The Boredoms were surrounded by 88 drummers broken into different subsections that would play varying and sometimes identical sounds. At precisely 8:08 p.m. 88 BoaDrum began, first with the hissing of cymbals from the stage, which were soon followed by a single boom. The hiss and boom that first worked its way around the stage slowly began to spill out to the lawn where the 88 were situated. As the pounding found its way around the entire circle, the anticipation of the juggernaut of sound everyone expected was about to take off. A loud shriek of synth noise filled the air, nearly drowning out the drummers who were furiously filling. The loud shriek began to slowly fade and this rumbling, like hundreds of horses running through the mountainside, began to take flight. Goosebumps! For the next 88-plus minutes everybody in the crowd sat enraptured in sound, which ranged from Kraut to tribal rhythms and metal to funk, played in the three movements. The feeling and the sound were both surreal. It is something you can’t even wrap your mind around happening, let alone hearing. At one point the Boredoms and their group of 88 hit a stride that sounded like a sweaty club jam with Prince and the Revolution supplying the groove, while Jimi Hendrix played some crazy-ass feedback. Blood flowed through the body, which was filled with energy and vitality. The heart began to race. It was almost impossible to sit still anymore. The crowd was dancing, smiling and collectively enjoying every last minute of this spiritual mindfuck. Unless the Boredoms come through and put together something for 09-09-09, you will never experience anything like this in your life and be worse off for it. Tonight was a moment, the type where you don’t need to pinch yourself, because hundreds of other happy people (and perhaps some extinct tar-soaked animals as well) were filled head to toe with life.

– Alex Roman