Elevation concert silenced

By Jonathan McFadden
mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

Graphic by Courtney Niskala • niskalac@mytjnow.comWorking in her office late on Sept. 7, Bethany Marlowe’s windows suddenly rattled. Soon enough, her seats moved and her desk shook, she said.

This time, it wasn’t an earthquake. Instead, it was an 8 p.m. concert —one she had no intention of attending.

“I can’t begin to tell you how loud it was,” said Marlowe, dean of students, who worked late in her office that night.

Meant to serve as precursor to Elevation Church’s launch in Rock Hill on Sept. 11, Winthrop’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes held a free concert at the amphitheater in the campus green two weeks ago, said Courtney Blakely, Piedmont area director for FCA. 

The event also commemorated FCA’s third annual Winthrop Worship Night and aimed to provide “an opportunity to be a positive impact on campus,” Blakely said.

Only four songs into the event, that “positive impact” was shut down 45 minutes earlier than anticipated thanks to what Winthrop administrators say was excessive noise.

The concert was scheduled to feature 11 songs from the band, as well a testimony from a Winthrop soccer player and FCA leader.

Hauling $4,000 worth of rented equipment to campus four hours before the concert was set to begin, Elevation Church members underwent a routine sound check.

Between 4:15 and 4:30 p.m., Marlowe was in the office of Frank Ardiaolo, vice president of student life. As they were talking, the windows in Ardiaolo’s office began to shake, Marlowe said.

Marlowe looked outside and saw the group from Elevation conducting their sound check. Already, she felt the music was too loud.

Four hours later, at about 8 p.m. when the concert was scheduled to start, the music blared. Marlowe, who was still in her office, called Jerry Fussell, technical service coordinator and night manager for the DiGiorgio Campus Center, and instructed him to tell the Elevation Church band to turn their music down since all classes hadn’t ended for the day. 

Fussell complied and asked the group to turn the music down. 

Minutes later, the music played on and to Marlowe, it was still too loud.

Marlowe called Fussell again, asking him to tell Elevation to turn the music down again.

He did.

More minutes passed and Marlowe prepared to leave her office. She walked past the amphitheater where she met with Courtney Blakely, Elevation Rock Hill’s Campus Pastor Frank Bealer and several sound booth operators. 

All parties spoke for several minutes

When the operators told Marlowe that they couldn’t turn the sound down to preferred levels because of the kind of equipment they rented, she told them to shut it off.

She told them they could continue their worship service, but not the music, she said.

The campus pastor tried to bargain, Marlowe said.

“I said no,” she said. 

“Our facilities are primarily for our students and our student groups,” she said.

If Elevation Church wanted to hold an event on campus again, they would need to go the Office of Public Events, Marlowe said, just like any other outside organization.

The concert was an exception because it was sponsored by the FCA, a Winthrop organization, she said.

To Jerry Fussell, the situation was just one big misunderstanding.

Like Marlowe said, he approached the sound booth operators several times about the sound but realized that their equipment was too sophisticated.

“Turning that down would be a really hard feat,” Fussell said.

That same system was too powerful for the specific area on campus, he said. 

Fussell said he knows of Elevation’s reputation for rock-out gospel concerts and feels they didn’t fully understand the time classes ended before occupying the venue.

Disappointment

Sarah Auvil was one of the many students to attend the concert that night.

Alongside a friend who she said had never been to an Elevation Church event, Auvil arrived at the amphitheater as the band conducted their second pre-show sound check. 

To Auvil, their actions were a tad peculiar. 

“They had like a sound check that started at 8, which is when the concert was supposed to begin,” she said. 

Auvil, a sophomore digital information design major, said she found it strange that Elevation Church began their sound check at 8 p.m.—the time the concert was advertised to begin—when they’re usually more organized and aware of time. 

For about 15 minutes, Auvil and other concert attendees waited until the music finally started. 

Thirty minutes or so later, the church announced they had a misunderstanding with Winthrop and couldn’t perform any more songs, Auvil said.

“They had someone speak, and it was kind of disappointing to everyone,” Auvil said. “They [Elevation] were really excited about the event.”

Auvil said that Elevation’s music style resembles rock, so it is a little loud. 

“But if you’re having an Elevation concert, I think you should kind of expect that,” Auvil said.

Elevation’s response 

Before the concert began, Elevation Church underwent proper procedures and ensured that all the proper authorities signed off on the event, including Campus Police, said Frank Bealer, campus pastor for Elevation Rock Hill.

The only hitch was that the concert had to begin after 8 p.m.

Once the concert began, Bealer said the dean of students approached them about the noise levels at the concert and requested they turn it down.

The problem was that with the equipment the church rented, they could only turn the volume down so much, Bealer said.

Though they did their best to adjust, it didn’t meet Marlowe’s satisfaction, Bealer said, and she asked them to end the concert.

In an effort to maintain good relations with Winthrop, the church abided by Marlowe’s request and stopped playing music. 

“We’ve done our due diligence,” Bealer said. “I guess it [the noise level] wasn’t to the dean of students’ satisfaction.” 

Bealer said that Elevation would be willing to do more events with Winthrop and has already been in discussions with the proper leadership on campus to ensure what happened at the concert doesn’t happen again.