Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, Vanyaland‘s guide to 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: Wormhole at ManRay
“Oh shit, a punk night at ManRay, and on the Sunday (February 19) before a Monday holiday?” That’s our reaction, too, as the resurrected Cambridge nightclub — which we told you about first — continues to expand its programming to become a cultural hub of desperately needed alternative nightlife around the city. Wormhole is billed as an all-vinyl punk night featuring Mr. Scary and DJ Saint Julian, and we really don’t need any more detail than that. This leather n’ spikes soirée is the latest in a host of new offerings from ManRay beyond its traditional themes, joining André Obin’s monthly electronic music party The Portal and next Friday’s debut of James 808’s indie dance night Automatique. DJ Chris Ewen and the Campus DJs are still holding it down on the regular, but it’s super cool to see these new nights spring up when the city needs them most.
WORMHOLE :: Sunday, February 19 at ManRay, 40 Prospect St in Cambridge, MA :: 9 p.m., 19-plus, $10 :: Venue Info :: Event info
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Comedy: Shane Torres at Off Cabot
We don’t have a birth certificate to prove it, but we’re fairly certain Shane Torres‘ middle name is “Motherfuckin“. The Texas-born, Oregon-based comedian, writer, actor, and podcaster makes it back to our corner of the country for two shows over two nights, Friday and Saturday (February 17 and 18), at The Cabot’s Off Cabot Comedy Club up on the North Shore of Beverly.
Vanyaland comedy editor Jason Greenough had the early word in this week’s Mic’d Up, as usual: “While selling out rooms all over the country, Torres continues to exemplify, with ease, just why he’s one of the most in-demand talents in the game today. A new hour of fresh takes, absurd stories and catchy punchlines sounds like a great idea, and to have Torres on the delivering end only sweetens the deal that much more.”
SHANE TORRES :: Friday, February 17 and Saturday, February 18 at Off Cabot, 9 Wallis St. in Beverly, MA :: 7:30 p.m., $30 :: Advance tickets
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Film/TV: ‘Hellboy’ at The Coolidge
We love to have fun with dates and anniversaries, and nothing has made us feel old and decrepit quite like the upcoming slate of early- to mid-aughts media about to turn 20. We can add Hellboy to the list, as Guillermo del Toro’s 2004 supernatural action adventure hits the milestone next year, but not before screening this Saturday (February 18) as part of The Coolidge’s always-dependable After Midnite series. And hey, no matter what year it is, or whatever (possibly ill-advised) reboots seem on the horizon, we always need more Ron Perlman in our lives. And to forget about what happened in 2019.
Here’s a refresher from The Coolidge: “Born in the flames of hell and brought to Earth as an infant to perpetrate evil, Hellboy was rescued from sinister forces by the benevolent Dr. Broom, who raised him to be a hero. In Dr. Broom’s secret Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy creates an unlikely family consisting of the telepathic ‘Mer-Man’ Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman, the woman he loves who can control fire. Hidden from the very society that they protect, they stand as the key line of defense against an evil madman who seeks to reclaim Hellboy to the dark side and use his powers to destroy mankind.”
‘HELLBOY’ :: Saturday, February 18 at The Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St. in Brookline, MA :: 11:59 p.m., $15.50 :: Advance tickets and event page