Updated.Arts Fuse critics select the best in music, dance, and film that’s coming up this week.

By The Arts Fuse Staff

Rock

Nine Inch Nails
October 11
TD Garden, Boston, MA

There’s something heartening about Nine Inch Nails playing an arena as big as TD Garden in 2013. Not that it’s completely surprising. The Trent Reznor led group has been a constant on modern rock radio since their 1989 debut Pretty Hate Machine, after all. Even so, the concert industry ain’t what it used to be (unless of course you’re as young as One Direction or as old as the Rolling Stones), so it’s nice to see a ‘90s powerhouse still packing ‘em in. The success of Nine Inch Nails’ latest release, Hesitation Marks, has no doubt helped.

Meat Puppets
October 13
Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA

Meat Puppets, or, to quote Kurt Cobain, “The brothers Meat,” are what punk rock is all about. They started out playing hardcore (just like everybody else) and they soon ended up playing psychedelic country folk, for no reason other than they wanted to. It’s too bad the band’s “Lake of Fire” only became a radio staple because Nirvana covered it (with main Meat Puppets Curt and Cris Kirkwood accompanying), but at least it became a radio staple. We’re all better off.

Savages
October 15
Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA

If Savages’ show at Paradise next week is even half as good as their show at Middle East-Downstairs a few months ago was, then the crowd is in for one of the best concerts of 2013. The band’s performances are intense, pummeling, sensual, and loud, which is everything a rock and roll show is supposed to be.

Pearl Jam
October 15 and 16
DCU Center, Worcester, MA

The first two of three shows the mighty Pearl Jam will be playing in our area this month. Show number one will take place the same day the band releases their tenth studio album, Lightning Bolt (currently streaming for free on iTunes), so expect some new tunes mixed in with some old favorites. Also expect, and get excited for, some covers. With no disrespect for the band’s original songs intended, it must be said that there has never been a better cover band than Pearl Jam. They’d be fantastic playing at weddings.

Upcoming

Pearl Jam (10/25/2013, XL Center); Justin Townes Earle (10/27/2013, The Sinclair); My Bloody Valentine (11/7/2013, House of Blues); Kanye West (11/17/2013, TD Garden); MGMT (12/5/2013, Orpheum Theatre); Queens of the Stone Age (12/13/2013, Agganis Arena); The Breeders (12/18/2013, Paradise Rock Club); Jake Bugg (1/11/2014, House of Blues); Jay Z (1/18/2014, TD Garden); Pixies (1/18/2014, Orpheum Theatre)

— Adam Ellsworth

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Classical

Thomas Adés conducts Ives
Presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
October 10-12, 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

The BSO’s most reliable guest conductor these days returns with the single best program of the orchestra’s current season: two old, familiar faces (Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and Franck’s D minor Symphony) are paired with a newcomer (Adés’ own Polaris) and a brilliant rarity (Charles Ives’s Orchestral Set no. 2). The Ives, in particular, is a can’t-miss, with a finale that, in six minutes, packs an unforgettable expressive wallop.

Andris Nelsons returns to Boston
Presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
October 17-19, 8 p.m. (Friday’s concert is at 1:30 p.m.)
Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

The BSO’s music director-designate leads his first program with the orchestra since his appointment was announced in May. It’s a program that otherwise wouldn’t warrant much attention – Wagner, Mozart, and Brahms – but perhaps Nelsons can bring some welcome excitement to this standard fare (he’s joined by the brilliant Paul Lewis in Mozart’s 25th Piano Concerto, after all).

Tim Fain at the Gardner Museum
Presented by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
October 17, 7 p.m.
ISGM, Boston, MA

Violinist Fain presents “Portals,” “a musical exploration of the human longing for connection in the digital age.” Nico Muhly, Aaron Jay Kernis, and William Bolcom aren’t names exactly associated with cutting-edge new music, but some of their music – as well as pieces by Philip Glass, Lev Zhurbin, and Kevin Puts – accompany a film and the words of Leonard Cohen in what should be a thought-provoking edition of the Avant Gardner series.

Music by Mauricio Kagel
Presented by Ludovico Ensemble
October 17, 8 p.m.
Boston Conservatory, Boston, MA

The Boston Conservatory’s ensemble-in-residence kicks off its season of performances with an evening devoted to music by the brilliant, absurdest German-Argentine Mauricio Kagel. An equal among the likes of Berio, Ligeti, Stockhausen, and Boulez, there’s no twentieth century avant-garde composer who sounds anything like Kagel. On the program are Pan, for flute and string quartet, and the String Quartet no. 3.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Sergey Antonov and Ilya Kazantsev
October 13, 4 p.m.
Longy School of Music, Cambridge, MA

Tchaikovsky Gold Medalist cellist Sergey Antonov and pianist and Rubernstein International Competition Winner Ilya Kazantsev will perform works by Rachmaninoff, Dotzauer, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky along with the Borromeo String Quartet. The performance will benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Amit Peled
October 13, 5 p.m.
Seully Hall, Boston, MA

Boston Conservatory’s excellent String Masters Series features cellist Amit Preled, who performs works by Couperin, Beethoven, Popper, Schubert, Granados, and John Williams.

Blue Heron
October 16, 8 p.m.
Marsh Chapel, Boston University, Boston, MA

The fabulous Renaissance vocal ensemble Blue Heron presents “Music for Canterbury Cathedral” at Marsh Chapel. Music by Robert Jones: Missa Spes nostra, Nicholas Ludford: Ave cujus conceptio, Robert Hunt: Stabat mater. Free!

— Susan Miron

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Roots and World Music

HONK! Festival
October 10-13
Various locations, Somerville, MA and Cambridge, MA

One of the greatest things about living in Boston is the chance to experience the brass band frenzy brought forth each year by the HONK! Festival. Dozens of activist street band members will be playing, parading and causing progressive mayhem around the streets of Somerville. Trying to pick “highlights” runs contrary to the communal spirit of the event, but Brazil’s Os Siderais and New Orleans’ Young Fellaz Brass Band shouldn’t be missed. And since street bands aren’t a spectator sport, anyone can join the fest’s pick-up band, which will rehearse Saturday before joining in Sunday’s parade down Mass. Ave to Harvard Square. If you still need more brass in your life, many of the groups head to Providence on Monday for PRONK!

JBeatz
October 12
Wonderland Ballroom, Revere, MA

Producer JBeatz was born in Haiti but grew up in the United States—which means there’s a strong R&B and hip-hop influence in his music. After spending most of his career remixing hits by others he’s now gaining attention as a singer.

Blue Hill Gospel MC’s
October 13
Global Ministries Christian Church, Dorchester, MA

One of Boston’s best practitioners of quartet-style gospel, the Blue Hill MC’s and promoter Jeannette Farrell always celebrate their anniversary in style. This year’s program is tinged with sadness, however, as the MC’s mourn their late member Dea. George Jinwright. On the bill are South Carolina’s Gospel Legends, Philadelphia’s explosive Little Sammy and the New Flying Clouds, Long Island’s Brown Brothers, and Boston’s Grant AME Male Chorus and Jesus Gang. Also appearing is Deacon Leslie Pittman and his gospel harmonica. Look for a full feature on Dea. Pittman on ArtsFuse later this week.

— Noah Schaffer

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Film

Bless Their Little Hearts
October 12
Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge, MA

With a number of quality black filmsin theaters, such as The Butler, Mother of George, and 12 Years a Slave (coming soon), it is worth revisiting this 1984 landmark of independent neo-realist filmmaking directed by Billy Woodberry from a screenplay by notable African American director Charles Burnett.

56 Up
October 14, 10 p.m. and various other times
WGBH and other Public Television Stations

Michael Apted’s latest installment of his acclaimed series is screened on the POV. In 1964 a group of seven-year-old children were interviewed for the groundbreaking documentary Seven Up. Apted has been back to film them every seven years since. Now they are fifty-six. This is a riveting and brilliant series of films.

A Presentation of Fan Vids by Cameron Salisbury
October 15, 7 p.m.
At The Paramount Center, Boston, MA

Anna Feder and the Bright Lights Film Series continues their unique Fall series with video curated by Transformative Works and Cultures, a peer-published journal about fiction, fan vids, film, TV, anime, comic books, fan community, video games, and machinima. Its editor, Cameron Salisbury, will be presenting the program and leading a discussion about the study of fan culture.

The New Hampshire Film Festival
October 17 -20
Various Locations, Portsmouth, NH

The four-day festival will screen close to one hundred films at four downtown venues (The Music Hall, The Music Hall Loft, The Seacoast Repertory) See schedule for details.

Provincetown Film Festival and Emerson Student short showcase
Coolidge Corner Theatre, October 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Emerson College’s Bright Family Screening Room, October 18 at 1:00 p.m.

More than a dozen of the most acclaimed student short films from the 15th Provincetown International Film Festival will be screened in two venues. Having curated student films for several years for this festival, I can attest to their remarkable quality. This is a nice opportunity for film students in the Boston area to see what’s happening around the globe. There will be a panel discussion on how to submit, market, and get your film ready for film festivals on the 18th with networking.

— Tim Jackson

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Dance

Kiss & Cry by Charleroi Danses
October 10-12
Arts Emerson, Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston, MA

Dance that begins at the fingertips and ends at the wrists: the Belgian couple Michele Anne De Mey, a choreographer and Jaco Van Dormael, a noted filmmaker see a world in a grain of sand, with the miniaturized characters reflecting on their past loves visible via a video feed.

Dance in the Fells: Wright’s Pond by Two Roads Performance Projects
October 12 (rain date October 13)
Middlesex Fells Reservation, enter on Elm Street (parking and bicycle directions available), Medford, MA

Along the paths and wooded landscapes and beaches of Wright’s Pond in Medford some of the area’s most inventive dance makers—Brian Crabtree, Alli Ross, Monkeyhouse, Kara Fili, and Tara Weaver—create a festival of site-specific dances with surprises around every corner. Dance and music run continuously from noon until 4 p.m., beginning on the hour and half hour. While comfortable shoes are a must, picnic lunches are optional. Free.

And further afield…

Treasures of Japan: Gagaku and Bugaku Classical Music and Dance
October 16
Bowker Auditorium, UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA

The Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble offers a rare showing of this ethereal style of splendidly costumed court dance and music, with an informative preshow talk by koto player and Five College professor Anne Prescott.

— Debra Cash

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Jazz

HONK! Festival 2013
Thursday, October 10 — Sunday, October 13
See festival schedule for times and locations of events.
Somerville, MA and Cambridge, MA

No floats, no gigantic helium-filled balloons, just a whole lot of great music with a message. A grand grassroots party with a social conscience, the eighth annual HONK! festival starts off in and around Somerville’s Davis Square with a variety of performances by the participating bands, some local and others who have traveled great distances in order to be part of this event. Then, beginning at noon on Sunday, the bands parade from Davis Square, down Massachusetts Ave., winding up in Harvard Square in Cambridge where HONK! merges with Harvard’s Oktoberfest. Performances continue throughout the day in Harvard Square.

Noah Preminger
Saturday, October 12, 10 p.m.
Beehive
Boston, MA

Saxophonist Preminger has been leading his own projects since his graduation from the New England Conservatory in 2008. Now part of the Brooklyn scene, Preminger returns to Boston with his quartet (guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Matt Pavolka, and drummer Colin Stranahan) for a late evening gig at the Beehive.

Either/Orchestra
Wednesday, October 16, 9 p.m.
Ryles
Cambridge, MA

Ryles was home base for the Either/Orchestra in its early years. Now they’re back in Inman Square with their signature mixture of Ethiopian classics, original compositions (many by E/O founder Russ Gershon), and improbable covers of rock tunes from the 1960s. The current edition consists of trumpeter Tom Halter and Dan Rosenthal, trombonist Joel Yenior, saxophonists Mark Zaleski, Russ Gershon, and Charlie Kohlhase, pianist Gilson Schachnik, bassist Rick McLaughlin, drummer Oscar Suchanek and percussionist Vicente Lebron.

Charlie Kohlhase and the Saxophone Support Group
Thursday, October 17, 8 p.m.
Outpost 186
Cambridge, MA

Charlie Kohlhase’s Saxophone Support Group hasn’t played in Boston since 2006, so don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear this amazing aggregation of reedmen (Charlie Kohlhase: alto & baritone saxophones; Sean Berry: tenor & alto saxophones; Daniel Blake: soprano & tenor saxophones; Matt Langley: tenor & soprano saxophones; Jared Sims: alto, tenor & baritone saxophones, flute; Josh Sinton: baritone saxophone & bass clarinet; Chris Veilleux: alto & soprano saxophone). The program will include compositions of Julius Hemphill, Steve Lacy, John Tchicai, Charlie Kohlhase and Josh Sinton.

— J. R. Carroll