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: Senses Fail at House of Blues
From the New Jersey Devils locker room to the farthest reaches of the globe, the idea of the Garden State doing battle against literally everyone is simply part of the culture. So as Senses Fail and Saves The Day team up for co-headlining tour New Jersey vs. The World, which crashes Boston’s Citizens House of Blues this Sunday (November 17), we feel it in our bones. Senses Fail will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Let It Enfold You and Saves The Day salute the 25th anniversary of Through Being Cool, and both albums will be performed in their entirety. “I am so honored to be able to go on tour to celebrate a release from 20 years ago,” says Buddy Neilsen of Senses Fail. “If you had told me all that time again that we’d still be able to make music and tour this far into our career, I would be blown away. To have the privilege to tour with one of our main influences in Saves The Day as they celebrate one of my favorite records of all time is absolutely a blessing. I cannot wait to get out on the road.” Adds Chris Conley of Saves The Day: “Together we plan on bringing the spirit of New Jersey to life on stage in a city near you. Let’s all sing along to our favorite songs like we did way back in the day!” #LGD.
SENSES FAIL + SAVES THE DAY :: Sunday, November 17 at Citizens House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St. in Boston, MA :: 6:30 p.m., all ages, $33.50 to $57 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Comedy: Kathleen Madigan at The Wilbur
The year is winding down, but the live comedy circuit is still trending up. A trio of high-profile gigs liven up the comedy calendar this weekend, as detailed in Mic’d Up, and a longtime Vanyaland fave gets the V3 love here as Kathleen Madigan holds court at The Wilbur tonight and tomorrow. Here’s the word: “If you’re wondering why there’s a gloriously mad midwestern voice in your head guiding you through the absurdities of everyday life, that’s most likely the result of Madigan. One of the most consistent and dedicated comics in the game to this day, the Missouri native returns with another hour, and that means a brand new stock pile of observations and frustrations to wade through, which may just be what the doctor ordered at this point in the year.”
KATHLEEN MADIGAN :: Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16 at The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: 6 p.m., $36.75 to $61.75 :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young and Pavement at The Brattle
Chances are people of a certain age first discovered Gary Young after the bizarre “Plant Man” video appeared on an episode of Beavis and Butthead in the mid-’90s. But the founding Pavement drummer’s quirky and improbable story goes much deeper than that, and it’s brought to colorful life in the new 2023 documentary Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young and Pavement, which premieres at The Brattle across four screenings this weekend. Here’s the word from Factory 25: “An up-close cinematic walkabout through the life of Gary Young, the original (and highly unlikely) drummer of indie rock royalty Pavement. His booze and drugs-fueled antics (on-stage handstands, gifting vegetables to fans) and haphazard production methods (accidentally helping launch the lo-fi aesthetic) were both a driving force of the band’s early rise and the cause of his eventual crash landing. Leaving a wake of joy and/or destruction at every turn, Gary teeters the thin line between free-form self-expression and chaotic self-destruction. Thirty years on with scoliosis, blood clots, and a shriveled liver, Gary continued drumming with no regrets.”
‘LOUDER THAN YOU THINK: A LO-FI HISTORY OF GARY YOUNG AND PAVEMENT’ :: Friday, November 15 to Sunday, November 17 at The Brattle, 40 Brattle St. in Cambridge, MA :: Friday at 6 and 8 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m., Sunday at 9 p.m. :: Info and tickets