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: Dawes at Lowell Summer Music Series
The Lowell Summer Music Series is in full swing, and this weekend brings perhaps the brightest highlight on the calendar. Trusted Americana gents Dawes swing by Boarding House Park on Saturday (July 15), part of an extended live swing that showcases last year’s acclaimed Misadventures of Doomscroller album. As we’ve learned over the past decade-plus, Dawes’ wool-dyed and weathered vintage folk sound, eve with a few modern tweaks along the way, holds up as rather timeless. But something interesting happened on the way in from Laurel Canyon, as Dawes and collaborator Lee Pardini unleashed the unexpected this spring: A synth-absorbed vaporwave track called “What It Takes” that was made for hot summer nights in the city. It should sound fantastic under the shining lights of Lowell this weekend.
DAWES at Lowell Summer Music Series :: Saturday, July 15 at Boarding House Park, 40 French St. in Lowell, MA :: 7:30 p.m., $49 to $149 :: Event page :: Advance tickets
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Comedy: Neal Brennan at The Wilbur
Summer is in full swing, and the pups are starting to pant heavily for their favorite time of the year. But the comedy calendar also has that dog in it, and The Wilbur stacked the laugh deck this week with Ramy Youssef on Thursday, Brad Williams on Friday (July 14), and Neal Brennan bringing his “Brand New Deal” to Tremont Street on Saturday (July 15). Here’s word from Mic’d Up: “Closing out one hell of a run of shows at The Wilbur this week, Brennan makes his way back to town for the second time in just under a year with two offerings of his brand new show that, given the deeply thought out and articulated viewpoints that made up his last two specials, is sure to carry its own weight in stand-up potency, creative inspiration and cultural commentary. You just don’t get much better than Brennan, and it’s almost a guarantee that he’ll show us why (again) this weekend.”
NEAL BRENNAN: BRAND NEW NEAL :: Saturday, July 15 at The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: 6 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., $39 :: Advance Tickets
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Film/TV: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ at Boynton Yards
Over the past few years we’ve enjoyed live music and mini-festivals over at Somerville’s Boynton Yards space as it transforms into a life science and innovation community. Now we can add movie nights to the lineup as Friday Flicks keeps rolling tonight (July 14) with a screening of the classic 1990 superhero movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s part of an outdoor film series that started last month with Guardians of the Galaxy, and continues with Raiders of the Lost Ark (August 11) and The Little Mermaid (September 15). The family-friendly site also features yard games, as well as candy and popcorn for that true theater feel. If the weather gets crummy, and this summer, it seems all bets are off, then things move inside to the protected space at 101 South.
‘TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES’ :: Friday, July 14 at The Block at Boynton Yards, 101 South St. in Somerville, MA :: 7:30 p.m., all ages, free admission :: Event page
