Three days after the presidential election, Democratic National Convention delegate ART ALEXAKIS and his band EVERCLEAR will play New York City's Irving Plaza on November 5th. An unreleased CD of live and acoustic tracks, Closure, will be available exclusively to ticket buyers . . . JAMES TAYLOR will release a holiday album exclusively through Hallmark stores on November 1st. This is the singer-songwriter's first project since 2002's surprise hit, October Road . . . RADIOHEAD frontman THOM YORKE led a rally at Fylingdales Warning Base in Yorkshire, England, on Saturday to protest President Bush's "Star Wars" missile plan. Fylingdales is the U.K. base affiliated with the program . . .

After canceling her summer tour, COURTNEY LOVE is trying again: the embattled rocker is set to play three dates in California: October 24th in San Diego, the 26th in San Francisco and the 29th in Ventura . . . The first-ever academic conference on the cultural meaning of pop star and controversy-magnet MICHAEL JACKSON took place Thursday and Friday at Yale University. Eighteen professors from around the U.S. met to attend panels with titles like "White Ambition," "American Whacko" and "I Want to Be a Boy" . . . ENON will kick off a tour October 8th in Chicago. The pop-noise trio are currently writing the follow-up to 2002's High Society, due in the fall of 2005, and a DVD compilation of videos, live performances and backstage naughtiness.