Following last week’s introduction, one might think I was being a little too hard on the Democratic Party, and some folks might be bothered by that. Fair enough. In my defense, I’m trying to help people — not the party, I have no love there — get through the denial and bargaining stages of grief, supporting the voices of protest while adding my own addendum to some of the ideas those voices are expressing. For instance, you don’t need to say positive things about Hitler in order to condemn Trump, nor do you need to pretend that whatever alignment Trump has with the current oligarchy in Russia makes him a commie. Reality isn’t The Daily Show or John Oliver. This is a good time to move aside some of our most beloved infotainment media institutions to take an honest assessment of the situation and what will (and won’t) work to enact meaningful change. Trump is a malignant symptom of a disease our institutions couldn’t help but create given the conditions of our national polity. When he posted an A.I. image of himself as the Pope during the grieving time for millions of Catholics around the world, or another as a nativist Jedi on Star Wars Day, he not only participated in the gross tech slop of social media, he became a mascot for its ugly sickness, a plague designed and brought down on us over decades of bipartisan American venality and barbarism. When he blows the chance of forming an international coalition with similarly minded politicians, like when he upset the predicted Conservative victory in the recent Canadian Prime Minister election by shooting his mouth off about annexing Canada for no reason, he was engaging in the id-driven cretinism that has defined our worst international actions throughout history. He is America, through a certain lens, a tulpa manifested from the black magic built into the dark geometry of our undemocratic ship of state. And the phony liberal tech meritocracy of the last few iterations of Democratic leadership is a part of that evil as well. If we want to change the conditions under Trump, we must transform America itself and question how sacred certain institutions really are to us, in the face of what they are inflicting on living people here and abroad. We must find our collective trials in the wilderness, our Road to Damascus, our Buddha of Suburbia. With that in mind, I will close with this quote from Herman Hesse’s novel Siddhartha and wish you an excellent week:
“I had to pass through so much stupidity, through so much vice, through so many errors, through so much disgust and disappointments and woe, just to become a child again and to be able to start over … I’ve had to experience despair, I’ve had to sink down to the most foolish one of all thoughts, to the thought of suicide, in order to be able to experience divine grace, to hear Om again, to be able to sleep properly and awake properly again.”
Thursday
Baltimore rapper and raconteur-singer Shordie Shordie is headlining the Arcata Theatre Lounge tonight at 8 p.m., rolling through town on his Breath of Fresh Air tour. On tap for support is Gritty Lex, a raw young talent whose hip hop dynamics have earned her acclaim in her hometown of Sacramento and beyond. This looks like fun for the younger set as well as old heads looking for fresh sounds. Pay $33 to get in the door, while for $140 you can score a VIP ticket that includes a meet and greet.
Friday
Two great choices tonight, so let’s get to it. At the Eureka Theater at 6:30 p.m., there will be a screening of the excellent sci fi flick Sorry to Bother You, but more to the point, the film’s writer and director, the multi-talented and politically brilliant Boots Riley will be doing a Q&A after the screening ($10, $5 children and students).
If you’d rather check out something more intimate and local, half an hour later the EXIT Theatre is hosting Stories and Songs About Baseball, written and performed by Jeff DeMark, Paul Bressoud, Michael Crowley, and Martin Swett with music by The Brother Damarkov with Jeff Landen. It’s a 30-seat venue, so get your $15 tickets for tonight or tomorrow night’s show ASAP.
Saturday
Some New Orleans musical royalty comes to the university tonight at 8 p.m. when drummer and vibes player Jason Marsalis performs with the Humboldt Jazz Orchestra in a program directed by CPH music professor Dan Aldag. The gig’s at Fulkerson Hall, which, while spacious, has limited seating for such an occasion, and it might be wise to grab your $50 ticket early if you are inclined to go.
Also at 8 p.m. is a killer show with the new venue alert siren blaring — for this column anyway. Moss Oak Commons at 1905 Alliance Road in Arcata is hosting Opening Head Records’ Freq Night, a venue fundraiser and monthly underground music series with a $5-$10 suggested donation but with no transactional obligation to hear the music. Luke Aronie from Open Head Records and Sean Casement from Blackplate will be debuting their drone music collaboration Headroom at the end of the evening, following sets by The Idyllic Sun Toy, jackspydersparks, sew and godzdog, all fantastic bands, I have been informed by trusted sources. Roll through and celebrate the brilliance of your enduring, evolving scene.
Sunday
More jazz on the docket tonight, when the Creative Sanctuary presents Jazz is Peace: A tribute to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn at the Arcata Playhouse tonight at 7 p.m. The line-up features a rogues gallery of top-notch musicians, including James Zeller, Katie Belknap, Danny Gaon, Ramsey Isaacs, Allison Muench, Matt Seno and Tree. There’s also talk about some guest swing dancers, which sounds just fine to my ears. Tickets range from $15-$30, and will hopefully help restore the beloved, storm-whacked Sanctuary.
Monday
It’s another Metal Monday at Savage Henry Comedy Club, the all-ages 7 p.m. slot that lets you grind heavy without interrupting your weekday sleep pattern. Tonight’s offering stars “raw death” band Kontusion from New Jersey and D.C., along with Catastrophic Death, The Riving and Lazarus, which I assure you is not the soft rock act from the ’70s of the same name. It’s $5-$20 to get in, and bring an ID if you want to drink something fermented.
Tuesday
Shh … do you hear that? No, wait, it must have been my imagination, no shows tonight. Nothing but the wind sliding down the petals of the first night on the waning side of the Flower Moon. Carry on.
Wednesday
Skating Polly is a band from Oklahoma City full of fine noisemakers who are carrying on in the tradition of playing mutated forms of music born in the same decade they were, in this case, the 1990s. Expect prismatic shards of indie rock, post-grunge, riot grrl punk shot out of amps and drums, and strewn all over the Miniplex tonight ($20, $15 advance). Tacoma Washington’s similarly aligned experimental punk act Ponty’s Revenge is onboard as well. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Collin Yeo (he/him) would rather speak like a child or not at all.
This article appears in Summer of Fun 2025.