SF, CA
SPLIT SIGIL RITE
ITCHY-O RETURNS TO THE BAY AREA WITH “THE SPLIT SIGIL RITE” - A TWO-NIGHT PERFORMANCE EVENT - JOINED BY DEATH GUILD
August 22 – the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco August 23 – UC Theatre, Berkeley Itchy-O is a sixty-plus-member performance collective based in Denver, Colorado, known for producing large-scale, immersive ritual events that blend tribal percussion, experimental electronics, and audience-engulfing theatrics. Uniting khaos and precision, the ensemble collapses traditional performance boundaries - igniting transformation through sound, movement, and myth. Hot off the heels of their meditative and celestial sonic offering Söm Sâptâlahn, itchy-O strikes for the first time in the Bay since 2018, with the ceremonial bombast they are best known for. The Split Sigil Rite: A Tale of Two Rites - a spiritual incursion divided across two cities and two nights. Together, the performances chart a mythic trajectory: a Rending in the West, and a Resurrection in the East. NIGHT ONE: THE DESCENT August 22 – the the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco DOORS 8PM ~ SHOWTIME 9PM ~ ALL AGES The rite begins in the Western horizon to initiate the Split Sigil Ceremonies. Inside the historic the the Great American Music Hall, the ensemble conducts a ceremonial bash The glyph is fractured. The current is activated. NIGHT TWO: THE RETURN August 23 – UC Theatre, Berkeley DOORS 8PM ~ SHOWTIME 9PM ~ ALL AGES The second performance continues in Berkeley’s UC Theatre, bringing forward the echo of night one in new form. Here, sound and spectacle begin to reassemble. For those attending both, the experience forms a nonlinear arc: rupture, renewal, and resurrection. Each evening stands alone, but together they reveal a deep singular arc. Whether one-night witness or full-rite participant, attendees can expect a high-impact encounter with one of the world’s most elusive and unorthodox performance ensembles. Tickets and additional info: itchyo.com/the-split-sigil
Audience Role
At an itchy-O event, the role of the audience is fluid. Some arrive simply to witness, content to stand at the edge and take in the spectacle. Others dive headlong, moving with the swarm, surrendering to rhythm and chaos until they are no longer separate from it. We meet people where they are. If you want to be a spectator, you can be. If you want to become a celebrant, the door is open. The music surrounds from every direction, drummers, masked figures, and electronic storms collapsing the distance between stage and crowd. Vulnerability and anonymity twist together until the egregore comes alive, carried by everyone present. No two experiences are the same. Each participant chooses how far to go, but every choice adds to the collective force. At itchy-O, the ritual is not something to be watched. It is something to be entered, in whatever way feels true.
Ages: All ages
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About THEE ITCHY-O
Since 2009, this Colorado-based meta-mystical ensemble has been thrilling audiences across the U.S. and beyond. A battery of fourteen-plus power percussionists comprises the spine of the fifty-plus strong performance troupe whose orchestral arsenal of avant-instrumentation runs the gamut from guitars, gamelan, and synths to less conventional instruments including theremin and vocoders in concert with more experimental trance-inducing appurtenances. Itchy-O dismantles assumptions of traditional performance models to break down the barriers between audience and experience, administering a blast of ceremonial chaos; baptizing the audience—body, mind, and collective soul—in a spectacular, pan-sensorial sea of music, mystery, and transcendental spiritual spectacle. Itchy-O proudly served as a centerpiece at MONA’s world-renowned Dark MOFO fest in Tasmania in 2016 and is ecstatic to be invited back to perform, again in 2023. They have performed on stage with David Byrne & St. Vincent. JG Thirwell and Dan Deacon have opened for itchy-O and they have warmed up audiences for numerous legendary artists including DEVO, Beats Antique, Iggy Pop, Bad Religion, and Public Enemy. They have performed countless private engagements, including a legendary performance for Maynard Keenan’s Merkin Vineyards in 2019. Jello Biafra’s iconic underground record label, Alternative Tentacles has released three of their groundbreaking studio albums. Itchy-O is also committed to providing spontaneous free public performances in the spirit of upending the mundane and delivering mesmerizing art to the streets by providing impromptu musical encounters in non-traditional settings; delighting unsuspecting audiences with surprise ontological assaults on ordinary reality. www.itchyo.com