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: Chappell Roan at House of Blues
After Labor Day, there are just so many holidays on the calendar: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas… and Chappell Roan playing Boston’s House of Blues this Sunday (October 15). Ok, yeah, sure, we borrowed that lede from our article on Roan’s album release last month, but we simply have no choice but to stan — The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is a defining album of 2023, and now we get to hear it in all its bouncing glory this weekend on Lansdowne. The magical Roan is an alt-pop rhinestone cowgirl comet from Missouri, who in a few years (maybe sooner, like now) will likely be recognized as one of our generation’s greatest and most thrilling songwriters, and at this point, her debut record pretty much a greatest hits compilation.
We dub it so because it’s exactly that, as the album pulls together Roan’s breathtaking series of ultra-magnetic, sex-positive, queer-highlighted singles since 2020 — including the theatrical “Red Wine Supernova,” rambunctious “Pink Pony Club,” and hook-up culture yearner “Casual.” Toss in neon-glow tracks like “Kaleidoscope,” “Naked In Manhattan,” and tough-to-spell, easy-to-sing “Femininomenon,” and the whole thing — plus summer’s cheery “HOT TO GO” and all the new bops like “After Midnight” and “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” — shapes up to one hell of a debut LP.
“After four years in the making comes my 14-song album holding stories of unearthing my true self and fearlessly embracing queerness,” says Roan. “My whole project is a rebellion to how I was raised. I want what I never had — a safe place to dress, sing, and dance however you want to, and be who you truly are. I think the album encapsulates the whole process of birthing a new me and then ultimately abandoning it. That push and pull is a perfect example of me obsessing over my dream but despising it at the same time. The music made me evolve. With the contrast of my Midwestern upbringing and living in one of the biggest cities in the U.S., The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess mirrors the rollercoaster of becoming the popstar I always wanted to be.”
And the one we absolutely need right now. Go for the hits, stay for the possible Lady Gaga cover.
CHAPPELL ROAN :: Sunday, October 15 at House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., sold out :: Event info :: Ticket page
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Comedy: Iliza Shlesinger at TD Garden
Friday the 13th is no joke — especially when Iliza Shlesinger holds court on the biggest stage in Boston, TD Garden. As Jason Greenough notes in Mic’d Up, the long and illustrious career of the Emerson alum started here in our fair city, so it feels only right that the biggest crowd she’s performed to will convene right back in North Station tonight (October 13). We caught up with the New York native to discuss the gig, and needless to say, Shlesinger is stoked.
“Before we launched this tour, the idea of playing TD Garden was brought to me, and I didn’t even hesitate,” Shlesinger tells Vanyaland. “I’ve been building this market throughout my entire career, and the Boston fans have always been so supportive, and they’ve always been so warm and welcoming to me, I guess because it isn’t a sporting event. Of course I have some history there having gone to Emerson, but I also just have an intense love for the city and the crowds. Having played in and around Boston and New England for so long, it just seemed like the right move, and I can already feel that it’s going to be an incredible, energetic, and awesome night.”
ILIZA SHLESINGER :: Friday, October 13 at TD Garden, 100 Legends Way in Boston, MA, 7 p.m., $45 to $131.50 :: Advance Tickets
Film/TV: Friday the 13th in the Rocky Woods
The Coolidge Corner Theatre’s After Midnite series has been known to lure horror fans deep into the Rocky Woods to celebrate the iconic slasher film franchise, but the Brookline cinema raises the machete higher than ever with tonight’s double feature. It’s Friday the 13th, it’s the middle of October, and it’s time to fall victim to Jason Voorhees all over again.
The Coolidge teams up with Medfield’s Rocky Woods tonight (October 13) to present a scream-worthy double-feature outdoors and far from the city, screening Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood and Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in a campground setting. Will Jason be lurking behind the big screen? Roll up to find out. Just don’t try to get freaky during the film; you know what happens.
FRIDAY THE 13TH IN THE ROCKY WOODS :: Friday, October 13 at the Rocky Woods Reservation, 38 Hartford St. in Medfield, MA :: 8 p.m., $35, parking is extra :: Coolidge event info and ticket page