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Poetry can be a powerful and deeply transformative art form, yet finding places to experience poetry with others can be difficult. Fortunately, Cambridge and Somerville are home to many local poets as well as venues that offer poetry events. Every Wednesday, The Boston Poetry Slam holds a show downstairs at the Cantab Lounge. Each show begins with an open mic, and then a featured poet or an event takes the stage. This show tends to be fun and rowdy and it sells out quickly, so come early if you want to snag a seat. Aeronaut Brewing Company partners with Porter Square Books to hold ‘Poets & Pints,’ a monthly poetry event hosted at Aeronaut’s community space. Three local artists are invited to take the Duck Village stage and read from their most recent works. A social hour is held before the show so the audience members and the poets can have a beer and meet each other. For something slightly different, check out the events at Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Harvard Square. This hole-in-the-wall poetry book shop is tucked away just around the corner from the Harvard Book Store and regularly invites distinguished poets to their cozy book shop to give up-close and intimate readings. Lastly, Harvard’s Woodberry Poetry Room events feature readings from world-class poets that draw a big audience from the Boston poetry scene. These events are often incredibly moving, and this would behthe place to go if you want to have a wit poetry experience. powerful --Maryam Yoon
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waking windows (winooski, VT) ft. Real Estate, Dan Deacon, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), POND, Frankie Cosmos, Big Thief, Screaming Females, Milo (Rapsmith), Downtown Boys, Charlie Parr, Mndsgn, ROUGH FRANCIS, JAW GEMS, Ed Schrader's Music Beat, IAN SWEET, Doug Tuttle, Octo Octa, HOME BODY, FUTURE PUNX, Leapling, Ravi Shavi, PILL, Paper Castles, Disco Phantom, SWALE, The Smittens, Bleach Day, Ellen Degenerates, Tyler Daniel Bean, Rick Rude, Jeff Beam and more! Since its modest VT beginnings in 2011, Waking Windows has grown into a 3 day music, art, and comedy blowout that now has sister events in Detroit (7/217/22) and Portland (9/29-9/30). But on May 5-7 you should pack the van and head up to Winooski where it all began because this year’s event is fully loaded with 180 bands spread across 12 venues plus food trunks, a downtown artisan market, DJ sets scattered throughUnless otherwise indicated, the Compass is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY)
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sil with Emma asked me if I wanted to contribute a note from the crew, and while I was thinking about that, I came across some comments by contributors to the Hassle Space Fundraiser that pretty much exactly express what’s on my mind right now, so I’m going to quote: The first comment started like this: “Thank you for the constant inspiration and promotion of weird, out of this world art. (…)” I have been helping out only for a short time, and for a little bit, (mostly with scouting out spaces that could become the Hassle All Ages Venue that is so desperately needed), so this is not a pat on my own shoulder, but if anybody out there is curious about what happens behind the Hassle scenes: yes, people there work ALL THE TIME to keep the flame alive, just doing, doing, and doing their thing of being in touch with artists, makers, bands, and spaces, of staying connected, and of putting up event after event with minimal funds and very low costs to folks who truly want to experience art and music of all kinds, including kinds they don’t even know yet. So thank you Hassle for doing all of this, year after year! And another big thank you for letting me help! Which brings me to the next part of that comment, which continued like this: “(…) Discovering Boston Hassle was one of the best things to happen to me.” Yes, best thing ever. But you who are reading this already know that. Now the hard part. As another person who supported The Hassle in the fundraiser said: “I wish I could contribute more.” Yes. I wish that too. It’s a bit crazy: Now that I – Hassle inspired, and because helping the Hassle makes things happen - am suddenly on track doing all the stuff I always wanted to do, I ironically have a bit less of everything (time, money…) to directly support the Hassle. This could happen to you too! As I see it, there is only one way out of this dilemma: Multiply!!! Please, please, let’s make sure there are always enough people doing The Hassle, so there will always be space for music and art out there, and we can all both be in our creative caves and play in the sun too. And don’t forget to give to The Hassle Space fundraiser, because space is the place, and if everybody gives just a little, we’ll be there soon!
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Our city is jam-packed. The housing crisis is worse than ever, and even businesses are cohabiting to afford space. It’s no wonder that in a city so full, we’ve shucked our need for ownership, and begun instead to adopt a “sharing model” for everything from housing, to business, to bikes. With the emergence of Hubway, city-dwellers can pay an annual fee for access to bikes in one of 100+ locations in Metro-Boston, and cruise around from work to play all without having to worry about bike storage. The same is true for bike maintenance; the Somerville Bike Kitchen provides a tool-sharing model, with a weekly drop-in fee for use of a full tool library and stand: things too cumbersome to fit in our already overcrowded Cambridge and Somerville apartments. The newest kid on the block is bike education collective, SHIFT Bicycles, a volunteer-run co-op taking the streets of East Somerville and East Cambridge to share their knowledge of safe riding and daily bike maintenance. SHIFT’s mission is “safety through education,” which they provide in a skillshare model: folks of all levels of bike-savvy come together to co-learn and co-teach. From complete rookies to skilled mechanics, volunteers are always welcome, and needed to keep SHIFT’s donation model intact: ensuring no one is denied a bike education for inability to pay. Doesn’t get much sweeter than that! Meet the team and get involved May 7th, 1-6pm at Aeronaut Brewing for the Bike Month Kickoff, or visit shiftbicycles.org for more info. --Jan Marie and Jay Pielmeier
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Canopy City located in Somerville, right in between B Brooklyn Boulders and Aeronaut Brewing, is a co-working space with a focus on startups and social impact. Their emphasis on creating an inclusive environment in which people from all backgrounds can come together in a collaborative community perfectly aligns with the mission of the Boston Hassle. This is why we’ve now made Canopy City the home of our weekly volunteer meetings. I came across an ad for Canopy while enjoying a drink next door. From the retro Pac Man theme of the poster, I could tell this was not a typical co-working space. Canopy puts their members first be offering a wide array of events on social impact and acting as an incubator of ideas. To top it off, Canopy is very supportive of the Boston Hassle! If you ever find yourself there, head to the kitchen where you’ll find our flyers or a copy of the compass.
How did Nicolas Cage go undetected for so long? For over 20 years, he managed to pass as a typical Hollywood A-lister, despite turning out performance after performance of scenery-shredding lunacy; it was like Crispin Glover somehow had inhabited the body of Richard Gere. Fortunately, in the past ten years or so, America has finally realized what a national treasure (sorry) they have on their hands. With that in mind, the Somerville Theatre pays tribute in the most fitting of ways: with a night of sexy dance and sassy comedy! Join some of New England’s brightest burlesque stars as they salute the likes of THE WICKER MAN, VAMPIRE’S KISS, and CON AIR, hosted by noted film critic Mike D’Angelo (The AV Club, Esquire)! As if that weren’t enough, the evening is capped off with a screening of John Woo’s jaw-dropping FACE/OFF, in which John Travolta attempts to out-Cage the master (who himself is at his absolute Cagiest). Oh, and if you happen to know how it got burned, please contact Compass editorial. --Oscar Goff out, and a special screening of the Death by Audio documentary. Musical highlights include Dan Deacon, Real Estate, Frankie Cosmos, Screaming Females, Downtown Boys, and IAN SWEET plus showcases from NNA Tapes featuring the multi-instrumental Tredici Bacci led by Simon Hanes and Brooklyn’s Dull Tools featuring PILL, Beth Israel, Eaters, and Future Punx @ The Monkey House (aka the nucleus of this fest). As always Boston and Mass. are well represented with indie dreamers Mini Dresses, the experimental electro outfit Home Body, and psychedelic aficionado Doug Tuttle. You’ll also definitely want to catch NH punks Footings, ME’s Jaw Gems, and of course ex-Boston noise punk duo
URSULA. I could keep going but half the fun (and point) of such a widespread festival is the act of discovery. Weekend passes are an absolute steal at $55. Pick one up and spend the first weekend in May poking around Winooski, VT where you’re sure to find something new and exciting for your eyes, ears, taste buds, and more. --Michael Achille
THIS PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED IN PART BY A GRANT FROM THE BOSTON CULTURAL COUNCIL, A LOCAL AGENCY WHICH IS FUNDED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS CULTURAL COUNCIL, AS ADMINSTRATED BY THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF ARTS + CULTURE THIS PAPER IS AN ONGOING PROJECT OF BRAIN ARTS ORGANIZATION, INC., A 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT. PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO, VOLUNTEERING OR OTHERWISE SUPPORTING US: BRAIN-ARTS.ORG OR BOSTONHASSLE@GMAIL.COM