M.I.A. @ the Grand: Day tripper [concert note]

In the 35 minutes she spent on stage, she repeatedly used her trick of bending the ends of lines into squeals ("ya-ya-heeeeYYYY^YYY"). It's very riot girl, but unlike Kathleen Hanna, Maya Arulpragasam doesn't have a well-defined ideology. Wearing a shiny top and moderately short shorts, she's defiantly not of the boys. Instead, she's willing and able to use boys, like Diplo and DJ Contra, her main man on this show, like her Tamil Tiger dad. The gender clash in her music is less remarked on than the culture clash, but it's more useful: it's the only proof we have that she's a revolutionary. What can she get for $10, she asked us? "Anyting you want," we told her.

Maya came out for the encore in a T-shirt, because it really was too hot in there. "I just stir shit up, I don't know the answers," she told us, running the risk of undermining her art, which depends on its dangerousness. I think it makes her seem more dangerous; if she can't work out what to do about this fucked up world, it'd make it more likely that even if she doesn't go Patty Hearst, she might write a check to those who do.

***

Lots of borderline gigs over the rest the month: Tegan & Sara/Northern State, the Perceptionists, Gogol Bordello, Robbie Fulks. Gogol Bordello seem like they'd be the most fun to watch. Next must-sees (both in the East Bay, yay) are Amy Rigby at the Ivy Room, Nov. 9, and Youssou N'Dour at Zellerbach Hall, Nov. 11.