Fuse Coming Attractions: What Will Light Your Fire This Week

Arts Fuse critics select the best in film, theater, music, dance, visual arts, and author events for the coming week.

By The Arts Fuse Staff

Film

Hader and Armisen send up "Grey Gardens."

(l to r) Fred Armisen and Bill Hader send up “Grey Gardens” in “Documentary Now!”

The 6th Ciclismo Classico Bike Travel Film Festival
May 27th at 7 p.m.
The Regent Theatre, Arlington, MA

Bicycle enthusiasts! Here is the only festival devoted to bike travel. This year features 12 short films that focus on destinations from Malaysia to Patagonia. The Grand Jury film, awarded to the movie with the most spectacular scenery and cinematography, went to A Nomad’s Life, which chronicles Stefan Boehm’s travels throughout the world. The Australian Adventure examines the less-than-rosy aspects of the traveling life. How to Make a Cycling Film if You are Both the Cameraman and Presenter is a funny and touching short film that unlocks the secrets behind the making of many of the other films in the festival. The finale is Panamerican Childhood, a look at the unbelievable two-year journey of toddler Ronja – from Alaska to the tip of South America! There is a ‘Social Hour’ from 6 to 7 p.m.

From Nothing, Something
May 28 at 7 p.m.
Somerville Theater in Davis Square, Somerville, MA
Free

GlobeDocs presents a film that profiles creative thinkers across many disciplines, with the aim of exploring the common techniques, habits, and neuroses that lead to breakthrough ideas. “The film follows sixteen successful creative people in their work-spaces, during their routines revealing the dedication required – and the costs exacted – to achieve their creative visions. The result is a smart, intimate, often funny look at the creative process – straight from some of our culture’s most unique and accomplished talents.” Registration required.

Berkshire International Film Festival
May 28 through 31
Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington, MA, and at the Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield, MA

The BIFF showcases the latest independent features, documentaries, shorts, and family films. It has become an integral part of the cultural fabric of the Berkshires, presenting, along with the screenings, lively panel discussions and special events focusing on filmmakers and film artists. Noteworthy — the line-up of films is significantly different than other festivals around New England. Full Schedule

Archie's Betty

Archie’s Betty
May 30 at 7 p.m.
May 31 at 12 & 3 p.m.
June 14 at 12 & 3 p.m.
Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Boston, MA

Filmmaker, writer, professor, and Arts Fuse critic Gerald Perry presents his latest documentary, in which he searches for the real life inspirations behind the characters in the venerable Archie comic book. Peary weaves first-person narrative into a detailed look at the history of the cartoon, including examining its little known roots in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Interviews and commentary take a light-hearted look at the comic’s unique place in popular memory. The filmmaker will be present for a Q&A after each screening. Arts Fuse preview

Grey Gardens
June 1 at 7 p.m.
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Bookline, MA

If you have never seen this classic cult documentary, now is  your chance. It is the story of Edith “Big Edie” and “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, distant cousins to Jackie Kennedy, living in squalor in the Hamptons with their many cats, Bigelow, Pinky One, Pinky Two, Tedsy Kennedy, Hipperino, Zeppo, Little Jimmy, and Champion among them. Directed by Albert and David Maysles, the film was adapted into a Broadway musical, a TV movie, and has been parodied and re-enacted endlessly, most recently by Bill Hader and Fred Armisen in their new series Documentary Now!

— Tim Jackson


Dance

stories that kept you awake at night when you were younger
May 29 & 30 at 8 p.m.
The Dance Complex
Cambridge, MA

Grant Jacoby & Dancers presents a retrospective vision of the journey from youth to adulthood, as told through jazz, ballet, musical theatre, modern, and post-modern dance.

Enjoy outdoor dance for free this weekend at the Dance Museum in Union Square, Somerville, MA.

Enjoy outdoor dance for free this weekend at the Dance Museum in Union Square, Somerville, MA.

Dance Museum
May 30 from 5–7 p.m.
Union Square
Somerville, MA

Calamity Co. Dance and the Somerville Arts Council set out to challenge the notion that traditional dance performance must take place inside a theater. The Dance Museum invites audience members to wander through Union Square  and enjoy the doings on an outdoor dance “stage.” Local dancers (many of whom represent the Luminarium Dance Company and the Nozama Dance Company) will perform.

A Spring Wedding
May 30 at 8 p.m.
Jordan Hall, Boston, MA

Chorus pro Musica celebrates the finale of its 66th season with the added draw of dance. BoSoma Dance Company has collaborated with this choral powerhouse since March 2014. The group will present new choreography set to Igor Stravinsky’s Les Noces. Arts Fuse preview.

And farther afield…

Fingers & Feet
May 31 at 7 p.m.
The Dance Hall
Kittery, ME

Internationally acclaimed artists Nic Gareiss and Maeve Gilchrist take music and movement to a riveting new level. Gareiss contributes percussive dance while Gilchrist joins in with harp and song. The goal is to create a contemporary take on the traditional melodies of Appalachian clogging. An optional workshop precedes this performance.

— Merli V. Guerra


Visual Arts

On the Scene: 20th Century Street Photography
May 30 – July 31

Searching for the Real
May 30 – July 31
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA

Beneath the history of photography is a steady advance of technology that pushed the cutting edge of the possible into the taken-for-granted. We, who carry sophisticated, foolproof digital cameras in our pockets can barely imagine the challenges  that faced early photographers: noxious chemicals, glass plates, bulky equipment, lengthy exposure times, and complicated dark room procedures. As cameras shrank and methods simplified, photographers moved into new territories.

On the Scene, the Addison Gallery’s summer photography show, celebrates the era when photographers were at last free to spill out onto the street and mingle with the teeming masses, catching revealing slices of life along with ironic random encounters. That yen for spontaneity began in the early 20th century. It was the time the population of New York, swollen with the influx of immigrants (escaping from Europe, fleeing small farm America and the Jim Crow South) were a vital part of the city’s evolution to the front ranks of the capitals of world power and influence. It was just this heady, always volatile, mixture that inspired masters of the camera such as Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Lisette Model, Walker Evans, Helen Levitt, Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, and Dawoud Bey, all of whom are represented in this show.

Running parallel with On the Scene at the Addison is Searching for the Real, an exhibition drawn from the impressive Addison collection. The show traces the dramatic story of American art as it moved from figurative work to pure abstraction, a progression that ended with the dominance of American artists in late 20th-century art. As the decades progress, virtuoso figurists like Homer, Whistler, and Hopper give way to the abstractions of Hans Hoffman, Jackson Pollock, and Sol LeWitt.

An-My Lê, Robert Falcon Scott’s Hut and Research Vessel Nathaniel Palmer, 2008, archival pigment print, 40 in. x 56 ½ in., Museum purchase from the Jetté Acquisitions Fund, 2009.056

An-My Lê, Robert Falcon Scott’s Hut and Research Vessel Nathaniel Palmer, 2008, archival pigment print. Part of Paper Trail at the Colby College of Art.

Paper Trail: Contemporary Prints, Drawings and Photographs from the Collection
May 30 – August 30
Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME

Colby College’s Museum of Art shows off selections from its rapidly growing and increasingly distinguished collection of contemporary works on paper, including prints by Tomma Abts, Glenn Ligon, Raymond Pettibon, Lee Bontecou, Amy Sillman, and John Baldessari, drawings by Richard Serra, Daphne Cummings, Sharon Louden, Elena del Rivero, and Terry Winters, and photographs by Richard Misrach, Loretta Lux, and An-My Lê. Even in an time when video and installation pieces appear to be dominating art-making, the close-up scale and quiet intimacy of paper-based media still offers the quickest way into the mind of an artist.

Most Endangered Properties 20th Anniversary Exhibit
Opening May 28 at 5 p.m.
Providence Preservation Society, Providence, Rhode Island.

Founded in 1956 as an advocate for the city’s endangered architectural heritage, the Providence Preservation Society established it’s “Most Endangered Properties List” two decades ago. This spring the organization celebrates the twenty years of activism that the list represents: the organization’s mission is to raise awareness and engage the public, owners, and developers in finding viable ways to extend the lives of irreplaceable landmarks. A special exhibition of photographs at the Peerless Building, 150 Union Street, Providence, celebrates the organization’s successes and failures during the years of the list’s existence, while it also points out buildings currently under threat, including the fantasy fortress of the 1907 Cranston Street Armory, listed as endangered seven times in the last twenty years. Clearly, the work of the Society will never be done.

— Peter Walsh


Jazz

Satoko

Pianist-composer Satoko Fuji returns to Cambridge’s Lily Pad with her quartet Kaze.

Satoko Fuji & Kaze
May 25, 6:30 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA

The Berklee and New England Conservatory-educated pianist-composer Satoko Fuji returns to the Lily Pad with the quartet Kaze, with its unusual two-trumpet front line. In a variety of contexts, including big band, Fuji has combined exploratory writing and free improvisation, informed by her own charismatic piano playing. Fuji is traveling from Japan for a short tour to celebrate the release of Kaze’s latest CD, Uminari (referring to “a sound rising from the sea, a low-frequency roar that portends coming storm or tsunami”).

Joey Alexander
May 27, 8 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA.

The latest prodigy to take the jazz world by storm is 11-year-old Balinese pianist Joey Alexander, whose advocates include Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis. You can read Nate Chinen’s sober, cleared-eyed profile in The New York Times. Or hunt around on YouTube and catch his remarkably mature rendering of “My Favorite Things.” Or catch him live with a trio at Scullers.

Newpoli
May 29, 8 p.m.
Oberon, Cambridge, MA.

Technically, this is an “Italian world music” band, but populated with a crew of Boston jazz adepts. In the past they’ve focused on a variety of Italian regional styles, with special focus on the tarantellas from Sicily and the tip of the boot. For the new Nun te Vutà, singer Carmen Marsico and guitarist Björn Wennås have written originals in traditional styles. Expect vocal derring-do and nifty dance steps from Marsico and singing partner Angela Rossi. As for the music itself instrumentation (including oud, accordion, mandolin and various hand percussion), minor modes, and dance rhythms reach back centuries, spiced with the Arabic and Greek flavors of the southern peninsula.

Catherine Russell. Photo: Stefan Falke

Singer Catherine Russell — a singular approach to traditional jazz and blues. Photo: Stefan Falke

Catherine Russell
May 30, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA.

Singer Catherine Russell has a singular approach to old jazz and blues – focused, direct, never overstated, with a beautiful emotional clarity and her own sound. (And, FWIW, her father was Luis Russell, the longtime musical director for Louis Armstrong.)

Bathysphere
May 31, 7 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA.

The folks at Driff Records convene their Bathysphere large ensemble (named for its low-end sound, “deep explorations,” and Thelonious Sphere Monk, get it?) as a lead-up to their June 19-20 Driff festival. This edition of the all-star Bathysphere lineup includes trumpeter Dan Rosenthal, tubist Josiah Reibstein, saxophonists Andy Voelker, Matt Langley, and Charlie Kohlhase, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, bassists Nate McBride and Jef Charland, drummer Luther Gray, and Andrew Neumann on electronics.

— Jon Garelick


Theater

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Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac in “The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville.” Photo courtesy of the American Repertory Theater.

The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville. Direction and Choreography by Susan Stroman. Staged by The American Repertory Theatre at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA, through May 31.

Tony award-winner Mandy Patinkin and acclaimed actor/performance artist Taylor Mac star in the world premiere of a new musical that suggests we are well beyond singin’ in the rain: “It’s the end of the world, as we know it. A flood of biblical proportions leaves us with only two people on Earth who discover their common language is song and dance. Together they chronicle the rise and fall and hopeful rise again of humankind through music that runs the gamut from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Sondheim, and R.E.M. to Queen.” Arts Fuse review.

after all the terrible things I do by A. Rey Pamatmat. Directed by Peter DuBois. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, through June 21.

We are told that this is a provocative drama from an “emerging Filipino American playwright” that “examines how our prejudices impact those closest to us and what the cost of forgiveness and second chances actually looks like. Pamatmat explores the origins of bullying and its mental and psychological ramifications.” The Huntington’s production of after all the terrible things I do will run alongside Company One Theatre’s production of Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (directed by Shawn LaCount). Both productions will be produced in the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, the Huntington’s home for new plays. Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them will run from June 4 through 27 at in Deane Hall.

Henry VI, Part 2, by William Shakespeare. Directed by Tina Packer. Staged by the Actors’ Shakespeare Project in the Modern Theatre at Suffolk University, 525 Washington Street, Boston, MA, through June 7.

Why not start with Part 1 of this trilogy of early history plays? Perhaps because some critics think this script (believed to have been written in 1591) is the most accomplished of the three? Because it is the tale of weak (perhaps mentally challenged?) monarch who can’t control the forces around him? Interesting choice …

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Directed by Olivia D’Ambrosio. Staged by Bridge Repertory Theatre in Deane Hall at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, through May 30.

This young company “takes on Shakespeare’s great political drama with a fresh, stripped-down, actor-driven production.” We are told the approach will be “rife with West–Wing-meets-Homeland type dialogue and suspense.” Arts Fuse review.

Aina Adler and Victor Shopov in Zeitgeist Stage Company’s “The Submission.”  Photo: Richard Hall/Silverline Images

Aina Adler and Victor Shopov in Zeitgeist Stage Company’s “The Submission.” Photo: Richard Hall/Silverline Images

The Submission by Jeff Talbott. Directed by David J. Miller. Staged by the Zeitgeist Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, through May 30.

The New England premiere of what is touted as a “fierce and hilarious” drama: “Shaleeha G’ntamobi has written a gritty ghetto drama about an alcoholic African-American and her cardsharp son in the projects, and it’s been accepted by the prestigious Humana Festival. The problem is that Shaleeha is actually a pseudonym for Danny, a young gay white playwright, created in the hopes of increasing the play’s chances for success. Danny hires Emilie, an African American actress, to impersonate his nome de plume.” Arts Fuse review.

Light Up the Sky, by Moss Hart. Directed by Scott Edmiston. Staged by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through June 13.

Hart’s venerable backstage Broadway comedy in a production that features a dream cast of Boston actors — including Will LeBow, Will McGarrahan, Bob Mussett, Terrence O’Malley, Paula Plum, Alejandro Simones, Kathy St. George, Richard Snee, and Bobbie Steinbach.

Lonely Planet by Steven Dietz. Directed by Francis Kelly. At The Provincetown Theater, 238 Bradford Street, Provincetown, MA, May 27 through June 7.

Here’s the plot: “Two friends, Jody and Carl, use humor and their own sense of absurdity to navigate the turbulent world at the height of the AIDS crisis.”

Crossing, Music & Libretto by Matthew Aucoin. Directed by Diane Paulus. Staged by the American Repertory Theater in Association with Music-Theater Group at the Citi Schubert Theatre, Boston, MA, May 29 through June 6.

“Inspired by the diary Walt Whitman kept as a nurse during the Civil War, this world premiere opera by the prolific young composer Matthew Aucoin explores how the individual experiences of soldiers are remembered and told. As Whitman listens to wounded veterans share their memories and messages, he forges a bond with a soldier who forces him to examine his own role as writer and poet.” This production features baritone Rod Gilfry in the role of Walt Whitman, and the Boston-based orchestra A Far Cry.

Sweet and Sad by Richard Nelson. Directed by Weylin Symes. Staged by the Gloucester Stage Company in collaboration with Stoneham Theatre at 267 Main Street, Gloucester, MA, May 28 through June 20.

Part Two of the Apple Family Plays, Richard Nelson’s series of scripts about an American family in which he mixes domestic issues and political commentary. Each drama takes place during a different time. This installment is set on “the tenth anniversary of 9/11” as “a family gathers to share a meal and grapple with topics of remembrance, loss, and change.” Here is my review/commentary on Part One, That Hopey Changey Thing, which was staged earlier this season at Stoneham Theatre with the same cast.

Melancholy Play: a chamber musical by Sarah Ruhl and Todd Diamond. Directed by Liesl Tommy. Staged by the Trinity Repertory Company in the Dowling Theater, Providence, Rhode Island, May 28 through June 28.

“Tony-nominated playwright Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House) teams up with prolific composer Todd Almond (New York’s Public Theater) for this world premiere musical directed by Obie Award-winner Liesl Tommy.”

Seminar by Theresa Rebeck. Directed by Christine Toy Johnson. On the Julie Harris Stage at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Wellfleet, MA, through June 13.

Alan Campbell stars in “a provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck.” The script follows the experiences of “four aspiring young novelists who sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon and hearts are unmoored.”

Photo: Craig Bailey

Nile Hawver and Nancy E. Carroll in “Mothers & Sons” at the SpeakEasy Stage Company. Photo: Craig Bailey.

Mothers & Sons by Terrence McNally. Directed by Paul Daigneault. Staged by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts, through June 6.

“A 2014 Tony Nominee for Best Play, Mothers & Sons is a timely and touching new play that explores our evolving understanding of what it means to be a family.” The cast includes Nancy E. Carroll and Michael Kaye. Arts Fuse review.

— Bill Marx


World and Roots Music

Chico Rey & Paraná
May 29
At the Wonderland Ballroom, Revere, MA

Brazil’s vast, rural interior has been a hotbed of country music for nearly a century. In the ’70s a fairly commercial strain of música sertaneja exploded onto the national charts, making stars out of this cowboy duo.

Miriam Cruz
May 29
At the Wonderland Ballroom, Revere, MA

Cruz has broken barriers for women in merengue since her work in the ’80s with Las Chicas del Can. Her rich voice makes for a nice contrast against the music’s frenetic rhythms. She travels with a full orchestra that includes a contingent of real horns but, sadly, there’s synthesizer instead of an accordion. The Dominican Republic observes Mother’s Day on May 31, so there will be plentiful chances to dance to merengue all weekend. Also on tap on May 29: an appearance by Sergio Vargas at the Randolph Country Club and Toño Rosario at Malaya’s Night Club in Lawrence, MA

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Love Love LP Release Party
May 30
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, MA

Chris Toppin of the beloved Boston outfit Fuzzy has a rootsy new project, and it’s crisp and catchy. Her duets with co-leader Jefferson Davis Riordan stick in the sweet spot where twangy heartache and intelligent pop co-mingle. They celebrate their impressive new LP with a host of local luminaries including Tanya Donelly, Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents, and the Needy Sons (Bill Janovitz).

The Steeldrivers
May 30
Brighton Music Hall, Brighton, MA

When the Steeldrivers made their Boston debut at the 2008 Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, it was clear from the moment they walked on stage that they were a different kind of bluegrass band. It wasn’t just that they looked more like a Southern roots rock band than a clean-cut bluegrass outfit. While most bluegrass vocalists are high and lonesome, original lead singer Chris Stapleton belted out the band’s murderous ballads with a grit usually heard in blue-eyed country/soul. Stapleton has gone onto a burgeoning solo career, but the band has continued on with soundalike Gary Nichols. Their forthcoming Muscle Shoals Sessions LP was produced by an actual Southern rocker, Jason Isbell, who adds some old-time flavoring to the distinctive sound and songwriting that makes The Steeldrivers so special.

A Sunday Afternoon of Cafe Chamber Music
May 31
Arts at the Armory Cafe, Somerville, MA

Violin virtuoso Elinor Speirs performed a thrilling and wide-ranging show at this venue earlier this year. She returns with a chamber quartet co-led with Ludovica Burtone. Also on the bill is the jazz and tango-leaning duo of accordionist Roberto Cassan (a Newpoli member) and classical guitarist John Muratore.

— Noah Schaffer


Classical Music

Shattered Dreams
Presented by MetroWest Opera
May 28-31, 8 p.m. (3 p.m. on May 31st)
All Saint’s Parish, Brookline, MA

MetroWest Opera’s spring production pairs two one-act operas rarely encountered together: Giacomo Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti. Lidiya Yankovskaya conducts.

"Sir John in Love" --

A scene from Odyssey Opera’s production of “Sir John in Love.” Photo: Kathy Wittman.

Kings, Queens, Saints, and Sinners: Five Monodramas
Presented by Odyssey Opera
May 30, 8 p.m.
Boston University Theater, Boston, MA

Five monodramas – centered around Benjamin Britten’s magnificent Phaedra – comprise the third offering of Odyssey’s “British Invasion.” Lennox Berkeley’s Four Poems of St. Theresa of Avila and Richard Rodney Bennett’s Ophelia precede the Britten; Judith Weir’s King Harald’s Saga and Peter Maxwell Davies’ landmark Eight Songs for a Mad King follow it. Gil Rose conducts.

Les Noces
Presented by Chorus Pro Musica
May 30, 8 p.m.
Old South Church, Boston, MA

Wedding- and folk-inspired music by Eric Whitaker and Daniel Pinkham preface Stravinsky’s austere, sometimes violent Les Noces. CPM music director Jamie Kirsch conducts.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Exsultemus: Boston Portuguese Festival
My 26 at 7:30 p.m.
At St. Anthony’s Church, 400 Cardinal Medeiros Avenue, Cantigas de Santa Maria and Cantigas d’Amigo, East Cambridge, MA

Exsultemus singers Shannon Canavin, Elise Groves, and Thea Lobo will be joined by a guest artists Laura Jeppesen, Daniel Meyers, and Matthew Wright performing on a fascinating array of medieval instruments, including vielle, rebec, citole, flute, bagpipes, and percussion. This special outreach concert that is sure to captivate your mind and soul.

Chameleon Arts Ensemble: Family Concert
May 30
At the Hyde Park Branch Library, Weld Hall, 35 Harvard Avenue, Hyde Park, MA
Free

The title of the program is “Fantasies, Fables, and Faraway Places”: “Exploring the places where imagination and inspiration meet with chamber music by Beethoven, Bartok, Poulenc, d’Rivera, and more.” An instrument “Petting Zoo” will follow the performance. Please refrain from feeding the instruments.

— Susan Miron


Rock

Boston Calling (featuring Beck, Pixies, My Morning Jacket)
May 24
City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA

Boston Calling has once again outdone itself. Alt-rock icon Beck, local legends the Pixies, and the once-again-critically-acclaimed My Morning Jacket headline, while the rest of the bill including Run the Jewels, Tove Lo, Gerard Way, Marina and the Diamonds, TV on the Radio, St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Tenacious D, and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals is just as strong. Oh, and Tame Impala is also playing, because apparently the lineup wasn’t incredible enough already.

The Who
May 24
Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT

Despite my (sort of) young age, I’ve been lucky enough to see some of the all-time greats of the ’60s in concert. All of them, from Paul McCartney to the Rolling Stones to Bob Dylan, are worth hearing, but if you really want to see a bunch of “old” guys bring it, no-one can top the ‘Oo. This is the band’s first of two stops in our area during their 50th anniversary tour (they play Boston in late October), and while they’re reportedly mostly sticking to the hits, they’ve also been pulling out the likes of “Pictures of Lily.” If that isn’t enough to entice you, you’re beyond my help.

Death
May 31
Middle East-Downstairs, Cambridge, MA

Death are one of the original punk bands. Like the Stooges and the MC5, they sprang out of Detroit with a style that had nothing to do with the Motown Sound that city is best known for. And like fellow Detroiter Rodriguez, the group was mostly unknown until a documentary (in this case, A Band Called Death) brought their music to the masses.

Upcoming and On Sale…

Conor Oberst (6/5/2015, House of Blues); Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (6/6/2015, Boston Opera House); Lana del Rey (6/9/2015, Xfinity Center); Florence + the Machine (6/10/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); Best Coast (6/12/2015, Paradise Rock Club); South Shore Indie Music Festival (6/13/2015, Fuller Craft Museum); Paul Weller (6/13/2015, Paradise Rock Club); Spoon (6/18/2015, House of Blues); Rush (6/23/2015, TD Garden); Morrissey (6/24/2015, Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts); Buffalo Tom (6/26 and 27/2015, The Sinclair); Huey Lewis and the News (6/27/2015, Indian Ranch); Melvins (6/27/2015, Paradise Rock Club); Brian Wilson (with Rodriguez) (7/2/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion) U2 (7/10, 11, 14, 15/2015, TD Garden); Green River Fest (featuring Steve Earle, Punch Brothers, and tUnE-yArDs) (7/10-12/2015, Greenfield Community College); Mudhoney (7/11/2015, Brighton Music Hall); Billy Joel (7/16/2015, Fenway Park); Raekwon & Ghostface Killah (7/17/2015, Paradise Rock Club); Foo Fighters (7/18-19/2015, Fenway Park); Neil Young + Promise of the Real (7/22/2015, Xfinity Center); Modest Mouse (7/23/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); Interpool (7/23-24/2015, House of Blues); Bombino (7/27/2015, The Sinclair); X (7/30/2015, The Sinclair); Veruca Salt (7/30/2015, Paradise Rock Club); (the) Thurson MoOre Baand (8/2/2015, The Sinclair); Brandon Flowers (8/3/2015, House of Blues); Jamie XX (8/9/2015, The Sinclair); Dick Dale (8/15/2015, Middle East-Downstairs); Willie Nelson & Family (8/21/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); AC/DC (8/22/2015, Gillette Stadium); Counting Crows (8/23/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); Social Distortion (8/23/2015, House of Blues); Death Cab For Cutie (9/11/2015, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion); Albert Hammond Jr. (9/20/2015, The Sinclair); Bob Mould (9/23/2015, The Sinclair); Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls (9/25/2015, House of Blues); Kraftwerk (10/3/2015, Wang Theatre); Ride (10/3/2015, Paradise Rock Club); Mark Knopfler (10/9/2015, Orpheum Theatre); Ringo Starr and His All Star Band (10/23/2015, Citi Performing Arts Center); The Who (10/29/2015, TD Garden)

— Adam Ellsworth


Author Events

Karim Dimechkie
Lifted By The Great Nothing
May 26 at 7 p.m.
Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA
Free

This debut novel revolves around a Lebanese-American family that is haunted by a family tragedy and whose patriarch is deeply neurotic about assimilating into American culture.

Peter Davis
Girl of My Dreams
May 27 at 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA
Free

The Academy Award winning documentarian and filmmaker comes to Cambridge to read from his new novel set in Hollywood’s golden age. The usual characters are here: it concerns a screenwriter come to a crossroads, a starlet who is nursing a grudge over missing her ultimate role as Grushenka, the Karamazov family’s femme fatale, and a bullying studio mogul who wants to take on the likes of the Warner Brothers and Louis B Mayer. See Arts Fuse review

Neal

Bestselling author Neal Stephenson will read from his latest novel at Porter Square Books this week.

Neal Stephenson and Melissa Cistaro
Seveneves and Pieces of My Mother
May 29 at 7 p.m.
Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA
Free

Neal Stephenson holds the rare distinction of having garnered both tremendous popularity and considerable critical acclaim. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have recommended Crytonomicon and Snow Crash to me, not to mention his multivolume Baroque Cycle. His latest novel explores the possibility of life after environmental catastrophe. Cistaro’s memoir deals with a more personal tragedy — the spontaneous, inexplicable loss of her mother.

Nick Offerman
Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers
May 29 at 7 p.m.
The Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA
Tickets are $35 and include the price of the book

Best known as Parks and Recreation‘s Ron Swanson, Pawnee’s resident cynic with a heart of gold, the performer has also written the bestselling humorous memoir Paddle Your Own Canoe. The dryly witty comedian will come to Boston to read and discuss his latest book, which details twenty-one notable Americans whose rebel spirit have helped make America what it is today. Tickets are likely to go as fast, so fans are advised to act with gumption if they want to get a good seat.

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Kelly Link
Discussing The Bloody Chamber: 75th Anniversary Edition
June 1 at 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA
Free

Angela Carter (1940-1992) is seen as a heroine of contemporary fiction; her distinctive blend of feminism/magic realism influenced a number of writers, including Neil Gaiman and J.K. Rowling. Kelly Link, a Nebula Award-winning short story writer, contributed an introduction to the anniversary edition of Carter’s 1979 collection of short fiction The Bloody Chamber and will discuss the volume’s lasting importance.

Jane Smiley
Early Warning
June 4 at 6 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30)
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA
$5 tickets

In an event co-sponsored by Mass Humanities, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist will read and sign copies of her latest novel, the second installment in her The Last Hundred Years trilogy. The century-spanning saga finds the Langdon clan struggling with death in the family and the Cold War paranoia of the ’50s.

Fiction Fridays
June 5
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA

Every Friday this summer, the Harvard Book Store is offering 15% off off fiction purchases in the store. The promotion isn’t limited to fiction alone, however. Book lovers can get the discount on poetry, graphic novels, audiobooks, and YA fiction as well.

— Matt Hanson

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