MFT’s Noise A Thon proved to be something straight out of the deepest corners of a child’s innermost crayon box, something like the hidden eraser remains my Mom used to collect as a kid.  She was fond of eraser dust and would save the small pink squiggles to smell later in private.  Like the long forgotten smells of our youth, noises can bring us back to places we forgot even existed; back to our roots, back to our memories, back to fun places where we used to roll down hills and forget any notion of worry, where we could be awash in fantasies seeable even in the daylight.  

     “Noise” as a musical genre reminds me of that unabashed freedom we were all at one time familiar with as kids.  It’s also a genre in music that doesn’t seem to have much of a home in Indianapolis, but was given a grateful space for one day.  The location was the SmallBox basement, which read “children” above the door.  What a fitting room.   This celebratory show crawled into into Broad Ripple like a spidery giant where locally known and unknown musicians alike were free to show us what they wanted us to hear.  It was easy to appreciate the openness of the night. 

     As someone present through the beginning and end of the show, I heard sets that transported me and sets that made me rethink my expectations of local musicians in well-known bands.  Some were raw and impromptu and some were more fleshed out, but each was honestly unique and created it’s own soundscape to be imagined by the small, but observant crowd. 

     The Noise A Thon was special for many reasons, but to me, the nicest thing to see was the coming together of friends and people who believe in the same cause of artistic expression and the support of the local arts.   All in all, the long night was filled with respect and attentiveness from those who were there.  20 something of us made it through the entire 12-hour show and were treated to a much-needed breakfast at Biscuits (a wonderful place to eat with a very alert staff) by Jon Rogers.  Without SmallBox and Jon, none of this would have been possible.  So, with that in mind, thank you very much. 

Enjoy the full photo set here: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mftphotos/sets/72157644850896178/

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