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: Farewell to Atwood’s Tavern
The month of March got off to a sad start (don’t they all these days?) with the news that afer 16 years, beloved neighborhood bar, restaurant, and local live music haven Atwood’s Tavern would be closing its doors at the end of the month. Tonight (March 31), that date arrives as the inviting East Cambridge sanctuary welcomes friends and fam for the final time. The lineup of the past month has reflected Atwood’s musical ethos (Hallelujah The Hills, Matt Charette, Sawaari…) and tonight it welcomes New Hampshire’s New Orleans-styled jazz ensemble Soggy Po Boys for one last dance.
“This place has always been a neighborhood spot and will continue to be,” the venue wrote earlier this month. “Atwood’s will be joining The OverDraught, Eddie’s, The Willow Café, Smitty’s, and the rest, as establishments that called this building on Cambridge Street home. While we don’t know yet who will be picking up the mantle, we are confident that they will provide the neighborhood with the community space it deserves.” Raise a glass this evening, one final time.
SOGGY PO BOYS :: Friday, March 31 at Atwood’s Tavern, 877 Cambridge St. in Cambridge, MA :: 9:30 p.m., 21-plus, $15 at the door :: Event page :: Advance tickets
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Comedy: Brieana Woodward at Zone 3
Saturday is April Fool’s Day (April 1), but Brieana Woodward is no fucking joke. The Worcester comedian held court at our comedy festival last summer at Bellforge Arts Center, delivering one of the most violently funny and incendiary sets we’ve ever experienced. Those who weren’t laughing their asses off were very uncomfortable, and we all learned a lot of new words that afternoon. That’s just how Woodward rolls. This weekend she headlines The Comedy Party @ Zone 3 in Allston, and we can’t think of a better way to spend the jokiest-ass holiday on the calendar.
For those scoring at home, Woodward nabbed second place in the 2022 Funniest Person in Massachusetts contest, and was a 2021 semi-finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival. So it seems folx around here are starting to take notice to one of the funniest people on the planet. There’s such an obnoxious aggression and sexualized adrenaline to her live shows, it’s tough to imagine any award show having the stamina to keep up. We’ll see if Allston is up to the task on April Fool’s Day.
BRIEANA WOODWARD :: Saturday, April 1 at The Comedy Party @ Zone 3, 267 Western Ave. in Allston, MA :: 7:30 p.m., $15 :: Event info and tickets
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Film/TV: ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ at The Coolidge
We’re back at Coolidge Corner Theatre tonight (March 31) to close out the month and wonder aloud what beauty pageants were like in small towns across America, catching a “satirical mockumentary black comedy film” from 1999 called Drop Dead Gorgeous. Oh, we know you know, and nearly 25 years on, the cast looks as stellar as ever, with Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, Brittany Murphy, Allison Janney, Denise Richards, Kirstie Alley, and a film debut appearance from Amy Adams.
Here’s your refresher, via The Coolidge: “The Sarah Rose American Teen Princess Pageant is a beauty contest to die for! And that’s exactly what the contestants in Mount Rose, Minnesota, are doing. Ever since the vivacious-but-vicious former beauty queen Gladys Leeman started pushing her charm-challenged daughter, Rebecca, to win at all costs, the competition has been dropping like flies. Between exploding tractors and deadly hunting accidents, it’s a wonder the top challenger, poor Amber, has the courage to keep her tap shoes on. But after Amber’s mother is injured in a suspicious trailer-park-beauty-shop bombing, Amber is determined to fight to the finish — and the battle between the good and the bad is about to get ugly!”
‘DROP DEAD GORGEOUS’ :: Friday, March 31 at The Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Brookline St. in Brookline, MA :: 11:59 p.m., $15.50 :: Event page and tickets