Eight Gigs: Instagon

To distance itself from its farm-school reputation, UC Davis launched an international recruitment campaign for its arts and music programs in the 1960s. The result? A robust and groundbreaking avant-garde music scene, according to historian William Burg. This event, Davis Noise Pioneers, will kick off with a lecture from Burg and segue into a full afternoon of experimental sounds from NorCal Noisefest favorites such as Instagon, Art Lessing, Noisepsalm and Chopstick. Instagon is, of course, a Sacramento noise staple: improvisational garage jazz by Lob Instagon—and whoever else he can scrounge up since Instagon is never the same group twice—since 1993. 1919 F Street in Davis, www.davisartscenter.org.