Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, a new Vanyaland series where we help you sort out your weekend entertainment with curated selections and recommendations across our three pillars of Music, Comedy, and Film/TV. It’s what you should know about, where you need to be, and where you’ll be going, with us riding shotgun along the way.
Music: Dua Lipa at TD Garden
We love a good glow-up. Wayyyyyyy back in August 2016 we first tipped readers off to Dua Lipa, then a rising alt-pop singer who was just starting to make waves outside her native London. Shortly after, we highly suggested you go see her perform live at the intimate Paradise Rock Club, and on that lovely March evening we sure had a lot of fun. We had even more fun at The House of Blues several months later. Fast forward a few long/short years (take ya pick), and Dua Lipa is one of the biggest mainstream pop stars on the planet. We usually fill this space telling you all about an artist, but with her, you already know. Tonight she’s at TD Garden, bringing her Future Nostalgia Tour to Boston, and yeah, we’ll be at that, too. Look for Victoria Wasylak’s review splashing across these digital pages over the weekend. Next stop, the moon.
Comedy: Jim Norton at The Wilbur
Comedy survivalist Jim Norton is back in town tonight, playing two shows at The Wilbur on Tremont Street, and after reading Jason Greenough’s feature on the funnyman earlier in the week, we’re not sure who is more excited, us or him. “I love the mentality of Boston audiences, because they can be very harsh, but all they ask of you is that you’re funny,” Norton tells Vanyaland. “They don’t ask you to be from any specific point of view, or woke, or from any perspective. They don’t care if you’re dirty or if you aren’t dirty. They just want you to be funny. They ask a comedian what should be asked of a comedian.” Well said. Welcome back, old friend.
Film/TV: Uncharted hits theaters
Part of us wants to recommend you stay at home and watch The Power of the Dog a hundred times on Netflix, but we’re two-for-two on You Should Go Out Tonight picks in this V3, and we just want to get everyone off the couch. With that in mind, the other part of us wants to recommend you go see Jackass with your few remaining friends, because as Film Editor Nick Johnston wrote two weeks ago, the film seems to have a communal healing quality to it as we all head back to crowded movie theaters. But we already did that! So, well, *pulls up movie listings*… it looks like Uncharted debuts this weekend, and chances are your mind is already made up on whether or not to see a Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg flick that’s based on a video game. In recent articles, Johnston talks about the film here, here, and here, and he’s got his full-frontal film review here, hot off today’s presses, so peep those words and watch the trailer for any other necessary inspiration.