(photo: RadiO ShOck)
Back in the 1980s, you didn't need to set your sun dial to the second week in March, as the carloads of drunken college kids in town for spring break did it for you.
Thanks to a prostitute-patronizing,beach wall-building, fun-killing Vice-Mayor, the 21st century version of "Where The Boys Are" happens during the second weekend in February at Churchill's Pub during local noise legend Rat Bastard's International Noise Conference.
While the wet t-shirt contests have been replaced with dudes rolling around on the floor making noise with devices ranging from a mic'ed up glass plate, to toy instruments - The INC is every bit as worthy - if not more so -as a celebration of rebellion against convention.
Sure, some of the participants at INC are No Wave retreads like NYC's RadiO ShOck, who pretend to have song structure and melody in between skronks. However the great majority of acts at INC take after Rat and don't bother with the formalities. A visit to the you tube page of Washington DC's Twilight Memories Of The Three Suns shows is summed up succinctly by one commenter: "Looks like the world's worst acid trip. Yuck!"
But one person's bad acid, is another's pure Owsley. The INC may induce headaches to the average music consumer, but they probably don't belong there anyway. Running away from ear damage has never been this much fun. And if you can't take the sonic boom, your wallet won't be lighter for it. All three nights of INC - 24 hours of music in total - are free.
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