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: Bob Mould at The Paradise Rock Club
As usual, Bob Mould has something to say. And it’s best we listen. The iconic guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter known for his work in Hüsker Dü and Sugar ahead of embarking on a prolific solo career, brings his Bob Mould Band to Boston’s Paradise Rock Club this evening (May 2). The tour is fueled by hypnotic single “Here We Go Crazy,” which also serves as the name of the tour and a blistering new album, his 15th solo record and first in four years, which arrived in March via Granary Music/BMG Records. Check out the title track’s video below, directed by Gus Black. “I’ve been spending time in the Southern California desert over the past few years, and the video was shot there,” Mould reveals. “Chilly wilderness atop a mountain, expansive vistas below the hills, distant places to escape life’s routines. ’Going crazy’ can be many different things. The joy of reckless abandon, the uncertainty of the world’s future, the silence of solitude.” There will be no such silence at the ‘Dise on this night.
BOB MOULD BAND + J. ROBBINS :: Friday, May 2 at The Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., 18-plus :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Music: Saint Motel at House of Blues
Ain’t no party like a Saint Motel party, and now the indie-pop brigade is taking it to the people just when we need it most. Back in the fall, the Los Angeles band announced The Symphony in the Sky Tour would be coming to North America in the spring, and included in the healthy itinerary is a lively romp at Boston’s House of Blues that finally arrives this Sunday (May 4). The tour is in support of the group’s fourth studio album, February’s Saint Motel & the Symphony in the Sky, and we got super hyped for all the news via an infectious summer single called “Stay Golden.” The glistening track was produced by BEKON (Kendrick Lamar, Hozier, H.E.R), and it finds Saint Motel in usually fine, euphoric form Frontman A/J Jackson has this to say about it: “It’s a delicate dance of keeping the light alive while carrying the weight of your own dark shadows.” That’s the truth, for life in ’25 or any other time.
SAINT MOTEL :: Sunday, May 4 at House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages, $29.50 to $49.50 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: Strange Maynard Film Festival at Fine Arts Theatre
A few weeks ago we rolled up to Maynard Rock City to catch some comedy at Sanctuary Cultural Arts Center, and now we’re crossing downtown in Massachusetts’ coolest small town to experience the Strange Maynard Independent Film Festival at The Fine Arts Theatre. That this community just off the Route 2 corridor (don’t call it MetroWest, sorry) boasts both an arts venue and indie cinema is not talked about enough, and Saturday (May 3) the latter houses one intriguing afternoon of nearly 30 “strange and bizarre short films” across five hours from 17 local New England filmmakers. “This festival will place an emphasis on films that are funny, weird, creepy, or all of the above,” the fest writes on Film Freeway. “Our primary focus is horror-comedy, but we try not to limit ourselves by genre too much so we may include films that are entirely comedy, entirely horror, or that don’t fit neatly into any genre. We also don’t adhere to strict rules about what is and isn’t horror. We love underground filmmakers, low budget filmmakers, first time filmmakers, and people who are passionate about filmmaking. There is no budget too small to make a great film!” Around the time Strange Maynard wraps up, Dave Herlihy of Boston alt-rock legends O Positive posts up for a free show back at Sanctuary’s side bar. How cool is that? Only in Maynard, indeed.
STRANGE MAYNARD INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL :: Saturday, May 3 at The Fine Arts Theatre, 19 Summer St. in Maynard, MA :: 11:30 a.m., all ages, $10 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
