Aftershock amplifies Sacramento's underground music scene as "NorCal NoiseFest" kicks off same weekend
SACRAMENTO -- One of the biggest rock festivals in the country will fill Sacramento with the sound of heavy metal through the weekend as more than 160,000 people are expected to attend Aftershock.
But did you know that there is another three-day music festival rocking out in the capital city this weekend?
The 27th annual NorCal NoiseFest kicked off Friday night at Cafe Colonial. While it draws crowds more in the hundreds than the hundreds of thousands, Sacramento's music scene both big and small is in the spotlight.
"The idea of NorCal NoiseFest is to take this obscure form of music and make it visible in a very loud and blatant way," said festival organizer and performer William Berg.
What is noise music? It has no lyrics and no melody.
The name of the genre describes it best: it's noise.
The musicians manipulate sound, similar to a DJ mixing a set, to create a satisfying example of self-expression.
"There's nothing to hang your brain on. There aren't lyrics to follow. There's not a beat to dance to. There's just this direct experience between the sonic waves and your brain. You're left just with the intensity, this raw visceral emotion," said Berg.
It is an experimental art form that has a growing scene in Sacramento. It dates back to 1995, according to Berg, who has been a part of NoiseFest since the very beginning.
"We thought, 'Let's do this national noise event here in Sacramento.' What happened is people came to NoiseFest in Sacramento, were inspired by it, and went back to their own cities and started their own festivals," said Berg.
Berg says noise music predates its American scene in both Europe and Japan, but as far as America's noise festival scene is concerned, Sacramento's influence cannot be ignored.
"Now there is an international network of NoiseFest with performers crisscrossing the country, and it all started here in Sacramento," said Berg.
Noise performers admit that it is not for everyone. It is not meant to be.
"Everything about it is unexpected. It's chaotic. There's something very attractive about that," said Denise Chelini, a NoiseFest organizer and performer. "The way you can express is limitless as well as the instruments you utilize."
The festival puts sound in the spotlight.
It's no mistake that NoiseFest is on the same weekend that Aftershock turns up the volume in Sacramento. Berg says there's often an audience overlap between fans of metal and fans of noise music.
"They'll go to Aftershock and think, 'That's nice,' but I was looking for something a little more intense," said Berg.
That means the big stage helps amplify the small.
With thousands of rock fans in town, NoiseFest organizers hope to reach the ears of Aftershock fans searching for more.
"I would check it out," said an Aftershock attendee named Adam. "It's a very niche genre. Some people are into it and some people aren't, but I like it."
In its nearly 30-year run, this marks the first year that admission to NorCal NoiseFest is free.
If you want to hear what the noise is all about, the festival continues Saturday at Cafe Colonial. Sunday's acts will all be streamed online with a watch party at There and Back Cafe in Sacramento.
