Couldn’t have had this show without Daniel, who helped at the door, & Bill Badgley, who pitched the concept & did the initial wrangling. Thanks, guys! Photo: Sean Carnage.

Paul Lai from Upsilon Acrux plugs in—& takes off! Photo: Carnage.

Preparing for guitar bliss… Photo: Carnage.

I gotta say, I’ve heard a lot of “guitar noise” in my time but what Paul did was not at all what I was expecting. The sounds were beautiful—very “om” and uplifting, at other times hyper-choppy like being repeatedly shocked by a Taser hooked to Giorgio Moroder’s sequencer. Can’t say I minded. Photo: Carnage.

I wasn’t the only one who was surprised—and pleased by such an engaging soundscape. Photo: Carnage.

Sez Paul: “I wanted to make something pretty, then fuck it up, and then make it pretty again.” Or something like that. I may have gotten the quote wrong but the goal was achieved. Photo: Carnage.

San Pedro’s A Lovely Sort Of Death (L-R): Moises Maldonado, Raymond Terrones, Billy Fleps. Photo: Carnage.

I really liked A Lovely Sort Of Death. Photo: Carnage.

The gathered take it all in… Photo: Carnage.

Nice crowd this night. Photo: Carnage.

ALSD: Heavy/punishing, grandsons-of-the-Stooges punk, sure. But surprisingly atmospheric at the same time, stylish, had David Lynchian noir-ish groove—a fresh take on some sounds we all love. Photo: Carnage.

Ray singing & drumming for ALSD. Photo: Carnage.

Moises all smiles. ALSD sounded amazing! Photo: Carnage.

Ray & Billy. Photo: Carnage.

I could not get into the room for the highly anticipated debut of NOÏ. Photo: Carnage.

This is actually my third attempt to worm my way up to the front for NOÏ, a few songs into the set after some folks had shifted around. It was so packed! Photo: Carnage.

NOÏ (L-R): Victor Mackey, Ferdie, Bill Badgley. Photo: Carnage.

I really dug the wild guitar contrasted with some extra low & smooth basslines. Loved that NOÏ wasn’t trying to crush my brain every single second. Photo: Carnage.

Bill lettin’ loose. Photo: Carnage.

Rock force has been achieved—lift off! Photo: Carnage.

Ferdie was the hero keeping the whole thing percolating along. Great new band, NOÏ. Photo: Carnage.

Po Cheng Yeh aka Dizparity from Taipei, Taiwan. TBH, the music he was laying down was better than us yahoos deserved. Dizparity is some soulful, slick shit that sometimes got ultra scary—I love it! Po really made the night special, and I’m grateful for that. Photo: Carnage.

RIG’s setlist & tools of the trade (megaphone, old school landline phone receiver). I love that they have a song called “Syphilis Diller.” Photo: Carnage.

RIG (L-R): Marc Palacios, Christian Moreno. Not visible: double drummers Ferdie & the always excellent Phillip Haut. Photo: Carnage.

RIG’s frontman Craig Ibarra waits for his cue to jump in. He’s gonna kill me but he looks a little like Fred Armisen waiting to do a bit. Photo: Carnage.

Christian lays it down, ’90s Pedro style: sludge-o-rama. Photo: Carnage.

Everyone was loving RIG from the start. Photo: Carnage.

Craig Ibarra jumps in… Photo: Carnage.

RIG’s set really took me back. The last time I saw them was on Earth Day 1993 in Bloomington, Indiana, before they even had one drummer (RIG originally used a drum machine). So, yeah, it had been awhile! Photo: Carnage.

Really impressive to hear RIG in person after all these years, with two drummers & so much confidence. Photo: Carnage.

Gettin’ wild on the phone mic. Photo: Carnage.

Dizparity sometimes sounds like drum ‘n bass sexy good times… Photo: Carnage.

…Other times it’s like John Carpenter soundtrack meets Autechre / Gabber hellscape! Thank you thank you for all you do, Po. Your music is highly inspirational. Photo: Carnage.

Image: L Coats.