Yes, it’s that time of year again. The Native American Day of Mourning. Thanksgiving. Victor R. Venckus hosts what must be his 25th (or 200th) Annual WZBC Pow-Wow. Native American or Native American-inspired music from all possible genres, all day on Thanksgiving, this year being Thursday, November 27, from 1-10pm on WZBC 90.3 FM. You can tune in via the interweb at www.wzbc.org. It’s an awesome show, so as you’re OD’ing on Tryptophan or slicing into your Tofurkey, check him out.

The Airborne Toxic Event Xmas Tour 2008

I guess they decided that 30 shows in 30 days in the UK wasn’t quite enough, so they’ve added a bunch of U.S. dates a week after they get back.

Watch this space for perhaps a proper L.A. show to be added [The Toy Drive at Knott's Berry Farm, while pretty funny and very cool, kinda doesn't count. But if you go, bring a stuffed bear or sumthin'].

P.S. Edited map to include the Knott’s Berry Farm “Toys for Tots” event, which looks to be the L.A. show, sponsored by Star 98.7.

Gray, drizzly morning, fog thick on the harbor, shrouding secret cruise ships, tankers, military vessels – or perhaps something even more sinister. No one knows, in the mysterious, sensuous gloom. But you feel they’re out there, stealthily lurking to and fro with their unknown cargo. Later on in the morning, foghorns cry their mournful song, harmonizing with the seagulls. These are perfect sorts of days for me, standing on my porch with a cup of tea. Thoughtful, wistful, vaguely sad, though I find it does not depress. On the contrary, I welcome it like a comforting shawl that wraps itself securely around me.

How absolutely fantastic that Barack Obama will be our next president. I still can’t believe it, and every time I see or hear “President Elect Barack Obama” I’m just amazed, and tears well up in my eyes, remembering the images from election night, as I sat riveted to CNN and MSNBC. That African American woman at Chicago’s Grant Park, who sunk to the ground with her head in her hands, overcome by emotion. A huge crowd in *Sydney* counting down to that 11pm Eastern Time U.S. hour (”5-4-3-2-1″) like New Year’s Eve, with CNN on a giant screen, and as soon as “Breaking News” appeared and then a picture of Obama, erupting into cheers. People going out into the street and celebrating, all over the world. What an amazing sight. I was completely convinced that Obama would win, but McCain would refuse to concede, citing some bizarre election machine malfunction in Idaho or wherever. Am I so jaded about U.S. politics that I can’t believe that something *good* could actually happen?

Sarah Palin. Whenever I watch or even just listen to that woman talk – about anything – I have this overwhelming desire to put my hair in pigtails and hop around the room to Toni Basil’s “Mickey”. This is a dangerous woman. Someone please keep an eye on her.

The pursuit of happiness feels to me like a game in a carnival. So difficult. So random. So elusive. All those endless floating ducks circling past you, and you know that one – only one – has your dreams, your desires, your hopes, casually revealed on its bottom side. So you put your money down, and pluck one up. Nope, not that one. And more money, and again. No. And still more money, more effort, as time slips by, the hours, the days, the years. You try to concentrate, you try not to concentrate. To focus, to not focus. To clear the mind, to meditate, to approach the matter in a Zen-like, irreverent fashion. They’re not ducks, they’re grains of sand, or toy soldiers, or jellybeans. And this isn’t important, this isn’t your happiness at stake, not the purpose of your life, but a child’s fancy. Let it go, release the expectations, release the fears, release the sense of struggle, the sense of anything. But in trying not to try, you’re caught up in that eternal riddle.

After promising earlier this year that I would make a concerted effort to support local bands, finally last night I decided that I was in the mood for some live music. I headed out to a show at The Middle East Upstairs, featuring four Boston-area bands: Left Hand Does, Thick As Thieves, This Car Up & The Shills. I had given them all a quick listen first on MySpace and they sounded very cool and indie rock & pop-ish, with some pretty melodic stuff mixed in – just what I wanted.

Before I start to bitch about something here, let me first say that these are all really good bands, and I had a great time. I would encourage everyone out there to not only go to shows of your favorite artists when they come to town, but to take a chance on people you may not have heard before and support your local musicians, wherever you may be. MySpace makes it so damn easy now. You don’t even have to risk not liking something; have a listen first.

Now for my rant. A suggestion to bands out there who may be reading this: just because you’re playing in front of an audience doesn’t mean you have to try to rip people’s faces off. If you have pretty, melodic, folksy singer-songwriter type songs, it’s ok to play some stuff gently and softly (even in a skanky, dirty bar), so folks can enjoy them as they were intended. Now, I do realize you’re in Boston, and maybe it’s because of our driving habits and generally aggressive, foul temperament that you think we don’t like music unless it’s thrashy and loud and makes your ears bleed. But it’s just not true. Especially if you’re playing at a place like the Middle East Upstairs, the size and shape of a shoebox (and I say that lovingly). Yes, I’m old, but it’s not just that. I like to be able to actually hear stuff once in a while. Have a fighting chance of maybe being able to make out the lyrics. All four of these bands, at least on their MySpace pages, have music that’s multi-layered with subtleties that I didn’t hear very much of last night. Not to say that I don’t enjoy my share of thrashy rock, but mix it up a little, especially if a particular song calls for a different approach. Don’t worry about that drunk headbanger two feet in front of your face, nor the sloshed young girls (who are new to inebriation and don’t know how to do it properly yet) talking throughout the entire set, spilling drinks and falling into everyone. Play for those people who came to listen to your music.

Ok, first impressions, not having heard these bands before, and purely subjective…

Left Hand Does – really sorry I missed part of your set (I’m North Shore-challenged, which makes those “first band of four in Central Square” early evening sets a bit iffy), but I think you guys are terrific and I’ll definitely make a point of seeing you again. Standouts for me (based on the 4-5 songs I heard): something with the line “I like your shoes, but I hate your face”, and “Airplanes”, which was very cool with some awesome keyboards. It’s interesting that among their influences they mention Crowded House and Split Enz, because I definitely got that “Kiwi quirkiness” from them, which I really like.

Thick as Thieves – Another band I will investigate further. Two guys on guitars (Aaron Benson and Tyler Littwin), keyboards, bass & drums, sounding really good, and hints of some really nice stuff underneath that “in-your-face barroom scrappiness”, which caught my attention.

This Car Up – Again, two “dueling guitars” which sounded great together, keyboards, bass, and some guy named George on drums. Very quirky, fun guys. Nice vocal harmonies. But again, the more melodic songs on their MySpace page didn’t totally come across (to me, anyway), I think just because it was too loud. Maybe it’s also the sound in that room, not sure. It’s certainly not the worst in town (the old Paradise back in the 90’s takes that particular award), but maybe still not so great.

The Shills – This was actually my least favorite, even though they were the headliners and obviously have a decent following of hardcore fans. It comes down to personal preference; they were decent musicians and put on a highly energetic show, but just not my thing. It may have been the high-pitched vocals, which I’ve never really been a huge fan of, unless it’s part of a wide vocal range (as in the case of Rocco DeLuca, one of my favorites). But again, all this is obviously subjective. Oh, I’ll also say that they have a sax player who I really would have liked to hear more of; either it was just my hearing in that room, or he was mixed way down.

Jesus, I sound really critical! But hey, 3 out of 4 isn’t bad, especially for my first time hearing any of them. And there’s nothing like leaving those four walls and checking out your struggling local bands, showing them some support. True, Boston has an amazing music scene, but you never know, your little town in the middle of nowhere might have some awesome band waiting to be discovered…

Here’s to a fantastic month of shows by The Airborne Toxic Event as they begin their UK tour today, starting at The Royal in Derby. They’re mostly hitting small cozy venues like Fibbers in York, Joiners in Southampton, The Brickyard in Carlisle, and The Hope in Brighton (capacity 90!), but also a few larger places like Carling Academy in Birmingham and The Academy in Liverpool. The final date in Fife, Scotland, at The Greenside Hotel, looks like it would be a really nice place for a long vacation, and that big, hairy green monster of jealousy is rearing his ugly head as I type this. All I can say to the Brits reading this is… you lucky buggers!!

I’ll be scouring the interweb for reviews of shows, photos, video clips (hoping), so if you’re attending any of these, have a great time… and get cracking!

I had some silly fun playing around with a mapping program last night (full list of dates are at the bottom, or you can click on the various locations).

For TATE fans stuck on the wrong side of the pond, here’s a wonderful interview courtesy of web in front from earlier this year. Required reading. And required listening as well, as it includes two (amazing) songs not on the album, “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses” and “I Don’t Want To Be On TV.”