When combing the annals of Boston music history, you’d be hard-pressed to find evidence of a DIY venue with gilded wainscoting, Roman columns, and ample seating — until now.
Elegance, explosions of sound, and avant-garde visuals collide on weekends at The 4th Wall, a new venture in Arlington that’s flipping under-utilized theater space into a multimedia home for live music. Located within the Capitol Theatre, The 4th Wall transforms a 120-person theater into a late-night locale for touring and local performers. The cinema’s unique features and comforts — like butter-slathered popcorn, cushioned seats, century-old architecture, and a supersized screen bursting with psychedelic imagery — differentiate the experience from anything currently rumbling in Boston’s underground. Some Boston acts who have made their big screen debut include Mint Green, Paper Lady, Tiberius, Today Junior, and JVK.
The venue is a collaboration between FEI Theatres (who manages the Capitol) and Digital Awareness, a local creative team who provides the accompanying visual elements for every performance. The 4th Wall launched last November as a way to address two post-COVID dilemmas: A shortage of independent music venues and diminished moviegoer attendance at cinemas.
“Though the movie industry has been clawing its way back to relevance since the 2020 shutdown, movie markets are only — at best — half of what they were pre-COVID,” says David Jubinsky, manager and front of house at the Capitol Theatre. “In 2021, the Capitol Theatre avoided permanent closure by the skin of our teeth. It became obvious to FEI Theatres’ management that movies alone could not keep the business afloat, and that management would need to find additional avenues to collect revenue. [Opening] The 4th Wall is one of the more exciting avenues!”
When credits roll on the day’s final flicks, musicians roll up to theater 2, ready to bring the noise in what would be an otherwise hushed cinema. (It’s a familiar formula for FEI Boston, who also manages The Somerville Theatre and Crystal Ballroom; in 2021, the the Davis Square cinema converted a second-floor theater into the 500-person ballroom, swapping movies for live music to bolster their entertainment offerings.) With a staff, entertainment license, and liquor license already in place at the Capitol, Jubinsky says the process couldn’t have been more streamlined. The built-in ability to experiment with Digital Awareness’ visuals on the Capitol’s movie screens further solidified the concept.
“Obviously, a movie theater venue would need some kickass visuals, otherwise the whole project would feel trivial,” Jubinsky notes. As a member of the Boston chiptune band Battlemode, Jubinsky witnessed Digital Awareness’ expertise in action when their team partnered with Battlemode for a slew of performances. Watching their visual accompaniments adapt to diverse venues across the country — such as apartment rooftops and warehouses — sparked the idea to collaborate beyond the tour.
“Performing these unconventional spaces lead to the realization that literally any space could be a DIY spot,” he reflects. “If a rock gym could do it, why couldn’t a movie theater?”
The result is a mind-bending mosaic of Rorschach tests, wildflower fields, and acid-eaten footage that captures — and holds — the crowd’s attention during every set at The 4th Wall. Performers walk away with a fully-mixed copy of their set that’s been synced with Digital Awareness’ contributions, providing artists with shareable content for their social media accounts and website (or just regular ol’ posterity).
The challenges facing The 4th Wall, however, are just as unique as its perks. With no subway station in Arlington, the destination can seem like a haul for Boston performers and guests who don’t have access to a car. The best options for public transportation are the 77 bus, which travels along Massachusetts Avenue, and the Alewife T stop, a 15 minute walk from the theatre. Both are viable solutions — that is, assuming folks know Arlington has a music scene worth visiting. Low foot traffic on Massachusetts Avenue also limits organic discovery among locals.
“We are trying to build a community both in Boston and in the sleepy burb of Arlington,” says Ethan Gerber, event manager at The 4th Wall. “In the Arlington community, we are pretty much blazing the trail for more venues/spaces to open up and create a music scene here. That is the hope and dream, at least.”
It’s not an unprecedented goal; newer venues like Faces and Deep Cuts regularly draw Boston folks to Malden and Medford for shows. The 4th Wall hopes to become another out-of-town option, offering bands a reliable place to perform if they’re having trouble securing a spot on a Boston bill. In the process, the venue’s programming blends musicians of all genres, states, and experience levels, fostering new connections among artists and a sense of discovery among guests.
It’s a wholesome, albeit ironic, strategy: Break the fourth wall, then build community. Just don’t bust any of the projection equipment.
“We are really down to book everything and anything as long as it doesn’t put the screen/theatre in any danger,” Gerber notes. “We can’t have anything too aggressive or mosh-inducing as we need to protect the theatre first and foremost.”
Adds Harley Spring, a house visualist with Digital Awareness: “When it comes to local performers, we are trying our best to punch up with the acts we bring into the theater, but also balancing that with doing our best to give space to bands who might be striking out [elsewhere]. There are fewer and fewer locally-minded venues in the area right now, and the ones that do exist tend to have slightly more insular booking methods than what we’re trying to do here at The 4th Wall.”
To inquire about performing at The 4th Wall, fill out this form.