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: L7 at Brighton Music Hall
A little over three decades ago, L7 asked the most important question of the alternative ’90s (apologies to 4 Non Blondes) when they pondered “What’s up with what’s going down”? We haven’t been able to figure it out since, no matter how many times we let “Pretend We’re Dead” soundtrack our late-night shenanigans, but we have another chance to ask them when the resurrected grunge band brings the In Your Space Tour to Brighton Music Hall this Saturday (September 16).
The nine-show tour is built around festival appearances at Louder Than Life in Louisville and Aftershock in Sacramento, and features seven intimate club dates, including our Allston dance. “The energy and vibe that smaller venues allow is something that we always want to stay connected to… we can’t wait to see our crowd up close and in the flesh,” says Donita Sparks.
L7 come to town with a new single to show off, a gritty call for climate change action called “Cooler Than Mars.” Listen in below. “The song was inspired by the ongoing catastrophic news of climate change, and the strange passions of billionaire space cowboys to explore and exploit the outer limits of our stratosphere,” Sparks comments. “Seems to me such obsessions and resources should be totally focused on healing The Big Blue Marble. I feel like there is nothing ‘out there’ that is as mind-blowing as the biodiversity of what we have here on Earth. Because we’re cooler than Mars, damnit.”
L7 + TARAH WHO? :: Saturday, September 16 at Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave. in Allston, MA :: 7 p.m., 18-plus, $35 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Comedy: Eddie Izzard at The Chevalier
There’s a storm coming, and we’re not just talking about Hurricane Lee. Eddie Izzard returns to New England for a pair of shows this Saturday and Sunday (September 16 and 17), bringing the British pop culture icon’s Remix Tour to The Chevalier Theatre. Izzard takes the best bits and stories from the past decades — 1993’s The Ambassadors, 1999’s Dress To Kill, 2019’s Wunderbar, and on and on — and revisits accordingly with a fresh perspective and her usual biting commentary. Read our new exclusive interview with Izzard here.
And naturally, Mic’d Up hyped it earlier in the week: “The material may sound familiar, but the feeling behind it is fresh. With a 35 year archive at the ready, Izzard brings her retrospective show to Medford for a weekend of absurdly detailed stories, searingly brutal and honest observations, and a legendary career’s worth of inspiration that is sure to be as nostalgic for the longtime fans as it is a jarring introduction for the next generation.”
EDDIE IZZARD THE REMIX: THE FIRST 35 YEARS :: Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17 at Chevalier Theatre, 30 Forest St. in Medford, MA :: 8 p.m., $61.90 to $130.90 :: Advance Tickets
Film/TV: ‘The Friends of Eddie Coyle’ at The Cabot
There’s been a massive wave of Boston-centric films over the past two decades, giving our city the silly nickname of Hollywood East. But all the awards, Afflecks, and awkward accents still can’t beat The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Robert Mitchum’s 1973 neo-noir crime film that set the city’s gold standard a half-century ago. This Sunday (September 17), The Cabot in Beverly hosts a special 50th anniversary screening, and it’s not just a good way to unwind after all this hurricane prep, but also a way to step into a time capsule into Old Boston.
Here’s the deal: “Aging Boston gunrunner Eddie Coyle is looking at several years of jail time for a hold-up if he doesn’t funnel information to Dave Foley, an ATF agent. Eddie buys some guns from another gunrunner, Jackie Brown, then gives him up to Foley, but the agent isn’t satisfied. Conflicted, Eddie is forced to weigh his loyalty to his criminal colleagues against snitching on them in a desperate attempt to stay free.”
‘THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE’ :: Sunday, September 17 at The Cabot Theatre, 286 Cabot St. in Beverly, MA :: 6 p.m., $12.75 to $14.75, :: Event info :: Advance tickets