Cup O Joe: Annoying music at night - resolved « Columbus Underground Messageboard

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Cup O Joe: Annoying music at night - resolved

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Started 2 years ago by nexttuesday
Latest reply from DavidF

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nexttuesday

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Last Monday, Cup O Joe/MoJoe on the cap put some kind of guitar/singer/piano group on their patio with an amp, playing til about 1am. Which is great, because my window is about 100 yards from where they are playing. I sent them an email through their website, no response.

Tonight they have the group inside, because it's raining. But they still have the music being piped outside. You know, to attract all the people walking by in the rain. I don't know how anyone can really be attracted in by this group anyway, since they are terrible, but that's beside the point. Even if they were good, I don't want to listen to them past midnight on a Monday.

One of my neighbors also called last week. They appear to not give a crap. So, I will at least not be taking my business there anymore.

Posted 2 years ago #
Coy
Discovery District
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So who do I write to complain about having to read this whiny BS?

Posted 2 years ago #
MichaelC
Downtown
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Not "whiny BS" at all. An otherwise beloved local business is playing loud music past 11 on a Monday night? Not good.

Having live music in the neighborhood is great. It would draw me in this summer for happy hour, for sure. But having live music in the neighborhood on a Monday night past 11 is not, let alone past midnight.

Posted 2 years ago #
cc

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I would call them also, maybe drop by and talk to them. Much more noticeable than email, twitter, driving by and giving the bird.

I do understand your plight and once had to move due to noise from a bar that built a patio outside my window. Ideally mixed use nieghborhoods play well together, unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Posted 2 years ago #
Coy
Discovery District
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From the tags on this post this is the Short North Cup O Joe...
100yds from that shop is oh... I don't know, a major highway, numerous bars, and probably the most active part of the downtown area...

If you don't want the bustle of the city, move to the 'burbs.
Don't crap on a local independent shop trying to bring some much needed live music to the Short North on a weekday and expect to get folks to jump on the "takin' my business elsewhere" train with you.
Just move somewhere more suitably sterile for you.

So it's not whiny... its pretentious.

Posted 2 years ago #
Core_Models
Columbus
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Live music inside a Short North establishment at 1:00 on a weeknight isn't a big deal and is great for the neighborhood.

Amplified music outside at 1:00 AM on a Monday is not.

Posted 2 years ago #
MichaelC
Downtown
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Coy,

Being opposed to this isn't pretentious, nor is that opposition indicative of a need to move to the 'burbs. The highway, the traffic, the rest of the neighborhood, etc., all have quieted down on a Monday by 11. There is now an exception.

That exception, well-intentioned though I'm sure it is, is discourteous of Cup o' Joe, an otherwise excellent neighbor.

Live music on a Monday night is great. The bustle of the city on a Monday night is over at 11; the music should be, too.

Posted 2 years ago #
Snarf
Dystopia
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I think it really goes back to whether the band is good or not.

Posted 2 years ago #
melikecheese
Merion Village
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Must be a thing with people who live by Cup o Joes. I can recall getting yelled at by some guy who lived above the shop for just sitting in a group on the GV patio on a weekend night at midnight.

Posted 2 years ago #
jimbach
Your father's Short North
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Snarf wrote >>
I think it really goes back to whether the band is good or not.

Not really. If someone time-traveled the Cavern Club-era Beatles to my backyard at 1:00 am on a Monday night, the novelty would wear off after about 10 minutes, then I'd politely ask them to take their clatter somewhere else.

Posted 2 years ago #
swansonguy
Harrison West
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Hi
Sorry for the stupid mistake. I did not know the band would play outside, let alone, after 11pm. That is indeed annoying and it will not happen again. I would love to know who your neighbor spoke with. BTW- all of our stores have my office number and our website has a contact form (for some reason I did not recieive your email) just in case one of us does not see the public forum comments. My office number is 614.487.6050. I would be happy to send some gift certificates to the residents to make up for the inconvenience. Just PM me with your address or call my office. I hope you and the neighbors will accept my apology.
Sincerely,
Mark Swanson
President
Cup o' joe/MoJoe Lounge

Posted 2 years ago #
groundrules

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Anything past 10PM is pretty much taboo. much larger high street events than cup o' joe band night have received a 'shut 'er down' visit from the cops at that hour.

http://www.columbuscitycouncil.org/uploadedFiles/City_Council/How_do_I/noiseord.PDF

Posted 2 years ago #
cbustransit

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that's real cool swansonguy and cup o' joe :)

SOOO excited for the lazarus store to open!

Posted 2 years ago #
HeySquare
German Village
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melikecheese wrote >>
Must be a thing with people who live by Cup o Joes. I can recall getting yelled at by some guy who lived above the shop for just sitting in a group on the GV patio on a weekend night at midnight.

Have you ever lived close to a restaurant or business? I have. You'd be amazed at how LOUD people talk when they are outside.

White noise, like traffic, is one thing. But people talking can be hard to ignore inside the house. At midnight, when you have a big meeting the next day, it can drive you insane. The Cup O'Joe patio in GV is about 5 feet from a private residence. It's like having strangers in your living room all day long.

And since the Cup O'Joe patio is supposed to get closed up by 11 on weeknights and I think midnight on weekends, I imagine the neighbor was just about ready for closing time.

Don't get me wrong, I support the mix of business and residential, and it is the price we pay for living in mixed use neighborhoods. However, once we start getting past 11 or midnight, my sympathy switches to the homeowners.

Posted 2 years ago #
MichaelC
Downtown
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Extremely generous of you, SwansonGuy.

Posted 2 years ago #
cyclist II
Short North & Peach District
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Zeppelin Rules

Posted 2 years ago #
meltsintowonder

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Mark, generous/thorough response on the matter.

I understand your concerns of the late night noise, but the subject might be a little aggressive for people not reading the thread/posts. I have some sympathy for you (residents), but you should know this can happen when you move into the area. The band sounds excessive on a late weeknight, but the business owner doesn't always have the ability to ask customers to leave at a particular time if it's soon after normal closing hours. That would turn into another thread called "Cup O Joe kicked me off their patio and I wasn't done with my latte!" I know some business owners that will wait for two hours after closing time for the two customers who've been done drinking/eating but continue to talk.

In the end, a tough situation for the business and residents nearby, and kudos to Mark for trying to make it right.

Posted 2 years ago #
Rockmastermike
The Bacon District
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HeySquare wrote >>
White noise, like traffic, is one thing. But people talking can be hard to ignore inside the house. At midnight, when you have a big meeting the next day, it can drive you insane. The Cup O'Joe patio in GV is about 5 feet from a private residence. It's like having strangers in your living room all day long.

Talk of the Nation Science Friday was tangentially discussing this recently. They were interviewing Joe Palca, author of a book on the science of annoyance. According to this guy the most difficult noise to ignore is a one-sided conversation (a la some assclown talking loudly on his phone in public). The mind has trouble ignoring speech to begin with and only getting one side causes a nasty cognitive disconnect that makes people very uncomfortable and messes with their ability to filter.

http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201104293

So I guess the take away from that would be to tell people outside the window to talk a little louder so you can hear both sides clearly and effectively ignore it. LOL

Posted 2 years ago #
lizless
Columbus/Hocking Hills
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I love that Cup o' Joe brings in live music on Monday nights. The neighborhood can use the bustle on slower nights for sure and according to the owner, the music was supposed to be inside.

Mark's a cool guy and a great neighbor who contributes in great ways to the Short North's vibrancy, green-ness and success.

As a long-time regular and knowing the staff of COJ, I know that a call to Cup o' Joe from the OP would have likely stopped the music immediately, or might have yielded a faster response than an internet boycott of an otherwise good neighbor, small business and friend of the community.

Posted 2 years ago #
nexttuesday

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I definitely appreciate the response from Mark, and the outside amplification was turned off sometime after midnight last night. At that point, I could hear it but it was the same noise level as everything else on the street. I don't know the name of the person my neighbor spoke to. I can ask him.

In response to others, as I said in the original post, I emailed a week ago (through the online form), and I knew that my neighbor had called and spoken to someone directly last week. I had no reason to believe that calling this week would get anything done. Posting here actually got a response, as opposed to the other things we tried, so I'm not going to feel bad about it.

Of course I know that living here will be louder than living in a suburb. I don't yell out my window at people every night at 2:30 when they come out and scream about how they're going to beat the crap out of each other. And I don't care when there's loud conversation or the same yelling coming from MoJoe, because that's not the business owner's fault. The amplification simply serves no business purpose. Anyone walking by can hear the music anyway and be attracted in without it.

Again, thank you Mark.

Posted 2 years ago #