I’ve got three videos and a bunch of photos on Exploit Boston! from Sunday’s HONK! Fest and Oktoberfest in Harvard Square. They were expecting 100,000 people — not sure if there were that many but definitely a lot. Lots of people. And dogs. And street bands. Mostly just a lot of happy people enjoying a beautiful Fall day.

Here’s a 70 second clip of Titubanda from Rome performing at HONK! Fest. The full video is at Exploit Boston!.

So… thanks to my newfound friend (who I still haven’t met), SOOZ, there are a few videos posted on Youtube… Check them out. If anything, I am hoping they are as fun to watch as it was to just get up and play them…

Last night I was at Ray LaMontagne’s first of two nights at the stunning Boston Opera House. Yes, more awesomeness. It’s just been that kind of month! Some of the photos I took of LaMontagne and his band of cohorts and a review-of-sorts are over at Exploit Boston!.

I’ve been working on some new updates over at Exploit Boston! … concert recommendations and photos. The internet radio station will come back to life sometime this Fall.

The awesomeness that is Boston rock band The Lights Out returned to the Middle East Upstairs last night (9/5/08) for a great show. Check out their website and download the latest EP for free. If you’d like the real thing with album artwork it’s only five bucks. The band also needs your vote to win Harpoon Brewery’s “Best Unfiltered Band” competition. The winner gets a year of good beer and a cool gig.

Here’s the Flickr slideshow of photos I took of The Lights Out last night.

This is one of the last concerts that Nickel Creek performed. They’re focusing on other projects including Chris Thile’s band Punch Brothers and Sara and Sean Watkins’ Watkin Family Hour.

Glen Phillips will be in Boston on Thursday October 16th with Jonatha Brooke. They’ll be performing at The Wilbur Theater that started hosting music concerts not too long ago. That is definitely not a show to miss!

Glen Phillips, July 2007, Lowell Summer Music Series

• All I Want
• Everything But You
• True
• Windmills

Nickel Creek, July 2007, Lowell Summer Music Series

• Best of Luck
• Reasons Why
• Set Me Up With One Of Your Friends
• The Fox
• The Lighthouse’s Tale
• When You Come Back Down

I’ve teamed up with local arts non-profit The American Repertory Theatre for a series of blogger events during the upcoming 2008-2009 season at their two spots in Harvard Square. Each blogger receives a complimentary ticket for themselves and a friend. The first event for the new season takes place on September 16th for Let Me Down Easy a play in evolution, written conceived and performed by Anna Deveare Smith. (If you were a West Wing fan like me, you might recognize Anna from her role as National Security Advisor Nancy McNally on The West Wing, 2000-2004.)

About the Production:

Well known to A.R.T. audiences as the creator of Fires in the Mirror, Anna Deavere Smith is one of the most acclaimed and provocative writers and performers of our time. Her latest one-woman show, LET ME DOWN EASY a play in evolution, is a journey in search of human qualities that are too seldom in the news – compassion, generosity, and grace.

Channeling a dramatic range of interview subjects, from sports stars and philosophers to healthcare professionals and survivors of the Rwandan genocide, Anna Deavere Smith asks a question for our age: how do we pursue grace and kindness in a competitive and sometimes distressing world? Generous and powerful in its vision, LET ME DOWN EASY a play in evolution is a virtuosic exploration of the resourcefulness of the human spirit.

To jump start conversation about the production, the A.R.T. has posted an entry on their blog titled “What is Grace” — they’ll be reading and collecting (and responding to) opinions before and after the blogger night on September 16th. Might be a cool use of Seesmic to get video reactions to the question, too? I’ll post a separate blog entry here at sooz.com with my own tidbits answering the question.

As the A.R.T. staff began to discuss how the word “grace” factors into Anna’s production of LET ME DOWN EASY a play in evolution, we realized how individual concepts of grace are very different and very personal. One member of our group found himself uncomfortable with the word; others found it powerful. Some saw it spiritually, while others associated it only with the body.

How do you think about grace? Do you think of yourself as someone who experiences grace in your life? Why? How? If you work in the world of health care and healing, how do you see grace fitting in?

If you’re a Boston area blogger and you’d like to join us for Let Me Down Easy a play in evolution on September 16th, head over to the RSVP page to sign-up. Each blogger receives two tickets so feel free to invite a friend, too! As an added bonus, A.R.T. is giving away two pair of tickets to see KOOZA from Cirque de Soleil.

Here’s a YouTube video from 2005 at the TED Conference where Anna Deveare Smith portrays four people she interviewed for “On the Road: A Search for American Character.” — author Studs Terkel, convict Paulette Jenkins, a Korean shopkeeper, and a bull rider.