Loud Music in GOGO Bars

[PattayaMale]

Last night I went to one of the gogo bars I enjoy. Good mix of dancers, good wait staff, reasonable drink prices, etc.

 

Last night this bar was full due to a special event. Good for the bar owner and his staff. BUT>>>>>

 

The music was way too loud. Several customers simply got up and left saying they'd never come back. The owner was told this and even sent his manager to "ask" the dj to lower the music level. It might have been lowered but not by much.

 

The owner even apologized before the event started saying that he had a new sound system that cost over 130,000 and his dj was just getting use to it. True I am sure, but the customer sitting next to me yelled out, "Didn't the new system come with a volume switch???" A comment many of us thought was spot on.

 

Several more of my friends even though they stayed for part of the event, vowed never to visit this bar again!

 

I know this is not the norm for this bar. But for many others, I have heard customers say they will not go to a bar because the music is too loud.

 

Why don't owners listen to their customers?? Have you ever heard a friend say, "I won't go to that bar because the music is too soft."?????

[Guest fountainhall]

I also HATE over-loud music in any setting. At least we as customers can show our disapproval by simply walking out. It's the bar staff I am most concerned about, since they have to work there night after night, sometimes for years.

 

It is a proven medical fact that working in an environment above a certain decibel limit will result in permanent hearing damage. In the European Union, there is a legal limit of 80 decibels in a workplace; yet personal MP3 players in the EU are set to a maximum of 104 dbs.

 

Britain's Royal National Institute for the Deaf says that the limit should be 85db. Audiologist Angela King believes that the loud music from discos and pubs is "more of a danger to young people than headphone use."

 

The potential problem lies in the cochlea of the ear, which contains more than 15,000 specialised cells, sometimes called hair cells, that respond to sound vibrations and send signals to the brain.

 

"Each cell is tuned to respond to a different frequency in the sound spectrum," explains audiologist Angela King.

 

"These can be damaged by high volumes so that initially noises at higher frequencies sound smeary, then you can't hear them at all, and eventually the same happens at lower frequencies."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4580718.stm

 

Anyone who doubts the long term effect of over-loud music need only look at the number of pop singers who now suffer severe tinitus (ringing in the ears) and other aural maladies. Veteran rock singer Pete Townsend of The Who has no doubt that constantly being too close to on-stage speakers and listening to playbacks at maximum volume on headphones has resulted in his hearing loss.

[TotallyOz]

One of the reasons I don't stay out late in gogo bars is that the later the night gets the louder the music gets. I hate it. I am not sure why owners don't see that customers hate the loud music and while the boys love it, there must be a middle ground.

[Guest]

Last night I went to one of the gogo bars I enjoy.

Why not name the bar? Or give us a Nice big Happy Krazy Funny clue. It's not like we're talking about anything sensitive.

 

The owner even apologized before the event started saying that he had a new sound system that cost over 130,000.

130,000? What a total waste of money! Spending all that cash on a facility that will drive away customers.

They lose customers to an excessively loud system, but I bet they haven't lost a single customer as a result of the earlier sound system that's deemed not good enough by the management.

This is one of those investment decisions where they would have been better off just burning the money. Unless there is money to be made by turning the bar into a disco with a totally different customer base.

[Guest anonone]

I have a bit of a different take on this. For some gogo bars, I want there to be some loud (not deafening) music. That is part of the vibe I am looking for when I specifically go into this type of club.

 

When I am in the party mood, I don't want complicated conversation. As long as my drink order is heard accurately I am good to go. Meaningful discussions with my BF can also wait. We are there for the music and the guys / show.

 

After a couple of visits, you also begin to realize what clubs pump out the music and which ones are more subdued so you can choose accordingly. When I am not in the party music mood, someplace like Funny Boyz, Copa, or Krazy Dragon usually has the music volume a bit lower. It is great to have different options for different moods.

 

To emphasize, I am not talking about music soo loud that it threatens ear damage. I made the mistake of checking out the gay bar on walking street (GUY club - maybe?) one late night after Sunee and BT closed up. Finished my beer quickly and got the hell out of there as I could feel my ear drums taking a beating in such a small space.

 

One final note, an expensive sound system is not just about volume. I am pretty sure I know the happy place to which you allude in the original post. I am not sure a new system was needed, but it could be about better sound distribution, quality, or even controls. As I usually stop by at least once each visit, I will have to check it out next month.

[Guest]

After a couple of visits, you also begin to realize what clubs pump out the music and which ones are more subdued so you can choose accordingly.

 

As long as there are enough other bars to go to, the bar that's too loud for it's customer base may become one empty place.

 

I do hope all the customers who enter the bar & decide it's too loud to stay will inform the door staff, or do something like leaving with hands over their ears. Eventually management should figure it out.

[Gaybutton]

Eventually management should figure it out.

So far they haven't. How long should 'eventually' take? I've been posting about the excessively loud music for years. In that time I don't recall seeing more than a very few responses saying "I like the loud music." The vast majority of responses have always been that customers don't like it any better than I do.

 

Next logical question: Who's the loud music for? The most common answer is "The boys like it." I never see anyone questioning that. Maybe you should.

 

Have you ever asked the boys if they really do like the overly loud music? Many don't. I've spoken to many boys who also dislike music as loud as that. It's one thing when they go to a disco for a few hours of fun, but it's quite another when they have to work in that kind of environment every night.

 

Some have quit working in the bars that play the music too loudly after they go home enough times with their ears pounding and suffering from headaches nearly every night. Some stopped being go-go boys and started working outside as doormen, apparently preferring to spend their working hours calling out "Welcome inside, Mister. Have BOY, sexy BOY" instead of going deaf.

 

I too think the particular bar that spent a lot of money on a high quality sound system made a mistake by doing so. Unless a lot of customers were asking for a higher quality sound system, what purpose was served? Are you attracted to go-go bars because of the music system? Is the music system even a factor for you when deciding which go-go bars to patronize? Speaking only for myself, when I'm in a go-go bar, I'm there because of the boys and I couldn't care less about the sound quality. I don't even pay attention to it. For me, the music is there for the boys to have something to dance to - when they're actually dancing instead of standing there doing the "One Knee Shuffle." Whether it's dancing or the "One Knee Shuffle," neither requires excessively loud music.

 

The only bar owner ever to post a response saying he is listening to his customers and will turn down the volume was Krazy Dragon. As for the rest of the bar owners, I don't understand what the problem is about keeping the volume at a reasonable level. For me, if I can at least talk to the person sitting next to me without having to shout or talk to the waiter taking my order, that's loud enough. No matter how fabulous the bar might be, if my ears are being tortured I'm not staying and I'm not coming back.

 

I hope the bar owners finally start listening - that is if they can still hear . . .

[Guest joseph44]

Why don't owners listen to their customers?? Have you ever heard a friend say, "I won't go to that bar because the music is too soft."?????

 

They do, really they do. One says, can't the music be louder, and the next says lower the volume please. What's it going to be?

If you post this on the SGT forum, you may get in touch with the owner again. Not sure if he is participating in here.

[TotallyOz]

If you post this on the SGT forum, you may get in touch with the owner again. Not sure if he is participating in here.

 

I don't know who you are referring to but any owner of a gogo bar that does not read these boards is a poor businessman IMHO. It would seem logical to me to read all the boards at least one a week to feel the vibe of the community as well as to see if comments were made about their bar.

 

But, I know most owners don't participate in the forums and most don't even read them. I guess that is why most are willing to sell bars when they can get out.

[Guest]

It's rare that I read a post as comprehensive as that written by Gaybutton & agree with every single point made.

 

Also, Michael makes a very good point about bar owners not reading these forums, when it makes good business sense to do so. Perhaps people with excessively profitable monopoly businesses have no need to listen to the customers.

At the other end of the spectrum, the gay bars often appear to be barely viable, so it would be crazy to alienate the customers they do have.

 

Back onto the subject of effective investment, there are rumours about Euroboys having a refit before reopening. Well, I remember that bar as being bright distinctive & very pleasant, although it possibly suffered from a lack of scale (ie nice gogo dancers, but not many of them). So I reckon it's fine as it was and any refit should merely involve replicating the same style in a larger bar.

Let's see how it pans out. Perhaps the new management will do a superb job with the refit and reopening. I hope so.

[PattayaMale]

Interestingly I did post this post on SGT. Very different kind of response than from this board. Gay Thailand Board seems to discuss issues.

 

Over at SGT, I really got bashed by a couple posters. They turned the thread from discussing the topic of the post, to calling me names because I posted the topic!

 

What a bunch!!!!

[ChristianPFC]

Yes, the tone on SGT is a bit rougher! (I read and replied to your thread there.)

 

I have been worrying about loud music in bars and discos sice I started travelling to Thailand, and came to a conclusion: I always take earplugs with me, and when I enter such a location, I use them. One might argue that they hinder communication (by shouting into each other's ear), but they don't. I can understay what my friends say/shout at me, the level of music and what they say are decreased in the same ratio.