A Cayce music festival is back for a second year with a big name and intentions to make things go smoother after irritating some of its neighbors in year one.

The electronic music celebration Hidden City, billed as the Columbia area’s first EDM festival, debuted last April at the Historic Columbia Speedway, bringing with it a headliner well-liked by genre fans in Zeds Dead and a little too much volume for some of the residents who live in the neighborhoods close to the venue.

Many flocked to Cayce Mayor Elise Partin’s political Facebook page to register complaints, noting such annoyances as "rattling windows" and "excessive bass.” The city ticketed the event for violating its noise ordinance, with Partin noting that it was the first concert and the first Speedway event to receive such a citation.

Hidden City returns for the follow-up this weekend, teaming with another promoter, Crescendo Music, to put on a concert headlined by electronic music luminary Steve Aoki.

In addition to putting effort into recruiting a big name, Shelby Judd, one half of the promotions team behind Hidden City, said they have taken steps to avoid a repeat of last year’s friction with the neighbors

They applied for and have been granted an extension to 10:30 p.m. to remain in compliance with the city’s noise ordinance, which places a curfew on loud events at 10 p.m.

Judd detailed additional steps the event has taken to keep its noise in check.

“We've taken decibel readers and gone into areas where we got a lot of complaints, and we took ambient noise readings,” he said. “And then, basically, we bumped it up about five decibels at certain radiuses away from the festival. And so we're going to have a team of people throughout the festival going in these neighborhoods and every 30 minutes taking readings.”

That way the festival will know if it’s exceeding its noise threshold and be able to adjust accordingly.

Cayce City Manager Tracy Hegler confirmed that the city has worked with the organizers to help them accomplish what they’re trying to do within the confines of Cayce regulations, which she said is something they do for anyone looking to put on an event.

“[We] work with them to make sure that our expectations are clear and that theirs are as well so that we can have a fun event but one that complies,” she said. “What we've been doing is working with the event promoter to make sure that, you know, ‘Hey, we really need you to understand that you are in a neighborhood, you are surrounded by residents, and we have this ordinance for a reason and we're going to work with you to make sure that that's complied with.’”

But while the city hopes it can work with event organizers to stave off such issues, it’s prepared to levy citations and take violators to court if the situation warrants.

Mayor Partin brought up the socially distanced Cola Concert series, which she said operated at the Speedway without issue, as proof that big concerts can be accomplished at the venue without aggravating nearby residents.

“I don't know why they wouldn't be able to follow a similar model to create fun for people who want to come out there while also not disturbing the neighborhood,” she said. “But there were issues.where our staff was talking to them last year and they ignored our staff. That is not collegial behavior. That is concerning.”

Judd and the locally based 2 Pilot Productions, which puts on Hidden City, are hoping to solve these issues and keep their event going, filling what they see as a largely ignored niche in Midlands entertainment.

“I think this is something that would do well and is needed, especially with a college right here,” Judd said of how the idea took hold.

He added that statistics show EDM to be one of the most popular genres for concerts in the U.S. and the world at large, heightening his frustration that it is hard to experience such shows without decamping to a larger city.

“Instead of complaining about, like, ‘Hey, there's not these options’ or ‘ This isn't here,’ I was like ‘Well, let's just be the solution to this,’” Judd said.

Going by the promoter’s report that about 4,500 people attended the first Hidden City, it would seem they’re onto something.

“We want to be good stewards of the community,” Judd said. “We understand it can be frustrating sometimes to have an event venue kind of in your backyard. So we want to try to find the happy medium to be able to put on a good show but also respect the city. So that we're not driving too many complaints.”