All Hail Thor!

Is this the onset of my mid-life crisis? I saw Thor at the Scratch birthday celebrations last weekend - from which the above photos, by Femke van Delft, came - and I absolutely loved it.

I watched some of the Youtube clips of Thor that Nardwuar directed us to while MCing, and found them - well, a tad baffling, but, er, highly entertaining. (A more recent feat of onstage strength can be seen here, by the way).

I wrote Mark Prindle to ask why he has no Thor reviews on his site, and he responded with one line: "Because he's awful?" I actually considered arguing. Whatever Thor may be, "awful" is not the word for it. "Absolutely ridiculous" might apply, but then, weren't the Ramones also absolutely ridiculous? Isn't a goodly part of the rock and roll transaction fundamentally absurd? Would it be fun any other way? Since when in the world of rock has "ridiculous" been tantamount to "bad?"

I have written a praising review of Thor for next month's Nerve Magazine. And today, I braced myself against all sense of shame and good taste and marched into Scratch to buy me some Thor CDs.

The cover art for Thor Against the World says it all, really. God help me, you know - I almost hoped I would roll my eyes and come to my senses as soon as I popped it into my discman - but I actually think I enjoy this album. The guy at Thor's merch table warned me that this would happen, but I didn't believe him. And then Thor mounted the stage in Norse warrior gear and began to wave his hammer in the air, and... at first I was startled, and then I was confused, and then I was fascinated... and then I started to actually enjoy myself.

Please, friends, don't worry about me. I'll be okay, really.

I highly advise anyone in this city who has NOT seen Thor to go to the Backstage Lounge on December 1st for his CD release party for Into the Noise, his new album. You will be entertained, I promise. You may be other things as well, but I promise: you will be entertained.