Wall of Sound at Brouwerij West

Story by Baraka Noel,Photographs by Jacqueline Richard

Sunday, October 15th, in the afternoon a crowd descended on Brouwerij West to feast on
pizza and local brew, relaxing into the Grateful Dead inspired ambience of Wall of Sound.

With Cardinals football playing inside and the usual suspects behind the bar; tie dyed
hippies danced in the humid air of a waning sun, with glowing orbs above. The Las Vegas
game, adjacent on a smaller screen.

A faux hawked beertender handed out suds among the dissonance of mixed voices, screaming toddlers, infants shaded by their strollers and chatting families on the knotted pine of the scattered picnic tables.

Hip patrons, boisterous kids and carefree parents; a dread-haired child tasted his plastic tractor on the floor as a trolley came by, delivering more folks from across town. Jeffrey Nicholas Brown, twenty year member of the Blue Man Group, pounded percussion; mirrored by road dog and veteran session drummer, Darren Pujalet, on a twin set.

Ed Lyons quick fingers gracefully traced his double stack of keyboards on a stage decorated by throw rugs and stacked kegs.

Nick Sandoval and Jim Shank traded guitar riffs through the afternoon. Jason Buck, of the Sea Palace Studio, plucked bass while barefoot and bearded dancers gyrated across rugs and carpets strewn on the sun heated pavement.

Pink hues faintly blurring out along the water. A calm gathering of mostly happy people, vibing to Dead covers over a jovial pint. A honkey tonk groove, bathed in tie dye and trucker hats. The band crowed, “on the road again, sure as you’re born”.

Mustached older men in casual wear, heads bobbing behind sunglasses; gentle breeze shifting over sundresses. Playful kids, dancing children and couples sharing food.

The warehouse bustled with its weekend crowd, framed by the hulking silver vats and street graffiti style mural work. Paired off patrons, cuddling with their micheladas.

The lifelong rockers carried their torch for the dancing bears as a cheerful, long-locked busboy weaved in and out of the crowd with his plastic tub. Ed, Nick & Jim, their trio of voices crooning melodies of sugar and smoke. Rough overgrowth framing the stage for a solar descent.

Eager puppy mouths. A palm lined drive. Cherubic toddlers beneath a robin’s egg sky. “It feels like summer,” said the band’s lead.

Sunshine Marigold, a fair haired and inquisitive child tracked her whimsy across the navy yard. A stuffed Garfield plush doll clung drunkenly to a tip bucket for the musicians, and myriad ladies in straw hats delicately took their pleasure from the venue’s curvaceous glasses, with four lines of thirsty beer drinkers by the bar. A redheaded child rocked blue headphones and a ninja turtles tee. Artificial vines
climbed over speaker boxes beside picnic benches splashed in beer and draped with patrons. The air drenched in sweat and church organ tones.

Teachers at a nearby table graded quizzes on ancient Rome for a local school. “What does this even say, she just repeated the same sentence four times.”

One fan moved his hips in a white tee shirt emblazoned, “Jerry’s Dead Phish Sucks Get a Job,” in plain text. Grown adults hopping and spin dancing in a timeless, ageless ’80s celebration. A literal ‘wall of sound’ rejecting thought, in favor of enforcing the groove. “Get back home where you belong.” Sunglasses and shielded faces, hands over brows to block the light shaded by woven canvas and lit overhead. A riot of improvisational apoplexy. Washed in vibrating rhythm; notes flying, sound pounding the ribcage and reverberating from chest to chest. The road weary singers, scatting and strumming. A sea of cutoff denim; floor spills, stray kids and leashed pets. Beer can hanging from a
rope of faux spider webs against one wall. An insistent pseudo organ sounding off percussive cacophony and symphonic rhythm. Strangers and neighbors dripped in beach casual and semi formal wear.

A tiny blonde entered the scene in tights and a tiara. One more cruise ship obscured the horizon. “Thank you everybody,” the group set their instruments down.

Tickets are available for Wall of Sound’s upcoming performance at Sainte Rocke in Hermosa Beach on November 4th.