ABSTRACT
The Infernal Noise Brigade is a marching drum orchestra and street performance crew activated by massive political and cultural uprisings. Scouts reported on the locations, activities, equipment, and numbers of police amassed within several blocks’ radius, as well as street closures, crowd activity, splinter marches, and other protest-related events. Direct Action Network organizers had channels through which to inform us of a pending banner drop, for example, or to request blockade reinforcements. There were stilt walkers dressed as butterflies, a giant inflatable whale blockading an intersection, a hip-hop crew rhyming through a mobile sound system, extraordinary giant puppets, and children blowing bubbles, acrobats. The sounds were incredible – drums resounding off skyscrapers, chanting and singing, laughter – no honking, no engines roaring.
