Two back-to-back music festivals at Franklin Field over the weekend have cranked a long-simmering noise feud back up to full volume between neighbors and the owners of The Rock Sports Complex. Residents say pounding bass and profanity-filled sets spill into backyards and bedrooms, turning summer evenings into a headache for families. The owner has floated several mitigation ideas, but some neighbors have already filed claims and pushed the city to get tougher on enforcement.
Weekend shows drew headline acts
The two events - Country Rising on Friday and the Tacos & Tequila Festival on Saturday - filled Franklin Field and brought big-name performers to the ballpark. Tacos & Tequila's bill featured Shaggy and Rick Ross, according to OnMilwaukee, and Country Rising lists BigXThaPlug as its headliner on the festival's official site. Organizers sold weekend passes and marketed the shows as part of a broader summer slate at Ballpark Commons.
Neighbors say the sound carries into yards
A monitoring report from the previous Tacos & Tequila event in September 2025 documented two instances where the city's noise limits were exceeded, neighbors and council members said, according to WISN. Residents including Dana Gindt say they have been logging decibel readings on their phones, while longtime critic John Czaskos told Wisconsin Right Now the noise has made his property difficult to enjoy. Neighbors say those complaints have become a regular feature at Common Council meetings and county forums.
Owner and city promise fixes
Owner Mike Zimmerman told the Common Council he would "move the speakers around and put limiters on the speakers," and he also proposed hiring a third-party sound manager, constructing a physical sound barrier and offering nearby residents free hotel stays to get away from the noise, the developer told local officials and media. Even so, several residents told FOX6 they are not convinced those promises will be applied consistently once the crowds show up.
Neighbors' legal push and what's at stake
Two longtime critics filed a formal claim with the City of Franklin on April 14 seeking at least $50,000 per household, citing alleged drops in property value and the loss of quiet enjoyment, and they asked the city to revoke permits that allow sound above the standard 50 dB day / 45 dB night property-line limits, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. That reporting notes the Common Council approved higher-decibel permits on April 21, including allowances up to 65 dB for some Milkmen games, and that some monitoring equipment has been sent out for factory calibration. The claimants say selective enforcement and earlier settlement discussions have left them with little administrative recourse.
What comes next
City leaders say they are trying to walk a line between entertainment dollars and residents' quality of life, and officials have highlighted new monitoring and mitigation efforts while the Rock runs events, FOX6 reports. With more concerts on the calendar through the summer, both neighbors and officials say they will be watching the monitoring data closely, since repeated exceedances could trigger additional legal action or tighter limits.
