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: Poppy at House of Blues
Poppy is coming; look busy. Fresh off the release of autumn album Negative Spaces and an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the enigmatic Grammy-nominated artist and Massachusetts native now takes the show on the road for a voluminous tour that crashes into Boston’s House of Blues this evening (April 4). Dubbed the They’re All Around Us Tour, the shows continue to showcase Poppy as one of the more creative minds making modern music these days. As Victoria Wasylak wrote when the album dropped: “Poppy’s sixth album (and fourth major foray into heavy metal) digs her lacquered nails into a peaty heap of industrial and metal riffs, smearing the debris across 15 tracks. The LP preserves occasional pockets of twinkling pop, but largely refines Poppy’s wrath via screechers in the vein of ‘the center’s falling out’ and ‘they’re all around us.’ When the two sounds merge, blending into a racing earworm like ‘push go,’ it’s pure Poppy perfection.”
POPPY :: Friday, April 4 at House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages, $39.50 to $104.50 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Comedy: Greg Fitzsimmons at Laugh Boston
Lets kick it over to comedy editor Jason Greenough for some Mic’d Up action: “The only thing better than seeing a new comedy talent come through town and kill on stage is seeing a familiar face do the same – and Greg Fitzsimmons is very much synonymous with both of those elements. Dropping anchor at Laugh Boston on Friday (April 4), the longtime comedy vet and Boston export returns to the city with a new hour of comedy, unleashed with the familiar swagger and bite that has made him a fan favorite in rooms of all sizes all over the country for the better of the past 30 years. In addition to spreading the good word from the FitzBible all over the land, the Boston University alum also continues to host his pair of hit podcasts with FitzDog Radio and Sunday Papers, and also recently released his latest full-length special, You Know Me, on YouTube in 2024. While some Brady-hating quarterbacks own the phrase more often, we know the real FitzMagic happens beneath the fan favorite comic’s scally cap every night, so don’t miss the next chance to see a true lover of the craft at work.”
GREG FITZSIMMONS :: Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5 at Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. in Boston, MA :: Times vary, $33 :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: ‘Dune’ at Alamo Drafthouse
We’re still reeling from the January death of the iconic David Lynch, who remarkably tapped out just as shit was starting to hit the fan. Cinemas around Boston and the country have continued to screen his masterful work, and tonight (April 4), Alamo Drafthouse takes us back four decades with the original Dune. Here’s how the Seaport theatre serves it up: “David Lynch’s feature film take on Frank Herbert’s sprawling sci-fi saga is about a prophesied messiah (Kyle MacLachlan) coming to his destiny in a galactic feudal society that runs on ‘spice’. Despite bombing at the box office and receiving scathing criticism upon its release, it remains one of the most unique and visually exciting sci-fi films of the 1980s, displaying Lynch’s vast, vivid imagination and directorial prowess in handling such an epic project. Condensed down to a lean 137 minutes, the plot of Dune is as murky as the air during a desert sandstorm, especially for those unfamiliar with the books. But it still has more than enough Lynchian panache to be worth absorbing. Plus, it’s got Sting running around crazy-haired and mostly naked, and a soundtrack by Toto!”
‘DUNE’ :: Friday, April 4 at Alamo Drafthouse, 60 Seaport Blvd. in Boston, MA :: 9:40 p.m., $14.49 :: Tickets and info