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: G Flip at Roadrunner
It truly feels like 100,000 years ago by now, but when we first hyped G-Flip and her 2019 alt-pop bop “Killing My Time”, it felt like the start of something dope for the Australian artist. The rise has been steady, and now she pulls into Roadrunner tonight to show off glistening new album Dream Ride. Get a taste with the white-hot retro-pop heat of “Bed on Fire” after the jump. “When diving in and writing this record, I was sonically captivated by the ’80s,” G says. “I love the use of reverb, the drum tones, all the sonics, the musicality, the soloing, and big drum moments. I also really wanted to make a world to accompany the music and storytelling. I kept asking myself, ‘Who would I have been in the ’80s? What would I wear, what haircut would I have, and what car would I drive?’ The answer is Butch Springsteen, the masc lesbian, non-binary, drumming, singing pop star that never existed. Doing a lot of late-night driving to and from the studio, car-themed lyrics kept pouring into the music, and the Dream Ride began. I also love old cars and totally wanted to drive a Barracuda around.” Hop in winners, we’re going to Brighton.
G FLIP + MERCER HENDERSON :: Friday, October 3 at Roadrunner, 89 Guest St. in Brighton, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages, $58 to $75 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Comedy: Bobcat Goldthwait at The Comedy Studio
Those of a certain age will always have a distinct impression of Bobcat Goldthwait, arriving at a formative time of adolescence, where his unhinged roles in films like the Police Academy series, One Crazy Summer, and Hot To Trot were so feral and primal, we all just needed to know “Who the fuck is this guy?! ” Turns out the guy, himself, was just as fascinating, and ever since has carved out one crazy career. Now he’s in town for a weekend fling at The Comedy Studio, and Mic’d Up has the word: “If you happen to be around Harvard Square this weekend, and you see what might be the loudest silhouette in comedy coming at you, complete with a myriad of zany noises and maybe even a cowboy hat, have no fear — it’s literally just Bobcat Goldthwait, and he wants to be your friend for exactly two nights. With a one-two weekend punch at The Comedy Studio, the living comedy legend returns to the area with a new offering of his signature wit, celebrated joke writing, and all the lovable oddity he can muster. Aside from his critically-acclaimed stand-up album Soldier For Christ, and a guest appearance as ‘Shmandrake’ on the SpongeBob SquarePants spin-off The Patrick Star Show in 2023, Goldthwait has remained on a laid back stand-up grind. However, with everything that has transpired in the world these past few years, chances are some wild shit is bound to be said by one of the best to ever do it this weekend, so buckle up”.
BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT :: Friday, October 3 and Saturday, October 4 at The Comedy Studio, 5 John F. Kennedy St. in Cambridge, MA :: 7:30 p.m., $35 :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ at The Coolidge
What’s a spooky season to do when there’s nothing scarier than being alive each and every day in 2025? Lean on the most terrifying 20th-century experience at the cinema and reminisce about the goold ‘ol days. That’s the plan this weekend as Coolidge Corner Theatre rolls out The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s 1974 OG classic on Saturday as part of a two-night After Midnight screening with Psycho on Friday. Who knows if we’ll be able to ride off into safety on the back of a pick-up truck like Marilyn Burns, but we’ll soon find out. Here’s the word from the Brookline den of cinema: “It has been called ‘grisly,’ ‘sick,’ and ‘perverse,’ as well as ‘raw,’ ‘unshakeable,’ and ‘the movie that redefined horror’… It was attacked by churches, banned by governments, and acclaimed by only the bravest of critics. It stunned audiences worldwide and set a new standard in movie terror forever. In 1974, writer-producer-director Tobe Hooper unleashed this dark, visionary tale about a group of five young friends who face a nightmare of torment at the hands of a depraved Texas clan. Today it remains unequaled as a landmark of outlaw filmmaking and unparalleled in its impact as perhaps the most frightening motion picture ever made.”
‘THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE’ :: Saturday, October 4 at The Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St. in Brookline, MA :: 11:59 p.m., $17 :: Advance tickets and info