Meth. Heroin. Weed.
These three vices have eroded our society, but none of these have endangered the sanctity of civilization like DJ Music. If you haven’t heard of DJ Music, it’s the latest music trend young adults are taking an interest in. This DJ Music is not the same as live music that is performed by actual musicians with real instruments. No, this DJ Music comes from an underground of ill repute, debauchery, and illicit substances. Individuals are booked to seduce our youth with sinister beats and music that loops endlessly. There is no method to the madness of DJ Music, other than to rattle the nerves and to place moldable minds on a path of destruction. One business is taking up the cause against Dj Music, and that business is The Westin Austin Downtown.
The Westin Austin Downtown is located in what is known as the heart of the live music capitol on 310 East 5th Street in Austin, Texas. On its website, it boasts that it is “located one block from the Austin Convention Center and the 6th Street Entertainment.” Here you can luxuriate in rooms up to 4198 square feet, take in the breathtaking view of downtown Austin on the pool deck and Azul rooftop bar, or dine downstairs with clients. The Westin Austin Downtown is a newcomer to Austin, but is making its presence known by fighting the good fight against DJ Music by filing a lawsuit against its neighbor, The Nook Amphitheater.
The Westin Austin Downtown has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $1 million and has asked that The Nook Amphitheater be prevented from disturbing guests with chest-thumping bass. The Westin Austin Downtown claims that it has invested over a million dollars to soundproof the building and says that it has held an ongoing dialogue with the operators of The Nook Amphitheater to come to a reasonable solution. It is obvious that owners such as the ones that operate The Nook are only interested in being bad neighbors. Perhaps their logic and reasoning has been dulled by the devil’s lettuce because why would they not settle with a corporate hotel chain that undoubtedly has the best interests of Austin in mind? The Westin Austin Downtown even extended an olive branch, going to social media to let the public know that it was indeed listening.
Last year, the Austin Chronicle investigated sound complaints from Westin hotel residents and found through an open records request that the materials used to soundproof the walls did not do much to guard against bass music from neighboring establishments, but that these places were under the legal limit of 85dB. Facts don’t matter. 2016 has shown us that. What matters is that a hotel be able to advertise that it is strategically located near live music, profit off of it, and then ensure that neighbors do not thrive off the very live music that itself is trying to see financial gain from.
In Houston the White Oak Music Hall is following in the footsteps of the Nook Amphitheater in Austin, playing its amplified music on an outdoor stage late into the night. District Judge Michael Gomez has temporarily put a stop to this. Will Austin be a champion against DJ Music? Only time will tell.
*Disclaimer: This article was written with immense sarcasm. Keep Austin weird and keep alive one of the things that makes Austin so great: live music (and yes, this includes djs)*
I was listening to electronic dance music without even knowing it when I was listening to Jock Jams in the 90s. Fast forward to my senior year in high school and I had discovered Fatboy Slim. I have been listening to edm ever since and love writing about new sounds, good sounds, and the music that makes us move.
