When Bruno Mars hit the stage at Rogers Stadium on Sunday night for the first of five shows, health-care worker Adeana Libman was winding down at home nearly 10 kilometres away.
About an hour into Mars’s concert, she said bass from the stadium began rattling her house and woke her brother’s baby.
“As soon as that bass came in, she was bawling,” the 34-year-old Thornhill resident said.
“At first, I thought someone was in their car outside listening to music. It was loud and clear. You could hear the words; you could hear every instrument.”
Libman was among numerous Toronto-area residents who took to social media over the weekend to complain that efforts to reduce noise from the temporary outdoor venue at Downsview have fallen short.
Some residents speculated that rain and heavy cloud cover may have made the situation even worse.
Live Nation has been working with the local community to come up with solutions for the ongoing going noise complaints, though some say the company isn’t doing enough. Recently, it replaced last year’s porous grandstand fabric with black vinyl cladding in an attempt to better contain sound within the venue. The company did not respond to a question about whether it considered the new siding an improvement.
The latest noise complaints marked another rocky start for Rogers Stadium, which faced widespread criticism last summer over traffic congestion, crowd control and long waits at nearby transit stations.
While city officials and venue operators appeared to improve traffic flow and crowd management this year, residents and local officials say noise remains a significant concern.
James Pasternak, the city councillor for York Centre, where the stadium is located, said he heard from frustrated residents after the first show.
“There’s work to do,” he said.
“We have to continue to engage Live Nation and our municipal licensing department.
“We will be meeting with Live Nation and city officials and will not stop looking at solutions to find a balance to address the noise concerns.”
Sunday’s concert marked a turbulent start to the already delayed 2026 summer schedule. The first night of Bruno Mars’ run was postponed on Saturday when high winds and heavy rain led the venue operator to push the show to May 31.
Even as intermittent rain and fog persisted Sunday, Live Nation decided to proceed with the concert, though the company acknowledged conditions “were not ideal.”
“Weather can significantly affect how sound moves through the city,” Live Nation said in a statement to the Star.
“Temperature, humidity, and cloud cover can all cause sound to travel farther than usual.”
Ingrid Buday, founder of advocacy group No More Noise Toronto, said the complaints largely involve low-frequency sound, which is less detectable by the ear but has other effects.
“Sound waves go through the air, but when they hit a structure like a house, they cause vibration,” she said.
“Those are the hardest frequencies to mitigate.”
Several concertgoers also reported lengthy trips home after Sunday’s show, with transit service affected by track work closures on the Barrie GO line.
Rogers Stadium is set to host 20 concerts this summer, up from 14 last year, including shows by Post Malone, Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters and AC/DC.
Libman said the prospect of enduring a summer of loud concerts while working 12-hour shifts has left her frustrated.
“I’m not excited about it,” she said. “I’d like to be able to sleep.”
