CHIPTUNE ON >>

Marquees around town don't feature Bagger288, Full On, Firedrill and Infradead bands every other weekend. These cats can't draw a crowd of yuppies/college kids on a consistent basis. Sadly, these bands lack what it takes for popular acceptance. They are a "niche" group. They play "chiptune" music. It's really noisy, and pretty in an experimental sort of way - an absolute pleasure for ears irritated by production.

Chris Lehfeldt digs chiptune music - synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of old computers and video game consoles. He and his fellow chiptuners host a yearly chiptune event in Seattle.

"My own music has always been more ambient and noisy even though I use a lot of chiptune elements so I decided to try and set up a show in Tacoma that would cater more toward the chiptune sound," says Lehfeldt, aka Infradead.

Lehfeldt contacted Caffe Dei on Sixth Avenue, the experimental bands mentioned above and Saturday's Tacoma Noise Rodeo was out of the chutes.

"The idea behind Tacoma Noise Rodeo is there really has not been a venue for more experimental electronic music in Tacoma. There are quite a few bars and clubs that play dance music but no place for livaPA acts to play stuff more left field and less than danceable," says Lehfeldt.

Left field is right. Lehfeldt says he's bringing a modular synthesizer and plenty of patch cables to create conduit, Firedrill will be armed with a Commodore 64 and a fistful of bananas and Bagger288 will drone on a fretless Buddha guitar

Lehfeldt also says Caffe Dei will have some beer and wine specials during the night.

There you go folks. We imagine the Tacoma Noise Rode will either give you nightmares or you'll join the fan club.

Tacoma Noise Rodeo

Bagger288, Full On, Firedrill, Infradead
Saturday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m., no cover
Caffe Dei, 2607 Sixth Ave., Tacoma
253.572.2550

LINK: Live music tonight in the South Sound