Big Gigantic performed at Dallas’ House of Blue last Thursday with their dance, electronic and hip-hop beats. (Photo Courtesy of Chad Smith)

The noise drifted from the basement of the House of Blues. It smacks you in the face like a handful of pennies thrown by a petulant child. The noise jars any coherent thought from the mind.

The noise is loud. The noise is pulsating. The noise is what some people call “music.”

On Thursday night, three “bands” came to desecrate one of Dallas’ many cathedrals to homemade melodies.

Big Gigantic, a saxophone and drum based electronic group from Colorado, was the main event. The act is made up of saxophonist Dominic Lalli and drummer Jeremy Salken.

Good, coherent, enjoyable, deep, enlightened, fun, interesting, entertaining; none of these words can be used to describe WiZard and Griz- the two opening acts for the redundantly named Big Gigantic.

The two opening performers were as forgettable as a mediocre potato salad. Both spent the majority of their sets with their faces glued to their laptop screens and their fingers fidgeting with some knobs and dials.

The resulting sound of both acts was reminiscent of music in the same way that a crushed vehicle resembles a car.

Their manipulation and torture of innocent notes makes one long for the days of talent and instruments.

So, kids, if you want to make it big in the music world, forget music classes, forget voice lessons and forget hard work. Just do what WiZard and Griz did, buy an expensive computer that will write your music for you.

If you ever need something that a magic music-making machine cannot do, just steal whatever it is from people with talent. Remember Cage the Elephant’s “Ain’t no Rest for the Wicked” sounds much better when its been mangled by computer programs.

When Big Gigantic took the stage there was a ray of hope.

Instruments.

A saxophone and a drum set. It was a small glimmer, but a glimmer nonetheless.

When they began to play, however, that hope dissipated. The reliance on prerecorded sounds played at a high volume and confusing light displays robbed the musicians of most of the respect I had for them.

The one highlight of the evening was the drummer, Salken. He skillfully kept the rhythm and consistently hit his mark. It’s a shame that his talents were not displayed appropriately. Distracting racket and light displays hid his true talents.

Big Gigantic focused on spectacle rather than substance. While technology in music is not a bad thing, machines and computer software writing music for any act is lazy and undeserving of any praise.

The audience did not share these views. The sea of people undulated in a large mass like a clothed orgy made possible by alcohol and terrible music.

A woman wandered the crowd covered in fluorescent paint, another woman stumbled around in just her bra, and a man and his date clumsily struggled to stuff marijuana into one of those fake smokeless cigarettes. It was like a small scale Woodstock without the mud, good music or social awareness.

Something terrible has happened to music, dancing and the perception of talent. People in the crowd moved like marionettes being controlled by drunk puppeteers.

These groups are not worth the effort to see live. They are not worth the effort to download. They are not worth the effort to listen to at a friend’s insistence. If your friend tries to pressure you into listening to this kind of music, talk to a parent or a mentor. Say no to electronica.

Say no to dub step. Say no to thieving DJs.