, band practice
EXTREMELY LOUD
110 dB = rock music, model airplane
106 dB = timpani and bass drum rolls
100 dB = snowmobile, chain saw, pneumatic drill
90 dB = lawnmower, shop tools, truck traffic, subway
VERY LOUD
80 dB = alarm clock, busy street
70 dB = busy traffic, vacuum cleaner
60 dB = conversation, dishwasher
Warning Signs of Hazardous Noise
* You must raise your voice to be heard
* You can't hear someone two feet away from you
* Speech around you sounds muffled or dull after leaving a noise area
You can read the entire paper if you will google their organization.
It was descriptive of the City's policies and resulting impacts on Midtown neighborhoods, including and not limited to 18th and Capitol. You will see those discussions on SacPress, including on the recent street closures and parties for Cinco De Mayo and the events in Marshall Park.
You noticed "the bar on the corner of 17th & Capitol was still playing loud music. The time was 11:54 p.m. Secondly, a group of about 15 very loud and inebriated twenty-somethings were making their way down Capitol coming from the higher numbered streets." From 18th at Capitol, you would have noticed the party and music still loud at Zocalo with the window/walls open. The mariachi trumpeting stopped not long before that.
So yeah, you get the picture. That's why I wrote, "The area around 18th and L Streets is already so inundated with "nightlife" and disruptive businesses ..."
At some point, how much is too much? On Friday night, the music blasting out the front of The Refuge toward Capitol Avenue was too much.
I use the term mayhem magnets for the overconcentration of liquor fueled venues in Midtown residential neighborhoods. It's a shortsighted, quick-revenue City policy that can't even be called "planning." It is counterproductive to the claims the City makes toward being sustainable and livable. It alienates neighbors as well as all the other people from outside Midtown who would come down for entertainment, but are put off by rowdies and drunk drivers.
The neighborhoods like ours that are overimpacted deal, not only with the inebriation, rowdiness and disregard people have for residents, but the damage and crime that occurs as a result. People have died because of it.
That's the environment that The Refuge has opened in.
So, appropriate noise levels will benefit the young people performing and hanging out at The Refuge, aside from protecting their hearing and complying with City noise ordinances. They may be less likely to find role models in the partygoers who leave a business, go outside and scream and yell and behave like Midtown is a carnival or crime scene, rather than a unique resource of mixed use, historic, residential neighborhoods.
Then, when "these youth are our future leaders and may someday grow to be a City Council Person, Mayor, or business owner," they may have better ideas and solutions for creating a balanced and sustainable mixed use in Midtown. The may become residents and contribute to well integrated projects that benefit all parties and the whole community. They may have a vision for Midtown that isn't dependent on drinking and driving to fill City coffers and keep the police (and neighbors) busy cleaning up.
I'm sorry if my comment confused you. It did not refer to The Refuge as "A music venue for youth is a "mayhem magnet" " Please read the reply above reply addressed to Darren for clarification.
"If someone lives in an urban area, there will be noise. Perhaps you may want to investigate the option of moving to the suburbs?"
Thank you for providing a good example of the arrogance expressed toward Midtown residents and ignorance of what is really going on here.
What is used against Midtowners -- who have valued and maintained this mixed used lifestyle long before it was trendy -- are repetitive cliches.
The truth is we know where we live (that's why we live here, duh), we value our mixed use lifestyle and its livability, we support art/music/culture/local independent businesses and we endorse changes that improve the quality of life for everyone.
We support well integrated mixed use projects that succeed in the sustainability and livability that the City of Sacramento states are its goals. We support a vibrant Midtown that is attractive to the whole community; neighborhoods that are not overrun with bars, noise, drunken behavior and crime, that destroy livability and waste police resources.
We support the City following its own rules and requiring new developers and businesses to also follow rules and regulations; which are intended to provide that well integrated balance that works for all and succeeds in the long run.
This is the environment that The Refuge opened in. I hope you will read the reply to Darren for a better picture of what is already going on here.
Things like noise mitigation are LESS important in the suburbs, just because people are farther apart. You can blast your stereo and hoot & holler and people are less likely to object because they're too far away to care much. Music venues and dance clubs are located in retail areas surrounded by parking lots, separated from residential areas by great distances. For folks used to this kind of environment, being told to hold it down a bit might seem kind of alien. But in the city, we're a lot closer together and we all have to make some allowances if we're going to get along. In some ways, "if they don't like it they should move out" is more of a suburban attitude than a city attitude.
This isn't just about noise, it is about public safety. Recently, Sacramento PD permanently transferred some of its POP officers from Oak Park to Midtown, because Midtown was becoming a bigger crime problem. That's a sign that this issue transcends volume.
I am pretty glad to hear about The Refuge, and like the idea of a no-alcohol, all-ages music venue. I am also glad to hear that the people involved are so responsive to public concerns. One thing we definitely lack are more things to do late at night BESIDES drink. We have lots of bars and clubs, and a handful of restaurants open late, but where is our late-night donut shop, coffee shop, bookstore, laundromat, clothing boutique, etcetera?
If you perceive a "rhetoric" that you'd like "toned down" and less "self righteous," you may be reading the words of those who organize, become informed, participate in the process, work with The Powers That Be and try to find solutions that work for everyone. A certain tone and writing style -- maybe overly formal -- could come from that.
You are welcome to be one of those who devotes the time and energy to maintain the livability of Midtown, working with neighborhoods, attending meetings, writing on SacPress, maybe even using your real name.
Then this conversation might be more "fruitful."
St. John's may have the best intentions. However, they have not represented that in the last two weeks' concert/nightclub events with their impacts on the neighborhood. The City requirement to lower noise levels after 10:00 was ignored (even after input from neighbors). The noise levels BEFORE 10:00 p.m. were unacceptable and UNNECESSARILY LOUD.
Having been to plenty of shows and still having my hearing, I know that that level of EXCESSIVE volume isn't needed. Dialing it down, finding the balance, and/or shutting/baffling the entrance are all reasonable solutions. The reduction of that overkill level of outrageous noise doesn't affect the enjoyment of patrons at all. If it does and if mitigation isn't possible, then 1723 L Street is not the proper venue for The Refuge, St. John's has now expressed awareness of their impacts on the neighborhood and willingness to cooperate.
If it were dialed down, the hearing of participants would be less damaged, the reported cadre of chaperons would be more comfortable and it would become possible for people at the ticket table to speak to someone, without having to go outside.
There is a reasonable and peaceful solution here, but the need of people to choose sides and immediately start spouting the same old cliches about Midtown is discouraging.
The truth is -- none of the residents want to waste their precious time trying to make the City and Developers and Businesses and Newcomers do what they are supposed to By Law. They want them to DO IT. For the benefit of all. Because it's The Law. That's NOT now how Midtown development is being orchestrated by The Powers The Be in the City of Sacramento.
THAT is the environment The Refuge has opened in.
If you'd like to help, there's plenty to do. Check out your neighborhood association for a start.
And yes, as crazy as it seems, when you're dealing with the City or other agencies and people in positions of power, "trying to sound reasonable" is considered a good thing.
Being miserable and hating has nothing to do with it.
The whole concept of livability and sustainability is that a balanced mix of well integrated projects increase the quality of life for the whole community and for the long term.
The St. John's staff has indicated they will follow local ordinances and adjust or mitigate the sound levels. That will help, if they can balance sound inside and not add to the oversaturation outside.
That extra whatever percentage on TOP of a good, loud sound mix, is what I call "excessive." If it sounds like it's outside from a block away, that's definitely excessive. The bands playing are aspiring professionals with high quality equipment and a sound engineer. Having heard the sound from a block away and from inside The Refuge, it seems the levels can come down and still have plenty of room to please fans and not disrupt the neighborhood.
:thumbsup: