Opening the night was local noise purveyor Sick
Buildings, who brought an innovative set of harsh
shifting electronics. Before he began, rape whistles and alarms were distributed throughout the crowd with accompanying instructions. Halfway through the 10-minute set, there was a short pause followed by an assault of high-pitched whistles from the crowd. Sick Buildings then hurtled at least a dozen
pre-sampled high-pitched whistles back at the audience for an intense, disorientating effect, and quite possibly
marking the first time a rape whistle was used to assault rather than protect.

Worldwide and local noise legend the Rita continued the night’s assault with a short blast of his harsh brand of volcanic electric-crackle. For those who have not seen the Rita in action, it’s an earthshaking experience you won’t soon forget. He started off with an explosive roar that would be akin to standing behind a fighter jet as it revs its engines. After several brain-rattling minutes, he reared back and slammed around a black metal box filled with contact mics and shards of metal, emitting an incredibly jarring and ear-damaging sound that was as powerful as it was painful.
Ann Arbor’s Wolf Eyes ended off an already intense night with a two-part set. The first part was a 20-
minute crawl through a foggy funhouse from hell.

Droning electronics, squealing saxophone, feedback-drenched guitar and snarled incantations cast an ominous cloud over the spellbound audience. The second half showed the aggressive side of Wolf Eyes, which, unsurprisingly, got the biggest reaction from the crowd. Arrhythmic beats that would have fit on an Autechre album laid the backbone for most of the tracks,
meanwhile the band screamed, skronked and shredded the crowd to bits. One fan got so excited he stage dived into an unwilling audience and knocked himself out in the process. But not even that could top the insanity that dominated Pat’s for almost two hours.