Weekend - September 24, 2020

For the most up-to-date listing of events, go online to masslive.com/entertainment

Weekend

E

|

| THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

LIVEWIRE: The Big E lands Brad Paisley for 2021 fair, E4 OFF THE MENU: The Big E fair foods now available at three spots, E8 WINE PRESS: Wine to drink during the greatest sports season ever, E10

Missing concerts?

10 great live albums to check out Page E2

PLUS

Young@Heart Chorus to release album

WEEKEND

E2 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

ON THE COVER

Missing concerts?

10 great live albums to check out

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band onstage in 1978. (PHOTO: BOB FERRELL / RJFPIX@AOL.COM)

D

By George Lenker

Special to The Republican

espite some aspects of society tenuously starting to open up during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still numerous activities that are verboten, including live music, either at clubs or in concert halls.

While virtual concerts via Zoom or other platforms provide a reasonable if lesser alternative, there is nothing like being at a great live show in terms of a visceral and electric artistic experience.

So in light of that gap in live music, today we will look at 10 great live albums that might help ease the pain of the lack of concerts. This is not to say these are the 10 best live albums of all time, but just a diverse sampling that hopefully offers something for everyone, no matter how your tastes run.

Without further ado and in no particular order:

The Who’s “Live at Leeds.”

Cash never actually spent time in prison (he did spend a few nights in jail for misdemeanors, however), but Cash certainly had a bead on the stark realities of life inside, and it showed up on this 1968 classic.

It opens with the famous version of his 1955 hit, “Folsom Prison Blues” with its classic line, “I shot a man in Memphis just to watch him die,” which draws an unsettling amount of cheers from the inmates.

Johnny Cash’s historic Folsom Prison concert opened with his 1955 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.”

Drive-By Truckers, “It’s Great to be Alive!”

This live set celebrated the 20th anniversary the band, but amazingly it was already their fourth live album. And while the other live efforts were good, this 2014 effort shows what a well-oiled machine the band had become, playsively holds down the bottom ing some of their best songs end with subtle intricacy, but at peak levels. Check out the the real star is drummer Keith subtle reimagining of “A Ghost Moon, who propels the set into to Most” as evidence of a band that knows its stuff. orbit.

LCD Soundsystem, “The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live at Madison Square Garden” This supposedly “final” show of the band’s career (which turned out not to be true) was issued in 2014, and features almost the entire Madison Square Garden concert in 2011. While band leader James Murphy often recorded mostly alone, this album shows that he also knew how to put together a fantastic live band. A film of excerpts from the show, “Shut Up and Play the Hits,” is a good sampler for those not ready for the full 188-minute musical feast.

The Who, “Live at Leeds” Let’s start with one the greatest live albums ever produced. For all Pete Townshend’s high-art dabblings, such as producing the first rock opera, “Tommy,” the year before, when the band played live, it was pedal to the metal (or at least hard rock) with this 1970 classic. Pete is full windmill mode and witty, Roger Daltry shows he’s every Johnny Cash, “At bit the rock singer that rival Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant is, Folsom Prison” Like most readers, Johnny bassist John Entwistle subver-

James Brown, “Live at the Apollo” Clocking in at just a hair over half an hour, this compact, sinewy set features Brown and SEE CONCERTS, PAGE E3

James Brown’s “Live at the Apollo” features Brown and his band at their tightest.

(MITCHAEL J. ZAREMBA / THE PLAIN DEALER)

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

WEEKEND

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | E3

as “Whipping Post� and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.�

The album, just the band’s third release, pushed them to critical and popular success.

Drive-By Truckers perform on the Cask & Drum Stage in 2014.

(TAMIKA MOORE / TMOORE@AL.COM)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE E2

his band at their tightest. His backup vocal group, The Famous Flames, paint a perfect smooth backdrop for Brown’s gritty and soulful crooning, and while the King of Soul might give short shrift to some of his hits in a six-minute medley near the end, no one can feel cheated about the Allman Brothers Band, “At Fillmore East� quality-over-quantity mode Shifting across the counhere. Essential listening for all try, this double album, also music fans. recorded in 1971, stands as a pinnacle of the band’s live experience. Jump-starting the lengthy affair is a bottle rocket of bottle-slide guitar mastery, as Duane Allman lets listeners know that he’s not here to fool around on Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues.�

The two-and-a-half hour set is largely a demonstration of the band’s mastery of the blues, but also includes superb renAretha Franklin “Live at ditions of ABB originals such Fillmore West� showcases the Queen of Soul’s amazing versatility.

GETTY IMAGES)

Bruce Springsteen, “September 19, 1978 (Piece de Resistance)�

This 1978 performance was widely bootlegged, so The Boss released it himself on his official live archive website last year. Taken from the “Darkness On The Edge Of Town� tour, this document shows The E Street Band at

the height of its powers during a show at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. The set nimbly shows Springsteen’s range, as it deftly couples the lineage of “She’s the One� with a Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away� in a medley, while also displaying his harder edge during a guitar duel with Steve Van Zandt during “Because The Night.�

Kate Bush, “Live at Hammersmith Odeon�

This 1994 box set by the British singer Kate Bush is a rerelease of a video recording of the 1979 “The Tour of Life,� which was first issued on home video in 1981, along with an audio CD of the video.

The video and CD contain 12 songs from the tour, all of which highlight Bush’s amaz-

at the Irish Cultural Center

HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES)

55 BATTERY BATTERY

With Coupon. One Per Person.

With Coupon.

Per Person.

Expires One 5/1/2020 Expires 9/30/20 Expires 5/1/2020

Three hearty Irish dinner options prepared Wednesday – Saturday.

Call 413-342-4358.

IrishCenterwne.org FOR MENU & ORDER INFO.

(CHRIS MOORHOUSE / EVENING STANDARD /

CASH FOR GOLD $$ WATCH WATCH

To Go for Curbside Pickup

Irish House Restaurant

English singer-songwriter and musician Kate Bush at her family’s home in East Wickham, London, in 1978.

6&277¡6 -(:(/(56

FAMILY DINNER SPECIALS !

NEW

ing skills as a writer and singer. If you get a chance, also watch the video, as she is a mesmerizing stage performer, and the final song, “Wuthering Heights� is a revelation.

.BJO 4U 8FTUÜFME t (Across from Walgreens & Rocky’s Hardware)

10% Extra 10%for Extra Cash Gold With Coupon.for One Per Person.

Cash Gold Expires 5/1/2020

3139683-01

Aretha Franklin, “Live at Fillmore West�

If you have always thought of Aretha as a soul-belting gospel singer, well, you’re partly right. While this 1971 set kicks off with her hit cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect,� it quirkily showcases the Queen of Soul’s amazing versatility,

Phil Lynott, singer and bass guitarist with the rock group Thin Lizzy, performs on stage in 1976. (EVENING STANDARD /

Musician Duane Allman of American rock group The Allman Brothers Band performs at the Fillmore East, a nightclub in New York City, June 27, 1971. (DON PAULSEN / MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES / GETTY IMAGES)

3139700-01

Concerts

as she covers everything from The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby� to Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With,� and does so with mastery. A 2006 rerelease expands on the three nights from which the album was culled, but it doesn’t add much other value as it’s mostly alternate takes of the same songs on different nights from the original set.

Thin Lizzy, “Live and Dangerous�

The great paradox of Thin Lizzy’s reputation as a “dangerous� band (see: the rowdy lyrics to “The Boys are Back in Town� or the menacing “Jailbreak�) is that Phil Lynott & Co. were actually a fairly affable group of Irish lads, and mostly only a danger to themselves due to drug use and infighting. But when it came to the music, they were hard to beat. This live set from 1978 is both raucous and impeccably executed, and includes two hits mentioned above as well as the sublime “Cowboy Song.� The only real danger is missing out on this classic.

With Coupon. One Per Person.

JEWELRY REPAIR Expires 9/30/20 Expires 5/1/2020 -(:(/5< 5(3$,5 Â&#x2021; :( %8< ',$021'6 WE BUY DIAMONDS

WEEKEND

E4 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

MUSIC

The Big E lands Brad Paisley for 2021 fair

T

HE PANDEMIC MAY have sidelined the 2020 edition of The Big E, but fair organizers have something special planned for next year.

Country superstar Brad Paisley will play The Big E Arena in 2021.

Paisley — who has sold more than 11 million albums and won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, and 14 Country Music Association Awards — comes to West Springfield on Sept. 24, 2021.

Tickets for the show will go on sale in the spring. Fans can keep watch for the announcement through thebige.com.

“It signifies that there is a future, there will be a fair,” said John Juliano of Mellowship Entertainment, who books talent for The Big E. “This gives a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Paisley’s show will mark the 20th anniversary of his last Big E concert when he performed at the Court of Honor stage just after the attacks of 9/11.

Juliano hopes Paisley’s appearance will once again herald a return to normalcy.

“To announce the show this early is a positive message,” he said. “It speaks not only of Paisley’s motivation to work, but all of us, from the road crews, to promoters, and the artists.”

Juliano and Mellowship business partner Anne-Alise Pietruska hope to announce more shows before the end of the year.

This year’s Big E was scheduled to run from Sept.

18 through Oct. 4 before COVID-19 concerns shut down the fair. While the fair did not release its full entertainment schedule, acts such as Don McLean and legendary Southern rock band, The Outlaws, were scheduled for the Court of Honor stage and Christian rock star Zach Williams was scheduled to headline the Big E Arena.

Liner notes • A 13-date, co-headlining,

and Young, to a resurgence in the ’90s as the “Godfather of Grunge” and inspiring bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

Brad Paisley is scheduled to perform at next year’s edition of The Big E on Sept. 24.

(ROB GRABOWSKI / INVISION / AP FILE)

Donnie Moorhouse LiveWire

drive-in tour has been announced with Aaron Lewis of Staind and Sully Erna of Godsmack.

The tour begins Oct. 1 at the Star-lite Drive In in Wichita, Kansas, and treks back and forth across the country for a month. The routing avoids the Northeast, although the tour promotion does suggest more dates will be added.

“Sully and I have been friends for 25 years,” said Lewis in a statement. “We’ve been talking about doing something for the last 10 years. The time has finally come. I couldn’t be more excited to be bringing this to you in such strange times.”

While the promoters are hailing this pairing as unique, local fans will remember that Erna joined Lewis at Look Park

in 2017 for the annual “Aaron Lewis and Friends” benefit concert.

Stepping in for Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace, Erna showed up for an hourlong set of rock covers that included everything from 4-NonBlondes’ “What’s Going On,” to Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike,” and Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page.”

The tour will feature Lewis and Erna performing together acoustically for a “special evening of hits, covers and conversation.”

Lewis and Erna were founders and front men for Staind (Springfield) and Godsmack (Boston) respectively, two of the most prominent bands of the modern rock era.

• Neil Young will help fight off pandemic woes for his fans with a box set due out this fall.

“Archives Volume 2,” a 10disc release that features work from 1972 through 1976, will be available beginning Nov. 20 with preorders being accepted starting Oct. 16.

The package includes 12 songs that have never been released and 50 previously unreleased versions of songs.

In all, there are 132 tracks. The

final disc is a live recording “Odeon Budokan” from shows in London and Tokyo with his band Crazy Horse.

This is the second archival release from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame artist, the first coming in 2009 and covering the beginning of his career in 1963 through the release of his 1972 album “Harvest.”

The prolific Young has been a major influence on several decades and genres, from his beginnings in the ’60s with Buffalo Springfield to work with Crosby, Stills, Nash,

• Sarah Brightman has a concert scheduled for the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

The soprano will perform at the Worcester venue on Dec. 1, 2021.

Tickets for the event are available through the venue website at hanovertheatre. org.

The performance is part of Brightman’s “Hymn” world tour.

Brightman is the best-selling soprano of all time and is considered to be the creator of the classical-crossover genre.

Her album “Hymn” marks her first full-length studio release since 2013.

• Suzanne Vega will celebrate the release of her newest recording with a livestream concert.

“An Evening of New York Songs and Stories” came out on Sept. 11 and the livestream release event happens Oct. 7-8.

The live album was recorded last year at the Café Carlyle.

Tickets for the event are available through seated.com.

The event will be presented live SEE LIVEWIRE, PAGE E5

Make Pleasure Possible Blush Wellness Dilator Kit Good Clean Love Restore

OHNUT in the Color Aloe

AEStoresGreenfield

Pleasure, Adventure, & Fun

AdamEveGreenfieldMA

18 Main St., Greenfield, MA • 413-774-9800 www.Greenfield.AdamEveStores.com Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm, Fri. & Sat. 10am-10pm, Sun. 12pm-7pm

Everyone Welcome

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

LiveWire CONTINUED FROM PAGE E4

from New York’s iconic Blue Note jazz club.

Unable to tour due to COVID-19 concerns, artists have pivoted to livestreaming events to share new music.

Vega also held a virtual “listening” party on the eve of the album’s release.

• Polaris, the band from cult-classic Nickelodeon show “The Adventures of Pete & Pete,” has canceled its tour plans, including a stop in Holyoke.

The band was originally scheduled to play Gateway City Arts on May 15. That show was moved to Oct. 9 due to COVID-19 concerns. It has now been canceled outright.

Tickets purchased with a credit card will automatically be refunded.

Polaris members include Mark Mulcahy (Muggy), David McCaffrey (Jersey), and Scott Boutier (Harris) who were longtime bandmates in underground favorite Miracle Legion.

Mulcahy has been active as a solo artist on the Western Mass. music scene while McCaffrey and Boutier played bass and drums together in several acts including Frank Black and the Catholics.

WEEKEND

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | E5

MUSIC

Young@Heart Chorus to release album Virtual benefit concert to take place Oct. 3

T

By George Lenker

Special to The Republican

he Young@ Heart Chorus, the stereotype-defying, generation-crossing rock group composed of two dozen spirited senior citizens ranging in age from 77 to 92, is back and they’re bringing some big names with them.

The group will be releasing its first album, “Miss You,” since 2012 on Oct. 2, with a virtual event and benefit concert on Oct. 3. The show will feature performances, music video debuts, and celebrity guest appearances, including David Byrne, Edie Falco, Larry David, Paul Shaffer, and Los Lobos, all of whom will introduce the songs that the group will perform. The album will feature songs from legendary artists such as Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, NWA, and Pearl Jam. With an average age of 85, its members are among the most at risk from COVID-19, and therefore this will probably be one of the last groups to return to performing in public due to the high risk of infection. One member is recovering from a 14-day hospitalization after contracting COVID-19.

But that doesn’t mean their spirit has been deterred.

“Young@Heart stopped rehearsing due to the pandemic on March 12. By March 19 we got together for a chaotic yet emotional conference call and

by March 23 we had 25 seniors on Zoom,” chorus director Bob

The Young@Heart Chorus will release a new album, “Miss You,” on Oct. 2, and hold a virtual benefit concert on Oct. 3. (STEVEN E. NANTON PHOTO)

“It’s been an incredibly productive time once we got the hang of it.”

BOB CILMAN, CHORUS DIRECTOR, YOUNG@HEART CHORUS

Cilman said. “Two weeks later we had our first ever Zoom recording of Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What it’s Worth’ that was played on CNN.” That restart blossomed into weekly virtual rehearsals and online collaborations with the renowned Chicago Children’s Choir and the Barton Hills Elementary Chorus from Austin, Texas, best known for their unique interpretations of Grateful Dead songs. The two choruses joined forces remotely to sing Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

“It’s been an incredibly productive time once we got the hang of it,” Cilman said.

“We’ve recorded many songs, put together videos and our Oct. 3 show will be the way to view the work with plenty of great celebrity introductions … Young@Heart is so honored that they have pitched in at this crucial time of lost

income.”

Cilman added that a bonus is that people can attend the show without traveling.

“People are signing up from all over the world to come,” he said.

The show is free but Cilman

urges people to register on the group’s website youngatheartchorus.com. You can also pay to get access to the new CD and other perks.

“Please know that your payment helps us out at a very critical time,” Cilman added.

ALWAYS HIGH PRICES PAID.

63 Cabot Street, Chicopee Center (413) 592-0220

03091382

• Renowned Pink Floyd tribute band Brit Floyd has rescheduled its postponed 2020 tour including dates in Boston and Connecticut.

The group was scheduled to swing through New England in March when COVID-19 shut down live events everywhere.

The band will now play the Toyota Oakdale in Wallingford, Connecticut, on May 14, 2021, and The Orpheum in Boston on May 15.

Tickets for the original dates will be honored. Ticket information is available through Live Nation at livenation.com.

Damian Darlington formed Brit Floyd in Liverpool in 2011 after a 17 year run with the Australian Pink Floyd Show. His goal was to create “a coherent, emotional journey through Pink Floyd’s catalog.”

E6 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

WEEKEND

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

MOVIES ONLINE STREAMING

‘All In: The Fight for Democracy’ leads new films

By Michael O’Sullivan

around a small Ohio town called Knockemstiff. It’s a real The documentary “All In: place, but what goes down in The Fight For Democracy” this fictionalized version of lays out three complex stories, it (and parts of nearby West eloquently. The main one is a Virginia) seem entirely too history of voting in America, deadly to be believed. Based starting with the expansion on the 2011 debut novel by of its original parameters Donald Roy Pollock, who actually comes from Knockem(White, male property owners) to include Blacks, women stiff, and who provides the and those without land, and film’s colorful narration – in a taking us all the way up to gravelly drawl that sounds a what the film presents as the little like Billy Bob Thornton’s strangling of representative – “Devil” features not one but democracy today. As argued two of the following things: Stacey Abrams in the documentary “All In: The Fight for Deby the film’s subjects, that’s suicide, serial killers and sinmocracy.” (AMAZON STUDIOS) ister preachers. More singular via gerrymandering, voter events include human cruciID laws and other forms of But the film, by Lisa Cortes fixion, animal sacrifice, death urgent. PG-13. Available on disenfranchisement. This Amazon Prime Video. Contains by cancer and, naturally, a broad, infuriating narrative is and Liz Garbus, is also a biframed by a case in point: the ographical portrait of Abrams, some disturbing violent images, corrupt sheriff. That last role mature thematic material and is played by a pudgy-looking 2018 Georgia governor’s race whose life and career make for an inspirational tale. In a Sebastian Stan, who joins the strong language – all involving between Democrat Stacey top-notch cast, which includes Abrams and Republican Brian season of political documen- racism. 102 minutes. taries, the sheer number of Bill Skarsgard, Mia WasiKemp, who as the state’s kowska, Jason Clarke, Riley It’s no accident that the secretary of state, oversaw an which can lead to outrage fatigue, “All In” is especially lia- frequently bloody events Keough, Harry Melling and election fraught with abuse Robert Pattinson, playing varand race-based suppression of ble to induce indignation – yet that occur in “The Devil All ious wicked, misguided and/ that makes it feel all the more the Time” take place in and the vote, according to critics.

Washington Post

or unfortunate souls. Tom Holland and Eliza Scanlen anchor the story, which is bookended by World War II and the Vietnam War: orphans at the moral center of a swirl of corruption to which the world seems indifferent. Directed

by Antonio Campos (“Christine”), who co-wrote the adaptation with his brother Paul Campos, it’s a gripping, dark and deeply ambivalent narrative. Call it hillbilly noir: an Appalachian-set story of good and evil in which there seems to be an unhealthy preponderance of the latter. R. Available on Netflix. Contains violence, bloody and disturbing images, sexuality, graphic nudity and crude language throughout. 138 minutes.

Also streaming In “Blackbird,” Susan Sarandon plays a woman who calls her family together – including her husband (Sam Neil), SEE STREAM, PAGE E7

DVD RELEASES

‘Babyteeth’ builds depth of joy amid family tragedy

By Katie Foran-McHale

Tribune News Service

A vibrant story gives new life to the coming-of-age sick teen subgenre in the top new DVD releases for this week.

“Babyteeth”:AsteenagerMilla(Eliza Scanlen) zones out while waiting for the train, a considerable distance from her peers, she looks a little too longingly at the tracks below. When the train barrels toward the platform, she sharply inhales after being shoved by a 23-year-old man, Moses (Toby Wallace). It’s the breath of fresh air she needs, in the midst of dealing with cancer, chemo and loneliness. As the two become friends, her parents, Anna and Henry (Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn), struggle between the sketchiness of the age difference, let alone Moses’ criminal leanings, and seeing their dying daughter reawaken to the world.

For a film swirling around death, it glows with life, with small moments carrying the most weight: Anna smiling at Milla passionately dancing to Sudan Archives at a music lesson, a pregnant neighbor going into labor, an impromptu photo session at the beach that leaves Henry attempting to hide his devastation in seeing Milla hint at her final days. Davis’ effortless charm shines through Anna’s drug-addled coping mechanisms, while Mendelsohn achieves melancholic disconnect without hiding Henry’s humanity, and the spirited soundtrack is perfectly complemented by a heavy string score by Amanda Brown. Director Shannon Murphy and writer Rita Kalnejais ultimately succeed in taking a coming-of-age subgenre that has become familiar in recent years and making it as lively as Milla’s bright blue wig.

SEE DVD, PAGE E12

Eliza Scanlen, left, and Toby Wallace in “Babyteeth.” (IFC FILMS)

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

WEEKEND

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | E7

EAST WINDSOR, CONN.

Museum’s Pumpkin Patch Trolley ready to roll

By Pam Mastriano

receive a bag filled with stickers to decorate their pumpThe Connecticut Trolley kin. The Art & Craft tables Museum will once again be will be open for the enjoyhosting its popular Pumpkin ment of visitors. The Visitor Center will be open and decPatch Trolley. This fundraising event is important orated for Halloween. The in supporting the museum, Fire Truck Museum, which is especially now since the mu- housed on the same properseum was hit hard financially ty as the Trolley Museum, from the pandemic. will be open and included in Pumpkin Patch is a family museum admission. fun filled adventure where The Pumpkin Patch Trolley visitors ride on a trolley car will be running Thursday through the fall forest to the through Sunday, starting pumpkin patch field where today and running through each person can pick out Oct. 31. The Pumpkin Patch a pumpkin. They will also will also be open on Oct. 12

The Republican

The Pumpkin Patch Trolley returns to Connecticut Trolley Museum today.

Stream CONTINUED FROM PAGE E6

two daughters (Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska) and other loved ones – to say farewell and announce that she is ending her long battle with ALS. Nerves fray, and there’s said to be a twist near the end of this seriocomic family drama, but the Guardian says, “It seems unnecessary, like an extra hurdle planted at a track-race finish line just to see if another runner or two can be made to stumble.” R. Available on various streaming platforms. Contains strong language, some drug use and brief sexual material. 98 minutes.

The documentary “A Chef ’s Voyage” follows David Kinch, the award-winning chef at the restaurant Manresa in California, as he and his staff prepare to travel to France to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the three-star Michelin restaurant with a collaboration with three French chefs.

“It’s a feast,” according to the New York Times, “not just for the food shown in exquisite detail, but for the images of the countryside, the shore and the streets and markets.”

Unrated. Available at afisilver. afi.com. 90 minutes.

John Lennon, Bruce Spring-

steen, Keith Richards, Steve Van Zandt, Joe Perry and Alice Cooper are among the musicians celebrating the life and music of Chuck Berry in the documentary “Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” PG. Available at themiracletheatre.com. 97 minutes.

Joe Pantoliano stars in “From the Vine,” the story of a CEO in midlife crisis who travels back to the Italy of his youth in search of new purpose. Unrated. Available at afisilver.afi.com. In English and Italian with subtitles.97 minutes.

In the Israeli film “God of the Piano,” a pianist (Naama Preis) struggles to accept her deaf child. “The true hero in this film is music,” according to Tikkun. “It is everywhere – a young boy plays for the family, a grandfather shares his first masterpiece, a famous performer writes a piece for his new lover. Each composition is given a spotlight and time to develop and to communicate to us. This is not a film score in a traditional sense, but a hybrid between the medium of classical music and the medium of film. This is a movie not as much for a big screen as for a good sound system.” Unrated. Available at afisilver.afi.com andvirtu-

for Columbus Day. Admission is $13 per person (all ages) and half off for museum members. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

There will be no ticket sales at the Trolley Museum on the day-of the event. Visit ct-trolley.org for hours of operation, to purchase tickets and to read the COVID-19 Visitor Policy.

The Connecticut Trolley Museum is located at 58 North Road (Route 140). For more information, call 860627-6540 or visit the website at ct-trolley.org.

space program with footage photographed at ground level, with wandering camera movements that mimic a dog’s point of view. The New York Times says that the film “commits to its art-house pretensions. The result isn’t pleasant, but it does effectively provoke.” Unrated. Available at afisilver.afi.com and sunscinema.com. In Russian with subtitles. 91 minutes.

After an accident leaves a man in a wheelchair, the titular protagonist of the Spanish Daisy Axon in “H Is for Happiness.” (DAVID DARE PARKER / thriller “The Paramedic,” SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILM) (Mario Casas) decides to take out his frustration and imalavalon.org. In Hebrew with potent rage on those who he Magnani” is a documentary subtitles. 80 minutes. perceives as having wronged portrait of the Italian actress him – particularly the girlbest known from “Rome, friend (Déborah François) Set in Australia, and based Open City” and “The Rose who left him when he needed on the award-winning book Tattoo.” The Hollywood Reporter writes: “One leaves this her most. TV-MA. Available on “My Life as an Alphabet” Netflix. In Spanish with subtiwell-crafted bio wanting to

by Barry Jonsberg, “H Is for tles. 94 minutes. delve deeper into a truly fasHappiness” tells the story cinating personality who left of an optimistic 12-year-old an indelible mark on Italian The documentary “This Is girl’s determination to make cinema.” Unrated. Available Paris” is a revaluation of the her mother, father and uncle on MHz Choice. In Italian with life and “career” of the purhappy again, after a family posefully blank public persontragedy. According to Variety, subtitles. 90 minutes. ality Paris Hilton. Variety says the film “provides feel-good that the film “seems so intent The documentary “Space entertainment for the entire on excavating her trauma, up Dogs” examines the legacy family without pandering to and including animated of Laika, the stray dog who – and definitely without reenactments of her time in sacrificing style or substance.” became the first living being purgatorial prep school, that to orbit the Earth when she Unrated. Available on various streaming platforms. 96 it loses sight of her.” PG-13. was launched into space on Available on YouTube. Contains minutes.

Sputnik 2, and other canine some disturbing violent content cosmonauts. The film mixes “The Passion of Anna archival footage of the Soviet and terror. 116 minutes.

WEEKEND

E8 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

DINE & WINE

The Big E fair foods now available at three spots

O

NE OF THE TREAsured seasonal rituals that the pandemic has denied us is indulgence in state fair food.

In a pre-coronavirus year, midways from Texas to Minnesota would have been crowded with those indulging in carnival fare. Here in Western Massachusetts our hometown version of such an event, The Big E, would be hosting fairground vendors featuring everything from jalapeno corn dogs and barbecued brisket sundaes to Belgian waffle ice cream sandwiches But just because The Big E’s midway is silent and empty doesn’t necessarily mean that state fair food junkies can’t get their annual fix.

The Student Prince and Fort Restaurant in Springfield, which normally operates The Wurst Haus at The Big E, has created a Fort Fair Menu that’s being served at the Student Prince throughout September.

Featured in the fair food lineup are Fort Poutine and Loaded Tater Tots, the latter topped with barbecue pork and a beer cheese sauce.

Entree choices inspired by fair food tradition range from a turkey drum stick plate and a pork belly Rueben to baby back ribs and blackened kielbasa.

The Log Cabin in Holyoke is

There may not be a Big E this year, but people can still enjoy some of their favorite food items, including cream puffs at the Big E Bakery, open Tuesday through Sunday through Oct. 18. Plus starting this week The Big E Foodto-Go Drive Thru will feature three different vendors each week who will offer their authentic and iconic Big E foods to the Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds. This week’s vendors are Butcher Boys, Calabrese Market and Piche’s Concessions. For more information, go to thebige. com. (DON TREEGER / THE REPUBLICAN)

Hugh Robert Off The Menu

playing host to a Big E-inspired restaurant pop-up, the New England Craft Pub, that is offering some of the favorites that the Delaney House — Log Cabin brand served at previous fairs.

The Big E itself has put together a program it’s calling The Big E Food-to-Go Drive Thru, a fourweek long opportunity to enjoy the fair food experience that public health considerations have otherwise made unavailable.

Sponsored by Westfield Bank, the drive-thru will operate Tuesday through Sunday starting this week and running through Oct. 18. Each week’s drive-thru will feature three different vendors that would normally have operated at The Big E. Unlike the earlier drive-thru The Big E sponsored during the summer, this series will have reserved time slots

in addition to a $5-per-car entry fee. Time slots must be reserved and paid for in advance online at TheBigE. com.

More information about the Big E Food-to-Go Drive Thru, including details on the time slot procedure as well as a list of vendors and the food items

they’ll be offering, can be found at thebige.com/BigE FoodToGo or facebook. com/TheBigE/.

Side dishes • Dunkin’, the coffee-andsnack chain, is aggressively promoting its DD Perks loyalty program, and its DD

TABLE 3 RESTAURANT GROUP

Perks offer involves one of the region’s most popular sports franchises, the New England Patriots.

To celebrate the start of the NFL’s 2020 season, Dunkin’ is offering Western Massachusetts DD Perks members a $1 medium hot or iced coffee evSEE MENU, PAGE E9

table3restaurantgroup.com

Great Choices for Indoor and Outdoor Dining BOGO Lunch Salad or Sandwhich (Wed-Fri).

Cannot be combined Exp 11/6/20

The Café is now open for limited indoor seating, patio service and take-out orders. cedarstreetcafesturbridge.com

WESTFIELD Open for Lunch & Dinner

OPEN ‘TIL MIDNIGHT 7 DAYS A WEEK Indoor and Outdoor Dining Curbside Take Out Service Available 2 Broad Street, Westfield • 562-0335

“T he Fork”IN THE ROAD

BOGO Lunch or Dinner—Salad, Sandwhich or Entrée. Dine in only, Tues–Thurs.

Cannot be combined. Exp 11/5/20

“The Fork” food truck is available for weddings, private events, breweries, street festivals, and anywhere else the great tastes from Table 3 can make the people happy. Reserve at 774-241-8450. table3restaurantgroup.com/thefork

The Duck & Avellino are now open for limited indoor seating, tent seating, patio service, and take-out orders. theducksturbridge.com

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

WEEKEND

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | E9

DINE & WINE

IPAs, stouts dominate top-ranked beers in the U.S.

T

George Lenker Beer Nut

New England TRAVELER CAPE COD

• Buffalo Wild Wings has added new options to its menu.

“Cauliflower Wings,” breaded and deep fried cauliflower, come with Asian “zing” sauce,

1-800-487-4903. www.vgreenmotel.com.

TO ADVERTISE HERE CALL 413-788-1165

3139585-01

and porter).

Germany, a land known for beer, is where some diversity and subtlety starts. While there are around 13 styles in the top 25, they largely come from four or five broader categories, especially the bock beer and wheat beer categories. But there is a lot of finesse in these choices, as an eisbock is very different from a weizenbock, and the same with other various wheat beers in Deutschland.

(And let me just say here that although there certainly are differences between many IPAs and stouts in the U.S. choices, those differences are more about who’s doing the brewing as opposed to the overall style of the actual category.)

And even Belgium, that bastion of great beer, doesn’t show a lot of diversity in its tastes. While lambic is a broad category, the overwhelming choice among lambics there is fruit lambic. There are a few gueuzes in the lambic category, but overall it’s mostly fruity ones, with 11 of the top 25 falling there. And there are only three other styles that make it: sours, quads, and dubbels.

So I guess that although the U.S. doesn’t rate a wide variety of beers highly, most other beer-centric nations don’t really either. Then again, I have never been one to care what is popular.

Drink what you like, I always say.

and a Buffalo wedge salad Hearty Irish-inspired dinners, the to-go options include gets its character from a fried pot roast with fingerling potachicken tender drizzled with CONTINUED FROM PAGE E8 toes and carrots, shepherd’s Buffalo sauce. ery Patriots’ game day. Mempie with peas and carrots, and Two salads — a chopped bers of the loyalty program a roast chicken dinner served Cobb salad and an upgraded can receive the special price with mashed potato and vegchicken Caesar salad — have etables. Each dinner package by downloading Dunkin’s earned a permanent slot on includes salad rolls and a Mobile App and using it to or- the chain’s menu, as have der ahead for subsequent in- three new wings sauces: a dessert of bread pudding. store, drive-thru, or curbside Chinese-style orange sauce, The dinner specials come pickup. There’s a limit of one a lemon pepper sauce and an in two-, four- and six-person discount-priced coffee per sizes; pricing starts at $30 for ultra-spicy Carolina Reaper each DD Perks member, and blazin’ sauce. a two-diner package. dairy alternatives, espresso Orders are taken WednesThere’s a Buffalo Wild day through Saturday from 2 shots and/or flavor shots may Wings location on Memorial to 8 p.m., with pickup hours carry an add-on charge.

Drive in Chicopee, just south beginning at 4 p.m. Family The offer is available at par- of the Mass Turnpike enticipating Dunkin’ locations trance.

Dinner Specials can be further enhanced (at an additional in Hampden, Hampshire, and charge) by a wine or beer Franklin Counties.

• The Irish House selection. Curbside pickup is Restaurant at the Irish available.

• The Delaney House and Cultural Center in West Call the Irish House the Log Cabin Banquet and Springfield recently enhanced Restaurant at 413-342-4358 Meetinghouse in Holyoke its menu by adding “Family to place an order. are both getting an early start Dinner Specials To Go” to its SEE MENU, PAGE E10 on promoting Thanksgiving. repertoire.

Each location is offering a four-course feast that begins with a first course (roasted squash soup accompanied by marinated shrimp) and second course salad selection.

For the Thanksgiving main event both locations are suggesting eight different entree possibilities. In addition to a turkey dinner with the traditional fixings, choices such as cider house pork chops, sesame salmon, Black Angus ACROSS FROM THE BEACH - prime rib and a vegetarian casserole will be available THE VILLAGE GREEN. Rates from $75 alternatives. $105 to 10/8/20 (excluding holidays, some Four sides will be served family style, and for dessert, restrictions apply). Ocean views and efficiencies pumpkin, apple, and pecan available. FREE continental breakfast in pie will be on the agenda.

Both locations are accepting season. All rooms have refrigerators and reservations for parties of six cable TV. Heated outdoor pool. Take children or smaller, but the Log Cabin is also requiring a minimum to the beachside playground. Close to several of four per reservation. golf courses, tennis courts, whale watch Seatings begin at 11:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving day; the cruises, ferries to Nantucket and Martha’s dinner is $49 per person for Vineyard, restaurants, shops, bike trails and adults and $20 for children from four to 12. Tax and gratumany more of the Cape’s unique attractions. ity are additional.

10% Senior Discount. South Reservations can be made online at OpenTable.com.

Shore Drive, South Yarmouth, MA 02664.

3135660 3135607-01 31356 607-011

HE UNITED STATES likes to talk about what a melting pot it is, composed of a diverse patchwork quilt of ethnicities, viewpoints and ideas.

But one area where America is almost monochromatic is its beer tastes, at least according to the most highly rated beers in the country, according to Beeradvocate.com.

While this method may not be scientific, I feel it’s fairly sound.

Beeradvocate.com is massive and features beer reviews that attract millions of visitors each month. Suffice it to say, it provides at least a notable snapshot of what beer communities in various countries rate highly in terms of beer.

So let’s take a look: Of the top 25 brews rated by members in the U.S., 13 are India pale ales. That makes sense, considering the style’s dominance, which I wrote about a few weeks ago.

But what about the other 12 in the top 25? How many other styles are represented. Ten? Five? Three?

Nope: One. The other dozen are all stouts.

I kind of knew this before I looked it up for this column, but I thought there might be at least one or two other styles sneaking in somewhere. But no.

But are we that much more narrow than other places? For comparison, let’s hop over the pond and take a look at our closest (both in terms of language and culture) folks’ beer tastes in the U.K. and Ireland. Of the top 25 in the U.K., stouts still hold a prominent position, grabbing 10 spots. But there are five other styles: old ales, strong ales, barleywines, porters and scotch ales. Not exactly a rainbow of flavors, but at least some variance across the board. Ireland isn’t as diverse as the U.K., slightly edging out America with just four styles (IPA, stout, red ale

Menu

E10 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

WEEKEND

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

DINE & WINE

Wine to drink during the greatest sports season ever

P

ROFESSIONAL sporting events are often as predictable as the seasons of the year.

The Masters and March Madness in early spring.

The French Open and Kentucky Derby soon after.

Major League Baseball nearly every month of the year.

Then came 2020.

For months, there were no live sports.

Now it’s almost impossible to keep up with everything.

Along with all the traditional sports this time of year, there are more sports now than are humanly possible to watch.

Sometimes it feels like trying to drink water out of a fire hydrant.

Honestly, I never imagined I would be watching the U.S. Open tennis finals, Tour de France cycling race, Celtics playoff basketball, the NHL playoffs and the opening weekend of English Premiere League soccer, college football and the NFL — and don’t forget baseball — all on the same weekend.

But why complain? Let’s embrace it. Let’s celebrate it.

Hopefully, we’ll never have another sports season like this fall.

So in honor of the greatest sports season ever, here are a few suggested wines to go with each sporting event happening now or in the near future. Hope you enjoy.

instead of the usual 162 game slog. I’m also amazed that a sport so tied to tradition has experimented so much this year — 7 inning double-header games, a runner on second in extra innings.

What wine to drink: Baseball is a methodical game of inches. The difference between a ball and a strike can someKen Ross times be impossible to tell. The Wine Press best games slowly build the drama, especially in a one-run pitching duel. Then again, Wine recommendations there’s also something soothfor the usual suspects ing about simply flaking out in the backyard and half listening NFL to a game on the radio while Turley Wine Cellars Old Vines Zinfandel is a great American Let’s start with the biggest you are reading a book, taking a wine for American’s favorite pastime — baseball. and most popular sports league (KEN ROSS PHOTO) nap or mowing the lawn. Either way, may I suggest a great in the country. Nothing stops the NFL from business as usu- Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Loyalties to a specific team and American wine for America’s al. This year is no exception.

Valley ($55 Suggested Retail rivalries run deep among fans. favorite pastime — Turley Wine And here in New England it will Price) or 2018 Laya Almansa And when it comes to rivalries Cellars Old Vines Zinfandel be interesting to see how the Red Wine ($9 at Table & Vine in wine, nothing beats the Cal- ($28 SRP), an earthy, complex, ifornia, France face off of 1976, delightful, bold red wine from Cam Newton era of the Patriots in West Springfield). when several California wines California’s Napa Valley. plays out, along with the Tom beat out French wines in the Brady era in Tampa. (1-1 so far College football Along with the NFL, college infamous blind tasting known English Premier for both.)

League soccer football dominates any fall as The Judgment of Paris. So What wine to drink: NFL Right up there with the NHL, football thrives on speed, brute sports season. I won’t say much go ahead and splurge a little on more since there are so many one of the California wines that NBA and MLB when it comes force and displays of amazing to long, grueling seasons is the won the competition – Stags athleticism. A thriving fantasy other sports to get to in this week’s column. Plus, it’s not Leap Cabernet Sauvignon ($49 EPL, English Premier League league among its fans probably also has a lot to do with soccer. And like the NBA like college football in the fall is SRP) for fans of red wine or its appeal. So next time you’re anything earth shattering.

Chateau Montelena Chardon- and NHL, the EPL took a few nay ($53 SRP) for white wine watching “NFL RedZone” to months off earlier this year What wine to drink: You fans. see how your picks did this due to the pandemic before don’t have to be a college week, break open a big, hearty football fan to enjoy one of crowning the inevitable chamMLB pion, Liverpool, and relegating red wine to go with chicken the best parts of the game — As a lifelong baseball fan, (sending the worst teams down wings, nachos and stat sheets. tailgating. Many fans spend to the minors — imagine that, I have to admit I’m actually Two big red wines I especially hours or even days eating and SEE WINE, PAGE E11 enjoying the 60-game season enjoy are the 2017 Cuttings drinking outside the stadium.

Menu

bacon and sausage. They can also be enjoyed as a side with other Denny’s breakfast platters.

Denny’s locations in the Springfield area include Boston Road at Pasco Road and in Holyoke on Northampton Street.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE E9

• Denny’s locations are featuring fall’s iconic flavor, pumpkin, in the form of a limited-time-only pumpkin pecan pancakes option. Made with pumpkin and studded with pecans, the pancakes are served drizzled with pecan pie sauce.

The pumpkin pecan pancakes are available as part of a full breakfast that also includes eggs, hash browns,

• Restaurants across the region are increasingly promoting special events served outdoors with social distancing, and this month The Duck in Sturbridge has joined in to offer a Harvest

Dinner tonight at 6:30 p.m.

The Duck’s head chef, Eric Jolin, has created a multicourse, farm-to-fork dinner designed to highlight what’s freshest and best from local farms and food producers.

The dinner’s $55 per person cost includes one beverage selection, and a wine pairing for each course in the dining event will also be available on a supplementary charge basis.

Contact The Duck at 508347-2321 for more information.

• Chick-fil-A locations have recently supplemented their menus with two new items, a dessert and a coffee beverage.

The chicken sandwich chain has created a Chocolate Fudge Brownie that features a semisweet chocolate batter with fudge chunks blended in. The brownies come individually wrapped or by the tray.

THRIVE Farmers Hot Coffee is a specialty blend with a smoother flavor and finish that makes it ideal for those who like their coffee mellowed by cream and sugar.

Chick-fil-A is additionally featuring a Mocha Cream Cold Brew coffee beverage as a limited-time-only menu special.

It will be available at participating locations through mid-November.

Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community College’s hospitality and culinary arts program and has nearly 45 years of restaurant and educational experience.

Robert can be reached on-line at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com.

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

Wine

mind-boggling shots. (How anyone ever scores sometimes seems impossible.) This seaCONTINUED FROM PAGE E10 son, the Stanley Cup Finals are Mets fans?) hapless teams like taking place in September, four Norwich, my beloved Canaries. months later than usual. But (It’s a long story.) Now it’s back better late than never. to business as usual, with a new What wine to drink: I never season running from August miss an opportunity to recommend Canadian wine. And with to May. the Stanley Cup Finals taking place between the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning in a bubble in Edmonton, Alberta, and many of the players on both teams from Canada (14 for Tampa, 13 for Dallas), I figured now was as good a time as any to recommend one of my favorite Canadian wines from one of my favorite wineries in OntarFor EPL fans, Ken Ross recom- io’s wildly underrated Niagara region — 2015 Angel’s Gate mends a red wine made with Mountainview Cabernet Franc passion and precision – the ($29.95 SRP). This red wine 2018 Aruma, an outstanding, earthy malbec made by Bode- abounds with fresh, vibrant, subtle fruit flavors. And if you gas Caro. (KEN ROSS PHOTO) can’t find this wine, try pretty much any cabernet franc, dry What wine to drink: Fans riesling or icewine from Onof soccer (known as football tario’s Niagara region. They’re in every country in the world outstanding. And if you don’t beside the United States) have agree with me, feel free to drop patience and passion. Like the gloves and I’ll see you in the baseball, there are often long “sin bin,” the nickname for the stretches where very little penalty box. seems to happen during the French Open tennis game. Then in a flash, there’s Watching the French Open a flurry of action and a goal AFTER the U.S. Open without that can change the course Wimbledon in between feels of a game or sometimes even surreal. But I’ll take it as a an entire season. The EPL die-hard tennis fan who lives also features some of the best for Grand Slam tennis. I’m esfootball players from around the world. For fellow EPL fans, pecially interested to see if The I recommend a red wine made King of Clay (Rafael Nadal) with passion and precision — a can win his 13th title at Roland Garros (the official name of malbec from Argentina. Specifically, the 2018 Aruma ($15 the French Open) or if he’ll be SRP), an outstanding, earthy stopped by rising stars like this Malbec made by Bodegas Caro, year’s U.S. Open Champion a terrific winery I will write Dominic Thiem or the methodabout in more detail soon. Until ical and sometimes temperamental Novak Djokovic. then, goooooooooooooal!

What wine to drink: You Wine recommendations have to ask what wine to drink for the new editions at the FRENCH Open? I think it’s fair to say you should be NHL Stanley Cup Finals drinking French wine. And, not I didn’t grow up a hockey to be too cliche, but honestly, fan. To be honest, the game you can’t go wrong with the is often so fast, I sometimes perfect wine pairing of Roland have a hard time following the Garros and Champagne. puck around the ice. But as There are many outstanding someone married to a Canadi- Champagnes from France’s an from Southern Ontario, the Champagne region. But I have hockey hotbed of the world, I to admit I have a soft spot for have grown to appreciate the Taittinger Brut La Francaisse game for its combination of ($45 at Table & Vine) — crisp, blazing speed, brute force and dry and refreshing as a Roger

WEEKEND

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | E11

Federer backhand winner. You tournament. Many of the same will be missed this tournament, players participate year in and year out. But that’s also part of Roger. the appeal. You know what to The Preakness expect. You know where the Like the Grand Slams in drama lurks on the course. So tennis, horse racing’s Triple if you decide to watch a round Crown schedule has been of The Masters this fall, may I completely turned on its head. recommend a bottle of dependSo instead of being the second able but reliable Oregon pinot noir. Specifically, I really enjoy race in May, this year’s Preakness will be the final race on the luxurious, earthy pinot Oct. 3. noirs from Cristom Vineyards What wine to drink: The in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. race in Baltimore, Maryland, Prices range from roughly might not have the same sizzle $25 to $70 a bottle for these since there’s no chance of Trired wines. No Green Jacket ple Crown winner this season. required.

But that’s no reason to not Giro D’ Italia and break out of bottle of someVuelta A Espana thing lively and refreshing on Many of you are probably race day. May I recommend a scratching your heads and bottle of New Zealand sauvignon blanc? Two refreshing, wondering what on Earth I’m options include the delightful even talking about. These two 2019 Craggy Range Sauvignon races are cycling races. But not Blanc Te Muna ($22 SRP) or the just any cycling races. They are consistently great 2019 Kim two of the three, annual “Grand Crawford Sauvignon Blanc ($15 Tours.” The third one is the SRP). best known cycling race in the world — the Tour de France.

And if you happened to catch the race this past month, you’ll probably understand why I’m so excited by these two races in Italy and Spain. This year’s Tour de France was one of the most exciting races ever, with the winner decided right near the end of the 2,165-mile-long race.

Break out a bottle of someWhat wine to drink: The thing lively and refreshing for postponed Giro in Italy will be the Preakness, like Craggy held between Oct. 3 and 25, Range Sauvignon Blanc Te while the Vuelta in Spain runs Muna. (KEN ROSS PHOTO) from Oct. 20 to Nov. 8. Trying to pick a single, great wine from The Masters Italy or Spain is impossible givThe idea of watching The en the dizzying array of great Masters golf tournament any wines from both countries. other time of the year besides But if I had to pick two great April seems absolutely bizarre. Spanish and Italian wines, my To be honest, I’m excited to see recommendations would be an what fall looks like at Augusta, elegant, refined ripasso from Georgia, when the tournament Italy’s Valpolicella region and takes place from Nov. 12 to 15 a powerful, robust rioja from and to see if Tiger Woods can Spain. Specifically, I’m a big repeat as this year’s champion fan of the 2015 Zenato Ripassa and tie Jack Nicklaus for the Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore most Masters wins (six). ($27.99 at Table & Vine) and What wine to drink: The the 2016 Vina Pomal Crianza Masters is all about tradition.

Rioja ($17 SRP). Forza! Vamos!

Very little changes at this tourNBA Playoffs nament, for better or worse.

I saved the best for last. Any Unlike other majors in golf, The discussion about this unique, Masters is played at the same course every year. Each hole is fall sports season (and wine) has to include the NBA. Who named after a flower. There’s could have imagined six an annual Champions Dinner months ago we would be watchand Par 3 match before the

ing the playoffs in September and October? Actually, it’s not that surprising since their season seems to go on forever even during a normal year. But this year’s definitely different, with every team playing all their games in a bubble in Florida.

Plus, the Celtics are still in the hunt for their 18th NBA title.

What wine to drink: Many NBA players love wine. Actually, they’re obsessed with it.

Some players have their own wine labels. Many avidly collect wine. A few even have special suitcases for carrying bottles and wine glasses on the road during a normal season. And this season in the NBA bubble, many players have had wine fridges and countless cases of wine sent to them in Florida.

What wine to drink: To celebrate this unique season and their love of wine, may I suggest a bottle from France’s Burgundy region. If you’re looking for something reasonable, get a bottle of the 2019 Jean Marc Burgaud “Les Vignes de Lantignie” Beaujolais Villages Rouge ($18 SRP), one of the best producers of affordable, vibrant, opulent red wines from Burgundy’s Beaujolais region.

If you feel like skipping a car payment this month, go full court and get the 2002 Joseph Drouhin Chambolle Musigny “Les Amoureuses” Premier Cru. This red wine comes from Chambolle Musigny, one of my favorite villages in France’s famed Burgundy region. This elegant, smooth, luscious wine hits all the right notes.

However, I am a bit hesitant to recommend this wine. And not just because of the price tag.

(Around $600 a bottle on several wine auction websites.) It has more to do with the wine’s vintage. Yes, it’s an outstanding year ready to drink now.

But 2002 was also the year the Lakers won their 14th NBA Championship. No offense, LeBron, but here’s hoping you don’t crack open this wine to celebrate the team’s 17th title.

But if you do, please feel free to invite me over for glass — as long as you don’t mind me wearing my Celtic green.

Cheers!

Wine Press by Ken Ross appears on Masslive.com every Monday and in The Republican’s weekend section every Thursday.

E12 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

WEEKEND

THE REPUBLICAN | MASSLIVE.COM

DVD

in which Hillary Clinton won the 2016 presidential election.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE E6 “The Secret: Dare to Dream”: A struggling widow Also new on DVD (Katie Holmes) meets a “Babysplitters”: Two cou- handyman (Josh Lucas) who ples who aren’t wild about the teaches her about the law of concept of having a baby deattraction. cide to share one among the Out on Digital HD four of them. Stars Maiara “Jay Sebring ... Cutting to Walsh, Danny Pudi, Emily the Truth”: Documentary Chang and Eddie Alfano.

“Beckman”: A former follows the life and legacy assassin who now serves as of the hairstylist, who was a church pastor (David A.R. murdered by members of the White) seeks revenge against Manson Family. a cult leader who took his “Let It Snow”: A snowboarder (Ivanna Sakhno) sets daughter away.

“Full Metal Jacket”: The off on a dangerous journey classic 1987 Vietnam film and faces bitter cold, as well directed by Stanley Kubrick is as a masked pursuer on a being released in 4K resolusnowmobile. tion.

“Resisterhood”: Docu“Iceland Is Best”: Dismentary follows the movecouraged by her community, ment that kicked off with an Icelandic teenager (Kristin the 2017 Women’s March Auður Sophusdottir) dreams following President Donald of moving to The Golden Trump’s inauguration.

State.

“Stuntwomen: The “DC’s Legends of Tomor- Untold Hollywood Story”: row: The Complete Fifth Documentary shows behindSeason”: The CW superhero the-scenes look at the women series picks up after the Legpowering action sequences ends have gained celebrity since the dawn of cinema. and respect for defeating “The Swerve”: A woman Neron.

(Azura Skye) struggling with “Man with a Plan: Season insomnia begins to question 3”: The CBS sitcom returns her reality. as Adam (Matt LeBlanc) “I’ll Be Around”: Scores and Andi (Liza Snyder) have of 30-somethings reveal decided to begin working complications in their lives at together professionally. a post-punk music festival.

“Rick and Morty: Season “LX 2048”: A dying man 4”: The hit Adult Swim ani(James D’Arcy) fights to keep mated series makes its return his family safe as the sun’s after a two-year break. toxic rays prevent anyone “Sanctuary, Season 1”: from going outside during the Canadian sci-fi series follows day. Out tomorrow. an organization that hunts “Misbehaviour”: A group supernatural creatures. of ’70s era feminists attempt “The Good Fight: Seato take over a London-based son Four”: The CBS All beauty competition. Stars Access legal drama starring Keira Knightley, Gugu Christine Baranski kicks off Mbatha-Raw and Jessie Buckley. Out tomorrow. with an alternate timeline

Joe at Meadow Brook Farms getting the fresh vegetables for the day and looking over the quality with the owner John.

Frigo’s brings quality fresh produce into our markets every day!

3140030-01

90 William Street, Springfield • 732-5428 www w.frig gosfood ds.co om Shaker Rd, East Longmeadow • eld 525-9400 90 159 William Street, Springfi • 732-5428 159 Shaker Rd, East Longmeadow • 525-9400