OSCAR PICKS Will it Be Django, aBe & osama? Âť CARRIe BROwnSteIn WilDs out in portlanDia
January 4, 2013 >> FrEE WEEKLy >> thEPhoEnix.com
Dropkick murphys
Talking punk, place, and parochialism with the last gang in town. By Michael Patrick MacDonald. Page 22.
“Rounding out oscar’s salute to the cause of freedom and the supremacy of show biz is les misérables.” p 28 Peter Keough offers his best bets for the Academy Awards.
on the cover photo by Josh Andrus
This week AT ThePhOeNiX.COM :: New Digs fOr CiNDy Diggs? the iconic local activist lost her home in a fire on Christmas Eve. Find out how you can help :: besT Of 2012 WFnX’s boston Accents reveals the top 75 jams of the year :: ON yOur MArkey, geT seT, gO! Who’ll be vying for Kerry’s senate seat? Ed Markey’s an early fave — david s. bernstein breaks it down
NEW mobilE sitE, iN bEtA: m.thephoenix. com facebook.com/ bostonphoenix
twitter.com/ bostonphoenix
THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 3
opinion :: feedback
From thephoenix.com Re: “apRès elle le Déluge: ReMeMBeRing Becca DaRling,” By siena oRistaglio (10.29.12)
becca and I were housemates at Smith for a semester. she changed my life and saved me from drowning in self-pity that semester. She introduced me to all these amazing musicians who have stayed with me, even though our fast and furious friendship faded with time and distance apart. I am now just learning about her death by a weird coincidence of twitter following — people don’t keep in touch with you after you deactivate your facebook account, fyi — and I’m shocked, sad, and just feel really, really empty. somewhere I’ve got some pictures of her, taken on real film, that no one has ever seen but me. if I can find them, I’ll post them somewhere for everyone. becca was an angel. I’m loving reading everyone’s remembrances of her, because when you’re sobbing heavily, it’s nice to have the words taken out of your mouth. becca was so honest about herself and so ferociously alive that I always left her room feeling like “I need to do better by myself.” and I did. . . . we had so much fun together. we used to sit out on the roof of our house and smoke cigarettes, groom each others’ dreads, sketch one another and paint on her Amanda-
instagram us 1
esque eyebrows. we would piss off our housemates by playing the piano and singing Tori Amos songs in the lobby REALLY LOUDLY. we rolled our eyes together at the overachievers, the main-streamers, the do-gooders. she dragged me out of the house in some of my darkest moments to remind me that nothing could be as terrible as I thought it was in a world so full of life and beauty. one time I caught her necking with someone she shouldn’t have been necking with. we were young and wild and she was the absolute best. _“Rose Mi tchell”
Re: the Big huRt: “the woRst singles of 2012,” By DaviD thoRpe (12.21.12)
Dear reader, I know what is good. You do not know what is good. Music is not meant to be enjoyed. Sincerely, David Thorpe _“i saac”
Tag your photos @bostonphoenix 2
| RCN Box offiCe at the PaRadise & BMh* | 800-745-3000 *BMH BOX OFFICE OPEN ON NIGHT OF SHOW ONLY.
All dates, acts and ticket prices subject to change without notice. thedise.com brightonmusichall.com Additional service charges may apply online.
4 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
1 » @carlycarioli :: 2 » @arden_fraser :: 3 » @garrettquinn3000
illusTraTion by Cody bond
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in this issue now & next
p9
» DJ Jonathan Toubin got one hell of a wakeup call — courtesy of a taxi that crashed into his hotel bed. With him in it. Now, a year and a long recovery later, we catch up with the cult favorite before his Boston show. » toubin’s beat goes on p 10 » how to nail that resolution p 10 » style: pantone’s Color of the Year p 12
p 12
voiCes
p 14
» In a surprise twist, murder-spree game Hotline Miami raises the bar in the discussion about violence and anxious masculinity. Also: how to carry pot on a plane — legally. » the Big hurt p 14 » laser orgy p 16 » Medical Marijuana: Burning Questions p 18
spotlight
p 16
p 22
» When Quincy met Southie: With a new album dropping this week, the Dropkick Murphys riff with Michael Patrick MacDonald about Boston punk, lore, and begrudgery. Plus: Oscar noms get announced January 10. Who’s making the cut? Peter Keough, our film critic with the uncanny prognosticatory track record, gives us his picks.
p 22 6 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
dropkick murphys photo by Josh Andrus
» Dropkick Murphys p 22 » oscar predictions p 28
fooD & Drink
p 33
p 36
vol. lXXIX | no. 1
Stephen M. Mindich, Publisher & Chairman Everett Finkelstein, Chief Operating Officer Carly Carioli, Editor in Chief Peter Kadzis, Editor at Large
» What to expect from 2013’s new dining destinations? Turkish treats, a sausage-slinging beer garden, and Asian gastropub delights. Appetite, whetted.
EDITORIAL
managing EDiTORs Shaula Clark, Jacqueline Houton aRTs EDiTOR Jon Garelick FiLm EDiTOR Peter Keough music EDiTOR Michael Marotta assisTanT music EDiTOR Liz Pelly sTaFF EDiTORs Thomas McBee, SI Rosenbaum sTaFF WRiTERs David S. Bernstein, Chris Faraone EvEnTs EDiTOR Alexandra Cavallo assOciaTE FOOD EDiTOR Cassandra Landry LisTings cOORDinaTOR Michael C. Walsh cOnTRiBuTing EDiTORs Carolyn Clay [theater], Lloyd Schwartz [classical], Louisa Kasdon [food] cOnTRiBuTing WRiTERs Matt Bors, Daniel Brockman, Lauryn Joseph, Scott Kearnan, Dan Kennedy, Mitch Krpata, MC Slim JB, Tom Meek, Brett Michel, Robert Nadeau, Luke O’Neil, James Parker, Gerald Peary, Ariel Shearer, Marcia B. Siegel, Harvey Silverglate, Karl Stevens, David Thorpe, Eugenia Williamson
» liquid: game of thrones beers cometh p 34 » A 2013 restaurant preview p 36 » the week in food events p 39
NEW MEDIA
p 34
Arts & nightlife
sEniOR WEB pRODucER Maddy Myers sOciaL mEDia pRODucER Ariel Shearer
MARkETINg/pROMOTIONs
DiREcTOR OF maRKETing anD pROmOTiOns
p 41
» Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar contender Zero Dark Thirty finally comes to town — and it’s the best film of the year, say we. Plus, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Quicksand, the Soft Moon, and a chat with Carrie Brownstein. » Boston fun list p 42 » welcome to Union square p 44 » Boston City guide p 45 » visual Arts p 46 » theater p 48 » film p 50 » Music p 54 » nightlife p 59 » get seen p 60 » Back talk p 62
p 48
Shawn McLaughlin
inTERacTivE maRKETing managER
Lindsey Couture
pROmOTiOns cOORDinaTOR Nicholas Gemelli
CREATIvE gROup
p 46
pRODucTiOn DiREcTOR Travis Ritch cREaTivE DiREcTOR Kristen Goodfriend aRT DiREcTOR Kevin Banks phOTO EDiTOR Janice Checchio aDvERTising aRT managER Angelina Berardi sEniOR DEsignER Janet Smith Taylor EDiTORiaL DEsignER Christina Briggs WEB DEsignER Braden Chang pRODucTiOn aRTisT Faye Orlove FREELancE DEsignER Daniel Callahan
ADvERTIsINg sALEs
sEniOR vicE pREsiDEnT A. William Risteen vicE pREsiDEnT OF saLEs anD BusinEss DEvELOpmEnT
David Garland
DiREcTOR OF BEvERagE saLEs Sean Weymouth sEniOR accOunT ExEcuTivEs OF inTEgRaTED mEDia saLEs Howard Temkin aDvERTising OpERaTiOns managER Kevin Lawrence inTEgRaTED mEDia saLEs cOORDinaTOR
Adam Oppenheimer
p 62
gEnERaL saLEs managER Brian Russell DiREcTOR OF Dining saLEs Luba Gorelik TRaFFic cOORDinaTOR Jonathan Caruso cLassiFiED saLEs managER Melissa Wright RETaiL accOunT ExEcuTivEs Nathaniel Andrews,
Sara Berthiaume, Scott Schultz , Daniel Tugender,
food openings photo by melissA ostrow, bAck tAlk illustrAtion by wArd Jenkins
CIRCuLATION
p 50
ciRcuLaTiOn DiREcTOR James Dorgan ciRcuLaTiOn managER Michael Johnson
OpERATIONs
iT DiREcTOR Bill Ovoian FaciLiTiEs managER John Nunziato
FINANCE
DiREcTOR OF FinancE Steven Gallucci cREDiT anD cOLLEcTiOns managER Michael Tosi sTaFF accOunTanTs Brian Ambrozavitch ,
Peter Lehar
FinanciaL anaLysT Lisy Huerta-Bonilla TRaDE BusinEss DEvELOpmEnT managER
Rachael Mindich
HuMAN REsOuRCEs
REcEpTiOnisT/aDminisTRaTivE assisTanT
Lindy Raso
OFFicEs 126 brookline Ave., boston, mA 02215, 617-536-5390, Advertising dept fax 617-536-1463 WEB siTE thephoenix.com manuscRipTs Address to managing editor, news & features, boston phoenix, 126 brookline Ave., boston, mA 02215. we assume no responsibility for returning manuscripts. LETTERs TO ThE EDiTOR e-mail to letters@phx.com. please include a daytime telephone number for verification. suBscRipTiOns bulk rate $49/6 months, $89/1 year, allow 7-14 days for delivery; first-class rate $175/6 months, $289/1 year, allow 1-3 days for delivery. send name and address with check or money order to: subscription department, boston phoenix, 126 brookline Ave., boston, mA 02215. cOpyRighT © 2012 by the boston phoenix, inc. All rights reserved. reproduction without permission, by any method whatsoever, is prohibited. pRinTED By cummings printing co.
THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 7
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yoga-a-go-go » mining emerald » hotline miami » burning questions
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photo by eleanor logan
Jonathan Toubin. Page 10.
THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 9
Now & Next :: oN our radar
43 More fr Jonath oM an toubin
For the Full Q&A , g o thephoen to ix.com/ onthedo wnloAd .
JONATHAN TOUBIN STEERS HIS NIGHT TRAIN INTO BOSTON
here are freak accidents, and then there’s the case of Jonathan Tasleep Toubin. In December 2011, the acclaimed New York City DJ was at the Jupiter Hotel in Portland, Oregon, when at around 11
am a taxicab crashed through the wall and landed on top of him. He awoke from a medically induced coma a month later with a cracked skull, hearing loss, and significant bodily injuries that included severed tendons, a punctured liver, and fractured ribs. Toubin — who is in his early 40s and specializes in spinning vinyl 45s of obscure soul, underground rock and roll, and R&B from the ’60s — didn’t return to the DJ booth until May. After more than 1200 gigs in the past six years, his schedule has slowed down considerably as he rebuilds his stamina and reaccustoms himself to DJing with significant hearing loss. His Boston appearance Saturday — bringing his fevered New York Night Train Soul Clap & Dance-Off party to Great Scott — is a rare one for the DJ who has developed cult status around the country as a music preservationist, tireless record collector, and walking musical encyclopedia. “It’s been really helpful to me to be busy and not feel sorry for myself and make the best of everything,” he writes in an interview via Gchat. “I mean, we should all live life to its fullest and accentuate the positive even if we don’t get run over by a car in bed.” Part of what makes Toubin’s delirious DJ sets so enticing is the depth of selections; as he puts it, people can “expect hours of dancing to the best music they’ve never heard.” Most DJs rely on hits and recognizable songs to keep the dance floor moving, but Toubin relies on quality. “Every time you play a hit, you bring people’s random personal associations in along with it, and it actually becomes harder to bring them together,” he writes. “And once you play a hit, it’s much harder to follow up with anything but another hit.” _M ICHA EL MA R O T TA
NEW YORK NIGHT TRAIN SOUL CLAP + DANCE OFF WITH DJ JONATHAN TOUBIN :: Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston :: January 5 @ 9 pm :: 21+ :: $10 :: 617.566.9014 or greatscottboston.com
WorD of the Week
Vinyasa
10 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.COm
Percent increase in food insecurity in Massachusetts since the recession, according to a November report by Project Bread
2010
Year the first Panera Cares Community Café opened in Missouri; the fifth nonprofit pay-what-youcan café opens here this month at 3 Center Plaza near Government Center
You’re Doing it Wrong: Your neW Year’s resolution
Don't worry. Our expert is here to help.
If you’re like, uh, 99.9 percent of the human population (which includes us), chances are you’ve resolved to get in shape before. And if you’re like 99.9% of that population (which also includes us), chances are your very best intentions gave way to late-night beer and pizza orgies and canceled gym memberships come February. But this year will be different, says we. So we asked Brandon Kolar, a personal trainer at Equinox who specializes in functional training, for some tips to help us avoid pussing out on our 2013 plans for betterment. _ALExANdRA CAvALLO
ON NOT LOOKING LIKE A TOTAL NEWB . . . EvEN THOUGH YOU TOTALLY ARE: “There are [even] many large, in-shape-looking people who do exercises that make absolutely no sense. And we see outrageous acts of misuse every day, on every piece of equipment, including the simplest, such as dumbbells. Most people learn by watching others, and they learned it from someone who was doing it wrong too. Take the complimentary sessions with a trainer and learn as much as you can. Find a friend who is actually a true student of the fitness game, not someone who just goes in and does cardio for hours on end.” ON HOW TO LOSE THAT GUT: “A steady diet of strength training to build lean mass to increase the metabolism, consistent cardiovascular work (three to four days a week of increased-heart-rate training), and — the most important — 6.5 days a week of clean eating. Allow a few cheat meals on one day for sanity and to trick the body into burning fat.”
70-75
Percent of the food’s retail value accounted for by Panera Cares diner donations
ON WEIGHT TRAINING vS. CARDIO: “Weight training, by far, is more important. You can do a strength-training session that keeps your heart rate up in all of your important zones, but cardio alone is never going to build quality muscle that will improve your metabolic rate and posture.” ON WEIGHT-ROOm FARTERS: “Anytime you’ve got guys consuming large quantities of protein, chances are you have a serial farter. Not much you can do here. Figure out who it is, and give him space.” ON HOW TO ACTUALLY STICK TO THAT DAmN RESOLUTION: “Start out two days a week in the gym, with small changes to the diet. What’s the saying? You can’t keep doing the same old thing and expect different results? Well, this pertains to the nutritional habits. Once you feel comfortable with two days, work up to three, and add in a few more sound dietary changes. It’s the big change all at once that gets the resolutioners out of the gym so quickly. Start small and work your way up.”
n. 1. A steady dynamic flow of connected yoga asanas linked with breathwork in a continuous movement. 2. What 100-plus yogis will be doing at 9 am on January 13 at the Langham hotel’s ballroom, which will host a free mega-class led by several local instructors, propelled by the beats of DJ F. Fotch, and punctuated by demos, giveaways, and raffles; email rsvp@vitacoco.com to reserve your spot .
TOubIN phOTO bY JulIe pATerSON; pANerA phOTO cOurTeSY OF pANerAcAreS.Org; brANDON KOlAr phOTO bY JOel VeAK
bY The NuMberS
Boston Phoenix - 1/4 Pg - 4.875” x 6.25”
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BOSTON WINE EXPO 2013 Celebrating food, wine and culture
Wine & Food Sampling | Cooking Demos | Social Media Lounge | Seminars | Grand Cru Wine Lounge
February 16 – 17, 2013 – President’s Day Weekend! Benefitting Tufts Medical Center and other local charities Seaport World Trade Center www.WineExpoBoston.com ®
Sponsored by:
Now & Next :: style
EmErald city B y C h e ryl Fe n t on
c h e ry l@ c h e ry l f e n to n .c o m
Last year, it seemed like orange was everywhere — on runways and racks, in Pinterest décor porn, and on lips, nails, and even eyelids. And it was all thanks to a niche biz in New Jersey: Pantone, which got its start as a printing company in the ’50s and made it big with its proprietary color-matching system. Once known mostly by graphic designers and manufacturing pros, Pantone has infiltrated pop culture with its Color of the Year, chosen by reps from around the world at a hush-hush meeting after much debate. Last year’s hue was Tangerine Tango. This year’s newly crowned color? Emerald (#17-5641, to be exact), a “lively, radiant, lush green” that Pantone describes as the “color of growth, renewal, and prosperity.” Which doesn’t exactly tell us how to pull it off without looking like a tree. So we tapped a few local beauty, fashion, and design experts to help us go green in style.
Beauty
The pasT 13 panTone Colors of The Year
2012
PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango
12 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
2011
PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle
2010
PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise
eyeshadow/liner and paint photos by Janice checchio
Although it can be a universally flattering shade, this green-blue hue is a go-to for hazel eyes, says Boston makeup artist Noel McKinnon, owner of makeup2die4. “Emerald pulls from the specks of color within your eyes to make them pop,” she explains. For day, McKinnon suggests a neutral shadow and emerald eyeliner, like Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Liner in Diamond Lagoon Green ($23). Blend emerald shadow with peach, cream, or a metallic for nighttime wow factor. Try the ecru and emerald shimmers in the NARS Misfit eyeshadow duo ($34), or go straight to the source with the Sephora + Pantone Universe 2013 Color of the Year beauty collection, whose eye shadows, lid liner stain, mascara, jumbo eyeliner, and glitter dust will hit shelves in March. McKinnon also gives the green light to statement tips in this bright shade, noting that short nails and warmer skin tones wear it best. Julep’s Nail Vernis in Emilie ($14) is a bold forest-green crème that gives just the right pop of color.
2009
PANTONE 14-0848 Mimosa
2008
PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris
2007
PANTONE 19-1557 Chili Pepper
Fashion
Emerald was the crown jewel of the Spring 2013 collections of Tracy Reese, Nanette Lepore, and Marimekko. But how to wear it off the runway? “Pairing [emerald green] with other bolds, such as royal blue, fuchsia, or purple jewel tones, works surprisingly well,” explains Christina Pierce of Newbury Street’s Christina K. Pierce Boutique Fashion Agency. “Stay away from orange, or you’ll be sporting too much of a peas-and-carrots vibe.” When accessorizing emerald, Pierce suggests richer tones in gold or antique brass. She would complement the earthy feel of Ted Baker’s Fama Magical Print dress ($137) with a statement-making purple-and-gold necklace and a deep-amethyst or purple shoe. “A beige or light camel-colored coat takes the look from desk to dinner,” she says. “An emerald statement necklace is also a great way to add sophisticated style to an outfit without really trying,” adds Pierce. Wear Boston jewelry designer Magdalena Stokalska’s aventurine-andrhinestone necklace ($130 at wickedpeacock.com) with a non-competing neckline in a color like white, beige, gold, or nude to really make it stand out.
DÉCor
It might seem bold, but Kendra Amin-Dufton, co-owner and interior designer at Boston’s colorTHEORY, says emerald is actually quite versatile. “It lends itself to a variety of feels, from preppy and traditional to funky and edgy,” she explains. Commitment-phobes can give it a try with accessories like throw pillows, vases, or accent walls. This February, Pantone is launching its own line of bedding, pillows, bath towels, and accessories in emerald exclusively at JCPenney. Or get a splash of color with Urban Outfitters’ emerald zigzag curtains ($34–$49). Paint in the richly pigmented color can punch up a smaller room like an office, bathroom, or powder room without overwhelming the space. For a lacquered accent wall, Amin-Dufton recommends Benjamin Moore’s Amazon Moss #2037-10 in a full gloss. Or paint just the ceiling, which makes crown molding stand out. Amin-Dufton suggests accompanying emerald with gilver (an antiqued gold-andsilver blend). “Gold can read too collegiate and dated, but burnished metallic looks contemporary and modern,” she says. “Camel color also works with bright green to temper its brilliance.”
2006
PANTONE 13-1106 Sand Dollar
2005
PANTONE 15-5217 Blue Turquoise
2004
PANTONE 17-1456 Tigerlily
2003
PANTONE 14-4811 Aqua Sky
2002
PANTONE 19-1664 True Red
2001
PANTONE 17-2031 Fuchsia Rose
2000
PANTONE 15-4020 Cerulean
THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 13
now & next :: voices The Big hurT
The week in Trouble By DaviD Thorpe
dthorpe@phx.com :: @arr
This week in Big rap no-nos: Fat Joe faces the possibility of two years in the slammer after pleading guilty to evading more than $700 grand in taxes. Meanwhile, Nasty Nas, still suffering under the liens and garnishments of various federal and state taxman boot-heels, is in some even deeper shit now: he’s being sued for $10 million by that concert promoter who popped up last year with the following shocking tale of woe. At the end of 2011, Nas failed to appear at a New Year’s Eve concert in Angola — after allegedly pocketing a $300,000 fee — and the show’s American promoter was kidnapped at gunpoint by the hired ruffians of some Angolan concert kingpin. The promoter was not allowed to leave the country for 49 days, during which time he claims he lost his home and his business. For his part, Nas told MTV News that the promoter failed to arrange flights and visas in time, 14 01.04.13 :: Thephoenix.com/bighurT
For a “trouble man,” T.I. sometimes sounds like a guy who really, really doesn’t want to get in trouble.
so the show was cancelled and the fee returned. I believe Nas, but I worry he’ll lose this one — we all know that the Man loves nothing more dearly than sticking it to rappers. T.I.’s latest record, Trouble Man, has a fantastic cover. Illustrated in the style of a vintage movie poster, it depicts the rapper holding up a handgun adorned with classic icons of male mischief: dice, fast cars, beautiful women. There’s just one problem (well, aside from the fact that firearms are exceedingly unpopular accessories at the moment): after serving time in prison for federal weapons charges, the one thing T.I. definitely should not be caught doing is holding a gun. In an interview with MTV, T.I. fired off a tongue-in-cheek barrage of excuses and denials for the gun image, telling rap journo Sway that it was “a
For a more nuanced opinion on the gun-control question, we turn to rapper/complete idiot Gunplay, who may be best known for getting himself videotaped committing armed robbery, and for having — and I’m not kidding about this — a swastika tattoo on his neck (“It’s just my symbol of genocide to the bullshit. I came to Nazi that shit. Put all the fake motherfuckers in the gas chamber”) Yeah, anyway — in response to the awful tragedy at Sandy Hook, the bullshit Nazi outed himself as both a truther and one of those “false-flag” bozos with a single tweet: “Government killed dem kids to take our guns away. Another 9/11. Don’t get it twisted.” Reaction to the tweet is mixed. HipHopDX commenters think Gunplay is insane, but XXLMag commenters think he may be on to something. P
illustration by steve weigl
metaphorical, creative, conceptual gun that represents all of the things in life that can get a man in trouble in the form of what one can consider a gun, however, not a real gun. And that was not even a real pose, that was an illustration. So if it was a real gun that would’ve just been a real gun that they drew in the hand of someone that looks very similar to T.I.” For a socalled “trouble man,” T.I. sure sounds like a guy who really, really doesn’t want to get in any trouble, right? But wait — T.I. was whistling a very different tune during a Hot 97 interview around the same time. When the conversation turned to the hot topic of gun control, he said, “Right now, there’s criminals that can’t have assault rifles or pistols but they got them and they know they can’t have them.” (T.I.’s prison term stemmed from, among other things, a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.) “So if they ban them, what, it’s gonna be double illegal for me now? I’m still gon’ carry mine.” Double illegal? There’s the Trouble Man we were promised!
now & next :: voices Laser Orgy
Hotline MiaMi and aMerica’s narrative of Masculinity and violence B y Ma d d y Myers
m m y e r s @ p h x .c o m :: @ s a m u s c lo n e
Hotline MiaMi, an indie top-down shooter PC game by Dennaton Games that came out in October and found its way onto many a Best Games of 2012 list (including the Phoenix’s), has a twist ending that you have seen before. You have seen it in Fight Club, and in the first Call of Duty: Black Ops game. In some ways, you have felt it shake you to your core in every game that asks you to kill someone. The twist is that You Did It. The game asked you to do it, but you’re the one who did what the game commanded. In Hotline Miami, you killed hundreds. It might feel like thousands, depending on how many times you played and replayed the levels. The game desensitized you and forced you to calculate each of these kills from a distant vantage point. The bouncy dance 16 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
You do not “win” Hotline Miami. You only are confronted by what you have done.
beats and splashy, neon-colored levels help to distance you from the violence. The retro pixelated aesthetic helps, too. Nothing seems real here. The screens at the end of each level tally up a score. But you do not “win” Hotline Miami. You only are confronted by what you have done. The end of the game points out your complicity with chilling clarity. This disturbing narrative of anxious masculinity occurs in Fight Club as well, perhaps most famously. Edward Norton’s character awakens the animal within himself and, eventually, within all the men around him. Every man, according to this story, is on the breaking point; men are violent inherently, and it is all they can do to keep that violence under wraps.
Men can use that violence for Good — by “protecting” women, kittens, cookies, or any other objects that they “own.” But this “protection” also requires men to use their violence for Evil: by destroying. One might only destroy other men, of course, men who pose threats, men who are “reasonable” targets. But an ominous thread runs through this narrative: what if men loosed their alleged inherent power elsewhere — specifically, at women? What if a man finds that he can’t help but kidnap, rape, or kill some unsuspecting lady bystander, what with his uncontrollable urges and all? She’d better hope she gets rescued in time by one of the Good Guys . . . and she’d better hope that Good Guy doesn’t go Bad.
This narrative pops up not only in Fight Club but in almost every super-popular video game of the past few decades. Even Mario games tell a tale of failing to protect the precious object that is Princess Peach, of fighting with other forces of masculinity (from the levels’ protruding pipes and anthropomorphized bombs and bullets, to Bowser himself) and either avoiding or destroying the dangers of the world to protect his damsel. But why is Peach better off with Mario, or with anyone else? The game doesn’t want you to ask this question, because the story is not about Peach. Peach is a fire flower. Peach is a mushroom. Peach is just another Important Thing that Mario must grab before it rolls off the screen, before someone else grabs it first, before the game is lost. Characters like Mario enact a childish, simplified version of the same events that transpire in Hotline Miami. This is why the twist ending should not surprise you. You have seen this story before. You play as Jacket. That’s a fan-given name inspired by the character’s varsity jacket, as this hero does not have a name, much like Edward Norton in Fight Club. You are a hit man. At some mysterious point before the game begins, Jacket signed up for this career choice (just as you, the player, at some mysterious point before the game began, decided to download it). Jacket gets answering-machine messages that instruct him to go to certain areas and do unremarkable chores like picking up food or making repairs. But these messages are a code. The secret code behind every message is: go to this location and kill every last person there. Put on an animal mask, one of the many that you own, so that no one will recognize you. Murder every person you can find in these buildings, in tactical order, with slick precision. Don’t ask why. Just do it. And you, the player, will do it. It will even be fun. At first, the game has no female characters. There are only men, almost all of whom are armed, all of whom look nigh identical to one another, and all of whom will kill you on sight if you don’t kill them first. Eventually, though, you will meet a woman. This woman is a prostitute. You have killed everyone before her, you have destroyed the building around her, but you will not touch her. When you try to leave, she begs you to take her with you. And you do, picking her up in your arms like a princess or a bride, carrying her through corpses of men you have killed and over the threshold of the doorway. It’s the only option the game provides. This woman becomes your girlfriend . . . or perhaps your prisoner. Does she have Stockholm syndrome? Does she know you are a murderer for hire? Is she afraid of you? Who knows? Throughout the game, everyone (gangs, the cops, the SWAT team) is hunting you down. As well they should be. You are a
The brainwashing goes deep here. It happens in real life, not just in these fictions. Why do we accept violence as the “natural” way that men behave?
remorseless mass murderer. Eventually, your girlfriend becomes collateral damage. Her death seems to be an event intended to make the player feel as though they have failed. This was a woman that you, for whatever reason, decided to protect. It’s not clear why — perhaps the only reason needed is, Because She Is A Woman. A woman whose sole purpose in the game is to be taken in by you and owned and objectified and killed and used as a plot device to give your character a “reason” to keep fighting . . . never mind how many murders he committed before she even showed up to “justify” them. The only reason this works is because Hotline Miami doesn’t seem to want you to believe you are a hero. Hotline Miami wants you to hate yourself. The game’s secret ending offers some further clarification on this point. (It’s worth noting, given how much of this game appears to be critical of America’s brand of anxious masculinity, that the secret code you use to get this ending is “I Was Born in the USA.”) The end of the game introduces you to two janitors who identify themselves as “patriots” and refer to their actions an “experiment”; their recruitment of hit men for seemingly random murder missions is actually part of a mysterious pro-America terrorist plot. The pair plans to create similar operations worldwide. These two janitors intentionally resemble the game’s developers (who are Swedish, not American, by the way). Their answers for the player will not satisfy most people. Why have they created this game? Why have you played it? Why have you committed all of these murders? Well, it was something to do. (If you don’t have the secret code at the game’s end, the janitors will simply say they created their murder rings out of boredom.) Do you want a lengthier explanation for why you did this? The answer is America. Are you still confused? You should be, because this is terrible, and none of these justifications should satisfy you. This game concludes with you killing these two janitors and riding a motorcycle off into the sunset. At the end of the first Black Ops game, as well, you discover that much of the game was not real and that your character
had been brainwashed and tricked into committing horrific murders and betrayals. Fight Club and Hotline Miami echo this theme. Who is responsible for this horrific violence? We want to believe that the protagonist isn’t. If it’s a video game, then we are him, we have been him all along. We don’t want to find out that we are the murderer . . . even though, on some level, we know we are, because we were there. But we did all of those murders “rightly,” we think? We don’t know anymore. But we have participated in the story. And, outside of the game, we have participated in a narrative that equates masculinity with violence. As a shooter fan who happens to also be a woman, I often find myself feeling alienated by the masculine-centric narrative on display in all of these games. But that alienation allows me to see this particular form of social brainwashing from an outsider’s angle. The brainwashing goes deep here. It happens in real life, not just in these fictions. To what extent have we internalized the narrative? We need not look far to see this view of masculinity in American society — as an unstoppable, uncontrollable force of power and violence. Why do we agree with this supposition in so many of our stories? Why do we accept violence as the “natural” way that men behave? In Hotline Miami, you have only one person that you are supposed to protect, and you fail. But, remember, you are the person of which she should be most afraid. You are the person who has killed the most — the person who has “protected” her the most. You are Monster and Man. I don’t buy this. I don’t buy this, and neither should men or women or anyone. Why, why would we normalize a narrative that anyone is inherently violent? By normalizing violence as supposedly “natural” behavior, especially from men, we make it harder for people to seek help and identify what is and isn’t okay. Often, games present men in particular as embodying a supposedly uncontrollable urge to commit violence, and this is a gender norm that I can only hope male gamers begin to see and reject in the future. I often talk about wanting to see games that tell different kinds of stories. Stories about the way gender roles exist in our society now, but also stories about how our society might change, stories about different kinds of “good” and “bad” people and about inbetween people. Hotline Miami tells the story of where we are now, and it is a sad story. It is a story that needs telling. But it is also a story that I hope we don’t have to keep telling and retelling. Eventually, these “wake-up call” games need to actually wake something up. You can always reject the narrative. You can’t, within the rules of Hotline Miami, decide what Jacket does, beyond the options provided. But the rules of the game should be different, out here. The story can be changed. P THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 17
now & next :: voices Burning Questions
Flying high? your MMJ inquiries, answered B y Val er ie Va n de Pa nn e
va l e r i e@va l e r i e va n d e pa n n e .c o m
What protection will the state offer to doctors who recommend medical marijuana to their patients, as well as patients, caregivers, and dispensaries, from federal prosecution? _alert in allston
“Doctors have the First Amendment right to talk about things with their patients,” including marijuana, explains well-known local pot attorney Steve Epstein. But patients, caregivers, and
dispensaries? What protection will the state offer them? “None,” says Epstein. “The initiative specifically says the state will provide you with no protection against federal prosecution.” “State law can’t protect patients against a determined federal agent,” says Robert Raich, a California medi-pot attorney, explaining that under federal law even a fraction of a gram is illegal. >> questions on p 20
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In 2004, Raich represented his wife, medical-marijuana patient Angel Raich, before the Supreme Court (Gonzalez v. Raich). The case determined that the federal government could regulate noncommercial cannabis with the Controlled Substances Act, even if the marijuana is grown at home for personal medicinal use in a state where medical marijuana is legal. “As a practical matter, the feds have neither the resources nor the desire to prosecute patients,” Raich says. According to Raich, the vast majority of marijuana cases — a whopping 99 percent — are handled by state and local authorities. “It’s not really been the feds’ policy to attack patients,” he says. “Treatment centers are the ones who have to watch their tushies,” says Epstein. “Medical use is no defense in federal court.” And if convicted of a marijuana crime, “you’ll lose all your federal assistance [if you
receive it] — including housing, Section 8, and SSDI, or SSI.” Will I be able to take my medical marijuana across state lines?
_toasty traVeler
According to Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML): yes, you can! But it depends on the state. Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, and Rhode Island all offer what’s known as “reciprocity” — they are medicalmarijuana states that recognize other states’ medical-marijuana laws. California has nothing that expressly acknowledges it, nor denies it; many patients take their medical marijuana with them to Cali. No matter where you are, you have to follow all local laws. The airport you are flying out of is subject to local law, and typically has local law enforcement working there. So, in theory, you’re safe to board a flight in a medicalmarijuana state, as long as you are
following local laws. “TSA agents are only looking for weapons or explosives,” explains Raich, who spearheaded a case ensuring that patients could fly out of Oakland International Airport (OAK)
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with their medical marijuana. However, “[TSA] can refer the passenger to law enforcement.” “We’ve had plenty of anecdotal reports,” says Raich, of other airports in medical-marijuana
states abiding by state law and permitting patients and caregivers to board with their medical marijuana. “You need to know the law of where you are [flying] out of,” as well as where you are going. “The law of the state you’re traveling to, you’ll only be subjected to when you arrive,” says Raich. For example, Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office deputies (the law enforcement that patrols OAK) permit you to board with your medical pot on a flight to Texas, which is not a medicalmarijuana state. They could call ahead and let Texas authorities know you’re on your way. But on your way to California from Logan, according to Raich, they should let you board as long as you are in compliance with Massachusetts law. “Law enforcement doesn’t always do what it’s supposed to
“I’d hate to see a sick patient be subjected to harassment. But sometimes something bad needs to happen to force a precedent.”
do,” Raich cautions. “They don’t always like medicalmarijuana laws. Just because they can’t stop you, they might try to bluster you or make it up as they go along. You might have to force the issue, as we did here in Alameda County, to make law enforcement follow the law.” He adds: “I’d hope the police [at Logan] will be respectful of the laws. I’d hate to see a sick patient be subjected to harassment or [have] their medicine seized. But sometimes something bad needs to happen to force a precedent.” Thanks to Raich’s work, Oakland now has a written policy permitting patients to board with their medical marijuana. A patient flying out of OAK was denied boarding because of his medical marijuana. Raich stepped in, and ultimately Alameda
County’s attorneys told the sheriff he had to follow local law and permit patients to board. The sheriff ’s own intransigence forced him to be the only sheriff in California to have to put a policy in writing protecting patients at the airport. A representative from the Massachusetts State Police, who patrol Logan Airport, tells the Phoenix: “We will do whatever the policy makers instruct us to do.” Attorney Steve Epstein says to remember if you’re traveling with your medical marijuana, it’s best to take only a small personal quantity and keep it properly sealed and contained. Keep your registration card and paperwork with you. Don’t flaunt it or draw attention to yourself, and follow local laws. “Know before you go,” he says. P
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THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 21
photo by Josh Andrus, shot At the silhouette lounge in Allston. thAnks to bAr mAnAger irene dAvis And bArtender kristin
spotlight :: Boston punk
22 01.04.13 :: thephoeniX.com
DROPKICK
Comhar (pron., co’r), n., co-operation; alliance, reciprocity, mutuality; companionship, a cooperative society; cómhar na gcómharsan (pron. co’r na go’ r-arsan), system of reciprocal labor among neighbors, companions, friends, etc.; cómhar na saoithe (pron.co’r na seeh’e), the companionship and society of artists and scholars.
—D anIel CaSSI D Y, aUtH OR Of HOw tHe IRISH InventeD Slang
MURPHYS Talking punk, place, and parochialism with the last gang in town. BY MICHael PatRICK MaCD O nalD @ m i c k pA d dy m Ac k
day after the world didn’t end tthehe—January and a couple of weeks before 8 release of their new
album Signed and Sealed in Blood — I met up with Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey, Matt Kelly, and James Lynch at Mul’s Diner in Southie. After weeks of photo-documenting the demolition of the Old Colony Housing Project, my formative world where I learned everything I know and love about community and connectedness, I’ve recently found myself gravitating to what’s left of the Southie I knew. Mul’s is one of those few places still standing. Although Mul’s, these days, is normally filled to capacity with strangers on a Saturday, this was the Saturday before Christmas, and the new breed of South Bostonian was most likely visiting “home”: some place other than here. >> DROPKICKS on p 24
thephoeniX.com :: 01.04.13 23
spotlight :: Boston punk Our waitress is a rare and refreshing throwback to pre-gentrification Southie, too. Pouring our coffee, she bossily orders me to take off my coat so that I don’t freeze when I go back outside, catch a cold, and die. After resisting a bit (I know the routine), I eventually comply in order to head off more threats. I know that her treatment of me is the kind that’s reserved for natives, and not for outsiders. And I’m grateful for it. We start out talking about the writing process for their new and best album yet. But in this particular context — a Saturday morning at Mul’s — I naturally end up talking to the Dropkicks about community, about the increasing loss of a sense of connectedness in our current world, and about the band’s ongoing commitment to the values they were reared on in Boston, whether in their families or in earlier years of grassroots punk rock and hardcore support and solidarity. The Irish Gaeilge word for it is “comhar.” And it’s something the Irish learn to take with them wherever they go. You guys have done something different this time, which was not to take a break between albums. Ken Casey: No break. I think that whole process of writing a concept album [2011’s Going Out in Style] was so good for us as songwriters and more challenging to have to combine everything . . . you know, thinking of two mediums at the same time — and to have to formulate it — that going into this record was like, “Whoa, this is so easy!” Matt Kelly: It was almost a breeze. There were so many riffs we had, ideas that were still incubating. We just kept coming up with new stuff. The parameters were so much wider, ’cause it wasn’t that concept that we had to think about.
24 01.04.13 :: thephoeniX.com
James Lynch: [Previously] we’d plan everything out, we’d tour, then we’d stop and write, and then go in the studio and record when we had enough material. But recently with everyone on the computer [using recording software], we’d have a constant flow of ideas going on, so the record was almost done before we even got off the road. KC: Instead of that first couple of weeks when you come off the road and start writing, and everyone’s standing there. Remember the last record? It was like, “Ya got anything? You got something?” Everyone’s like, “No!” [laughter] MK: “I thought you said you did!” KC: We were just starting literally from scratch, whereas with this one — like, Jeff, our banjo player, between the hours of 3 and 4 am, he’s like Beethoven. He gets hammered, and he sends you these songs. And in the morning, you’re like, “Great riff!” And he’s like, “What?” So when we hit the ground, we already had structures and frameworks — for the first time ever — on a lot of songs. But also, we’re in a band 16 years, and it’s our eighth album, so it’s like, we kind of aren’t that much ahead of the pace that we set in the early days. Our first full-length was ’98, our second was ’99, [then] 2001, 2003. We were on that pace for a while. And then we started getting married and having kids. It’s not like we ever slowed down, but instead of taking two weeks off between tours, we’d take a month. And if you add that little bit of time, it starts to make everything slow down a little. I think it’s that way with everything. I feel that way with writing a story. You kind of shouldn’t take a break. It’s not as exhausting as it is for a musician. You guys have to do really physical shit on stage, but the traveling weighs me down. JL: Basically, waking up in a different place every day is gonna mess
DROPKICK MURPHYS WEEK ON WFNX.COM
Tune into WFNX. com starting on Sunday, January 6, for details on how to win exclusive Dropkicks prizes, including tickets to their St. Patrick’s Day shows in Boston and signed copies of their new album, Signed and Sealed in Blood. Plus: tune in Monday at 6 pm to hear the new album in its entirety before it’s available in stores.
with your head no matter what. MK: It makes you, like, you need to be in the bubble, between the buses and the club. You get out of sorts if you’re [not]. I’m looking at my watch [thinking], “I gotta get back to the bubble,” even hanging out with friends somewhere in another city. You get this mentality where you don’t want to leave the bubble. It’s the only comfort zone you have. I mean, it’s awesome either way you look at it, but you do have that weird anxiety. As musicians, you’re told you have to do this interview at 10 am, then you have to go to this TV station, then you have to talk to a newspaper reporter, then you have to perform. KC: For us — and it’s a blessing and a curse — you wake up, you get in, you get acclimated, you’re thinking about soundcheck. And then we always have these best intentions to get together on the road to write. We’re lucky in the sense that we have a lot of friends in every city. It’s like we’ve become a local band in every city, the way we kind of came up — you know, our first shows being with the local kid promoters. So literally, at five o’clock, people are showing up to hang out. And that’s a good thing. It’s good to have people in every city, but you really don’t have any time to get away and write. But, for me, having that iPhone — if I have an idea in my bunk at 3 am for a vocal melody, you know what I mean? You touched on something I wanted to talk about: the way you guys have effectively maintained this balance between the local and the international. That’s kind of unusual. Because you guys have this hometown vibe, right? And then you’re on tour all over the world. And it reminds me of Tip O’Neill’s famous quote: “All politics is local.” That is, of course, important in politics. But it’s a balance that a lot of musicians
photo by Josh Andrus
<< DROPKICKS from p 23
don’t maintain. And it’s probably the best thing they possibly could do. Or any artists. Because then they’re keeping true to what made them first find their voice. JL: I think it’s something that could only have been born here in this city. We’ve taken the attitude of this city on the road, and people can latch on to it. MK: It’s a pleasant parochialism. KC: But also, I think, getting back to that local thing in every city: we know who’s who in the scene, and sometimes even legitimately in politics, because in a lot of towns, if people sense that [local] vibe from you, they’re coming to us with local causes, whether it’s supporting labor causes in different cities, or charity things. And it’s not like we try to do this on purpose. I’ll give you an example: we did something for the stagehands in Pittsburgh many, many years ago, and every time we come to that city, they’re rolling out the red carpet. It’s like you’re returning to your own hometown in Pittsburgh, even though it’s not our hometown. JL: Those guys still load our gear every time. KC: Yeah, no matter where the show is, they show up and load the gear, you know? Whether they’re employed or not. That’s what’s important to the band, that feeling. I wouldn’t trade that feeling of keeping it small and getting to know people for any amount of international, like, “What city are we in?” Plus, you know, coming from here, if you ever rolled back into town with that “Yeah! I was just in Japan!” attitude, people are gonna smack you in the face. I also think it’s the things that we’ve kept ourselves grounded with here, like having our charity foundation [the Claddagh Fund]. That’s the stuff that keeps you grounded. You just did a performance at the Franciscan Hospital for Children. KC: We do that every Christmas. They’re one of the Claddagh Fund’s
main beneficiaries. It’s amazing. We play for the kids in the locked ward and in the suicide unit. And typically when parents introduce you to their kids, they’re trying to be too cool for school, like, “Sup.” And you’re like, “Does this kid even really like us?” But then you go in to these kids who, say, haven’t smiled in months, and you play music, and they act like they’re so excited and happy to see you. You’re playing for these kids who are in wheelchairs and have no movement of their body, and then they hear that fast beat, and all of a sudden, their heads are bobbing. It’s cool to be able to do that stuff. The nature of the kind of music scene we’re a part of, and the kind of music we play, that’s what it’s always been about: that community spirit, whether it’s the punk scene or beyond. Whereas, I wouldn’t trade, let’s say, being in Aerosmith. I’d rather be us than to be bigger and become something that loses that community feeling. MK: There’s a complete disconnect [with some groups]. Like, we’re the guys on stage, and you’re the audience. Whereas, we’re inviting people onstage. It’s an egalitarian thing, for lack of a better term. We’re all the same here. We just happen to be playing music. We wouldn’t be here without you, and vice versa. I think people are looking for that kind of connectedness and community more and more because, despite the pretense of connectedness via Facebook and so forth, we seem less and less connected as a society. As we see from social networking, people are craving community. But it’s not really to be found there on the Internet in the way that it can exist face to face, in real space. MK: It’s a human thing, isn’t it? Whether it be a cause or a band that’s giving off that kind of mentality and people latch on to it, that’s nice. >> DROPKICKS on p 26
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<< DROPKICKS from p 25
KC: I always make the point that, even just going back to the way we started, setting down our roots in so many places, and how people always say, “Oh, talk to my nephew. He has a band. Tell him how to promote. How’d you guys promote yourselves?” I go, “Well, we pressed our own 7-inches, we made our own flyers, we took out ads in Maximum Rocknroll, and hoped for a good review.” And we made these handmade catalogs: I recently found one. It literally looked like a five-year-old drew it. We would draw, like, a stick figure of the T-shirt and the design, you know? So someone would order a 7-inch, but it might take us a week to turn it around, and we’d put a catalog in it. By the time they got it, then they might order another single that they saw in the catalog, or a T-shirt. That was such a snail’s-pace growth. But that’s what puts down the roots. And now today, a kid could write and record a whole album and have it on the Internet and have a million fans by tomorrow. But are they gonna be there the day after tomorrow? MK: Longevity comes from the roots, you know? JL: It’s like anything else. It’s the most simple, basic way of doing things that’s gonna work out. But nobody wants to do the work. The bands did everything themselves, had their hands in everything. . . . 26 01.04.13 :: thephoeniX.com
You actually enjoyed that probably, right? JL: Yeah! KC: I’d never do it again, but I enjoyed it [laughs]. Sometimes I look back now and go, “Oh my God.” MK: It’s amazing the amount of work you had to do to move, like, one step along. KC: Or the amount of miles we logged. en’s neighbor stops by on his way Kcoming out to shake his hand and ask if he’s by the house tonight. He says he saw that they did their new video in his old apartment upstairs from a funeral parlor in Dorchester’s Lower Mills. “You lived up there? That place was always haunted!” says Kenny. “Hey, it’s a small world. You know, my father was waked in there, and then I’m doing a video there. And you lived upstairs? Hey, wait a second, we went up in the attic and found some porno mags up there!” When his neighbor leaves, Ken tells me the story of making the video for their Christmas song, “The Season’s Upon Us.” He didn’t know until he arrived at the former funeral parlor in Dorchester that it was the very one where his own father was waked, when Kenny was eight years old. “Walking in that room was like, ‘Whoa.’ It all came back.” The subject then turns to my own return to Old
Colony Housing Project in recent weeks, as demolition turns my old neighborhood to bricks, scraggly steel wires, broken pipes, and concrete. We imagine the things found in the rubble, the spirits still not at rest. When we return to our interview I bring up the flipside of community and connectedness, what the Irish call “begrudgery”: resentment of success, resulting in gossip or accusations of getting too big for one’s own good. But Ken sees it as just as much of a punk tendency as an Irish trait. From where do you get begrudgery coming at you? KC: You can’t be a punk band and get popular. People just have that, “I knew ’em when.” They’d rather have you to themselves. JL: I was gonna say, I just saw gripes online today, like, “What are they doing a Christmas song for?!” MK: I’m actually surprised, though, about the amount of support we get to this day from old-time punks. You’d think they’d be resentful. KC: When we got more popularity, we didn’t change. I recently read a quote that said, “You wanna hate them so bad, but you can’t.” Because we don’t give them a reason, that smoking gun. Like, when every hardcore or punk band tried to become metal or [put] synthesizers in their music, or whatever it is; or being caught with a
stripper or whatever, you know what I mean? MK: We’re the same assholes we were when we started playing in [founding member] Rick Barton’s garage or the barbershop basement. KC: If we ever wrote a book, or made a movie, it would be like the Bad News Bears of music. Like, “How the fuck did these bumbling idiots make it, that weren’t even trying to get out of the barbershop basement?” Our first two fans: we were playing in the basement of this girl Karen Kelly’s barbershop in Wollaston, at the corner of Beale Street and Hancock [in Quincy] — a little free-standing building across from Papa Gino’s. To use it, we’d have to sweep up all the hair every night, because you couldn’t get down there unless you swept it up. So anyway, we’re playing down there, and the basement windows were all boarded up. And it was on Hancock Street, so it was good for muffling the sound a little bit. But some 15-year-old kids eventually started hearing it. All of a sudden one night, this fucking foot comes through the plywood, and they stick their heads in and go, “You guys rule!” That’s what gave us the confidence to come out of the fucking basement, you know? Dicky Barrett of the Bosstones has been a long-time supporter, hasn’t he?
photo by Josh Andrus
spotlight :: Boston punk
KC: What I respect so much about [the Bosstones] is that when they were on a major label, when they blew up, when everything was big — and they took us on their tour with them. I’m sure their record company probably had bands they wanted to take. We only had singles on our own label, and our biggest release was an EP we did on the almighty Cyclone Records in New Hampshire. I would say they set a good example of what you do. When you get a leg up, you pull the next band up. They do Christmas shows every year, and they have a white Santa and a black Santa. And every year I steal one of the plastic Santas. I kidnap him and take videos of me around town with him. And in our Christmas video, the Santa’s in the video. The minute it hit the airwaves, [Bosstones bassist Joe] Gittleman is like, “You fuckin’ bastard!” We still have a great rapport with them. MK: Yeah, they showed just by example. They showed us so many things. I mean, I was homeless, living in the practice space, and Tim [“Johnny Vegas” Burton] and Dicky let me move in with them. I’ll never forget that.
w
e talk about people all over the world connecting to the Dropkicks’ very Boston-flavored sense of community. Ken points to what is, for him, one of the greatest songs ever written: “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues, the ultimate local-yet-universal song. He reminds us that it doesn’t have to be New York to have that quality, that we have that in Boston, too. I point out my number-one rule to my writing students at Northeastern: that if you really go there, with the personal and local, you will create something universal. JL: A kid in Japan said to us once, “You guys are Irish from Boston. I’m obviously not. But you make me proud to be from where I’m from.” Talk about the Jimmy Collins song [“Jimmy Collins’ Wake,” from Signed and Sealed in Blood]. I learned a lot about early Boston baseball history listening to that song. KC: The lyrics to that were written by Dick Johnson from the Sports Museum of New England. This guy knows everything that ever happened at Fenway. He talks about when Éamon de Valera [the first president of the Irish Republic] came and gave a speech at Fenway Park. It’s cool to document old history of the city. And the funny thing about all these people from that era, like John L. Sullivan, Honey Fitz [Boston’s first American-born Irish mayor], Jimmy
Collins — they all hung out together! Honey Fitz and John L. Sullivan and all these guys are drinking in the same bars and hanging out together. The bookie for that crew was nicknamed “Sport” Sullivan, and he concocted the whole scheme to fix the 1919 World Series. The song “Jimmy Collins” is about how important that guy was to people’s lives, rather than just stats and how much they make. he Dropkicks talk about the letters tJapan, they get from places as far away as and feeling connected to these
people as “community” (and they to the DKMs). The fans send pics of their kids, whereas when they first came backstage at DKM shows, they were kids themselves. We talk about how locals want to think they are the only ones who can connect to the material. Though that sense of specialness is a good thing, the DKMs feel very connected even in faraway Australia. Ken talks about his connection to new friends in Australia who bring them to meet his entire family. KC: That’s all beyond the wildest dreams of what this was supposed to be. I can relate to what they’re saying. And in these waning days of the neighborhood that I still know as The Best Place in the World, my mind wanders back to the crumbling walls at Old Colony Housing Project. I focus on the idea that regardless of what becomes of the time or place where one first found community, you can always take it with you wherever you end up. I also relate to the inability of the Irish to get too big for their britches, since they’ll always be smacked right back down to size if they ever display self-importance. Then — as if on cue — my mother interrupts the interview, her call disabling the recorder app on my iPhone. I check the message and play it for the guys. Ma: Mike, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are that you can’t pick up the goddamn phone! I play it for Ken, Matt, and James. Ma’s words blend in with all the chatter, past and present, bouncing off the walls of Mul’s Diner. We laugh — my own laughter filled with a satisfaction that all is not lost, and that we’ll never really be able to wander too far from home. P michael patrick macdonald is the author of All Souls: A Family Story from Southie and Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion. he collaborated with the dropkick murphys on their previous album, Going Out In Style.
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spotlight :: oscars
Lincoln
28 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
Django anD Zero faDe as LincoLn LanDsLiDe Looms B y Pet er K eo u gh
p k e o u g h @ p h x .c o m
t
he Oscar nominees will be announced on January 10, and had you asked a couple of weeks ago, I would have given Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty good odds at raining on Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln parade. But reality has since intruded. The horrendous Sandy Hook massacre and the subsequent debate about gun control and violence in pop culture, not to mention an ill-considered Christmas Day release, have taken the shine off Quentin’s latest brilliant, blood-soaked provocation. (And don’t even think about The Dark Knight Rises.)
As for Zero Dark Thirty, after undergoing congressional investigations during production and, with its release, slams from both the Left and the Right for its supposed advocacy of torture, it’s looking a bit iffy. Unless the Academy nominates more than five films for Best Picture (they nominate a minimum of five and a maximum of 10), these two
might be out of luck — though Zero’s Jessica Chastain has a shot at Best Actress. So Lincoln rolls on triumphantly, embodying as it does the nation’s newfound spirit of compromise and rationality. That means nominations for Best Picture and Director, Best Actor for Daniel DayLewis, Best Supporting Actress for >> oscars on p 30
Zero Dark Thirty THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 29
spotlight :: oscars
Argo
<< oscars from p 29
Sally Field, and Best Supporting Actor for Tommy Lee Jones. With Zero somewhat out of the picture, Ben Affleck’s Argo star rises as the reigning depiction of the War on Terror, circa 1979. A shout-out to the magic of Hollywood adds to its chances for Best Film, Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin. And rounding out Oscar’s salute to the cause of freedom and the supremacy of show biz is Les Misérables, a likely nominee for Best Picture, with Hugh Jackman stealing a Best Actor nomination, Anne Hathaway looking good for Best Supporting Actress, and Tom Hooper hopeful for Director. Next come the old Oscar standbys — the elderly, infirm, endangered, addicted, and insane. The geriatric Best Exotic Marigold Hotel might reserve a place in a five-plus Best Picture category, with a Best Supporting Actress niche for Maggie Smith. So could 30 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
Michael Haneke’s portrait of aging spouses, Amour, which should also be honored with a Best Actress nomination for Emmanuelle Riva. The Sessions looks likely for Best Picture placement, and it will undoubtedly earn a Best Actor nomination for John Hawkes as the man in the iron lung and a Supporting Actress slot for Helen Hunt as the sex surrogate who loves him. And rounding out the candidates in the afflicted column, Marion Cotillard should enter the Best Actress race as the double amputee in Rust and Bone. How about endangered, addicted, and insane? Best Actress looks good for Naomi Watts as the imperiled tsunami survivor in The Impossible. Denzel Washington will land a Best Actor bid as the derelict pilot in Flight. As for insane, no one does it better than bad guy Javier Bardem, likely Best Supporting Actor nominee for Skyfall. On the lighter side, Bradley Cooper will be in the running as
With Zero Dark Thirty somewhat out of the picture, Ben Affleck’s Argo star rises.
the funny/psychotic hero of The Silver Linings Playbook, a film that should also score nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (David O. Russell), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), and Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence). Philip Seymour Hoffman should be megalomaniacal enough for Best Supporting Actor consideration in The Master, and for a downhome, high-camp, nympho nutjob, you can’t go wrong with Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy for Best Supporting Actress. All accounted for? Just to be on the safe side, let’s include the traditional showy, big-book adaptation, Ang Lee’s take on Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, to bring the Best Picture nominations to the maximum 10. And as the unreality of pondering Oscars clouds my mind, and wish fulfillment replaces rational thought, I’ll go ahead with my initial impulse and predict Kathryn Bigelow will be nominated for Best Director. P
PeTer’s Picks
Les Misérables
Best Picture
[Shoo-ins] Argo Lincoln Les Misérables The Sessions Silver Linings Playbook [Options if the Academy expands list to 10, in order of likelihood] Zero Dark Thirty Django Unchained The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Beasts of the Southern Wild Amour
Best Director
Ben Affleck (Argo) Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) Tom Hooper (Les Misérables) David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Best actor
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) John Hawkes (The Sessions) Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables) Denzel Washington (Flight)
Best actress
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone) Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Best suPPorting actor
Alan Arkin (Argo) Javier Bardem (Skyfall) Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook) Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master) Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Best suPPorting actress
Sally Field (Lincoln) Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables) Helen Hunt (The Sessions) Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy) Maggie Smith (Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
The most celebratory holiday restaurant in town. Open Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day & Holiday Parties Located in the heart of Harvard Square 617 864.1933 • upstairsonthesquare.com
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THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 31
P RO M OT I O N
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epic beer » restaurants on the horizon » class with the cheese master
& DRINK
Carpaccio at Cinquecento. Page 36.
THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 33
Food & drink :: liquid
BeerAdvocAte
All hAil the iron throne (Blonde Ale)!
Game of Thrones–themed beers cometh B y J a so n & T o dd a l s Trö m b r o s @ b e e r a dvo c at e .c o m :: @ b e e r a dvo c at e
Beer And fAntAsy geeks, rejoice!
Game of Thrones, the fantasy series adapted from the novels by George R. R. Martin, is about to get its own series of beers, thanks to a recently announced collaboration between HBO and Brewery Ommegang of Cooperstown, New York. What we like about this collaboration is that it’s not just about the hype, unlike most “brewed under license” products that simply wrap generic beer in a marketing campaign. Phil Leinhart, brewmaster at Brewery Ommegang, explained that it’s an “opportunity to collaborate on a beer based on the cultural phenomenon of Game of Thrones and [explore] ways to make the beer truly reflect aspects from the show. It made us approach development in a completely new way, and I think the first edition, Iron Throne, reveals that.” The Iron Throne, of course, is the seat of the king of the Seven Kingdoms, forged from 1,000 swords that were surrendered to Aegon the Conqueror in an act of fealty by lords during the War of Conquest. It took 59 days of hammering and the fiery breath of Aegon’s dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, to form the throne. Despite all of this badass lore, season two of Game of Thrones left us with a punk-ass, whiny, blond-haired, nasty little boy king sitting on the throne. How will this impact the beer? “With a Lannister currently on the throne,” Leinhart said, “it made sense to do a delicate but piercing Golden Blonde Ale with noble hops. Iron Throne is certainly fair in color and soft in appearance, yet it still possesses
a complexity and bite to be on guard for.” Given the fact that Ommegang — owned by the brewers of Duvel — specializes in brewing Belgian-style beers, we’re expecting something Belgianesque. A closer look at the beer’s label reveals that it’s going to be a 6.5-percent-alcohol-byvolume ale, brewed with lemon peel and grains of paradise (dried seeds that offer flavors of pepper, citrus, herb, wood, and spices) and best served at 40 Want er degrees Fahrenheit (in a kingly be more z? chalice, of course). b uz t ou C h eC k The beer and GoT geeks . voCate beerad . inside us hoped they would’ve Co m created a brew in honor of the Iron Throne itself, versus the last person to sit on it. You know, something formidable and demanding of a bow or curtsy. Maybe next time? The New York Times reported that Ommegang and HBO plan on releasing a second GoT beer next fall, with at least two more after that to coincide with subsequent seasons. Iron Throne Blonde Ale will be released in mid-to-late March in keg and 750-milliliter bottle formats, at a suggested retail price of $8.50 per bottle. Regional Ommegang representatives informed us that Massachusetts will be getting 280 cases (with 12 25.4-ounce bottles each) and 60 sixtels (5.16 gallons each). Ommegang is planning release tastings in the Boston area to coincide with season three of Game of Thrones, which kicks off on March 31. Word on the street is that BeerAdvocate will be partnering with Ommegang to launch Iron Throne. Stay tuned for more. P
Built in 1997 on the former home of a hops farm, Brewery Ommegang turns out six Belgian-style ales full-time, plus seasonal and specialty brews — which should tide you over till the Iron Throne Blonde Ale arrives. Find local retailers at ommegang.com.
34 01.04.13 :: ThephOenIx.cOm/FOOd
Food & drink :: dining
First tastes
A look at the coming year in Boston dining B y MC Sl iM J B @mcslimjb
Had enougH of year-end retrospectives and best-of-2012 lists? So have we: we’re already setting our sights on the slew of new restaurant openings that 2013 will shortly bring our way. From popular independent chef/owners branching out to open second restaurants, to longtime hired guns going out on their own for the first time, to nationally famous names hanging out their first shingles in Boston, here are the forthcoming spots we’re anticipating the most, plus some brand-new eateries that just fired up their burners.
crowds at this new location in the old Hard Rock Café space near Back Bay Station. Boston Chops :: 1375 Washington St, Boston :: bostonchops.com :: The partners behind Dorchester’s dbar and the Back Bay’s Deuxave, including chef Chris Coombs (recently recognized in Forbes magazine as one of America’s 30 most influential food and wine personalities under the age of 30), have taken over the South End space formerly home to Ginger Park to offer a creative take on the big-steakhouse concept. Gone is its predecessor’s avant-garde interior design in favor of a more convivial, brasserie-like feel. Asta :: 47 Mass Ave, Boston :: astaboston.com :: Chef/owner Alex Crabb has ventured out on his own with a concept centered on tasting menus: a modest, homey threecourse one, and more elaborate, adventurous menus of five and eight courses. Expect a lighter take on the refined French style he honed over seven years in the kitchen of Boston’s storied L’Espalier.
Just opened
Cinquecento :: 500 Harrison Ave, Boston :: 617.338.9500 or cinquecentoboston.com :: This new “Roman trattoria” from the Aquitaine Group (Metropolis, Union, Gaslight, and the Aquitaines) took over the old Rocca space in SoWa and effected a gorgeous, warm interior redesign. Chef de cuisine Justin Winters has rolled out an initial region-trotting menu that includes eight pastas, a bunch of salumi, and Roman specialties like trippa alla Parmigiana (tripe braised in tomato sauce with Parmesan). We can’t wait for the South End’s loveliest patio to re-open too. 36 01.04.13 :: Thephoenix.com/food
Giulia :: 1682 Mass Ave, Cambridge :: 617.441.2800 :: Michael Pagliarini, who long helmed the kitchen at Michael Schlow’s Back Bay Italian eatery Via Matta, has gone solo with this handsome, rustic, exposed-brick room in the old Rafiki Bistro space between Harvard and Porter squares. Look for Italian small plates and lots of house-made pastas. Sycamore :: 755 Beacon St, Newton :: 617.244.4445 or sycamorenewton.com :: Chef/ owner David Punch has gone indie after years of building the Ten Tables brand into a trio of affordable and beloved bistros in JP, Cambridge,
and Provincetown. He just opened this 50-seat space in Newton Centre, which features a full bar with classic cocktails and craft beers and a New American menu heavy on local sourcing and charcuterie, all with a slight French accent.
imminent
Flour Bakery & Café :: 131 Clarendon St, Boston :: flourbakery.com :: Joanne Chang claims that Flour number four will be the extent of her empire of patisserie/sandwich/coffee shops that currently generate long lines in the South End, Fort Point, and Central Square. Expect similar
Blue Dragon :: 324 A St, Boston :: Ming Tsai, one of Boston’s bestknown celebrity chefs, will open his second restaurant ever, a more casual, gastropubby take on the refined Asian fusion cuisine that put him on the map at his original Wellesley restaurant, Blue Ginger.
>> taSteS on p 38
Photo by melissa ostrow
Cinquecento
Bronwyn :: 255 Washington St, Somerville :: 617.864.4745 or bronwynrestaurant.com :: Tim Wiechmann, chef/owner of Huron Village’s small, arty New American bistro T.W. Food, gets a long-awaited second venue in the Union Square space that formerly housed Thai joint Ronnarong. The excitement here is his plan to do the kind of Middle and Eastern European fare rarely seen in Boston, including the cuisine of Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Italy’s Alto Adige region. A full bar and outdoor beer garden should add to its allure.
75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116 617.357.4810 â&#x20AC;˘ www.davios.com
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Food & drink :: dining
furtHer out
Ribelle :: Washington Sq, Brookline :: Arguably the most sensational Boston-area restaurant of the past year was Strip-T’s in Watertown, which, after 25 years as a modest diner-like American place, got a food-nerd-friendly reboot when chef Tim Maslow took over the kitchen from his dad. Expect Maslow to generate a new frenzy with the inventive, eclectic fare in a larger, presumably more polished space closer to downtown Boston.
Unnamed Ana Sortun project :: 249 Pearl St, Somerville :: The award-winning chef/owner of Cambridge fine-dining favorite Oleana is working with the team that helped her open bakery/ café Sofra to take over the former home of the Paddock. The result should fall somewhere between Oleana and Sofra in concept and price, a modest neighborhood place with a full bar serving mezze and larger plates from around the Mediterranean, centered on Turkish cuisine.
Bondir Two :: 24 Walden St, Concord :: Our favorite finedining opening of 2010 was Bondir, which first-time chef/owner Jason Bond debuted in a tiny location in Cambridge’s Area Four. This widely acclaimed New American eatery has frustrated many would-be diners with its limited capacity (all of 28 seats), requiring weeks-in-advance reservations. Bond’s second location will have closer to 100 seats and a patio, allowing
Shake Shack :: 55 Boylston St, Chestnut Hill :: Shopping mall the Street will soon welcome Manhattan restaurateur extraordinaire Danny Meyer, who will open an outlet of his rapidly expanding Shake Shack chain of gourmet fast-food joints. These counter-service establishments have earned the fanatical devotion of New Yorkers by preparing and serving modestly priced burgers, hot dogs, and milkshakes with exceptional care. We’re not big on chains, and 2012 left us feeling a bit burgered out, but Meyer’s reputation — as a great restaurateur, a devoted local sourcer, and a solid citizen of the neighborhoods in which he operates — makes us enthusiastic at the prospect of his Massachusetts debut. If every new restaurant that opens in Greater Boston in the coming year takes its cues from Meyer’s famed hospitality playbook, that will make 2013 a very good year for us indeed. P
mario Batali
nyc comes to Boston
Babbopizzeria :: 320 Summer St, Boston :: The inescapable New York powerhouse restaurateur and celebrity chef Mario Batali will recast his Manhattan enoteca/pizzeria Otto into Babbopizzeria, presumably to avoid confusion with the Portland, ME mini-chain Otto that recently opened three outlets in Boston and Cambridge.
Unnamed Geoffrey Zakarian project :: Fort Point, Boston :: The famed food-TV personality and operator of NYC’s Lambs Club and others will open a Seaport-area restaurant that his representative compared to the National Bar & Dining Rooms in
restaurant spotlight “The way it OTTO be.” - The Boston Phoenix
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Your order of $25 or more B.u. Loc ati on
Not valid with any other offers and/or lunch specials / Maki Madness / Tax and gratuity not included /Alcohol excluded. Valid for Dine in Only
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NO DOUBLE DISCOUNTS. CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH OTHER OFFERS. Coupon Expires: 12/31/2012 | One coupon per customer
38 01.04.13 :: Thephoenix.com/food
Photo by melanie Dunea
Manhattan, an American bistro with a glamorous sheen.
suburbanites far easier access to his dazzling yet unpretentious take on farm-to-table cuisine.
<< taSteS from p 36
Food & drink :: calendar
Chew Out SAtuRDAY 5 SOMERVILLE
WINTER FARMERS’ MARKET
This weekly haven for cold-weather locavores kicked off last month — but we forgot last weekend when we had a craving for golden beets and wound up eating Chex out of the box instead, so we figure it’s about time for a refresher. Take refuge from the hellish wind round these parts in the Armory’s Performance Hall and stock up on veggies like it’s July.
SuNDAY 6 FONDUE SUNDAYS
RETURN TO BEACON HILL BISTRO
There are two reasons fondue rocks in the winter. First, melty, bubbly, warm cheese. Duh. Second? You’re already wearing lots of layers to beat back the cold, so concerns about ordering a steaming pot of straight-up cheese are lessened. A few extra pounds are part of hibernation! Beacon Hill Bistro brings back everyone’s favorite way to wrap up a winter weekend: Fondue Sundays, when you can dunk potatoes, veggies, and pickled treats in the gooey goodness all night.
9:30 am to 2 pm @ Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville
5:30 to 10 pm @ Beacon Hill Bistro, 25 Charles St, Boston
Free
$26 per pot
617.718.2191 or artsatthearmory.org
617.723.7575 or beaconhillhotel.com/bistro
TUESDAY 8
HOT MESS TUESDAYS
Your nose is already running from the cold anyway, areweright? Prepare to turn up the faucets and sweat it out, friend, because chef Chris Douglass’s Hot Mess Tuesdays are back to torture your taste buds. Pull up a seat if your Tuesday feels a bit bland, and let the fiery wings and jalapeño poppers work their magic. 5 to 10 pm @ Ashmont Grill, 555 Talbot Ave, Boston :: À la carte specials :: 617.825.4300 or ashmontgrill.com
tueSDAY 8 CHEESE-MAKING WORKSHOP
Seems to be the week for cheese around here. Wolf Meadow Farm owner and cheese master Luca Mignogna is stopping by the BCAE for a comprehensive workshop on home cheesemaking tonight. He’ll also reveal how to find the best milk and cream — and how to incorporate your freshly made cheese into your cooking instead of eating it straight out of the bag like a heathen.
6 pm @ the Boston Center for Adult Education, 122 Arlington St, Boston $55 for members; $65 for non-members; $16 for materials 617.267.4430 or bcae.org
Put your business in the Spotlight! Contact Sberthiaume@phx.com | 617-859-3202
Lulu’s Bakes fresh on the premises all day, with pure and natural ingredients. 57 Salem Street Boston, MA 02113 617-742-0070
20 Winthrop Square Lane Boston, MA 02110 857-250-4946
THEpHoEnix.Com/Food :: 01.04.13 39
fresh.Modern.Creative
$5Off new location now open!
Your order of $25 or more
Not valid with any other offers and/or lunch specials / Maki Madness / Tax and gratuity not included /Alcohol excluded. Valid for Dine in Only
1019 Great Plain Ave needham (781)-444-9200
187 Harvard St Brookline (617) 277-2999
www.garifusion.com ExPirES 1/31/2013
STUFF in The Phoenix
coming
01.10.13 follow us
@stuffnightlife
DO
ZerO Dark ThirTy » QuicksanD » carrie BrOwnsTein
NIGHTLIFE + ARTS
photo by julie bonato
The Soft Moon. Page 54.
THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 01.04.13 41
Arts & Nightlife :: get out
Boston Fun List
HOSPITALITY:: The BK trio headline an indie bill with fellow Brooklynites TEEN and local indie-poppers Parks :: Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston :: January 8 @ 9 pm :: $10 advance/$12 at the door:: boweryboston.com
Mo
For m re fun ore Follo events, w us on t @Bos witter tonFu nshit or lik FaceB e us at ook.c o Bosto nFuns m/ hit
C o MP iL ED B Y A LE X A n DRA C AVA L L o
Hot tix
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD :: January 16 at Brighton Music Hall, Allston :: $10 :: ticketmaster.com FEED ME WITH TEETH + MORD FUSTANG :: February 4 + 5 at Royale, Boston :: $29.50 :: boweryboston.com A SILENT FILM + BLONDFIRE + GOLD FIELDS :: February 8 at Brighton Music Hall, Allston :: $12 :: ticketmaster.com LUCIUS :: February 14 at Great Scott, Allston :: $10 :: ticketweb.com JOE PUG :: February 18 at Brighton Music Hall, Allston :: $12 :: ticketmaster.com BAD BOOKS + THE FRONT BOTTOMS + WEATHERBOX :: February 19 at the Sinclair, Cambridge :: $15.50 :: boweryboston.com BOSNIAN RAINBOWS :: February 20 at Brighton Music Hall, Allston :: $16 :: ticketmaster.com CAVEMAN :: February 27 at the Sinclair, Cambridge :: $13 :: boweryboston.com DEFTONES :: March 5 at the House of Blues, Boston [postponed from Oct 29; all tickets honored]:: $32.50$42.50 :: livenation.com TIM KASHER [CURSIVE/ THE GOOD LIFE] :: March 16 at Great Scott, Allston :: $13 :: ticketweb.com ANBERLIN :: March 19 at Paradise Rock Club, Boston :: $20 :: ticketmaster.com MAN OVERBOARD + THE STORY SO FAR + TONIGHT ALIVE + CITIZEN + THE AMERICAN SCENE :: April 8 at the Sinclair , Cambridge :: $12 :: boweryboston.com MARCO BENEVENTO :: April 18 at Great Scott, Allston :: $15 :: ticketweb.com KILLING JOKE :: April 20 at the Paradise Rock Club, Boston :: $17.50 :: ticketmaster.com ALEX CLARE :: May 9 at the Paradise Rock Club, Boston :: $25 :: ticketmaster.com COEUR DE PIRATE :: June 6 at Brighton Music Hall, Allston :: $20 :: ticketmaster.com
Exonerated after spending 18 years on death row for a heinous crime he did not commit, the 8 West Memphis Three’s Damien Echols is just now putting the shattered pieces of his life back together (check out Nina McLaughlin’s recent story at thePhoenix.com/news). In his book Life After Death (Blue Rider Press), Echols chronicles the terrible events that led to his wrongful incarceration and his eventual redemption. He talks about the book, and his experience, tonight in Porter Square. TUE
Porter Square Books, 25 White St, Cambridge :: 7 pm :: free :: portersquarebooks.com
42 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIx.COm/EvENTS
A chairlift ride away from your hotel room ... Well, the world didn’t end last year, so we might as well welcome in ’13 4 the way ’12 was supposed to go out: with a healthy dose of horror. You’ll get it at the Coolidge’s after midnight screening of The Brood, body horror maestro David Cronenberg’s 1979 flick about the terrifying physical manifestation of misdirected rage. A series of grisly murders at first believed to have been committed by a group of children turns out to be the work of . . . something else entirely. No spoilers here, but rest assured it’s the perfect way for horror buffs to ring in yet another year on earth.
FRI
Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline :: January 4 + 5 @ midnight :: $9.25 :: coolidge.org
Now that we passed Question 3 and Massachusetts has joined Cali as one of the states allowing for legalized medical marijuana use, some interesting new career opportunities may have opened up around these parts. Learn about some of them at today’s Marijuana School, a one-day seminar presented by the Cannabis Career Institute, which will school you on — among other high points — how to form a nonprofit medicalmarijuana collective, how to start a dispensary and delivery service, and will generally help you bone up up on important bylaws and constitutional issues. SAT
5
Hilton Boston at Logan Airport, One Hotel Drive :: 9 am to 7 pm :: $249.99 :: cannabiscareerinstitute.com
In our opinion, you’d have to be a bit of a sadomasochist to inflict 7 Fifty Shades of Grey on yourself. Getting through one page of the “Mommy Porn” phenomenon, a/k/a Twilight fanfic, is an exercise in self-abuse. But Spank!, the unauthorized parody of the improbably popular series, is something we’d check out. Written and directed by Jim Millan — whose credits include irreverent sketch comedy show Kids in the Hall — Spank! has all the whips, chains, and hilarity of the books . . . except the humor in the show is intentional. MON
Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St, Boston :: January 7-12; tonight @ 7:30 pm :: $47.75 :: ticketmaster.com
Midweek Ski & Stay Package
$
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BOOK NOW Make a Reservation: 888-554-1900 Packages are per person, per night, based on double occupancy and are subject to 9% NH tax and 8% service charge. Valid midweek, non-holiday (Sunday through Thursday only).
Following a holiday-season hiatus, the Harvard Book Store’s regular program of esteemed author visits is back in business. Helping to open their 2013 season is local scribe-of-note Nick Flynn, who drops by the Brattle this evening to discuss his new memoir The Reenactments, in which he writes about the surreal experience of seeing his acclaimed debut memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City adapted into a feature film and watching his major life events reenacted on the big screen. Following his talk, catch a screening of that film, Being Flynn, plus a Q & A with the author. wEd
9
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge :: 6 pm talk; 8 pm screening :: $5 talk; $12 talk and screening :: harvard.com
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. 10 In its honor, Central Square Theatre’s troupe-in-residence the Underground Railway Theater presents a production of the Olivier Award–winning play The Mountaintop, which opens just after Martin Luther King, Jr. has delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. Set entirely in an ordinary motel room, the play is a fictional depiction of King’s last night on earth. It opens tonight and runs through February 3. THU
Central Square Theatre, 450 mass Ave, Cambridge :: January 10-February 3; tonight @ 7:30 pm :: $15-$40 :: centralsquaretheater.org
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Nex Nor t week Wha : th e t nor are yo Nd
th u tell end h r fave aun us: l is tin ts? ph @bo x.com gs@ or ston pho enix
Meet the Mayor huB CoMICS
>> 19 Bow St :: 617.718.0987 ::
hubcomics.com
John Warren Hanawalt
foursquare.com/johnheartstype
Machu Picchu
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
UNION SQUARE 5 PLACES WE LOvE
1
Ancient Mayans: so over ’em. For 2013, we’re gonna obsess over the Incas instead — or at least any cultural tradition that gives us the delicious ceviche platters that Machu Picchu so lovingly whips up. And whatever you do, don’t skip the Pollo Chan-Chan. 307 Somerville Ave :: 617.628.7070 :: machupicchuboston. com
2
Us choosy lushes imagine that craftcocktail heaven is a place where beatific, sharp-dressed bartenders serve us butterbeer out of pumpkins, pour us shots of mysterious black
ooze that tastes like liquid Good & Plentys, and serve us bowls of spicy caramel corn just because we showed up. Oh, wait, that’s just another night at Backbar — mixology paradise on earth. 9 Sanborn Ct :: 617.718.0249 :: backbarunion.com
3
Operating out of a former bank, Bloc 11 Café preserved the old vaults. And if we were them, we would use those vaults to hide the secret formulas to their knee-weakeningly addictive “Chocolate & Vanilla Latte.” While the java is the star here, don’t
GettING there bus: #85, #86, #87, #91, ct2.
44 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.COm/EvENTS THEPHOENIX.COm
skip the vittles, starring cheeses from Fiore Di Nonno and Capone’s Foods in Somerville, and pastries from Mariposa Bakery and Iggy’s Bakery in Cambridge. 11 Bow St :: 617.623.0000 :: bloc11.com
4
Somerville Grooves wants you to know: The Peanut Butter Conspiracy Is Spreading. While crate diggers can be a secretive and furtive lot, this charming ’ville record store is all too happy to flaunt the gems they’ve unearthed (including the aforementioned peanutbutter psych album,
recently posted to their FB page). 26 Union Sq :: 617.666.1749 :: facebook.com/ SomervilleGrooves
5
Repeat after us: “yuca gnocchi.” Latin-tapas powerhouse Casa B works all kinds of magic with the starchy tuber, whether it’s served as frites, stuffing shrimp, or swaddling chorizo. Pull up a stool at the downstairs countertop, and gawp at the kitchen crew putting the finishing touches on your salted cod fritters.
253 Washington St :: 617.764.2180 :: casabrestaurant. com
#FF @allabout02143 @precinctbar @tazachocolate @theindo @unionsquarefm
All-time best experience at Hub Comics? eavesdropping on another customer talking to one of the staffers about how every man alive at one point was in love with Princess Leia in her gold bikini. the staffer explained that, actually, some men at the time were more interested in han Solo. that was sort of perfect. If you had to choose between the ability to fly and the ability to become invisible . . . ? I’d probably pick being invisible. . . . No, no, I’d have to say flying. Being invisible would make my commute easier because people would talk to me less, but flying would circumvent that issue altogether. Who would be the best superhero to protect Union Square? Which superhero would be best equipped to prevent bike theft? I would pick that one. Batman, in some ways, is the worst superhero for Union Square because he’s this big rich guy, and Union Square is always fighting about gentrification. At the same time, he also seems to have plenty of free time on his hands to stop random street thugs. Maybe he would at least donate bicycles to people who had theirs stolen. _BARRy ThO mpSON
Want to be interviewed about your Foursquare mayorship? Give us a shout: tweet @bostonphoenix or email listings@phx.com. And for tips, friend us: foursquare.com/bostonphoenix.
word oN the tweet “oh the Weather is filled With dampness/ and We fear the lash of the Krampus” via @hubcomics
DON’Texactly MISS... 94
1
years ago this month, a 50-foot-tall tank of molasses ruptured in the North end. Lest we forget, indiepoppers hot Molasses plan to drench us in sugar-fortified, high-energy jams for the 5th Annual Boston Molasses disaster Benefit (this year’s proceeds go to Opportunity Africa). they’re joined by Double Stops, Whistlejacket, truck, and Soft Gut.
January 12 @ 8 pm :: Radio Bar, 379 Somerville Ave :: $10 ::radiobarunion. com
2
Okay, this is in Sullivan Square, but the brilliance behind it is pure Union Square: the laffmeisters of the Union Square Round table are invading a holiday Inn with a poolside screening with the cast of The Chris Gethard Show. Per the USRt, “the audience is invited to watch the show while getting wet and drunk in the pool.” Fuck. Yes.
January 19 @ 8 pm :: Holiday Inn, 30 Washington St :: $10 advance, $13 day of :: usrtchrisgethard. eventbrite.com
3
have some madeira, m’dear! you really have nothing to fear. We’re not trying to tempt you, that wouldn’t be right — but really, what else are you doing tonight? journeyman presents A Little Jaunt to the Isle of Madeira.
January 28 @ 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 pm (approx. times) :: Journeyman, 9 Sanborn Ct :: $80/ person :: journeymanrestaurant. com
PhOtOS By BROOk GRIFFIN (MAChU PICChU) AND DeRek kOUyOUMjIAN (Meet the MAyOR)
arts & nightlife :: get out
Arts & Nightlife :: get out
book eVentS FrIDAY 4
“DIRE LITERARY SERIES: YUYUTSU SHARMA, DAVID AUSTELL, & JAMES ARTHUR”› Various readings › 8 pm › Out of the Blue Gallery, 106 Prospect St, Cambridge › $5 › 617.354.5287 or outoftheblueartgallery. com SOLSTICE MFA READING SERIES: VENISE BERRY, IAIN HALEY POLLOCK, & LAURA WILLIAMS MCCAFFREY › Various excerpts from Pockets of Sanity, Spit Back a Boy, Alia Waking, and Water Shaper. › 7:30 pm › Pine Manor College, 400 Heath St, Chestnut Hill › Free › 617.731.7145 or pmc.edu
SAtUrDAY 5
SOLSTICE MFA READING SERIES: MEG KEARNEY, KASHMIRA SHETH, & ANDREW X. PHAM › Various readings › 7:30 pm › Pine Manor College, 400 Heath St, Chestnut Hill › Free › 617.731.7145 or pmc.edu ADRIAN VAN YOUNG AND BEN BERMAN › The Man Who Noticed Everything and Strange Borderlands readings › 7 pm › Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline › Free › 617.566.6660 or brooklinebooksmith.com
SUnDAY 6
SOLSTICE MFA READING SERIES: ANNE-MARIE OOMEN, PABLO MEDINA, & TERRANCE HAYES › Various readings › 7:30 pm › Pine Manor College, 400 Heath St, Chestnut Hill › Free › 617.731.7145 or pmc.edu
MonDAY 7
SOLSTICE MFA READING SERIES: KASSIE RUBICO, TANYA WHITON, & RANDALL KENAN › Various readings › 7:30 pm › Pine Manor College, 400 Heath St, Chestnut Hill › Free › 617.731.7145 or pmc.edu
tUeSDAY 8
DAMIEN ECHOLS › Life After Death reading › 7 pm › Porter Square Books, Porter Square Shopping Center, 25 White St, Cambridge › Free › 617.491.2220 or portersquarebooks.com MICHAEL AND DANIEL PALMER › Political Suicide reading › 7 pm › Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline › Free › 617.566.6660 or brooklinebooksmith.com “THE STORY SPACE: YANA SHERMAN”› 7 pm › Out of the Blue Gallery, 106 Prospect St, Cambridge › Free › 617.354.5287 or outoftheblueartgallery.com
WeDneSDAY 9
SOLSTICE MFA READING SERIES: KATHLEEN AGUERO, GIBSON FAYLEBLANC, & GRACE LIN › Various readings › 7:45 pm › Pine Manor College, 400 Heath St, Chestnut Hill › Free › 617.731.7145 or pmc.edu
tHUrSDAY 10
ANITA SILVEY › Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac reading › 7 pm › Porter Square Books, Porter Square Shopping Center, 25 White St, Cambridge › Free › 617.491.2220 or portersquarebooks.com SOLSTICE MFA READING SERIES: AMY HOFFMAN, DAVID YOO, & JULIA GLASS › Various readings › 7:30 pm › Pine Manor College, 400 Heath St, Chestnut Hill › Free › 617.731.7145 or pmc.edu
CLASSICAL ConCertS tHUrSDAY 3
PETER SULSKI AND MICHELLE GRAVELINE › Corelli’s Sonata in D, Op. 5, No. 1; Bach’s Sonata in G, BWV 1019 › 12:15 pm › First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough St, Boston › Donations welcome › 617.267.6730 or firstchurchbostonmusic.org
SUnDAY 6
FUSION STRING ENSEMBLE › Works for violin, cello, and violas by Schubert, Haydn, The Beatles, and more › 2 pm › Newton Free Library, 330 Homer St, Newton › Free › 617.796.1360 or newtonfreelibrary.net
tUeSDAY 8
CARIOLINE CHIRICHELLA › Works for soprano by Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, and Donizetti › 12:15 pm › King’s Chapel, 58 Tremont St, Boston › $3 › 617.227.2155 or kings-chapel.org
tHUrSDAY 10
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY ALAN GILBERT › Dutilleux’s Métaboles for orchestra; Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35; Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements; Ravel’s La Valse › 8 pm › Symphony Hall, 301 Mass Ave, Boston › $30-$114 › 888.266.1200 or bso.org MUSIC’S QUILL › Works for tenor and lute by Jones, Pilkington, Dowland, and Corkine › 12:15 pm › First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough St, Boston › Donations welcome › 617.267.6730 or firstchurchbostonmusic.org
to-Do
tHUrSDAY 3
MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONVENTION › Meetings, exhibit hall, job interviews, and more for all MLA members and others involved in the study or teaching of language and literature › Hynes Convention Center, 900 Boylston St, Boston › $270; $80 students › 617.954.2000 or mla.org TAKE FOR $10 CLASSES › Knitting, drawing, cooking, writing, creative suite classes, and more › Thurs-Fri 6 pm › Boston Center for Adult Education, 122 Arlington St, Boston › $10 › 617.267.4430 or bcae.org
FrIDAY 4
AMSOIL ARENACROSS › World’s most intimate form of motorcycle racing, with professionals riding the 4th and 5th and amateurs on the 6th › Fri-Sat 6:30 pm; Sun noon › DCU Center, 50 Foster St, Worcester › $17-$22; $15-$20 advance › 800.745.3000 or ticketmaster.com MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONVENTION › See listing for Thurs TAKE FOR $10 CLASSES › See listing for Thurs
SAtUrDAY 5
MOUNTAIN DEW VERTICAL CHALLENGE › All day event for both boarders and skiers with events in multiple categories, giveaways, and an apres-ski awards party › Cranmore Mountain, 1 Skimobile Rd,
PO Box 1640, North Conway, NH › 800.SUN. NSKI or cranmore.com NEW YEAR’S WALK › Meet at the golf clubhouse, walk off holiday pounds and enjoy the winter landscape › 10 am › Franklin Park, 1 Franklin Park Rd, Boston › Free › 617.541.5466 or franklinparkcoalition.org AMSOIL ARENACROSS › See listing for Fri MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONVENTION › See listing for Thurs
SUnDAY 6
GROM-A-THON › [Every Sunday through February 24] A jam at high noon in the Bob Skinner’s Six O’ Three terrain park on a small to medium feature for young skiers and riders. Emphasis is on fun.$5 entry fee includes a goodie bag. Register at the park shack. › Mount Sunapee, 1398 Rte. 103, Newbury, NH › $5 › 603.763.3500 or mtsunapee.com/ mtsunapeewinter/index.asp USASA SNOWBOARD EVENT › The USCSA is making it’s first of two stops at Mt Abram; best snowboarders in New England compete for standings, event will be held in USASA signature race arena called Boris! › Mount Abram, 308 Howe Hill Rd, Greenwood, ME › 207.875.5000 or mtabram.com AMSOIL ARENACROSS › See listing for Fri MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONVENTION › See listing for Thurs
tUeSDAY 8
COLLEGE NIGHT AT THE FROG POND › Discounted ice skating for students › 6 pm › Boston Common, Charles St, Boston › $2 › 617.635.2120 or › bostonfrogpond.com
kArAoke
AN TUA NUA › “Karaoke Night” › Wednesdays at 9:30 pm › 835 Beacon St, Boston › 617.262.2121 FIRE + ICE › “Karaoke Night”“ › 9 pm › 205 Berkeley St, Boston › 617.482.FIRE HENNESSY’S ›”Live Band Karaoke” › Wednesdays at 9 pm › 25 Union St, Boston › 617.742.2121 or › somerspubs.com/ hennessys_history HONG KONG @ FANEUIL HALL › “Karaoke” › Thurs-Fri 6 pm; Sat-Sun 5 pm; Mon-Wed 9 pm › 65 Chatham St, Boston › 617.227.2226 or › hongkongboston.com JACQUE’S CABARET › “Mizery Loves Karaoke” › Karaoke hosted by Mizery › Tuesdays at 10:30 pm › 79 Broadway, Boston › No cover › 617.426.8902 or › jacquescabaret.com KINSALE › “Karaoke Night” › Thursdays at 8:30 pm › 2 Center Plaza, Boston › 617.742.5577 or › classicirish.com/kinsale_ about.html LANSDOWNE PUB › “Live Band Karaoke” › Thursdays at 9 pm › 9 Lansdowne St, Boston › 617.266.1222 or › lansdownepubboston.com SISSY K’S › “Karaoke Night” › Thurs + Sun-Wed 8 pm › 6 Commercial St, Boston › 617.248.6511 WAVE SPORTS PUB “Karaoke & Music Videos with DJ Todd › Thurs-Sat 9 pm › 411 Waverly Oaks Rd, Waltham › 781.894.7014 MIDWAY CAFé “Queeraoke” › 9:30 pm › 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com ROSEBUD DINER “Karaoke at the Rosebud › Sun + Tues 8 pm › 381 Summer St, Somerville › 617.666.6015 or rosebuddiner.com
trIVIA
tHUrSDAY 3
COMMON GROUND › 85 Harvard Ave, Allston › 8 pm › “Thinktank Trivia” SPIRIT BAR › 2046 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 8 pm › “Geeks Who Drink”
SUnDAY 6
COSTELLO’S TAVERN › 723 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain › “Geeks Who Drink” THIRSTY SCHOLAR PUB › 70 Beacon St, Somerville › 8 pm › “Sunday Night Trivia”
MonDAY 7
COMMON GROUND › 85 Harvard Ave, Allston › 8 pm › “Stump Trivia” MILKY WAY › at the Brewery, 284 Armory St, Jamaica Plain › 8 pm › “Stump!” TOMMY DOYLE’S AT HARVARD › 96 Winthrop St, Cambridge › 8 pm › “Geeks Who Drink”
tUeSDAY 8
GREATEST BAR › 262 Friend St, Boston › 8 pm › “Friendly Feud” JOE SENT ME › 2388 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge › 7:30 pm › “Stump!”
WeDneSDAY 9
BRIGHTON BEER GARDEN › 386 Market St, Brighton › 8 pm › “Stump!” JEANIE JOHNSTON PUB › 144 South St, Jamaica Plain › 8:30 pm › “Stump!” JOE SENT ME › 2388 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge › 7:30 pm › “Geeks Who Drink” KINSALE › 2 Center Plaza, Boston › 7 pm › “Stump!” ROSEBUD DINER › 381 Summer St, Somerville › 9:30 pm › “Trivi-Oke: Trivia & Karaoke Night” SPIRIT BAR › 2046 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 8 pm › “Stump!” TOMMY DOYLE’S AT HARVARD › 96 Winthrop St, Cambridge › 8 pm › “Stump!” TOMMY DOYLE’S KENDALL › 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge › 6:30 pm › “Geeks Who Drink” THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs :: 01.04.13 45
Arts & Nightlife :: get out
openings
ART INSTITUTE OF BOSTON › 617.585.6600 › 700 Beacon St, Boston › aiboston.edu › Tues-Wed + Fri noon-5 pm; Thurs 3-8 pm; Sat noon-5 pm › Jan 4-12: “AIB MFA Biennial Exhibition” › Reception Jan 4: 6-9 pm › Jan 7-12: “MFA in Visual Arts Graduate Exhibition” AXELLE FINE ARTS › 617.450.0700 › 91 Newbury St, Boston › axelle.com › Daily 10 am-6 pm › Jan 6-31: Eric Roux-Fontaine: “Neverlandscape” CAC GALLERY › 617.349.4380 › 344 Broadway, Cambridge › cambridgema.gov/ cac › Mon 8:30 am-8 pm; Tues-Thurs 8:30 am-5 pm; Fri 8:30 am-noon › Jan 7-June 21: “Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here” CHASE YOUNG GALLERY › 617.859.7222 › 450 Harrison Ave, Boston › chaseyounggallery.com › Tues-Sat 11 am-6 pm; Sun 11 am-4 pm › Jan 4-27: Treacy Ziegler: “Possibility of Being” › Reception Jan 4: 6-8 pm GALLERY AT THE PIANO FACTORY › 617.437.9365 › 791 Tremont St, Boston › galleryatthepianofactory.org › Fri 6-8 pm; Sat-Sun noon-5 pm › Jan 4-27: Darin Cohen: “Lightfast” › Reception Jan 4 KINGSTON GALLERY › 617.423.4113 › 450 Harrison Ave, #43, Boston › kingstongallery.com › Wed-Sun noon- 5 pm › Jan 4-27: Forms of Identity: Work by MassArt Fibers Seniors” › Reception Jan 4: 5:30-8 pm
galleries
Admission to the following galleries is free, unless otherwise noted. In addition to the hours listed here, many galleries are open by appointment. ALBRIGHT ART › 978.369.7300 › 32 Main St, Concord › albrightartgallery.com › Sun-Tues 10 am-6 pm; Wed-Sat 10 am-8 pm › Through Jan 6: “Give Art” ARSENAL CENTER FOR THE ARTS › 617.923.0100 › 321 Arsenal St, Watertown › arsenalarts.org › Tues-Sun noon-6 pm › Through Jan 4: “Artists Talk About Art” › Through Jan 10: “Small Works 2012” BOSTON ATHENÆUM › 617.227.0270 › 10-1/2 Beacon St, Boston › bostonathenaeum.org › Mon 9 am-8 pm; Tues-Fri 9 am-5:30 pm; Sat 9 am-4 pm › Through Jan 12: “Chromo-Mania! The Art of Chromolithograhy in Boston, 18401910” BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY › 617.482.7781 › 486 Harrison Ave, Boston › bostonsculptors.com › Wed-Sun noon–6 pm › Through Jan 27: “Height, Width, Depth, Time: Boston Sculptors Celebrates
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Laurent Grasso’s Eclipse is on view at MIT’s List Visual Arts Center as part of the group show “In the Holocene” through Sunday. 20 Years” BRICKBOTTOM GALLERY › 617.776.3410 › 1 Fitchburg St, Somerville › brickbottomartists.com › Thurs-Sat noon–5 pm › Through Jan 12: “Spectrum! A Selection of Artists from Joy Street Studios” CAMBRIDGE ART ASSOCIATION › 617.876.0246 › 25 Lowell St, Cambridge › cambridgeart.org › Lowell St: Tues-Sat 11 am-5 pm; Mount Auburn St: Mon-Fri 9 am-6 pm, Sat 9 am-1 pm › Through Jan 10: “Blue” CARPENTER CENTER FOR THE VISUAL ARTS AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY › 617.495.3251 › 24 Quincy
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St, Cambridge › ves.fas.harvard.edu › Mon-Fri 10 am-5 pm; Sat-Sun 1 pm-5 pm › Through May 29: Hans Tutschku: “Unreal Memories” GALATEA FINE ART › 617.542.1500 › 460B Harrison Ave, Boston › galateaart. org › Wed-Fri noon-6 pm; Sat-Sun noon-5 pm › Through Jan 27: Caryl Gordon: “Mass Masonry” › Through Jan 27: C.J. Lori: “The Narrative Landscape” › Through Jan 27: Joan Mullen: “Spring Convergence” GRIFFIN MUSEUM BY DIGITAL SILVER IMAGING › 617.489.0035 › 4 Clarendon St, Boston › griffinmuseum.org › Tues-Wed + Fri 11 am- 6 pm; Thurs 11 am-7 pm; Sat noon- 5 pm › Through Jan 13:
Fr e e the ze Fa t !
Robert Moran: “Relics” JP ART MARKET › 617.522.1729 › 36 South St, Jamaica Plain › jpartmarket.com › Wed-Thurs 2-7 pm; Fri 12:30-7:30 pm; Sat 11:30 am-8 pm; Sun 11:30 am-6 pm › Through Jan 4: Jon Langford LACONIA GALLERY › 617.670.1568 › 433 Harrison Ave, Boston › laconiagallery. org › Fri-Sun noon–4 pm › Through Jan 13: David Curcio: “I Wouldn’t Worry About It” LINCOLN ARTS PROJECT › › 289 Moody St, Waltham › lincolnartsproject. com › Wed-Fri 4-9 pm; Sat 2-8 pm › Through Jan 12: “The Hundreds Show” MILLS GALLERY AT BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS › 617.426.8835 › 539 Tremont St, Boston › bcaonline.org › Wed + Sun noon-5 pm; Thurs-Sat noon-9 pm › Through Feb 3: “Process Goes Public” MIT LIST VISUAL ARTS CENTER › 617.253.4860 › 20 Ames St, Cambridge › web.mit.edu/lvac › Daily noon-6 pm › Through Jan 6: “In the Holocene” MOBIUS › 617.638.0022 › 55 Norfolk St, Cambridge › mobius.org › Daily 7-9 pm › Through Jan 3: “EnCycloMedia” MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER › 617.577.1400 › 41 Second St, Cambridge › multiculturalartscenter.org › Mon-Fri 10:30 am-6 pm › Through April 5: Lucy Cobos: “Impressions of the Voyageur” › Through April 8: Alexandra Rozenman PHOTOGRAPHIC RESOURCE CENTER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY › 617.975.0600 › 832 Comm Ave, Boston › bu.edu/prc › Tues-Fri 10 am-5 pm; SatSun noon-4 pm › Through Jan 19: Daniel Feldman, Stefanie Klavens, and Lynn Saville: “The Space in Between”
museums
ADDISON GALLERY OF AMERICAN ART AT PHILLIPS ACADEMY › 978.749.4015 › 180 Main St, Andover › andover.edu/addison › Tues-Sat 10 am-5 pm; Sun 1-5 pm › Through Jan 13: “Pekupatikut Innuat Akunikana / Pictures Woke the People Up: An Innu Project with Wendy Ewald and Eric Gottesman” › Through Jan 13: “People, Places, Things: Symbols of American Culture” ARMENIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF AMERICA › 617.926.2562 › 65 Main Street, Watertown › almainc.org › Thur-Fri noon-8 pm; Sat-Sun noon-6 pm › Through Jan 31: “The Art of Ranzar” CHARLES RIVER MUSEUM OF INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION › 781.893.5410 › 154 Moody St, Waltham › crmi.org › Thurs-Sun 10 am-5 pm › Admission $7; $5 students, seniors › Through Jan 15: Wayne Strattman: “Self Illumination” DECORDOVA SCULPTURE PARK AND MUSEUM › 781.259.8355 › 51 Sandy Pond Rd, Lincoln › decordova.org › TuesSun 10 am-5 pm › Admission $14; $12 seniors; $10 students and youth ages 13 and up; free to children under 12 › Through April 21: “Second Nature: Abstract Photography Then and Now” › Through Oct 1: “PLATFORM 10: Dan Peterman” FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM › 508.588.6000 › 455 Oak St, Brockton › fullermuseum.org › Tues-Sun 10 am-5 pm; Wed 10 am-9 pm › Admission $8; $5 students, seniors; free for members and children under 12, and for all Wed 5-9 pm › Through Jan 20: Cyndy Barbone, Deborah Frazee Carlson, Fuyuko Matsubara, and Bhakti Ziek: “Grand Tales of the Loom: Four Master Weavers” › Through Feb 10: “2012 Biennial Members Exhibition” › Through March 17: Chris Gustin: “Masterworks in Clay” HARVARD ART MUSEUMS › 617.495.9400 › 485 Broadway, Cambridge › harvardartmuseums.org › Tues-Sat 10 am-5 pm › Admission $9; $7 seniors; $6 students › Through June 1: “Re-View” INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART › 617.478.3100 › 100 Northern Ave, Boston › icaboston.org › Tues-Wed + SatSun 10 am–5 pm; Thurs-Fri 10 am–9 pm › Admission $15; $10 students, seniors; free for ages under 17; free after 5 pm on Thurs › Through March 3: “This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s” ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM › 617.566.1401 › 280 the Fenway, Boston › gardnermuseum.org › Wed-Mon 11 am-5 pm › Admission $15; $12 seniors; $5 students with ID; free for ages under 18 › Through Jan 7: “The Great Bare Mat & Constellation” MASSACHUSETTS MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART › 413.662.2111 › 87 Marshall St, North Adams › massmoca. org › Wed-Mon 11 am–5 pm › Admission $15; $11 students; $5 ages 6-16; free for ages 5 and under › Through Feb 4: “Invisible Cities” › Through April 1: “Oh, Canada” › Through May 28: “Curiosity” MIT MUSEUM › 617.253.4444 › 265 Mass Ave, Cambridge › web.mit.edu/ museum › Tues-Fri 10 am-5 pm; Sat-Sun noon-5 pm › Through March 17: “Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya” › Through Sept 28: “The Jeweled Net: Views of Contemporary Holography” MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS › 617.267.9300 › 465 Huntington Ave, Boston › mfa.org › Mon-Tues + Sat-Sun 10 am-4:45 pm; Wed-Fri 10 am-9:45 pm › Admission $22; $20 students, seniors; free for ages
7-17 and under during non-school hours [otherwise $10]; free for ages 6 and under › Through Jan 6: Ori Gersht: “History Repeating” › Through Feb 3: Mario Testino: “In Your Face” › Through Feb 18: “Artful Healing” › Through Feb 18: “Cats to Crickets: Pets in Japan’s Floating World” › Through March 31: Daniel Rich: “Platforms of Power” › Through April 14: “The Postcard Age: Selections from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection” › Through June 16: “Kings, Queens, and Courtiers: Royalty on Paper” › Through June 16: Mario Testino: “British Royal Portraits” › Through June 23: “Divine Depictions: Korean Buddhist Paintings” › Through July 7: “Art of the White Mountains” › Through Sept 8: “Chinese Lacquer 1200–1800” › Through June 1: “Jewels, Gems, and Treasures: Ancient to Modern” MUSEUM OF SCIENCE › 617.723.2500 › 1 Science Pk, Boston › mos.org › SatThurs 9 am-5 pm; Fri 9 am-9 pm › Admission $22; $20 seniors; $19 children 3-11 › Through Jan 13: “Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age” › Through March 3: “Shipwreck! Pirates & Treasure” NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM › 413.298.4100 › 9 Rte 183, Stockbridge › nrm.org › Daily 10 am–5 pm, May through Oct. Nov through April, 10 am-4 pm and weekends 10 am-5 pm › Admission $16; $14.50 seniors; $10 students with ID; $5 for kids and teens 6 to 18; free for ages 5 and under › Through Jan 21: Norman Rockwell: “Home for the Holidays” › Through Feb 3: “All in the Rockwell Family: The Art of Mary-Amy Cross” › Through Feb 24: “Heroes and Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross” PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM › 978.745.9500 › 161 Essex St, Salem › pem. org › Tues-Sun and Mon holidays 10 am-5 pm › Admission $15; $13 seniors; $11 students; free for ages 16 and under › Through Jan 31: “Auspicious Wishes and Natural Beauty in Korean Art” › Through Jan 31: “Fish, Silk, Tea, Bamboo: Cultivating an Image of China” › Through Jan 31: “Of Gods and Mortals, Traditional Art from India” › Through Jan 31: “Perfect Imbalance, Exploring Chinese Aesthetics” › Through Feb 3: “FreePort [No. 004]: Peter Hutton” › Through Feb 3: “Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones” › Through May 27: “FreePort [No. 005]: Michael Lin” › Through May 27: “Natural Histories: Photographs by Barbara Bosworth” RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN MUSEUM OF ART › 401.454.6500 › 224 Benefit St, Providence, RI › risdmuseum.org › Tues-Sun 10 am-5 pm; third Thurs per month until 9 pm › Admission $10; $7 seniors; $3 college students and youth ages 5-18; free every Sun 10 am–1 pm, the third Thurs of each month 5-9 pm, and the last Sat of the month › Through Jan 13: “America In View: Landscape Photography 1865 to Now” › Through Feb 24: “Everyday Things: Contemporary Works from the Collection” › Through May 19: “Grisogorious Places: Edward Lear’s Travels” › Through June 9: “RISD Business: Sassy Signs and Sculptures by Alejandro Diaz” › Through June 30: Angela Bulloch, Anthony McCall, and Haroon Mirza: “Double-and-Add” WORCESTER ART MUSEUM › 508.799.4406 › 55 Salisbury St, Worcester › worcesterart.org › Wed-Fri + Sun 11 am-5 pm; Sat 10 am-5 pm; Third Thursday 11 am-8 pm › Admission $14, $12 for seniors and students. Free for youth 17 and under and for all on first Sat of the month, 10 amnoon › Through Feb 3: “Kennedy to Kent State: Images of a Generation”
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Visit cranmore.com/groups or call 603-356-5544 ext 322 or email groups@cranmore.com. THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs :: 01.04.13 47
Arts & Nightlife :: theAter John Kuntz with Michael Patrick Kane
play by play
Compiled by maddy myers
OpENING
Love’s Labors: asP visits Two GenTlemen i have never seen a production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, and now I know why. The Bard’s early romantic comedy, which Actors’ Shakespeare Project is gracing with a very lively revival, takes the problem that makes All’s Well That Ends Well a “problem play” and doubles it! Neither of the titular nobles is worthy of the woman who loves him. One is an out-and-out weasel, the other loyal but dim. And the play’s finale (involving bandits, attempted rape, and turn-on-adime repentance) doles out more whiplash than a car crash. On the other hand, the play is by Shakespeare, and offers, in addition to the seeds of better-known comedies, lyrical flights of language, manic wordplay, a rousing serenade, clowns who are actually funny, and a canine stoic who gives his emotional master fits. Moreover, where said dog is concerned: if W.C. Fields were around today, he might warn animals and children not to share a stage with John Kuntz. Robert Walsh’s eclectic modern-dress production knits the play together with music, including several slinky roundelays built on the exchange of love letters and an amusingly Elvis-like take on “Who is Silvia?” — a ditty later set by Franz Schubert. In this the director is abetted by onstage guitarist Max Kennedy as well as by composer/ actor/musician Bill Barclay, who fills in on harmonica, accordion, and vocals when not bringing a clever, callow charm to Proteus. That’s the gent who pledges undying love to his Verona squeeze, Julia, before joining friend Valentine at the court of the Duke of Milan (here a duchess, played with cougar flair by Marya Lowry), where he tries to steal Valentine’s girl, Silvia. Happily, the two swains from Verona employ servants, the quickerthan-his-master Speed, played with brawny panache by Thomas Derrah, and the simpler Launce, whose cross to bear is his unfeeling dog, Crab, played with alternating impassivity and volubility by a bulldog named Bruno. To give you but one indication of the freewheeling nature of the production, Kuntz’s zany bumpkin of a Launce, on each entrance, favors the same lucky spectator with the neatly bagged results of Crab’s latest walking. The clowns’ routines aren’t always hilarious, but it’s fun to watch Derrah and Kuntz spar onstage — even in a Three Stooges routine where the third stooge is a suitcase. _C A R O LYN C L AY
>>
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA :: Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St, Somerville :: Through January 6 :: $28-$50 :: 866.811.4111 or actorsshakespeareproject.org
48 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOM/ARTS
bosToN oNe-miNUTe play FesTiVal › The Boston Playwrights’ Theatre hosts Boston’s second-annual one-minute play festival featuring more than 70 brand-new one-minute plays written specifically for this event. Ben Evett, Bridget O’Leary, Vicki Schairer, Jeffrey Mosser, Shana Gozansky, Corianna Moffatt, and Giselle Ty direct. › January 5–7 › Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Comm Ave, Boston › $20 › 866.811.4111 or bu.edu/bpt bUrbaGe, or THe maN WHo made sHaKespeare FamoUs › Boston Playwrights’ Theatre hosts the Bay Colony Shakespeare Company’s debut production: a new play by Nicholas Minella. Neil McGarry stars in this oneman show, directed by Christopher Webb. › January 10–27 › Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Comm Ave, Boston › $12; $10 seniors; $8 students › 866.811.4111 or bu.edu/bpt CoNVersaTioNs WiTH my molesTer: a JoUrNey oF FaiTH › Daniel Gidron directs Michael Mack’s one-man show about his childhood sexual trauma at the hands of a clergyman and the life-long personal journey that culminates in him facing his abuser as an adult. › January 11, 20, 25 + February 2 › Paulist Center, 5 Park St, Boston › $15 › 617.742.4460 or michaelmacklive.com Crime aNd pUNisHmeNT › Curt Columbus and Marilyn Campbell’s three-actor theatrical adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s crime novel stars Dan Butler, Rachel Christopher, and Stephen Thorne. Brian Mertes helms this Trinity Rep staging. › January 17–February 24 › Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington St, Providence, RI › $28-$68 › 401.351.4242 or tickets.trinityrep.com Holiday › Wellesley College Theatre stages Philip Barry’s Depression-era play about marriage across economic strata, upward mobility, and classism. Nora Hussey directs the staging, which features the talents of Danny Bolton, John Davin, David Costa, Lisa Foley, Will Keary, Charlotte Peed, Lewis Wheeler, and Sarah Barton. › January 10–February 3 › Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre at Wellesley College, 106 Central St, Wellesley › $20; $10 students, seniors › 781.283.2000 or wellesleysummertheatre.com iNVisible maN › Christopher McElroen helms Oren Jacoby’s theatrical adaptation of Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel about an idealistic young AfricanAmerican man who begins to realize and push back against his social invisibility. Teagle F. Bougere stars in the Huntington Theatre co-production. › Through February 3 › Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston › $15-$95 › 617.266.0800 or huntingtontheatre.org THe leGeNd oF sleepy HolloW › Matthew Woods directs the Imaginary Beasts ensemble in their Winter Panto, a re-imagined farcical version of the 1820 ghost story by Washington Irving. The Beasts encourage audience members to cheer on the hero and hiss at the headless horseman in their family-friendly retelling of the tale. › January 11–February 2 › Black Box Theatre at Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St, Boston › $20; $10 students, seniors › 617.933.8600 or imaginarybeasts.org
marry me a liTTle › New Repertory Theatre’s Craig Lucas and Norman Rene stage their cabaret revue of Stephen Sondheim songs in this modern take on love and marriage, which features songs from Follies, A Little Night Music, Company, and other Sondheim favorites. › January 6–27 › Charles Mosesian Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St, Watertown › $28-$58 › 617.923.8487 or newrep.org THe meeTiNG › Jeff Robinson stars as Martin Luther King Jr. and Wesley Lawrence Taylor plays Malcolm X in Jeff Stetson’s play about an imagined meeting between two very different influential leaders of the civil-rights movement. The Grimes Theatre Group staging also features Michael Nurse as Rashad. › January 18 › Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St, Cambridge › $15-$20 › 617.577.1400 or multiculturalartscenter.org THe memoraNdUm › Victoria Rose Townsend directs Václav Havel’s 1989 play about bureaucracy and language. This Flat Earth Theatre staging uses the Vera Blackwell translation of the Czech play. Jim Remmes stars as Josef Gross, a director of an unnamed organization who receives a mysterious message about an audit, written in a new language that he must learn. › January 11–19 › Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St, Watertown › $20-$25; $10 students › 617.923.0100 or flatearththeatre.com THe moUNTaiNTop › Underground Railway Theater stages Katori Hall’s semi-biographical piece about Martin Luther King Jr. The play takes place in King’s hotel room shortly after he has delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech; a maid brings him a cup of coffee and the two begin a conversation that ventures into the political and the personal. Megan Sandberg-Zakian directs. › January 10–February 2 › Central Square Theater, 450 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $15-$45 › 617.576.9278 or centralsquaretheater.org oTHer deserT CiTies › Nancy E. Carroll, Anne Gottlieb, Munson Hicks, Karen MacDonald, and Christopher M. Smith star in Jon Robin Baitz’s family drama about a once-promising novelist returning home for Christmas after a six-year absence. The atmosphere of the reunion goes sour once her family learns she plans to reveal the family’s history in her upcoming book. Scott Edmiston directs this SpeakEasy Stage production. › January 11–February 9 › Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St, Boston › $25-$52 › 617.933.8600 or speakeasystage.com sHaKespeare’s Will › Seana McKenna stars as Shakespeare’s wife in this one-woman show by Vern Thiessen, under Miles Potter’s direction. › January 10–February 3 › Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 50 East Merrimack St, Lowell › $20 › 978.454.3926 or merrimackrep.org 33 VariaTioNs › Spiro Veloudos stages a new play by Moises Kaufman that juxtaposes two time periods. In this Lyric Stage production, James Andreassi co-stars, as Beethoven, with Paula Plum, as a modern-day musicologist struggling to understand the composer’s motivations. › January 4–February 2 › Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon St, Boston › $27-$58 › 617.585.5678 or lyricstage.com ViNeGar Tom › Mac Young directs Caryl Churchill’s 1976 play about a
witch hunter who comes to a small town and gives its residents a focus for their frustrations. This Whistler in the Dark staging incorporates new music composed by Veronica Barron, Tony Leva, Molly Allis, and Juliet Olivier. › January 11–February 2 › Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St, Boston › $15-$30 › 617.933.8600 or whistlerinthedark.com yoU For me For yoU › M. Bevin O’Gara directs the New England premiere of Mia Chung’s play about two sisters. One journeys from North Korea to America, while the other, ailing, is trapped back at home. Jordan Clark and Giselle Ty star. › January 18–February 16 › Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St, Boston › $20$38; $10-$15 students › 617.933.8600 or companyone.org
NOW playING
bye bye liVer: THe bosToN driNKiNG play › Hennessy’s hosts the Boston chapter of Bye Bye Liver, a show about drinking culture, from wine snobs to wildly fun (and occasionally terrifying) booze parties. The performance also incorporates audience interaction with social games like “Would You Rather” and “Never Have I Ever.” › Indefinitely › Hennessy’s, 25 Union St, Boston › $20 › 866.811.4111 or ByeByeLiver.com HaNsel aNd GreTel › Allegra Libonati directs a cast of graduate acting students from the ART Institute for Advanced Theater Training in this theatrical adaptation of the classic children’s story by the Brothers Grimm. › Through January 6 › Loeb Drama Center,
64 Brattle Street, Cambridge › $15 › 617.547.8300 or amrep.org oUr ToWN › David Cromer won a 2009 Obie for his direction of the Off Broadway production of this Thornton Wilder play. He also played — and plays here, in this Huntington Theatre Company production — the Stage Manager. For its Boston outing, Cromer’s breezy modern-dress staging, which updates Wilder’s metatheatrics without altering his text, is crammed into the Roberts Studio with the audience snugly wrapped around three quarters of the playing space. The denizens of Grover’s Corners are presented in operating-room-like surrounds. Wilder portrays life as a gift and a chore, and Cromer’s no-nonsense staging captures both halves of that equation. But don’t get depressed! Parts of the production — especially the terrified courtship and merger of heroic youngsters George Gibbs and Emily Webb, sincerely rendered by Cromer recidivist Derrick Trumbly and a placidly luminous Therese Plaehn — are irrepressibly touching. › Through January 26 › Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St, Boston › $15-$105 › 617.266.0800 or huntingtontheatre.org pippiN › Diane Paulus helms the ART’s staging of Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson’s musical about a young prince who believes he’s destined for greatness but can’t decide what sort of great feats will suit him best. Gypsy Snider of Les 7 doigts de la main choreographs the staging, which stars Matthew James Thomas and Patina Miller. › Through January 20 › Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge › $25-$85 › 617.547.8300 or amrep.org
“Every sport has its Mecca; the stadiums, race tracks or ball parks against which everything else is judged... Skiing has them too... There’s an agelessness to the place. Mad River Glen is an institution...”
The Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Our Town continues at the Calderwood Pavilion through January 26.
Photo credit: Michael Riddell
Powder Magazine
www.madriverglen.com THEPHOENIX.cOM/EVENTS :: 01.04.13 49
Arts & Nightlife :: film
Dark passage Zero Dark ThirTy begins in terror and ends good guys were losing. “Bring me people to kill!” in despair. The first image is a black screen with demands George (Mark Strong), Maya’s boss. the date “September 11, 2001,” and a background She doesn’t need the motivation. Like Sgt. sound of panicked, doomed voices on cell phones. James in The Hurt Locker, she’s dedicated to The last shot is of one person in tears. In between, a deadly purpose. As leads come and go, as director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark the bureaucracy runs hot and cold about her Boal depict the failures and successes, the shame mission, and as her friends get killed, she grows and triumph of 10 years in the War monomaniacal. We’re drawn into her ++++ on Terror. Densely detailed, superbly obsession, her immersion in the nuts shot and acted, illuminating and and bolts of modern intelligence. In Zero DArK thrilling, it is the best film of 2012. the process, Bigelow implies that thIrtY Every epic needs a hero, and here one gets better results from the oldDirected by Kathryn Maya (Jessica Chastain) uneasily fashioned methods of deception, Bigelow :: Written by fills the role. She enters the film bribery, and legwork than from locking Mark Boal :: With Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, as one of the CIA agents watching a naked man in a box the size of a Kyle Chandler, Reda the interrogation of Ammar (Reda suitcase. Kateb, Jennifer Ehle, Kateb), a detainee. At first she shows Shot with the handheld, precisely and Harold Perrineau :: the revulsion that most would feel edited immediacy that Bigelow 156 minutes :: Columbia Pictures watching a person being tortured demonstrated in The Hurt Locker, this and humiliated. But once she fills a procedural is exhausting and exciting. Boston Common + bucket for the waterboarding, she’s The last third of the movie, the Fenway + suburbs implicated. With more experience, SEAL mission itself, may be the best her revulsion gives way to routine. depiction of modern warfare on the That’s a feeling viewers might not share, though screen. And though we know how it ends, do we perhaps they, too, are implicated. know what it means? The truth is in the details: The “enhanced interrogation” techniques the tear in a detainee’s eye when he’s given a gather meager information. Years pass, marked bottle of juice, the joy on an agent’s face as she by dates followed by terrorist atrocities, which waits for a fateful meeting. The dark passes, but you might remember from disconnected news the light is yet to come. _P e t e r Keough » PKeough@P hx.com stories. It seems there was a war going on, and the 50 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.COM/MOvIEs
enhanceD interrogation NEW YORK — After surviving right-wing Senate investigations into possible access to classified CIA material while it was in production, Zero Dark Thirty, now in the theaters, faces charges from left-wing critics of being in favor of torture, not to mention accusations of inaccuracy from Democratic senators Barbara Feinstein and Carl Levin and Republican senator John McCain. A few weeks ago at a press conference promoting the film, director Kathryn Bigelow commented on some of these issues. “There’s no question that the methodology is controversial,” said Bigelow when asked about the torture scenes. “But there was no debate on whether or not to include it, because it’s part of the history.” Bigelow also pointed out that torture was not the only intelligence-gathering method used, nor the most effective. “I explored the other methodologies,” she said. “Like electronic surveillance. Over the course of the decade, many tactics were utilized in order to track this courier, and then track the courier to the compound, and now of course, the rest is history, so it was really a question of finding the right balance in depicting them.” The right balance also included delving into the souls of those who believed that the ends justified the means, a difficult process of empathy possible only with outstanding actors. “Humanity takes on a lot of different permutations,” Bigelow said. “The beauty of this cast is that everybody was very human and very spontaneous.” _PK kathryn bigelow
ILLuSTRATION BY JARED BOggESS
review
+++ BESTIAIRE › Although there is no narration or manipulative music track, Denis Côté’s long-take documentary look at Parc Safari in Hemmingford, Quebec, screams out (quietly) on the side of animal rights. Filmed mostly in winter, when the paying crowds are away, this film shows a bestial prison of stunned, anxious, and alienated-looking animals, mostly from warm climates, who have nothing to do but pace about their walled-in pens. The buffaloes don’t roam, horned elks stare into space like zombies, a frightened monkey clings tight to a ragged teddy bear. Côté’s point is well made. There is little reason for him to cut away in the middle to a taxidermist at work, showing that stuffed animals look little different from the living-dead ones in an outdoor zoo. › 72m › MFA › _Gerald Peary ++1/2 THE IMPOSSIBLE › In J.A. Bayona’s neo-disaster-film, everything but the carnage is cheap. Appropriating a “true story” about a family torn apart by the 2004 Thailand tsunami — the Spanish clan who inspired it have been Anglicized in the form of Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor — he alternates between intense set pieces and sub-Spielbergian drivel. The tsunami scenes that bookend the picture achieve a visceral splendor; disconcerting sound design and brutal gore effects make them painful to watch. For those few minutes, The Impossible feels like a new type of survivalist movie, one that puts you through the same hell as its characters. But the only thing filling time between those two heart-pounding scenes is faux-inspirational melodrama, with every emotional moment — lives being saved, families being reunited — backed by an ingratiating musical score and crass camera movements. The hokum can wear you down worse than the tsunami. › 120m › Kendall Square _Jake Mulligan + PARENTAL GUIDANCE › Billy Crystal and Bette Midler star in what could have been a decent comedy, if director Andy Fickman hadn’t made it such a tearjerker. Billy and Bette — he a baseball announcer and she a former TV weather girl — don’t see much of their daughter and three grandkids. When called upon to come and care for the brood, their old-school ways collide with a culture in which parental edicts have to be rationalized and kids get a trophy for just showing up. Predictable gags come from coping with new technology and scuttling the household’s no-sweets policy. Crystal gets some good lines (when asked for “soysage” meat substitute, he says, “What’re you, from da Bronx?”) and Midler’s warmth is infectious, but at the mere whiff of a serious emotion, the soundtrack makes with the poignant ivory-tickling and it’s time to learn something about these people. You’ll want to learn less about the kids’ uptight mother (Marisa Tomei), who’s given way too much screen time. › 104m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Chestnut Hill + Arlington Capitol _Betsy Sherman
now playing
++1/2 ANNA KARENINA › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 130m › Kendall Square + Coolidge Corner + West Newton
4 “
®
bEST Picture best actress best director
drAMA
opening this week
+++ ARGO › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › 120m › Boston Common + Somerville Theatre + Embassy + suburbs ++++ BARBARA › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › German › 105m › Coolidge Corner +++1/2 BEING FLYNN › 2012 › If you’re a fan of Nick Flynn’s stunning 2004 memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, you’re probably concerned about whether Being Flynn director Paul Weitz will do justice to Flynn’s exploration of grief, homelessness, and father-son relationships on the streets of ‘80s-era Boston. Adaptations are always difficult to pull off, but this one had the extra baggage of being based on a lyrical book with chapter titles like “The Piss of God,” and a tendency to jump back and forth through time as Flynn unpacks his life story. The film opts for a more linear structure (with some flashbacks), but that doesn’t stop Weitz from editing scenes together thematically, in imitation of Another Night’s style. Weitz’s ear for this is pitch-perfect, particularly when it comes to the main tension of the story: is Flynn destined to turn out like his old man? Near the opening, we see them both — Jonathan (Robert De Niro) in the junkfilled apartment that he’s about to be evicted from, and Nick (Paul Dano) in his soon-tobe-ex’s apartment — each of them writing, day-drinking, and writing some more. In an instant what’s at stake is conveyed: the two men are separated by age and not much more. › 102m › Brattle: Wed ++ THE BIRDS › 1963 › There’s no denying that it’s very scary, like the birds’ attack on a school yard; and some of it, like the birds’ attack on a gas station, is technically astounding. There are parts, like the feathered assassins gathering on the jungle gym, that even show the director’s wit. And Alfred Hitchcock’s version of the Daphne du Maurier tale may, as some of his most ardent adherents claim, be his version of the Day of Judgment. But that doesn’t make the terrible acting, chiefly by Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor, or the atrocious dialogue, or the lapses in logic (if you were Hedren, would you go up in that attic?) any less birdbrained. You won’t feel any friendlier toward your local avian dwellers afterward, either. › 119m › Lower Mills Branch Library: Fri ++ BRAVE › 2012 › An improvement over the wreck of Cars 2, Pixar’s beautifully rendered Brave is merely good. But after the successive triumphs of the past decade, it’s hard to accept anything less than transcendence from the animation studio. Disappointing on a story level, this fable in the feminist Disney Princess mold (unremarkably so) signals problems from the start. An emotionally distancing over-reliance on a voiceover (the antithesis of, say, the nearly wordless masterpiece of montage that set the stage for Up) supplied by flame-tressed Merida (Kelly MacDonald) — the fiercely independent daughter of a Scottish King (Billy Connolly) and Queen (Emma Thompson) — is possibly a product of shake-ups behind-the-scenes (Mark Andrews replaced director Brenda Chapman, who conceived the not-sooriginal tale), while the pieces (a kingdom in chaos, a wood-carving witch, a rampaging “demon bear,” a rote mother-daughter conflict, and a curse — sigh) never coalesce into a satisfying whole. › 100m › BPL: Sun THE BROOD › 1979 › Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed) is a therapist who experiments with “psychoplasmics,” a technology he is developing to help his patients release pent-up emotions. But when people his prized patient (Samantha Eggar) has voiced frustration about begin turning up brutally
G olden G lobe nom in ations best screenplay
drAMA
Arts & Nightlife :: film
kathryn bigelow m a r k b o a l jessica chastain
H H H H
yOu’rE iN fOr A hEll Of A ridE.
JESSiCA ChASTAiN iS A MArVEl.” -Peter travers,
“A POWErhOuSE ThrillEr. ‘ZErO dArK ThirTy ’ MOVES WiTh SPEEd, WEiGhT, br AiNS ANd Gr ACE.” -richard corliss,
“
ThE bEST PiCTurE Of ThE yEAr .”
aNN horNadaY
New York Film critics circle
lisa schwarZBaUm
NatioNal Board oF review
COLUMBIA PICTURES PRESENTS A KATHRYN BIGELOW FILM “ZERO DARK THIRTY” JESSIEXECUTIVECA CHASTAIN JASON CLARKE JOEL EDGERTON MUSIC BY ALEXANDRE DESPLAT PRODUCERS COLIN WILSON TED SCHIPPER GREG SHAPIRO PRODUCED WRITTEN BY MARK BOAL KATHRYN BIGELOW MEGAN ELLISON BY MARK BOAL DIRECTED BY KATHRYN BIGELOW select ENGAGEMENTS start friday, january 4 amc BoSTon common 19 175 TRemONT STReeT BOSTON 888-amc 4FUN
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>> now playing on p 52
THEPHOENIX.cOm/mOvIEs :: 01.04.13 51
Arts & Nightlife :: film << now playing from p 51
murdered, the doctor realizes that his new techniques may have a much graver impact than he had imagined. David Cronenberg directs. › 92m › Coolidge Corner: Fri-Sat midnight ++1/2 CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: WORLDS AWAY › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 97m › Boston Common + Fenway + suburbs THE DEFIANT ONES › 1958 › That would be Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier, chain-gang convicts who escape after their prison truck gets into an accident and then discover that their bonds aren’t just physical. Stanley Kramer directs. › b&w › 97m › BPL: Mon
2
GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD NOMINATIONS INCLUDING
SCREEN ACTORS AWARD GUILD NOMINATION
®
BEST ACTRESS MARION COTILLARD (DRAMA)
+++ THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA › 2006 › If Lauren Weisberger’s bestseller was a Starbucks espresso — overall bland, but hot and quick — then David Frankel’s adaptation is the decaf version. The key plot ingredients remain. Aspiring journalist Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) falls into “the job a million girls would kill for”: personal assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), editor-in-chief of Runway magazine and the kingmaker of the fashion world. Miranda treats Andy more like an ass than like an assistant, and the long hours and haute couture lifestyle threaten the ingénue’s personal relationships. Frankel preserves the punchy tone and pace of the original but plays it Hollywood safe: Andy is ethnically
®
BEST ACTRESS MARION COTILLARD
Naomi Watts faces the 2004 tsunami in The Impossible.
©HFPA
“A POWERHOUSE!” -Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES
MARION COTILLARD MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS
RUST AND BONE A FILM BY
JACQUES AUDIARD
WINNER
BEST ACTRESS
HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM
LANDMARK THEATRES NOW KENDALL SQUARE PLAYING Cambridge 617-499-1996
VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.RUSTANDBONE.COM
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TOBE HOOPER, DIRECTOR ‘TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE’
STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 4!
for theaters and showtimes check local listings 52 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/mOvIEs
neutral rather than Jewish, her beau a chef rather than an inner-city schoolteacher. Hathaway does her best Audrey Hepburn impression, but Streep dominates; her comic timing and multi-layered performance give the film a velvety, macchiato-dollop aftertaste. › 106m › BPL: Wed +++1/2 DJANGO UNCHAINED › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 165m › Boston Common + Fenway + Kendall Square + Coolidge Corner + Embassy + suburbs +++1/2 DO THE RIGHT THING › 1989 › Spike Lee’s film is an affront to the easy attitudes we apply to race relations and moviemaking. Taking place in and around a Bedford-Stuyvesant pizzeria on the hottest day of the summer, the movie chronicles the events leading up to a racial confrontation between the Italian-American owner of the pizzeria and his black customers. Lee lets passing conflicts suggest the rage underlying the comic, eccentric surface of the community characters. But these seeming diversions intensify the turmoil brooding underneath. If the violent climax resolves nothing else, it demonstrates Lee’s skill at filming action and directing actors. With Danny Aiello, John Edson, John Turturro, Spike Lee, and Ossie Davis. › 120m › Coolidge Corner: Mon ++++ GONE WITH THE WIND › 1939 › Eighty years later, this American classic is still looking for credible characters (Scarlett most of all) and a believable plot (just for starters, there’s no way Scarlett’s father would have let her marry Charles), never mind lines that should have won Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable Oscars for delivering them with a straight face (“You should be kissed often, and by someone who knows how”). The gift of better dialogue won’t be forthcoming, but for its almost-60thbirthday re-release GWTW got restored Technicolor and digital sound — no small thing for a movie whose greatness so largely rests on how it looks and sounds. The restored Technicolor is not just gorgeous but natural: the fields of Tara, far from being postcard perfect, could use some rain, and the camera creates an almost threedimensional realism in the subtle way it blurs backgrounds. Yet there’s no want of pyrotechnics in the flames that consume Atlanta. And the four hours slip by pretty quickly. Scarlett and Rhett are messy, complicated dreamers who never give up
hope — maybe that’s why audiences have never give up on them. This is, after all the film that never ends: tomorrow is always another day. › 238m › North End Branch Library: Sat ++1/2 THE GUILT TRIP › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 96m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Arlington Capitol + suburbs +1/2 HITCHCOCK › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 98m › Kendall Square + Coolidge Corner ++1/2 THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/ movies for a full review. › 169m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Chestnut Hill + Embassy + Arlington Capitol + suburbs 1/2 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 91m › West Newton: Sat-Sun ++ HYDE PARK ON HUDSON › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 94m › Kendall Square + West Newton +1/2 JACK REACHER › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 131m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Somerville Theatre + Chestnut Hill + Embassy + suburbs ++1/2 LIFE OF PI › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › 127m › Boston Common + Fenway + Somerville Theatre + Embassy + suburbs ++ LINCOLN › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/ movies for a full review. › 120m › Boston Common + Fenway + Kendall Square + West Newton +++1/2 THE LOST WEEKEND › 1945 › James Agee, himself an alcoholic, called this famous movie about a man on a binge “a good PhD thesis,” and there’s something in that: it plays emphatically, with every scene proving a point. But it’s a memorable picture, partly because the dialogue is pungent in a way that’s unusual for movies of the period, partly because of Ray Milland’s stirring portrayal of the boozer hero, and partly because of the marvelous supporting cast — Jane Wyman, Frank Faylen, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowlig, Philip Terry, and Clarence Muse. It’s based on Charles Jackson’s compelling bestseller; Billy Wilder directs › b&w › 101m › South Boston Branch Library: Tues ++1/2 LES MISÉRABLES › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 158m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh
phX piCks ›› Can’t Miss • THE TIN DRUM Combine Peter Pan with the horrors of World War II and you might get something like Volker Schlöndorff’s Oscar-winning adaptation of 4 Günter Grass’s The Tin Drum (1979). In it, a little boy recognizes the cruel absurdity of the world, refuses to grow up, and beats the title instrument to annoy the hell out of everyone. A restored version screens through Tuesday at the Brattle Theatre. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge :: $9.75 adults; $7.75 students; $6.75 seniors :: 617.876.6837 or brattlefilm.org • THE BROOD Those ambivalent about having children might consider watching David Cronenberg’s meditation on the subject, The Brood (1979). A woman with anger issues consults a therapist whose experimental treatment results in her sprouting demons of wrath from her body. They kill people, and they never call and never send flowers on Mother’s Day. It’s the @fter Midnite show tonight and tomorrow night at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline :: $9.25 :: midnight :: 617.734.2501 or coolidge.org FRI
• TALKING FLYNN What is 9 it like to work at the Pine Street Inn and find that your long-estranged father is a resident there? And then write a book about it? And then have it made into a movie, Being Flynn, directed by Paul Weitz and starring Paul Dano and Robert De Niro? All of this is the subject of Nick Flynn’s new memoir, The Reenactments, which Being Flynn the author will read from and discuss at the Brattle Theatre at 6 pm. A screening of Being Flynn (2012) follows at 8 pm, with a Q and A afterward. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge :: $12 :: 6 pm :: 617.876.6837 or brattlefilm.org WED
• mAGIcAL ANImE If the supernatural critter Kyubey appeared and offered you the chance to become a Magic Girl who fights witches and harvests “grief seeds” that will purify your “soul gems,” what would you do? Sounds like a good deal, but in Akiyuki Shinbo’s anime Madoka Magica the Movie (2012) all is not sweetness and light; the fun comes at the cost of hard experience. For viewers, the cost will be 20 bucks when the show screens today and at noon on Saturday at the Brattle Theatre. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge :: Double feature $20 :: 7 pm :: 617.876.6837 or brattlefilm.org
meta-musical; after all, the director, Adam Shankman, had turned Hairspray into a semblance of its original subversiveness, and co-screenwriter Justin Theroux had once played a hip filmmaker in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. But around the third time “Don’t Stop Believing” surges up on the soundtrack, that no longer seems believable. Despite some inspired crude humor, Rock of Ages is just another meretricious and cynical example of what it occasionally makes fun of. Starring Diego Boneta, Julianne Hough, and Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx, a stoned and slack-jawed superstar who spews non-sequiturs while women inexplicably swoon over him. › 123m › West End Branch Library: Wed ++1/2 RUST AND BONE › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › French › 120m › Kendall Square +++ THE SESSIONS › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 95m › West Newton +++ SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 122m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Somerville Theatre + West Newton +++ SKYFALL › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › 143m › Boston Common + Fenway + Somerville Theatre + Chestnut Hill + Embassy + suburbs ++1/2 SPARKLE › 2012 › There have been worse swan songs committed to film, but Salim Akil’s reinterpretation of the 1976 musical drama leaves much to be desired as the meteoric rise and fall of a threepiece girl group is now well-tread, Oscarnominated territory. But while the film may be exploiting its notoriety as Whitney
Houston’s last film appearance, it does her justice, giving her plenty of dialogue and even a song. Unlike Dreamgirls, though, here the music never quite touches the soul. Even worse, the story takes melodramatic turns that threaten to stray into camp territory, and newcomer Jordin Sparks as the reserved titular character doesn’t have the finesse to avoid it. Nor does the sloppy camera work, stilted acting, and bad lipsynching help the cause. Overall Sparkle serves as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of the music industry, a fate tragically suffered by one of its stars. › 93m › Lower Mills Branch Library: Mon +1/2 THIS IS 40 › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › 134m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Somerville Theatre + Embassy + suburbs ++ THE TIN DRUM › 1979 › Volker Schlöndorff’s Oscar-winning film version of Günter Grass’s “grotesque epic” — the history of 20th-century Germany as viewed by a boy who refuses to grow up. Played by David Bennent, a 13-year-old who resembles a horribly shrunken David Hemmings, the protagonist is a nasty, self-centered kid who beats incessantly on his drum to keep adults at bay, and whose infantilism is meant to reflect the infantilism of Germany under the Nazis. Schlöndorff shows a demonic visual invention in the scenes of grotesquerie, but he severs the powerful symbolic images from their meanings, so that Grass’s resonant epic is reduced to a parade of horrors. › Hebrew + Italian + German + Polish + Russian › 142m › Brattle: Fri-Tues ++1/2 WRECK-IT RALPH › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 93m › West Newton: Sat-Sun
THU
10
• TOUR DE FRANcE One of the best ways to get to know a country is through its films. For example, Hollywood informs us that America is a country of 14 wise presidents (Lincoln), murderous slave owners (Django Unchained), and unfunny Billy Crystal movies (Parental Guidance). So what do the films of France tell us? Find out by attending tonight’s French Cultural Center’s program “Experiencing Contemporary France through Films,” in which Anne-Christine Rice discusses her book La France contemporaine à travers ses films. French Cultural Center :: 53 Marlborough St, Boston :: Members free; $5 non-members :: 6:30 pm :: 617.912.0400 or frenchculturalcenter.org :: RSVP required THU
Pond + West Newton + Chestnut Hill + Arlington Capitol + suburbs +++1/2 MONSTERS, INC. 3D › 2001 › Monstropolis is populated by all manner of fanciful creatures: some are furry, some are slimy, some have one eye, some have five. Monsters, Inc. is in the business of collecting children’s screams, the energy from which powers the city. These people don’t scare the kids to be mean, they do it because it’s gotta be done. Moreover, they’re as scared of the kids as the kids are of them. So when a baby girl finds her way into their world, chaos and hilarity ensue. Like A Bug’s Life and the Toy Storys, Peter Docter’s film hits just the right notes. John Goodman and Billy Crystal are custommade for the characters they voice: Sulley, a genial blue-furred galoot, and Mike Wazowski, his manic monocular sidekick. And the giggly gibberish-speaking toddler is too cute to be believed. No need to tell you that Pixar’s animation is stunning. In short, Monstropolis is a place any kid should be glad to slip into. › 92m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond +
Chestnut Hill + Arlington Capitol + suburbs +++1/2 NOT FADE AWAY › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 112m › Boston Common + suburbs ++ PROMISED LAND › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 110m › Boston Common + Kendall Square +++ RISE OF THE GUARDIANS › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 97m › West Newton [Sat-Sun] + Arlington Capitol + suburbs +1/2 ROCK OF AGES › 2012 › In retrospect, 1987, the year in which this adaptation of Chris D’Arienzo’s hit Broadway show is set, might have been the moment that pop culture shit the bed. A time of bad hair and tacky clothing, when synthetic music, high-concept movies, and the “greed is good” ethos prevailed, it marked a victory of corporate consumerism over art and invention. At times Rock of Ages seems like it might be satirizing that bankrupt state of affairs, attempting a kind of self-sabotaging, post-modernist
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THEPHOENIX.cOm/mOvIEs :: 01.04.13 53
Arts & Nightlife :: music
hArdcore
rock
No shadow oN ThE soFT MooN
ThERE aRE Two ways To go about being a post-hardcore band from the ’90s. The first is the route that Helmet took: put out two fantastic albums, then follow it up with mediocrity, subsisting on past triumphs while trying to convince the masses who have moved on to the Thursdays and Tools of the world that you’re still relevant. Hint: you aren’t. The second is to follow that old cliché about choosing between burning out and fading away, the former of which New York City’s Quicksand did at the peak of their potential in 1995. The quartet followed 1993’s ridiculously intense Slip with the just-as-solid Manic Compression two years later, but decided to call it a day in the wake of failed major-label expectations, the rigors of nonstop touring, internal strife, and being overshadowed by the likes of one-time roadmates the Offspring. While there’s no accounting for bad taste, luckily the aforementioned masses are getting another chance. Revelation Records threw a big multi-day 25th anniversary shebang for themselves early last June, and the special guest on the fourth night of the gigs in Los Angeles was none other than Quicksand, sending the mosh pits into a frenzy not seen since Pantera were kicking it with White Zombie on the War of
>>
the Gargantuas jaunt in ’96. A couple more one-offs came next, but now it’s about to get real with a string of gigs kicking off at a sold-out Paradise come Monday, as the band get ready to put their heads down for the punishing riffs of “Fazer,” “Omission,” and “Landmine Spring.” On the last, you’ll recall, frontman Walter Schreifels declares, “Did not expect this shit at all/to go through this again.” Neither did anyone else. That means no press, non-existent promotion — nothing but the music this time around. In declining a long-form interview, Schreifels did say last week: “I’m psyched to play Boston . . . just focusing on the shows and having fun.” He promised to do a proper chat when he’s got a new record coming down the line, which will likely be a solo effort. “Next spring, with any luck.” That leaves the future of Quicksand as murky as ever, though Schreifels has mad shit going on as is: Gorilla Biscuits, Rival Schools, and the supremely underrated CIV, just to name a few. But it’s Quicksand that remains the biggest question mark. Much like Refused pulling it all back together last year, it might be better if the band doesn’t drop anything else — living in the past is just fine. _micHAEL cHriSTOPHEr » micHAELcHriSTOPHEr22@gmAiL.cOm
QUICKSAND + SINGLE MOTHERS :: Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston :: January 7 @ 7 pm :: All Ages :: $27.50 :: 617.562.8800 or thedise.com
54 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIx.COM/MUSIC
_JONATHAN D ONALD S ON » crAzyi NbOx@yAHOO.c O m SofT Moon pHoTo By JULIE BonATo
QUICKsaNd RIsE FRoM ThE ’90s
Released the day before Halloween, the Soft Moon’s Zeroes is the perfect soundtrack for anyone looking to flirt with their ’80s UK-goth dark side. The Captured Tracks–issued sophomore record by the Bay Area post-punk trio wears the heavy makeup of period accents and retro production effects — so many masquerade elements, it might as well be a costume party. Whether it’s the hissy pulse of late-’70s proto-punk pioneers Suicide, the echo-y, woozy guitar sounds of early Cure, or the stylized accents of Joy Division’s percussion, the gang’s all here. “We’re kindred spirits, living in the same world,” says frontman Luis Vasquez, who previously toiled with psych/spacerockers the LuTHE SOFT merians. Rather than admit that mOON + Soft Moon’s mumAJicAL sic is obsessed cLOUDz + with their ’80s ribS black-booted T.T. The Bear’s brethren, Place, 10 Vasquez thinks Brookline St, of it as just a Cambridge little harmless January 9 @ 8:30 nostalgia. Goth pm :: 18+ :: $10 :: is a style that 617.492.0082 or works well for ttthebears.com his frustrations expressing himself in his day-to-day life. “I’d rather let the guitar talk,” says Vasquez, by phone. Zeroes’ texture-heavy sound allows guitars and synth lines to divert the focus from lyrical narratives. Sometimes the vocals sound like singing, but for Vasquez, sometimes the vocals are just more instruments. It messes with your mind. According to Vasquez, album opener “It Ends,” which begins with heartbeats and heavy breathing, is an invitation to the listener to change their state of awareness. “That’s me going out of my consciousness into my subconsciousness.”
Arts & Nightlife :: music THURSDAY 3
BAD MOTHER › 9:30 pm › Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or beehiveboston.com THE WHISKEY BOYS + SAM OTIS HILL › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $10-$12 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com JOE FLETCHER & THE WRONG REASONS + NIKKI LANE › 8:30 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $10 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com JOHN FITZSIMMONS & FRIENDS › Thurs › Colonial Inn, 48 Monument Sq, Concord › 978.369.9200 or concordscolonialinn.com MELISSA KASSEL & TOM ZICARELLI GROUP › 7:30 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 MISSION OF BLUES › 8:30 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com
SCATTERSHOT › Thurs › Burren, 247 Elm St, Somerville › 617.776.6896 or burren.com TROPHY LUNGS + FOR THE RECORD + THE QUIET CITY SCREAMS + THE OFFSEASON + DIVE THE TOWER › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $8 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com TSUNAMI OF SOUND + THE VIVISECTORS + SPYTONES › 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $10 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com
FRIDAY 4
ACTION ITEM + BEFORE YOU EXIT + HELLO HIGHWAY + PARADISE FEARS › 9 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $15 › 617.779.0140 or ticketmaster.com AMY BLACK BAND › 7:30 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $12 ›
617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com ANDREW MARTIN BAND + 10 MINUTE WARNING + THE VANDERBUILTS + DJ A1EXXXAN › 6:30 pm › All Asia, 334 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.1544 or allasiabar.com THE GET BACKS › 10 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $12 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com “FREAK FLAG FIRST FRIDAY”› Radio Downstairs, 379 Somerville Ave, Somerville › $5 › 617.764.0005 or radiobarunion.com GLITTER FREEZE + DEATH WALTZ ‘76 + LIBERATION DAY + ELEPHANTS › 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › $8 › 617.782.6245 or obrienspubboston.com GOOSEPIMP + RAPPLESAUCE + NAUGHTY OCTOPUS › Middle East Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10-$12 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com
>> live music on p 56
fridAy 4 472-480 MASSACHUSETTS AVE CENTRAL SQ., CAMBRIDGE (617) 864-EAST
mideastclub.com | zuzubar.com ticketweb.com dOWNSTAIRS ROCK ON! CONCERTS PRESENTS:
fRI GOOSEPIMP RETURNS HOME! 1/4
RAPPLESAUCE, NAUGHTY OCTOPUS UNREGULAR RADIO PRESENTS:
SAT AUDIO REVIVAL 1/5
LITTLE WAR TWINS LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS LEEDZ PRESENTS:
fRI PRODIGY (MOBB DEEP) 1/11 & ALCHEMIST
SAT BARRICADES THE BRIDGEBUILDERS 1/12
UPSTAIRS
ALL AGES THU 7PM 1/3 LEEDZ EDUTAINMENT PRESENTS:
HIP HOP 101 PAGES fRI WHITE CATHY CATHODIC, 1/4
ST.RIPPER, ROTTEN APPLES ALL AGES 1PM
SAT NIGHTSLASHER 1/5
Tai Heatley and Cult 45 play Radio.
18+ 8PM LEEDZ PRESENTS:
CANNIBAL OX PLUTO MOONS SUN THE LIMELIGHT 1/6
Tickets are on sale NOW for the
Beer Summit Winter JuBilee! Join us Friday Night January 18 from 5:30-9pm as we celebrate the winter beers from over 60 different breweries. It’s a celebration of the best beers in the world, right here in Boston. This event sells out, so make sure to get your tickets in advance. Visit www.beersummit.com and get your tickets TODAY!
PURPLE MERCURY
MON GNARLEMAGNE MOTIVE 1/7
TUE 1/8
CHOOSE TO FIND 7PM ALL AGES LEEDZ EDUTAINMENT PRESENTS:
CEEDEE
PRESENTS: WED LEEDZ STEVEN A CLARK 1/9
(SECRETLY CANADIAN)
THU BOSTON8BIT + LEAGUEPODCAST PRESENT: 1/10 RADLIB CRASHFASTER BR1GHT PR1MATE /mIdeASTclUb /zUzUbAR @mIdeASTclUb @zUzUbAR
THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs :: 01.04.13 55
Arts & Nightlife :: music
Learn – to – Skate CLaSSeS RecReational • FiguRe • Hockey Skating SkillS
<< live music from p 55
Bay State Skating School
JOSE RAMOS & THE NO WAY JOSE BAND › 9 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › $5 › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com LIVINGSTON TAYLOR + CHELSEA BERRY › 7 pm › Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, Northampton › $22.50-$25 › 413.586.8686 or iheg.com/iron_horse_main.asp THE MACROTONES + AKASHIC RECORD › 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $10 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com MR NICK AND THE DIRTY TRICK › 10 pm › Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or beehiveboston.com NEW HONG KONG + UMBILICAL CORD + FAR ABOVE THE GROUND › 9 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com THE WORKINGMAN’S JAZZ TRIO + TAD HITCHCOCK › Colonial Inn, 48 Monument Sq, Concord › 978.369.9200 or concordscolonialinn.com WHITE PAGES + CATHY CATHODIC + ST.RIPPER + ROTTEN APPLES › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $9 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com WOLFMAN CONSPIRACY + DJ SKITZ › 10 pm › Tommy Doyle’s at Harvard, 96 Win-
Children (4/12up) & Adults As FeAtured on "ChroniCle" BRookline • camBRidge Hyde PaRk/dedHam • medFoRd newton/BRigHton Quincy • SomeRville SoutH BoSton • waltHam weSt RoxBuRy • weymoutH
781- 899- 8480 ove 40 yearrS
Sign up now!
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R E S TA U R A N T & M U S I C C L U B
43 Years Of Great Music thursday jan 3: country
joe fLetcher & the wrong reasons nikki Lane
throp St, Cambridge › $5 › 617.864.0655 or tommydoyles.com “WONDERLAND”› Damien Paul + JK the DJ + Mike Swells › Rise, 306 Stuart St, Boston › 617.423.7473 or riseclub.us/intro.shtml
SATURDAY 5
THE AND COMPANY › 7:30 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com “BENEFIT FOR BRENDA WYNNE”› Matalon + Raging Teens + Johnny Carvale & the Rolling Pins + Skeleton Beats + Razors In the Night + Cradle to the Grave + OC5 + Never Been Caught › 9 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $12-$15 › 617.779.0140 or ticketmaster.com CHRIS STOVALL BROWN › 9 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › $5 › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com ETHAN ROSSITER & THE JAMBERRIES › 4 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $3 kids; $5 parents › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com FAT HISTORY MONTH + PILE + FRANKIE TEARDROP + COWBOY BAND › 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › $7 › 617.782.6245 or obrienspubboston.com
friday jan 4: (7:30Pm) americana
amy bLack band • Live CD ReCoRDing
PHX PICKS >> CAN’T MISS
(10:00Pm) souL
the get backs sat jan 5: (4-6Pm) kids music
ethan rossiter & the jamberries
• CULT 45 This hard-rock quartet arrives in the New Year with two new band members, but what remains is the soaring voice of Tai Heatley. Recorded at Mad 4 Oak Studios in Allston and engineered by Benny Grotto (GOZU, Mellow Bravo), Cult 45’s debut full-length, On High, is a nonstop Doc Marten boot to the face (you know, in a nice way). Radio, 381 Somerville Ave, Somerville :: 8 pm :: $5 :: radiobarunion.com
(7:30Pm) grammy award winning bLues
FRI
Luther “guitar junior” johnson eric french
sunday, jan 6 jaZZ brunch 8:30 am - 2:30 Pm oPen bLues jam 4:00Pm - 7:00 Pm monday, jan 7 team trivia -8:30 Pm $1.50 hot dogs 6 - 10 Pm
• “BENEFIT FOR BRENDA WYNNE” On Halloween, Stingray Body Art coowner Brenda Wynne was struck by a hit-and-run driver on Comm Ave in Allston. 5 She needed five hours of surgery after suffering multiple broken bones and a gash to her forehead where she hit the SUV’s windshield. As she continues to rebound, seven Boston bands are coming together to rock out and raise money for her recovery: Matalon, Raging Teens, Johnny Carvale and the Juke Joint Rhythm Rockers, Skeleton Beats, Razors in the Night, Cradle to the Grave, and White Dynomite. Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston :: 8 pm :: $12 :: ticketmaster.com SAT
tuesday, jan 8
new years Post-heat LocaL ceLebs sPin their fave tunes (free!) wednesday, jan 9: foLk
cLaudia schmidt
thursday, jan 10: circus/kLeZmer
KLeZWooDS • CiRKeSTRA
emPeror norton’s stationary marching band friday, jan 11: (7Pm) irish foLk worLdmusic/crasharts Presents
susan mckeown
(10Pm) cLassic rock/b52s
rock bottom bikini whaLe
saturday, jan 12 (4-6Pm) schooL of rock showcase white striPes vs. bLack keys (9Pm) LocaL rock
johnny bLaZes sarah rabdau what time is it mr. fox madame Psychosis sunday, jan 13 jaZZ brunch 8:30 am - 2:30 Pm oPen bLues jam 4:00Pm - 7:00 Pm (8Pm) aLternative country
freakwater adeLa & jude
coming soon: 1/17 harmontown Live Podcast w/ dan harmon & jeff davis 1/18 denney & the jets/derek hoke 1/25 Paranoid sociaL cLub the maLLett brothers band 1/29 engLish beat 2/1 wreckLess eric & amy rigby 2/9 tarbox rambLers 2/14 keLLy wiLLis/ bruce robison 2/16 james montgomery band
www.johnnyds.com info: 617-776-2004 concert Line: 617-776-9667 johnny d’s 17 hoLLand st davis square somerviLLe. ma 02144 56 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs
1/4/13
SOCIAL STUDIES:
DJs Kon, Alfredo & Brenden Wesley Downstairs /DJ Brek.One Upstairs House, Disco and techno Downstairs / Hip Hop, Reggae and Party Jamz upstairs $5
• BR1GHT PR1MATE Now that New Year’s Eve is in the rearview, it’s time to get properly glitched out for winter, and Br1ght Pr1mate leads the 8-bit charge on a 10 night of experimental electronics. Connecticut’s RADLIB, Los Angeles’ crashfaster, and a host of Boston artists (Forrest James, Robotsexmusic, DJ Radio Scotvoid) plug in to bleep the night away. Middle East upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge :: 8 pm :: $10 :: ticketweb.com THU
1/5/13
FEVER:
DJs Frank White, Mister Jason and Flavorheard Hip Hop, Reggae, Disco, Funk & Soul. $5
1/8/13
GAME OVER:
Video Games, Board Games and Card Games from 5 pm - 10 pm
1/9/13
HIP HOP TRIVIA:
8 pm - midnight. Jeopardy Style Questions. Prizes. Hosted by On & On, Hilary Clare, Akrobatik, Edo G & Chief Rocker Moe Dee
Br1ght Pr1mate
“FIDDLE FUSION”› Alba’s Edge + Firecloud › 7:30 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.497.0823 “JESSE GALLAGHER PRESENTS . . .”› 10 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.497.0823 JESSE HANSON › 3:30 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $10-$12 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com JUSTN SKETCH + CANNIBAL OX › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $12-$14 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com LIVINGSTON TAYLOR › 7 pm › Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, Northampton › $22.50-$25 › 413.586.8686 or iheg.com/ iron_horse_main.asp LUTHER ‘GUITAR JUNIOR’ JOHNSON › 8 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $15 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com “MANGO’S LATIN SATURDAYS”› Lee Wilson › 10 pm › Milky Way, at the Brewery, 284 Armory St, Jamaica Plain › $10 › 617.524.3740 or milkywayjp.com “NEW YORK NIGHT TRAIN SOUL CLAP & DANCE-OFF”› DJ Jonathan Toubin › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $10 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com THE OLD EDISON + THE TEN FOOT POLECATS + TRISTAN OMAND + TIME AND PLACE + SPIT SHINER + FIXED BAYONET › 8 pm › Midway Café, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com THE SPACE MONKEYS › 6 pm › All Asia, 334 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.1544 or allasiabar.com PEOPLE VS LARSEN › 10 pm › Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or beehiveboston.com PO BOYZ HAMMOND B-3 ORGAN TRIO › Middle East Corner, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $5 › 617.864.3278 or ticketweb.com STUART DAVIS › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $18-$20 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com “THE 9” SONGWRITER SERIES › 9:30 pm › Tommy Doyle’s at Harvard, 96 Winthrop St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.0655 or tommydoyles.com TONI LYNN WASHINGTON WITH THE WORKINGMAN’S BAND › Colonial Inn, 48 Monument Sq, Concord › 978.369.9200 or concordscolonialinn.com
SUNDAY 6
BAP KENNEDY › 4:30 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $5 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com BILLY NOVICK & GUY VAN DUSER › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $23-$25 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com GEOFF BARTLEY W/ SPECIAL GUESTS › 7 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com GREG KLYMA + RYAN ALVANOS › 8 pm › Burren, 247 Elm St, Somerville › 617.776.6896 or burren.com “JAZZ BRUNCH WITH MATT DORKO & LARRY KUKERS”› Matt Dorko & Larry Kukers › 8:30 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › Free › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com JOHN FUNKHOUSER TRIO + INCUS + SARAH JEZEBEL WOOD › 6 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.497.0823 THE PLUTO MOONS + LIMELIGHT + PURPLE MERCURY + ETHICS › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $9 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com ONE STEP AWAY › 1 pm › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10-$12 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com PEOPLE VS. LARSEN + THE DEVILS TWINS › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $8 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com
MONDAY 7
“AGONIZING THE DEAD: A NIGHT OF UNDERGROUND BLACK AND DEATH METAL”› 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › Free › 617.782.6245 or obrienspubboston.com BOX OF BIRDS + ERICA RUSSO AND THE GOOD SPORT + SNOWHAUS + POLAROIDZ › 9 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › $9 › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com CULT AND LEPER + COWBOY BAND + BUTCHER BOY + CON TEX › 8 pm › Midway Café, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com THE FUNKY ABS › 8 pm › Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or beehiveboston.com GNARLEMAGNE + MOTIVE + CHOOSE TO FIND + THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.3278 or ticketweb.com LOVE IN STOCKHOLM + DARLINGSIDE + LAURA CORTESE + ANNIE & THE BEEKEEPERS › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $10 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com QUICKSAND + SINGLE MOTHERS › 8 pm › Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston › $27.50-$30 › 617.562.8800 or ticketmaster.com SLOW MOVER + BLIND TIGERS › P.A.’s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.776.1557 SUZIE BROWN + JENEE HALSTEAD › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $13-$15 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com
TUESDAY 8
CEE DEE + MELZ + TAZZ AMRCA + TIGEREYE › 7 pm › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com “DUELING BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS WITH DICK LOURIE + EDDIE SCHEER’S TUESDAY NIGHT ALLSTARS”› Dick Lourie + Eddie Scheer’s Tuesday Night All- Stars › 8 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com HOSPITALITY + TEEN + PARKS › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $10-$12 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com “I FEEL SO GOOD: A CELEBRATION OF BIG BILL BROONZY”› Billy Boy Arnold › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $13-$15 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com THE OLSON PINGREY QUARTET › 8 pm › Outpost 186, 186 1/2 Hampshire St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.876.0860 or zeitgeist-outpost.org THE PHREAKS [PHISH TRIBUTE]› 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $3 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com “SONGWRITERS IN THE ROUND”› Chuck Melchin + David DeLuca + Jeff Byrd › 9:30 pm › Tommy Doyle’s at Harvard, 96 Winthrop St, Cambridge › Free › 617.864.0655 or tommydoyles.com
WEDNESDAY 9
THE JAIL BREAKERS › 8 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com CLAUDIA SCHMIDT › 8 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $12 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com COMPAQ BIG BAND + WAYNE BERGERON › 8 pm › Scullers, 400 Soldiers Field Rd, Cambridge › $20 › 617.783.0090 or scullersjazz.com HEKTIK SOUND › 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › $5 › 617.782.6245 or obrienspubboston.com JIM HOBBS & FRIENDS + DAN ROSEN-
>> live music on p 57
JAZZ CLUB . HARVARD SQUARE THE CHARLES HOTEL
Jan 11 - 12 . 7:30 & 10PM BILL CHARLAP
Jan 18 . 7:30PM DARREL NULISCH
by William Shakespeare directed by Robert Wals h**
Dec. 12 – Jan. 6, 2013 Davis Square Theatre Somerville
** This director is a memb er of the stage directors and choreograph a national theatrical labor ers society, union
Jan 29 . 7:30PM HOT CLUB OF DETROIT www.regattabarjazz.com or call 617.395.7757
866-811-4111 or actorsshakespearep roject
@TheRegattabar
.org
Lupo’s
79 Washington st, providence complete schedule at
lupos.com
Friday, January 18
get the Led out saturday, January 19
martin sexton Friday, January 25
citizen cope Friday, February 8
Grace potter & the NocturNals sunday, February 10
JEFF MANGUM
tickets at LUPOs.cOM, F.Y.e. stORes & LUPO’s THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs :: 01.04.13 57
Arts & Nightlife :: music
tuesdAy 8 Free Dental Screening OFFereD January 9th, 2013 4:30pm – 6:30pm Senior Dental Students Seeking Patients for licensure exam Who might qualify?
People with one or all of the following: Small Cavities Tartar (Calculus) Periodontal (Gum) Disease People who have not been to the dentist In several years or more
Please contact Nicole Wade at 617-636-6791 to schedule an appointment Space is limited Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
Is located at 1 Kneeland Street • Boston 02111
All Events are 21+ Fri 1/4 La Boum w/ DJ Stella Free / 9PM Sat 1/5 The Lee Wilson Movement Presents: Mango’s Latin Saturdays $10 / 10PM
Hospitality play Great Scott with Teen and Parks. << live music from p 57
THAL QUINTET + GILL AHARON TRIO › 8 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.497.0823 JIMMY MAZZY & THE LAST MINUTE MEN › Colonial Inn, 48 Monument Sq, Concord › 978.369.9200 or concordscolonialinn.com KRIS ALLEN + JILLETTE JOHNSON + MY SILENT BRAVERY + RACHEL TAYLOR › 7 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $15-$58 › 617.779.0140 or ticketmaster.com LAKE STREET DIVE + MADAM MACADAM › Wed-Thurs Wed-Thurs 9 pm › Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $15 › 617.547.0759 or lizardloungeclub.com LISA BELLO + STEVEN A CLARK + WED 1/9/13 LEEDZ EDUTAINMENT PRESENTS STEVEN A CLARK + LISA BELLO + JENNA BORTOLOTTI + THE URBAN NERDZ + GOOD GATSBY + SAM SCOTT › Lisa Bello + Steven A Clark + Wed 1/9/13 Leedz Edutainment presents Steven A Clark + Jenna Bortolotti + The Urban Nerdz + Good Gatsby + Sam Scott › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com THE SOFT MOON + MAJICAL CLOUDZ + RIBS › 9 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brook-
Mon 1/7 Stump Trivia Free / 7PM Wed 1/9 Murdock Manor Acoustic Showcase $5 / 9PM For our complete entertainment calendar visit MilkyWayJP.com At the Brewery Complex next to Sam Adams near the Stony Brook stop on the Orange Line 284 Amory St. Jamaica Plain, MA 617-524-6060 - milkywayjp.com 58 01.04.13 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs
line St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com SUMIE KANEKO GROUP › 9 pm › Ryles, 212 Hampshire St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.876.9330 or rylesjazz.com “TRIBUTE NIGHT: ONE HIT WONDERS”› The Loomers › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $14-$16 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com
THURSDAY 10
11TH HOUR BAND › 8:30 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com ARKELLS + RDGLDGRN › 9 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $12 › 617.779.0140 or ticketmaster.com BILL CHARLAP TRIO › 7 pm › Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, Northampton › $22.50-$25 › 413.586.8686 or iheg.com/ iron_horse_main.asp BRIAN CARPENTER & THE CONFESSIONS + DO NOT FORSAKE ME OH MY DARLING + ENDATION + BENT KNEE › 7:30 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $10 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com COLIN STACK & KELLY ROBERGE › 7
pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.497.0823 DEFTRIO › 9:30 pm › Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or beehiveboston.com HARMONIC BLUE + RHIANNA LAROCQUE + THE NEW COMPLAINERS + T.H.E.M.› 9 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › $8 › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com JOHN FITZSIMMONS & FRIENDS › See listing for Thurs KLEZWOODS + CIRKESTRA + EMPEROR NORTON’S STATIONARY MARCHING BAND › 8 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $12 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com LAKE STREET DIVE + MADAM MACADAM › See listing for Wed RADLIB + BR1GHT PR1MATE + FORREST JAMES + CRASHFASTER + ROBOTSEXMUSIC + DJ RADIO SCOTVOID › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com SAMMY FIGUEROA’S LATIN JAZZ EXPLOSION › 8 pm › Scullers, 400 Soldiers Field Rd, Cambridge › $25 › 617.783.0090 or scullersjazz.com SCATTERSHOT › See listing for Thurs
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Arts & Nightlife :: clubs THURSDAY 3
BOND › Boston › 9 pm › “Taste Thursdays” with Joe Bermudez + Greg Pic DISTRICT › Boston › 10 pm › “In Thursdays” EMERALD LOUNGE AT REVERE HOTEL › Boston › 9 pm › “Top 40s & House” ESTATE › Boston › 10 pm › “Glamlife Thursdays” M BAR & LOUNGE › Boston › 9 pm › “Lotus Thursdays” MIDWAY CAFÉ › Jamaica Plain › “Women’s Dance Night” with DJ Summer’s eve NAGA › Cambridge › “Verve Thursdays” OM RESTAURANT & LOUNGE › Cambridge › 10:30 pm › “Late Night Lounge” PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “Elements” with Crook & Lenore RAMROD › Boston › 10 pm › “Trainwreck Thursdays”
FRIDAY 4
BOND › Boston › 10 pm › “Play Fridays” with DJ Johnny C + Matty D CURE LOUNGE › Boston › 10 pm › “VIP Fridays” with DJ Profenna DISTRICT › Boston › 10 pm › “Latin Fridays” with DJ Juan Madrid EMERALD LOUNGE AT REVERE HOTEL › Boston › 9 pm › “Top 40s & House” ESTATE › Boston › 10 pm › DJ JD
MIDDLESEX LOUNGE › Cambridge › DJ7L NORTHERN NIGHTS › Lynn › 8 pm › “Madonna Fridays” with DJ Jay Ine PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “PYT” with DJ Vinny PRIME › Boston › 10 pm › “VIP Fridays” RISE › Boston › “Wonderland” ROYALE › Boston › 10 pm › “Full On Fridays” TOMMY DOYLE’S AT HARVARD › Cambridge › midnight › DJ Skitz
SATURDAY 5
BOND › Boston › 10 pm › “Flaunt Saturdays” COMMON GROUND › Allston › “Millenium Night” CURE LOUNGE › Boston › 10 pm › “Saturdays at Cure” with rotating DJs Hectik + DJ 7L + Brek.One + DJ Theo A + DJ Frank White DISTRICT › Boston › 10 pm › “Status Saturdays” with DJ Cootz EMERALD LOUNGE AT REVERE HOTEL › Boston › 9 pm › “Top 40s & House” ESTATE › Boston › 10 pm › DJ Jesse Hess GREAT SCOTT › Allston › 9 pm › “New York Night Train Soul Clap & Dance-Off” with Jonathan Toubin MIDDLESEX LOUNGE › Cambridge › DJ Kon MILKY WAY › Jamaica Plain › 10 pm › “Mango’s Latin Saturdays” with Lee Wilson
“Glamlife” happens at Estate every Thursday. NAGA › Cambridge › “Chemistry Saturdays” OM RESTAURANT & LOUNGE › Cambridge › 10:30 pm › “Saturdays @ Om” PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “Boom Boom Room” with DJ Vinny RAMROD › Boston › 10 pm › “Revolution Saturdays” ROYALE › Boston › 10 pm › “Guilt” SPLASH ULTRA LOUNGE & BURGER BAR › Boston › 10 pm › “Sold Out Saturdays” with DJ Bamboora TOMMY DOYLE’S AT HARVARD › Cambridge › midnight › DJ Special K T.T. THE BEAR’S PLACE › Cambridge › 10 pm › “Heroes” with DJ Chris Ewen
photos by natasha moustache
SUNDAY 6
CURE LOUNGE › Boston › 10 pm › “Industry Sundays” with DJ Hectik PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “The Drop” RAMROD › Boston › 10 pm › “The Den”
MONDAY 7
It’s another “Full on Friday” at Royale.
NAGA › Cambridge › “Industry Mondays” ‘PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “Makka Monday” with Voyager 01 + DJ Uppercut RIVER GODS › Cambridge › 8 pm › “Weekly Wax”
TUESDAY 8
ALL ASIA › Cambridge › 9 pm › “Scooby Snacks Phych Night”
WEDNESDAY 9
BRAHMIN AMERICAN CUISINE AND COCKTAILS › Boston › “F*mous Wednesdays” DISTRICT › Boston › 10 pm › “Classic Wednesdays” with DJ Tanno
THURSDAY 10
BOND › Boston › 9 pm › “Taste Thursdays” with Joe Bermudez + Greg Pic DISTRICT › Boston › 10 pm › “In Thursdays” ESTATE › Boston › 10 pm › “Glamlife Thursdays” M BAR & LOUNGE › Boston › 9 pm › “Lotus Thursdays” MIDWAY CAFÉ › Jamaica Plain › “Women’s Dance Night” with DJ Summer’s eve NAGA › Cambridge › “Verve Thursdays” OM RESTAURANT & LOUNGE › Cambridge › 10:30 pm › “Late Night Lounge” PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “Elements” with Crook & Lenore RAMROD › Boston › 10 pm › “Trainwreck Thursdays” THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs :: 01.04.13 59
GET SEEN » arts & nightlife :: parties
» At Rock On! at Scholars
EarliEr this month, artsy nonprofit Glovebox took over DTX hangout Scholars, where local musicians Ederson, Kristin Cifelli, and the Chaparrals serenaded the culture-vulture crowd. Guests sipped specialty cocktails, bid on silent-auction items (think 2-D and 3-D artwork, a staycation at the Liberty Hotel, and a man-cave package for sports fans), and waited for the big announcement: the winner of the evening’s raffle for shiny new wheels from Scooters Go Green. Proceeds supported Glovebox’s annual Short Film and Animation Festival, art-lending programs, and other projects highlighting emerging local talents. Find out more at glvbx.com.
More tiensix!. patr hePhoe At rties. com/PA ut o see you t h e r e!
Gerard andal and Kyle Christian andal video-effeCts Compositors at Zero vfX
Talk about brotherly love: these Caliborn siblings come as a package deal and always sign on to new ventures together. Whenever they move to a new place for work, they make sure the contract includes both of them.
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Clockwise from top DJ Razor, Ederson, Ires Beauvois, and Marc Beauvois; Anita Lewin, Liz Comperchio, and Jodie McMenamin; Susan E. Ulbrich; Helena Grant
Stay tuned this summer for their latest project, The Way, Way Back, a Massachusetts-filmed dramedy starring Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, and Amanda Peet. Kyle’s outfit was born of laundry-day leftovers. He donned Stacy Adams shoes and a charcoal-gray Express suit and sweater, while Gerard kept it more casual in an earthy ensemble: a Kenneth Cole sweater and pants paired with Timberland Earthkeepers boots.
Arts & Nightlife :: bAck tAlk You’re doing so many things — music and writing and acting ore o his in To Th Terview f and Portlandia. Do , go e Pho e arTs :: Por nix.com/ you find one of these t l reTu andia rns outlets to be the most Janu To ifc ar personally fulfilling? aT 10 y 4 Pm I find they’re all fulfilling in different ways. They each speak to a different part of me. The fact that there’s a multitude of outlets for me is quite helpful because I’m very uncomfortable with stillness and feeling stagnant. So I tend to overcompensate because of that fear. So the more projects and the more outlets I have, the less anxious I feel.
SeriouSly funny Both sides of Carrie Brownstein B y l iz Pel ly l p e l ly@ p h x .c o m :: @ l i z p e l ly
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arrie Brownstein played with legendary feminist indie-rock trio Sleater-Kinney from 1994 until 2006. In 2010 she began playing with Wild Flag, and shortly after, in January 2011, came the first episodes of Portlandia — a sketch-comedy show parodying the contemporary alternative world of Portland, Oregon, that she co-writes and stars in with Fred Armisen. In advance of the show’s third season, which begins Friday on IFC, I asked Brownstein about the ways her original vision for SleaterKinney translate into TV comedy. 62 01.04.13 :: Thephoenix.com
“I don’t feel like I’m willing to just throw my politics under the bus for the sake of being funny.”
After years of playing fierce, feminist punk music, does it feel like a relief now to be working on something more lighthearted and comedic? Or do you feel like that sense of feminism and criticism is still part of your vision for Portlandia? I think my perspective or outlook or politics will always inform the process, and hopefully the outcome. As we write Portlandia, I find myself being critical and interjecting my opinions, for example, if I don’t think a character is fully formed. I don’t feel like I’m willing to just throw my politics under the bus for the sake of being funny. I still am drawn to music that has a soul to it, or an intensity. But it is a relief to be funny and have a different perspective. I think humor is just as valid a way of dealing with an issue or talking about a subject. It is nice to be able to be frivolous and more absurd. It would have been strange to suddenly have Sleater-Kinney be an absurdist band, even though all three of us have a sense of humor. That’s always the false assumption, that anything political or feminist can’t be funny. Certainly with Portlandia there’s a greater allowance to get to places that are surreal. I do feel a sense of relief in that way. Because it is more of who I am. I’m both things. There’s part of me that’s in Sleater-Kinney and part of me that’s in Portlandia. They’re not divorced from each other. Portlandia allows for a sense of intensity that can immediately veer into silliness. With music, it’s harder to balance that. At least in the bands I was in. Do you think that your 1997 self playing in Sleater-Kinney could have ever predicted that 15 years later you’d be working on Portlandia? Never in my wildest imagination — which is good. It’s better to be surprised and to have moments that are unexpected. P
iillustration by Ward Jenkins
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