whos angry? and as for devaluing complaints from neighbors, theres only one fuckin person complaining...ONE, and the night of the complaint there was a fucking ukalaly band playing accoustic music....which means she probly was bitching about noise outside of the building....should we all be heady and kind and whisper out on the street after ten so she can get her beauty rest??? muddys doesnt own the whole block, but they do own their building , and property, she doesnt own any of the block as a renter.....yeah maybe moving isnt realistic, but when you are moving somewhere you might wanna check out whats around you before you sign the lease.....its pretty stupid to move somewhere next to a music venue and bitch about music....ever notice that the music at humboldt brews is WAYYYY louder and they dont get complaints....thats cause the people that live by there know what they are getting into......whatever though, big petes has no stipulations on their abc permits, and have a metal show there tonight , and are gonna start having more shows.....she wont be able to shut them down

Darin and Sug, I agree with you. I've worked at Muddys way back in the day, when it first opened, and served a three or four year term with them. To this day, Muddy's is very much a daily part of my time in Humboldt; I still meet the same friends ever' morn ( a good many of them havin' worked there, as well, in the past), even now, and I still go to shows there, and though I'm a self employed carpenter, I work the door there once a week to 'get myself out.' A quick assessment of where the cafe is located should tip even the dullest on-looker in that the surroundin' neighborhood isn't your typical residentional area. Indeed, is it even zoned residential? Muddy's is situated on one of the two busiest roads in town, at best a block or less from the G St. 101 N on-ramp. Between the two cross walks that sandwich it, to the north and to the south, there are two restruants and a liquor store (!), not to mention an office supply store, two hairdressers, a retail store, and a motel....and did I mention the traffic? One block to the north, and you've got a sandwich shop (Subway), and an adult entertainent store. One block to the south, you've got four restruants and retail store on the west side of the street, and two more restruants on the east side. That block that Muddy's sits, between those very same cross walks, not a single house there sits that any 'owners' live in (read: everyone rents). Same with the blocks that border it to the north and the south. A solid point made is: each of those renters are responsible for investigating (and come on, now, this isn't rocket science; all the clues are open and in public eye) the surrounding area where they might live, and exploring the potential pluses and minuses of those very surroundings in terms of their own personal ideals.

Also over looked is the valiant effort that Corey, the owner, has made since he re-opened the store a year ago, to comply with the city, both in minimizing the volume (he's at every show that I work at, more than once with a decible meter in his hand), and insuring-without compromise-that the music is shut off at-or before-midnight. One look at the Calendar (always in arms reach, by their register), and one might conclude rather quickly that the bulk of the music booked there mid-week tends towards the acoustic side, with a few exceptions. The 'renters' in the immediate block also earn by the nature of living there free entry into all the shows (at least, that's what the renters tell me, when I'm working the door) at Muddy's.

I wonder, do they ever call the shop first, before they phone the cops?

I'm not so insenstive that I don't care that whoever keeps calling (if it is one person) isn't sleeping well. But, all things considered, it looks to me that Muddy's has done everything they can to meet the nieghborhood in the middle; a nieghborhood that accepts BOTH business and residents. If that one person can't deal, than it might be a good time for s/he to look into another place to live/sleep. Darin is right, s/he's no right to decide for the rest of the community the fate of Muddy's, a cafe and venue that seems, without havin' to scratch, even shallowly- below the surface, to provide more-far more-value than harm to our community. I'm not attempting to devalue the inconvenience it posits to some-I recognize and admit that inconvenience is real- but that's the price of renting so close to it. Indeed, we are talking about a venue that has been in operation for damn near a decade. 'Less those who complain have had to 'endure' the inconvenience that long...I think you know where I'm going with this.

Darin, again, has pointed out an oft' over-looked contribution Muddy's continues to endorse; it is one of the only-if not THE only-venue in town that underage audiophiles and music lovers, who seek to be social as well, are always welcome to show up.

Now I know we can all get cranky from time to time when we're tired and can't fall asleep, but are we really goin' to let this 'mood' eclipse what's really goin' on, what's really at risk of bein' lost, and the potential cost to our community a decision like clippin' the music at Muddy's could mean?

I'm out of town for the holidays, otherwise I'd have my sleeves rolled up-an' my pant legs to, for it seems there's a fair bit of bullshit, knee high. I'll have to wait until I get home on the 27th. In the meantime, I hope folks like Jenny Savage of the Arcata Eye, Bob Doran of the North Coast Journal, Harmony Groves, our until recently mayor, and every skilled and talented musician join together to give this decision a swift kick in the nuts...

yours,
Goatt