theRockin45s began gigging as CA3 in late 2001. We were basically playing gigs wherever we could find them and working hard to build a following. Finding a home on the Nautical Mile in Freeport was a real game changer for us. We no longer had to work hard at booking. We had the same venue, Water Lilly’s every Friday and Saturday all year round. We also didn’t have to work so hard at promotion as people always knew where they could find us.
Eventually we added other venues on the Mile and before long it we were playing there almost exclusively. We were still plying private events but managed to work many of them in in hours before or after a Mile gig so we played a lot of doubles. It was a great time for us and we developed a big following and made many great friends.
After I left the band at the end of the Summer of 2007, and the band changed it’s name to theRockin45s, things began to change. Some time in 2008 the village instituted a decibel ordinance to address the growing volume of bands playing the Mile and a lot of the fun started to drain out of the Mile with the advent of fines for playing over the meter reading limit of 85 decibels. For reference 85DB is about equal to a single propeller airplane passing 1,000 feet overhead. Not very loud. It’s normally chamber music level, not rock and roll or dance music level.
When I returned to the band in 2010, the band was already growing very weary of trying to work around the volume restrictions but by that time Water Lilly’s had closed and we had found more work off the Mile than on. Still the gigs on the Mile had lost o lot of the fun and magic of those early days and the more aggressive the sound meter police became, the less attractive playing the Mile became.
This past Memorial Day weekend was the straw that may have broken the camels back. We were just starting to hit our groove with an earlier than usual start when the sound cops showed up and we were forced to play at ridiculously low volume. Now they were telling us 70DB was the limit. Elevator music is louder than 70DB. Keep in mind they measure the sound from the street so a passing motorcycle and quickly drive the level over 100DB and you’re fined. At that point singing becomes a chore because even without a microphone you can’t project at full voice. Playing on the Mile became pointless and the frustration of dealing with the village ordinance just isn’t worth the time and effort for us.
It’s sad but we did have a good long run on the Mile and we walk away with some really great memories and a lot of great friends that will be part of theRockin45s family forever. We don’t say never but for now that chapter of the band’s history is closing in favor of the beaches and private parties that now hold the fun that Mile used to.
Of course, from September through May we will still be trying to recapture the old Mile magic indoors at some local venues like Sunset Grill and memories. We hope to keep rocking for a while and maybe the Mile will lighten up again on the restrictions and we’ll be back. For now we let Carol Burnett sing it: