Outdoor entertainment will soon be coming to the Brew Fish beer garden, after Marion's selectmen gave it two thumbs up Tuesday night.

Brew Fish owner Todd Zell had applied for a change to Brew Fish's entertainment license, which previously allowed bands to play only inside the restaurant, on prescribed days and hours.

Brew Fish, located at 210 Spring Street, has faced noise complaints from nearby neighbors in the past, even with the band playing inside the restaurant. Selectman Steve Cushing asked Todd and his wife Erin how they planned to combat the noise pollution.

Todd explained that in the past, he had opened the door of the restaurant when bands were playing, both to let the music flow out and to keep the restaurant cool. The space has since been renovated, and according to Todd is capable of remaining much cooler.

Erin added that Brew Fish would be scaling back on the types of bands they hire this summer. "In the past we had full bands in the restaurant, and full rock bands," she explained. "It got to be too much. People couldn't talk and relax over dinner because they couldn't hear each other."

With a grin, Todd added, "We've learned that only bad things happen after midnight."

The Zells are planning to offer more acoustic sets to tone down the noise both inside and outside the restaurant. In fact, the outside entertainment license will only allow two people to play at any one time, and only acoustic music will be performed. Acoustic music may still use small speakers, according to Todd, but nothing near what a full band would set up.

The entertainment license allows Brew Fish to play music outdoors on Thursdays from 5 to 9:30 p.m., Friday from 5 to 11 p.m., Saturdays from 12 to 11 p.m., and Sundays rom 12 to 9:30 p.m. "It's obviously not all those hours," Todd explained. "We have a three hour limit on bands playing. That's just the range of times in which they could play."

Selectman Stephen Gonsalves told the Zells that they should plant trees around the fence to help soak up some of the noise, an idea the couple was receptive to. Gonsalves also noted that the Zells might consider using the neighbors as a litmus test, to sense what was too loud.

"We're happy to help," Todd said. "We don't want to be the bad neighbors."