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Less than a week after the Austin City Limits Music Festival packed up its gear for another year, La Grave Field in Fort Worth hosted the 2007 Wall Of Sound Festival. Presented by Spune and co-sponsored by Coors Light, the Fort Worth Weekly, and yours truly (among others), the event kicked off bright n' early on the 22nd of September. We arrived around 12:30 p.m. perfectly synced to The Lemurs' appearance. The band played a blistering set of their synth-pop-rock staples, eclipsing the afternoon Sun and invigorating a somewhat listless crowd. The Main Stage(s) set-up was efficient -- Stage One and Two next to each other allowed the succeeding band to set-up while the current act was playing, minimizing the “wait” between sets for fans. However, as we'd find out, there was an occasional hitch as well.

We spent our afternoon soaking burning in the sun, witnessing quality Metroplex acts new to us such as The Paper Chase (can anyone confirm that their drummer really did throw up during the set?), Record Hop, and Black Tie Dynasty, all providing the spectators with much needed energy bolts of the musical variety. If the music failed, we were fortunate to find solace in the wonderful concoctions of Daily Juice. (We recommend the Yerba Mate powered Player-Ade!)

Photos courtesy Keith Gaddis and John Espana @ Flickr

Tacks, The Boy Disaster were arguably the "find" of the afternoon for non-Austinites and Austinites alike, generating wonderful keyboard driven melodies while The Sword were another to draw the now growing crowd with their shout-outs to the fore-fathers of all things metal. We did also make our way to the Third Stage, located outside the "field" although within the confines of the complex. Sound issues marred a disappointingly short set by Denton's Ghosthustler. (Seems like we never get to witness them in full glory.)

For what it’s worth, Spune did send out an apology on the 24th, addressing the various sound difficulties artists and fans might have experienced at the festival. Anyway, after 10 minutes of ghosthustling, we, like many others, utilized the kind policy of in's and out's and joined others in a pseudo tailgate in the parking lot.

As the sun finally faded and the spectators continually increased, we watched Micah P. Hinson fluctuate between soft country sounds and unexpected noise-rock before Brothers and Sisters serenaded us with folk tales and wonderful harmonies. San Francisco's OM supplied long jams of drone and noise at 7 p.m.

Towards (what we thought) was the end of their somewhat repetitive set, the singer even found time to reprimand the Bobby Bare Jr. crew setting up next door to "not soundcheck during our set." As far as we know, the Bare Jr. folk kindly obliged although there were unconfirmed rumors of a middle finger. Regardless, team Bare Jr. waited their turn, and after what turned out to be an excruciatingly long final OM song, the Nashville outfit were able to play their brand of Americana for the patient public.

The Stage One/Two (a-k-a Main Stage) combo hadn't been on track ever since The Sword were "forced" to play an extra song past their allotted time, while the troublesome Stage Three seemed to have lost track of its schedule as well. After a delayed but fine performance by Doug Burr, White Denim provided cacaphonous brilliance amidst moments of precise clarity to fire up the crowd. The band continues to win over fans and critics alike with their inventive garage-rock. We spent most of the Pinback set on our backs, watching the stars over Fort Worth and its skyline. The band's shifting, soothing melodies set to the cooling evening air was replenishing in its own unique way and made for one of the choice moments of our day.

The schedule was nearly an hour off-track now, but fine acts were coming hard and fast in quick succession. Further evening highlights included an eclectic performance by The Books and a thunderous tribute to all things rock n' roll by Lions.

Perhaps the biggest draw of the festival was meant to be Ghostland Observatory, and they were bumped up ahead of Midlake on the schedule, possibly due to their short "set-up" time. We only lasted two songs at that set, instead utilizing the opportunity to go see Sonic Boom and his project Spectrum on the Third Stage. We joined the unsurprisingly small crowd ("C'mon! Ghostland Observatory is playing" is what our friends told us!) and gathered around the Spacemen 3 legend for an performance that was both intimate and inspiring (despite the bleeding GLO sound coming from Main Stage Area.) Sonic and his ally prodded through a variety of noise and beats to produce down-tempo and upbeat soundscapes alike, and found time to cover Kraftwerk's "The Hall Of Mirrors." Score!

Midlake has truly been one of the success stories coming out of Texas of late -- their last album (The Trials Of Van Occupanther) has been hailed on both sides of the pond, and the Denton act's Fleetwood Mac-esque pop-folk blanketed the field for short set of blissful serenades. Each band was requested to drop a song off their set and Midlake gave way to Explosions In The Sky after a brief stint.

The Austin instrumental outfit immediately went to work, creating their traditional soundscapes and fittingly ending the festival best named for acts like them. Unfortunately, time ran out on their epic compositions too soon, and the set ended abruptly but promptly at 12:30 a.m. with apologies from the band, and a mix of discontent and annoyance for the fans.

So a full day of a versatile line-up of Texan and non-Texan acts was over. The verdict? The Wall Of Sound festival is a good thing. As simple as that. Sure there's no need for early bird pre-sales and yes, the crowd at times was smaller than what the artists and promoters warranted, but Lance Yocom and the Wall Of Sound crew deserve full credit for bringing together a segment of Texas' creative community and allowing them to indulge in their own day out. As our town's Fun Fun Fun Fest grows in stature, and with festivals like Wall Of Sound continuing to try, the true believers in the cause can find solace.

Naturally, the shortened sets of the main headliners and sound issues at different times disappointed, even angered some. But as far as we're concerned, a collection of exciting musical talent on display, despite occasional technical difficulties, usually has more pros than cons.