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: Franz Ferdinand at The Orpheum
With all this talk of the return of indie sleaze, let’s not forget the good guys of the aughts, the ones who took us out and made us dance with Michael and thoughtfully delivered all the right thoughts, right words, and right action. Come on down, Franz Ferdinand. We’ve missed ya. The Scottish indie luminaries from the world’s last party decade play The Orpheum on Saturday (April 12) to show off fresh new record The Human Fear; listen to theatrical ’70s glam single “Audacious” below. “Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had, but it’s called The Human Fear,” says Alex Kapranos. “Fear reminds you that you’re alive. I think we all are addicted in some way to the buzz it can give us. How we respond to it shows how we are human. So here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not that you’d necessarily notice on first listen.”
FRANZ FERDINAND + TELESCREENS :: The Orpheum, 1 Hamilton Place in in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., $41 to $157 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Comedy: Gary Gulman at Academy of Music Theatre
A heavy bit of spring fever has us looking west for some road trip action this weekend, and all Mass Pikes lead to Northampton, where Gary Gulman holds court. Here’s Mic’d Up with the word, as we re-post his iconic 2016 routine “How The States Got Their Abbreviations” on Conan: “Returning to the commonwealth on Saturday (April 12) with a stop at Northampton’s Academy of Music Theatre for another night of stories beyond the pages of his first book, Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the ‘80s, Gulman continues his ascension into his own comedy stratosphere. Aside from the ongoing tour that celebrates his critically-acclaimed 2023 memoir, the Peabody native has also begun a new run of shows to introduce his first one-man show, Grandiloquent, which began showing in New York before a quick trip of shows wraps things up in Los Angeles in May. While we patiently await how that serving of comedic and linguistic excellence makes its way to New England, it’s also exciting to see where Gulman has taken this current hour of stand-up, so it’ll be interesting to see how the years on the road have supported its evolution.”
GARY GULMAN :: Saturday, April 12 at Academy of Music Theatre, 247 Main St. in Northampton, MA :: 7:30 p.m., $34 to $56 :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: ‘Secret Mall Apartment’ at Somerville Theatre
Many of us have visited the Providence Place Mall over the years, and several of us have felt like we moved there permanently while navigating the parking garage. But a select few actually lived there, and those pioneers are the subject of a 2024 documentary, Secret Mall Apartment, screening at The Somerville Theatre this weekend with a Q&A with director Jeremy Workman and main instigator Michael Townsend after the 7 p.m. screenings tonight and Saturday (April 11 and 12). Here’s the word: “In 2003, eight young Rhode Islanders created a secret apartment in a hidden space inside the Providence Place Mall and lived in it for four years, filming everything along the way. They snuck in furniture, tapped into the mall’s electricity, and even secretly constructed a brick wall with a locking door, smuggling in over two tons of cinderblock. Far more than just a wild prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for all its inhabitants – a personal expression of defiance against local gentrification, a boundary-pushing work of public/private art, a clubhouse to coordinate their artistic charity, and finally, a 750 square foot space that sticks it to the man.”
‘SECRET MALL APARTMENT’ :: Now playing at The Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square in Somerville, MA :: Tickets and info