D Nuts || September 24, 2007
If you attended this weekend's Wall of Sound Festival, you might've noticed a few sound and time issues... GuideLive certainly did in their relatively scathing review. Apparently, the issues in question were bad enough to elicit an apology from Fest main man Lance Yocom:
Aw, Lance, why not call the company out by name? He goes on to explain that headliner Explosions In The Sky were incorrectly told that they had a reduced set time thanks to a domino effect of delays, technical issues and miscommunication. Oh well. Seems like the fest was still a vast improvement over the two previous runs, with the major bummer being, according to that GuideLive review, general lack of interest.
Jasun has a review brewing (and he posted photos HERE), so I'll let him speak on this matter for the most part, but I can't help but be baffled by the music-hating climate in Dallas. In Seattle, events like the Capitol Hill Block Party are stocked largely full of local and small acts, yet the crowds keep coming and coming--to the point where I almost got trampled in a huge crowd at this year's BP. So what's the big difference? From my experience so far, I'm pretty certain that Dallas' issue is still the lack of major radio support. If any station came even close to KEXP around North Texas, Wall of Sound would've been the zoo that it should've been. Good radio, as I've always said, is the common denominator in building interest and hyping live music across a large metropolitan area.
Forget worrying about alt-weeklies, blogs and Deep Ellum; if people really wanted to make a difference, they'd pump their money into acquiring a lower-frequency radio signal that reaches the Dallas-area 'burbs. The rest of the pieces would fall into place from there. -SM
"We can now very clearly say that the sound company hired will never receive business from Spune again and we are VERY sorry for any frustration and disappointment that may have come from their attitudes, actions and delivery of the event."
Aw, Lance, why not call the company out by name? He goes on to explain that headliner Explosions In The Sky were incorrectly told that they had a reduced set time thanks to a domino effect of delays, technical issues and miscommunication. Oh well. Seems like the fest was still a vast improvement over the two previous runs, with the major bummer being, according to that GuideLive review, general lack of interest.
Jasun has a review brewing (and he posted photos HERE), so I'll let him speak on this matter for the most part, but I can't help but be baffled by the music-hating climate in Dallas. In Seattle, events like the Capitol Hill Block Party are stocked largely full of local and small acts, yet the crowds keep coming and coming--to the point where I almost got trampled in a huge crowd at this year's BP. So what's the big difference? From my experience so far, I'm pretty certain that Dallas' issue is still the lack of major radio support. If any station came even close to KEXP around North Texas, Wall of Sound would've been the zoo that it should've been. Good radio, as I've always said, is the common denominator in building interest and hyping live music across a large metropolitan area.
Forget worrying about alt-weeklies, blogs and Deep Ellum; if people really wanted to make a difference, they'd pump their money into acquiring a lower-frequency radio signal that reaches the Dallas-area 'burbs. The rest of the pieces would fall into place from there. -SM
2 Comments:
It wasn't perfect, but it was really good. I drove up from Austin. Ironically two of the best sets I caught - Lions and Lymbyc Systym - are Austin bands I'd somehow never seen (but easily could've anytime) at home.
Security was pretty much nonexistent - tickets, wristbands and backpacks weren't even checked. After dark anything could've happened, thank god everyone stayed cool. There was a lot of trust around - I even saw merch tables left unattended.
Not living up to hype were Micah P. Hinson and Om. If the latter really played over and worsened the schedule slippage, that's a shame. They weren't even as heavy as The Sword, who weren't even as heavy as Lions. Re anti-hype, Black Tie Dynasty weren't as awful as their detractors had led me to fear.
Living up to hype was Record Hop, who were also responsible for my best festival memory. They didn't set out any merchandise, and I ran into them later and asked. The woman, Ashley, said she'd fetch a CD from the car and find me. Not only did she, she wouldn't accept my money.
I was wondering too about the low turnout.
So here's a link to some pictures I took. Mere documentation, not art. Hope I didn't mis-identify anyone.
www.flickr.com/photos/11208647@N07/sets/72157602126080832/
Here's some pics i took that night of Bobby Bare, Jr. & Midlake:
http://tinyurl.com/2ldj9y (flickr)
Post a Comment
<< Home