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: Drop Nineteens at The Paradise
Boston’s storied musical past brought blissful noise back to the present day last summer as Drop Nineteens announced an exciting and unexpected return after three decades away. The legendary shoegaze band unveiled a sparking new song called “Scapa Flow,” and it served as the first taste of November album Hard Light, out via Wharf Cat and featuring the original lineup from influential 1992 debut album Delaware: Greg Ackell, Steve Zimmerman, Paula Kelley, Motohiro Yasue, and Peter Koeplin. The return included a short run of six shows, and after an initial postponement, those arrives this week and includes a Drop Nineteens appearance tonight (April 19) at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. With the return of the live shows comes more news, and the band recently announced a re-issue of Delaware, out June 21 with a cover of Lana Del Rey’s “White Dress.” Check out that and the aforementioned “Scapa Flow” below, and embrace one of the most essential local music gigs this year.
DROP NINETEENS + GREG MENDEZ :: Friday, April 19 at The Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., 18-plus, $30 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Comedy: Matt Rife at MGM Music Hall at Fenway
We’ve been seeing a lot of live comedy shows pop up on Lansdowne Street’s newest music venue, including recent word of a Kevin Hart appearance in November. This weekend, however, it’s all about Matt Rife posting up at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, as the shit-stirring, crowd-working comedian and actor posts up for a six-spot tonight through Sunday (April 19 to 21) as part of his ProbleMATTic World Tour. Here’s Mic’d Up with the pitch: “Whether he’s problematic or you just have a problem with him, the effect Matt Rife has had on the stand-up scene just over the course or the last two years is undeniable. With six shows in Boston, the young comedy superstar is only part way through his largely sold-out and highly successful world tour, and there’s no sign of him slowing down any time soon.”
MATT RIFE :: Friday, April 19 to Sunday, April 21 at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, 2 Lansdowne St. in Boston, MA :: 7 and 10 p.m. each night, $49.50 to $115 :: Advance Tickets
Film/TV: Seagrass 4/20 Film Festival at Cinema Salem
If we’re not getting roasted in Boston (see above), we’re getting toasted in Salem. The Seagrass 4/20 Film Festival takes us high atop the North Shore this weekend as Cinema Salem hosts a bong rip of inspired cannabis programming. Festivities kicked off last night with Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke and The Cabin in the Woods, and tonight (April 19) packs a theater bowl with Super High Me, The Big Lebowski, and Half Baked. Saturday’s 4/20 programming lines up Dazed and Confused, Pineapple Express, and Reefer Madness. It’s presented by Seagrass, the largest cannabis dispensary on the North Shore, and “aims to explore and celebrate the nuanced portrayal of cannabis in popular films.” Hit the links for specific showtimes and info.
SEAGRASS 4/20 FILM FESTIVAL :: Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 at Cinema Salem, One East India Square in Salem, MA :: Showtimes vary, $12 to $75 :: Venue info :: Festival info
