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(International) Noise Conspiracy After a rather emotionally charged set from Czech band Sunshine, the INC hit the stage, decked out in matching polyester suits and Beatles-esque haircuts (just like in the “Smash it Up” video) and rocked the house thoroughly. They came out and dominated the stage lacking none of the passion and fury that one would expect from a band with such high regard for their social message. Where many bands require light shows, films, and other multi-media techniques to keep the eyes of the audience entertained, the INC kept the level of interest without any extreme form of modern technology, but rather, gave the show a strong element of intensity with their overall presence, power and stage antics. There was not a second of entertainment to be missed throughout the show; bassist Inge Johannsen practically danced while playing his instrument, and whenever there was a point in a song when Dennis was not singing or speaking, he was whipping the microphone or the tambourine around (or something crazy like that), and at one point, he even bolted out into the crowd (with the mic still attached to the cord). The manner in which he did such simple things magically kept up the curiosity of the crowd, making them constantly wonder what was to happen next. This is how punk rock was meant to be! Regardless of how they looked, their presentation was of the most outspoken nature, which was an aspect of punk that I originally thought had died with the 1980’s. But this performance was in the same spirit as all of the classics, and merely took things a step further; the traditional “punk” look has been done, and it is starting to wear thin. They mod look they go for is their deliberate approach to blurring the lines of expectations, and isn’t that what punk was originally about? Not to mention, the entire show had this surrealistic atmosphere to it, in that it looked (and sounded) like something directly out of the 60’s, yet felt like something way ahead of its time. It takes pure genius to come up with a concept such as this. Bands like this are a true inspiration, and I applaud the creativity and effort of the INC. Bravo! In all truth, the only complaint I can honestly bring to the surface about the show itself is that it was way too short. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe they played less than twelve songs, and that is not a lot for a punk band, and them stopping that early made the ending seem very abrupt. But that happens, and as fans, we all have learned to deal with it. It is my next complaint that is truly bothersome; the crowd just didn’t get it! It seemed like about 25% of them were there because they equated the concert to a Refused reunion show, while the other 75% were there because this was a good chance to swing around to 60’s rock music. In this equation, there is no space left for people there who believed and supported the words that came out of Dennis’ mouth, which is an absolute shame, because it is obvious that his intentions involve much more than entertainment. I expected at least a few people in the crowd to react when he mentioned Noam Chomsky and other various names in American politics, but the look on most of the faces in the crowd was that of complete confusion. It seemed that he knew more about American politics than anyone in the whole hall, and yet he is from Sweden. Furthermore, there were people playing pool and drinking at the bar while he poured his heart and soul out into his performance. Still, with all this against him, the show went on, though Dennis’ aggravation was very evident (especially when he started blatantly razzing the people playing pool). For putting up with it, though, I commend him, and can only hope that the few there with open minds (and ears) took his words into consideration when they went home after the show. But even if people don’t go home invigorated by the power of his words and more inspired to pay attention to politics, it was still a very rousing set, and I was very impressed with everything the band put into it. Power to the people! ***** (out of 5)
