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: RIDE at Big Night Live
Just before March wrapped up its usual sonic seduction, it delivered Interplay, the intriguing and expansive new album from RIDE. We excitedly hyped the first two singles from the record, which found the reformed shoegazers refreshed in familiar territory, but the real attention-grabber on the album is latest single “Monaco,” which showcases the band exploring new sonic landscapes, venturing in early-’00s New Order and some classic and modern post-punk moods for a more electronic-leaning composition. The one-two punch of “Monaco” and enchanting album track “I Came to See the Wreck” is one of the year most exciting listens so far, and it’s clear that a few albums into this second life, the resurrected RIDE are making some of the best music of their career (and that’s saying something). Boston audiences got to hear “Monaco” before everyone else, too, as the band debuted it here in town back in February 2023, and it should sound even better echoing off the support beams of Big Night Live this Saturday (May 11).
RIDE + KNIFEPLAY :: Saturday, May 11 at Big Night Live, 110 Causeway St. in Boston, MA :: 6 p.m., all ages, $30 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Comedy: ‘I Identify as a Witch’ at Chevalier Theatre
There’s a bit of a lighter live comedy slate around Boston this week, as noted in Mic’d Up, which is something of a rarity these days. So we’re going to hoof it up to Medford on Saturday (May 11) to catch Caroline Rhea and Melissa Joan Hart at the Chevalier Theatre for I Identify as a Witch, both allowing us to relive our Sabrina days and come to terms with the fact that there’s still 174 days until the greatest holiday on the calendar. Here’s the scoop: “It may not be October, but the spirit of Halloween will be alive and well this weekend as the Sabrina The Teenage Witch stars make their way to the area to unleash a live edition of Caroline Rhea’s hit podcast. It will surely be a blast from the past and a welcomed dose of nostalgia, so the only thing that could possibly make it better is if Salem himself made an appearance.”
‘I IDENTIFY AS A WITCH’ :: Saturday, May 11 at The Chevalier Theatre, 30 Forest St. in Medford, MA :: 6 p.m., $39 to $140 :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: AGGRO DR1FT at Alamo Drafthouse
Harmony Korine’s new film AGGRO DR1FT premiered at TIFF last fall — read our extensive review here — and it holds up as the best pop culture use of infrared since Placebo dropped that stomper of a single back in 2006. The film, which sees Korine utilize infrared photography in what’s described as “a dreamlike portrait of a tormented assassin,” finally hits select theaters this weekend, and it’s showing down at Alamo Drafthouse in the Seaport. As an added bonus, tonight (May 10) features a live Q&A with score composer AraabMuzik moderated by BUFF director Kevin Monahan. Here’s the word: “In the seedy domain of Miami’s criminal underbelly, a seasoned hitman embarks on the relentless pursuit of his next target. The movie is shot entirely through thermal lens as he navigates a twisted world where violence and madness reign supreme. Tensions unravel, leading to a psychedelic journey that blurs the lines between predator and prey.”
‘AGGRO DR1FT’ :: Friday, May 10 to Sunday, May 12 at Alamo Drafthouse, 60 Seaport Blvd. in Boston, MA :: Friday and Saturday at 10p.m. and Sunday at 8 p.m. :: $14.49 :: Event information and advance tickets