The votes were rockin’ and rollin’ Nov. 4.

Maybe you haven’t heard of them, but the bands Mission of Burma and Mighty Mighty Bosstones were trying to tell me who to vote for last week.

I won’t say who got my nod at the polls, but these two alternative rock and ska bands blared their message loud and clear at recent concerts at Neumo’s in Seattle and the Congress Theater in Chicago.

An “Oburma for Obama” slogan was spray painted on an amplifier, and at the close of the Bosstones’ set, a massive Obama banner fell from the ceiling to cover up the band’s plaid backdrop.

The crowd cheered, and there might have been some jeers in there, as well, but the music drowned them out. Other musicians I am familiar with — and regularly listen to — took the pro-McCain stance on election day, so I’m not going to come off one-sided here.

What matters most is that people were way more excited about voting this year than they have been in years past. Was it because it was Bush’s last year and people wanted a Democrat back in the White House? Or did folks think McCain was a capable Republican replacement?

Either way, the people spoke loud and clear on both sides.

While driving into work at 7 a.m. on election day to report on a story at the local polls, I was a bit jumpy, too, about what the day’s events were to reveal.

It was a cold and rainy day, and my cold was still lingering, but I forged on — just like everybody else who cast their vote. Some people wore long coats, leg warmers and carried cups of coffee. I saw two gentlemen wearing shorts! Crazy, but they were bent on letting their voices be heard.

Two dogs arrived on the scene and waited for their masters to vote. One puppy howled the whole time it was leashed to a pole — a vote for Obama or McCain, Gregoire or Rossi? Maybe a balanced dog-treat budget was more like it.

Well, I survived the weather on that day and met a few enthusiastic voters along the way, so it was a success in my mind.

I then rushed to the office and filed my story and photos on the Web (and I know you’re reading us there because one of my sources commented on the report about an hour after it was posted).

As day turned into night, I made my way home to vote in North Seattle with my wife, and then we settled in for the outcome on TV.

It was a long night, and a historic one. And I can’t wait to experience it all over again.