Electric Eyes Festival

The Electric Eyes Festival, a quirky, two-weekend event, will celebrate what is perhaps the most experimental of music genres, termed simply as "electronic." Not to be confused with electronica, this sound is more like the blurry love child of music and electronic media. Perhaps the most complex of scheduled performances is the Cosmic Engine, a trio that employs multi-video projection, live music, and interactive audio elements to ponder the meaning of time versus chaos. Sound a little too freaky? Try Sub/veillance, a night of trombone, soprano vocals, and video art, or Unfamiliar Geometry, which also features live music and video, but throws in audio manipulation for good measure. When Payton MacDonald formed Alarm Will Sound, the New York Times hailed the group as "the future of classical music." Here at the fest he will be performing as Super Marimba, where MacDonald will use looping machines and delay pedals to create a unique sound that's about as rock 'n' roll as a performance with a xylophone can be. Finally, electric eyes will arrive soon, literally. As part of the show, Gerald Smith has created Eyescape, an installation that projects a pair of eyes onto the Southern Theater's exterior for the duration of the festival.
Saturdays, Sundays, 8 p.m. Starts: May 31. Continues through June 7, 2008