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december 7, 2012 >> Free WeeKLY >> thePhoenix.com
“He’s like luis buñuel and Jacques tati by way of Gumby.” p 118 Peter Keough on the czech animator Jan Švankmajer
on the cover illustration by jeff drew
This week AT ThePhOeNiX.COM :: sTePheN kiNg we interview the horror master about fear and politics :: bOsTON MusiC AwArds Video of the Phoenix’s infamous bathtub party, featuring al Polk, Moe Pope, and our be-robed music editor :: jAPANdrOids take over wfnX.com on sunday afternoon!
NEW mobilE sitE, iN bEtA: m.thephoenix. com facebook.com/ bostonphoenix
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THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 12.07.12 5
opinion :: feedback
From thephoenIx.com RE: “Saving thE PRoJo,” by DaviD SchaRfEnbERg (11.30.12)
David, you do realize that even if my newspaper made your proposed changes, there would be nobody to promote them to the public? I assume that you know by now that we’ve had no promotion department for over a year and that the person who used to promote our newspaper has been transferred to our cleaning department. (He cleaned my desk tonight.) So what good would it do our newspaper to make your proposed improvements when there’s nobody left to promote them? _“JouR nal REPoRtER”
RE: “Pot REvolution: aS maRiJuana lawS EaSE nationwiDE, mainE lEaDS — anD RESPonDS,” by DEiRDRE fulton (11.30.12) We shall defend God’s gift whatever the cost may be; we
shall smoke on the beaches; we shall smoke on college grounds; we shall smoke in the fields and in the streets; we shall smoke in the hills. We shall never surrender our stash! And, even if, which I do not for a moment believe, we were to remain subjugated and persecuted by these evil corporations, then our enlightened friends beyond the seas would carry on the struggle, until in God’s good time, the New World, with all its re-discovered hemp-based power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old. —Winstone Hempchill _“malcolmkylE”
coRREctionS
In Trevor Quirk’s piece on the Deer Island waste-treatment facility (“In search of Boston’s worst smell,” 11.30.12), the capacity of the bacteriafilled “digesters” was incorrectly reported: the digesters hold 3 million gallons, not 300 million gallons. Also, we incorrectly reported that Deer Island gets waste from 43 Massachusetts counties; in fact, the waste comes from 43 “communities.” In Peter Keough’s piece on filmmaker Jared Vincente and the Boston indie-filmmaking scene (“B Line to Hollywood,” 11.30.12), two people were misidentified: the lead actress in Vincente’s film, Day of Youth, is Ally Tully, not Tilly; and Vincente’s roommate’s name is Mel, not Al.
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6 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
BOND with friends this holiday season.
in this issue editorial
p 10
now & next
p 13
» This week, RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race luminary Jujubee enlightens us with tips on the perfect proposal (also, how to cry pretty). Other things we suspect Jujubee would know a thing or two about: how to outsmart a wily holiday buffet with sparkly stretch pants and how to out-Vogue Vogue at fashion week.
p 18
» the Sartorialist speaks p 14 » Popping the Question 101 p 14 » Style: Stretchy pants p 18
p 20
» The results have come back from the lab: election 2012’s campaign strategists are lost in a fog of meaningless data; the Boston City Council are mostly just trying to do us a solid; and Boyfriend Maker’s scary AI is made of people.
p 24
» laser orgy p 20 » talking Politics p 22 » Scream on p 24
p 58
holiday GUide
p 27
» If the holidays give you hives, consider us your EpiPen of seasonal wonder and delight. Behold, our annual gift guide.
The Langham, Boston 250 Franklin St., Boston 617.956.8765 bondboston.com 8 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
p 36
» armageddon-ready gifts p 28 » rock bios p 36 » Music box sets p 44 » dvd box sets p 48 » a very Big hurt holiday p 52 » Guiltless gifts p 56 » Ganja gifts p 58 » Foodie gifts p 60 » Best o’ the Bazaar Bizarre p 66
stretch pants photo by danny kim; rock bios illustration by amanda boucher; pipe photo by Janice checchio
voiceS
Ski GUide 2012-13 p 72
p 76
» listings and events p 74
p 92
Food & drink
p 89
» Hey, remember that time Marilyn Monroe ate all those matzo balls? Well, Israeli chef Gil Hovav sure does. Meanwhile, in craft-beer news: Night Shift Brewing makes their society debut — Barrel Society, that is. » Barroom breakups p 90 » 5 courses: Gil hovav p 92 » liquid: Beeradvocate p 96 » on the cheap: irashai p 98 » the week in food events p 99
artS & niGhtliFe
p 99
p 101
» You know what really puts us in the holiday spirit? Repeated viewings of Brazil. Oh, Terry Gilliam, you truly are the master of the cinematic warm fuzzies. For more cute overload: people being reincarnated as dogs, Swedish murder plots, and Heaven’s Gate (the band, not the doomsday cult).
Get seen photo by derek kouyoumJian
» Boston Fun list p 102 » welcome to roxbury p 104 » Boston city Guide p 106 » visual arts p 108 » Books p 112 » dance & classical p 114 » theater p 116 » Film p 118 » Music p 123 » nightlife p 135 » Get Seen p 136 » Back talk: Sean howe p 138
p 136
p 119
p 102
32 Newbury St. Boston, MA 02116 (857) 233-5016 www.bettiepageclothing.com THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 12.07.12 9
opinion :: Editorial
WrIte
vol. lXXvIII | no. 46
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
NEW MEDIA
sEniOR WEB pRODucER Maddy Myers sOciaL mEDia pRODucER Ariel Shearer
MARkETINg/pROMOTIONs
DiREcTOR OF maRKETing anD pROmOTiOns
Shawn McLaughlin
inTERacTivE maRKETing managER
Lindsey Mathison
pROmOTiOns cOORDinaTOR Nicholas Gemelli
CREATIvE gROup
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 Margo Dowlearn Flint, Howard Temkin aDvERTising OpERaTiOns managER Kevin Lawrence inTEgRaTED mEDia saLEs cOORDinaTOR
Adam Oppenheimer
gEnERaL saLEs managER Brian Russell DiREcTOR OF Dining saLEs Luba Gorelik TRaFFic cOORDinaTORs Colleen McCarthy,
Jonathan Caruso
cLassiFiED saLEs managER Melissa Wright RETaiL accOunT ExEcuTivEs Nathaniel Andrews,
Sara Berthiaume, Scott Schultz , Daniel Tugender, Chelsea Whitton
CIRCuLATION
ciRcuLaTiOn DiREcTOR James Dorgan ciRcuLaTiOn managER Michael Johnson
OpERATIONs
iT DiREcTOR Bill Ovoian FaciLiTiEs managER John Nunziato
FINANCE
DiREcTORs OF FinancE Scotty Cole, 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.
10 12.07.12 :: THE PHOENIX.cOm
THE CASE FOR JOHN KERRY It Is not that UnIted natIons Ambassador Susan Rice would make a bad secretary of state, but it is reasonable to ask, is Rice the best person for the job? The Phoenix does not think so. Despite it being against Massachusetts’s best interests, our view is that Senator John Kerry is about as perfect a candidate to be the nation’s top diplomat as can be found in either political or policy circles. President Obama appears to be playing a strange game in picking a successor to Hillary Clinton, who months ago said that she would vacate the secretary of state’s office early in 2013. Obama has said that he wants Rice to take Clinton’s place, but has stopped short of saying he will appoint her. At the same time, his White House has kept Kerry’s name in play as the logical choice should something change the president’s mind about Rice. And against this background, the White House has also floated Kerry’s name to be defense secretary. Kerry, for his part, is maintaining a wise silence. How Rice fares in the aftermath of the circus being staged by Senate Republicans over the Benghazi killings, including that of the US Libyan ambassador, is clearly part of Obama’s equation. But it need not be. There is no doubt that the GOP is trying to blame Rice for something that is not her responsibility. But at the same time, we share the view of the levelheaded and sensible Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine that Rice may not have botched her defense, but neither has Rice conducted herself with the vigor expected of a top cabinet officer. Filling the void Clinton will leave will be a challenge to whoever walks into the cavernous office in Foggy Bottom to take her place. It is not that Clinton has been a great strategist in the manner of Dean Acheson, who served President Truman, or Henry Kissinger, who aided President Nixon. Clinton’s appointment did, however, create a new paradigm for the office of secretary of state. It reinvigorated the idea that the secretary should be as politically sagacious as she is internationally sophisticated. Running a viable presidential campaign for your party’s nomination, as both Clinton and Kerry did,
immediately puts a public figure in a special political class. Winning the Democratic nomination, as Kerry did, and then coming within 2.4 percentage points of besting President George W. Bush is an even more bankable achievement. Kerry’s national political career is just the tip of a vast iceberg-sized Washington career. Kerry began his 27 years in the Senate by convincing Washington graybeards to launch the Iran-Contra hearings. And, as a member and now-chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has been at the center of American foreign policy ever since. Rice served eight distinguished years as a National Security Council staffer and in the sub-cabinet of President Clinton. And Rice has been a star during her four years as UN ambassador. We’ll take Obama’s word that she would be good secretary of state. But by any calculation, Kerry has the higher international profile and the broader range of hands-on experience. Why should America settle for second best?
pEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAsT
The eight-day Hamas-inspired war with Israel did nothing to promote the cause of Palestinian statehood. No sooner had the United States brokered a peace, than the United Nations voted to grant the Palestinian Liberation Organization permanent observer status, making it a diplomatic equal of the Vatican. The fact that the internationally recognized terrorists of Hamas have been voted the parliamentary majority by the Palestinian people seems beside the point to the UN. Giving the also-rans a seat in the international forum will do nothing to further the cause of a single, united Palestinian state. It will likely do it harm. As will creating more Israeli settlements in an especially sensitive area the West Bank, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged do. In the wake of the last several days, it is clear that the best hope for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians is for America to re-engage. But with the leadership of both sides so radically out of touch with reality, betting on the US to make a difference is — at the moment — an illusion. P
Filling the void Clinton will leave will be a challenge to whoever walks into the cavernous office in Foggy Bottom to take her place.
PhoTo: REuTERS
Stephen M. Mindich, Publisher & Chairman Everett Finkelstein, Chief Operating Officer Carly Carioli, Editor in Chief Peter Kadzis, Editor at Large
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The sarTorialisT speaks » rules from a queen » a record-breaking band
& NEXT
photo by danny kim
Smarty pants. Page 18.
thEphoEniX.com :: 12.07.12 13
Now & Next :: oN our radar
The SarTorialiST, irl Heads up, street-style connoisseurs: this week, Scott
Schuman, founder of the influential blog the Sartorialist, will finally pay a visit to the Boston area, hitting Wellesley College to speak and sign copies of his second book, The Sartorialist: Closer. Although it will be a short visit, Schuman says he likes to hit the streets to shoot wherever he goes (so be sure to look your best). Before his arrival, we chatted about fashion week, Tumblr, and his stealthy side. You now get 14 million page views per month. Does that make it harder to capture sincere, unguarded al c o l e e moments? I’m good at being stealthy. ThreeT-sTyl e sTre s we lov.com I’m not, you know, the biggest person ic g h blo bostonc r.com in the world, so I’m very good at d o n u beyo sandliq yle.com sneaking around quietly. For a few book streetst on photographs that I want to be more bost posed, set images, I think it’s actually now a little bit easier because people are more relaxed and excited to have their picture taken. . . . But sometimes nervousness and self-consciousness can be very sweet in a photograph. As a blogger myself, I sometimes cringe when I stumble upon my earlier photographs and posts. Does that happen to you? I’ve always thought of what I do as a sort of personal diary, photographically and through my comments as well, and I never feel bad because I understand who I was at the time. . . . Now my photographs are much better, but I think the only way you can see that they’ve evolved is by keeping the other ones up. Do you actually read the comments on your blog? I have two assistants, and we go through the comments. The comments are very important. With the popularity of Tumblr and a lot of the blogs going in that Tumblr way, where there’s not as much input or comments or questions, it’s just a flow of images. Rather than go away from comments, we’re going after them more. . . . But writing doesn’t come as easily for me; it takes a lot more for me to sit down and think of what I want to say. It seems like you started this whole wave of people who dress, especially during fashion week, just to get photographed by you. I’ve been going to shows for a long time, even before the Sartorialist, and the truth is, it’s fashion! That’s why I knew that fashion week was a place I could go to take pictures, because people have always been dressing up. Editors dressing up to impress other editors, Vogue trying to out-Vogue Harper’s Bazaar — there’s always that element. I think that the outer world now has a little bit of a better sense of what fashion week is like. It was always a big dress-up parade.
_Ren ata C eRt o -Wa R e
Schuman will be at the Alumnae Hall Auditorium at Wellesley College (106 Central St, Wellesley) for a free public talk on Monday, December 10, from 7 to 9 pm.
14 12.07.12 :: tHepHOeniX.COM
by the numbers
8
Greatest number of cities played by a band in 24 hours, a record currently held by the Flaming Lips
You’re Doing it Wrong: getting engageD
Don't worry. Our expert is here to help.
12
number of cities local duo Bang! Bros. will attempt to play on 12/12/12
6 am
time they plan to kick off their busy day with a show in Quincy, followed by gigs in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and more; find the full schedule at tinyurl. com/csyx299
Joy Wilson
amy traverso
<3
Weeks you have left to stress over gifts for your parents, significant others, and great-aunt Hildy
It’s easy to fall in love with Jujubee. The Boston-bred drag star just wrapped RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race, the first installment of the reality competition to pit cream-of-the-crop past contestants against one another. She gave good face, served a little shade (that’s queens’ English for “talked smack”), and proved her loyalty: when forced to “lip sync for her life” against a best friend, Jujubee delivered a tear-soaked performance that compelled judges to let both advance to the “final four.” On last week’s Drag Race finale, Jujubee didn’t sashay away with the crown — but she did have a shiny new ring on her finger. This season, Airline Inthyrath, as the diva is known once the duct tape comes off, received a proposal via a video message from Christopher, his boyfriend of seven years. (Cue: ugly-cry.) Since the holiday season is a particularly popular one for marriage proposals, we grabbed Jujubee for some straight talk on how to court your queen, pop the question, and seal the deal — no duct tape required. _SC ott KeaRnan
40
On knOWing He’S “tHe One”: “there’s a feeling of balance. you’re not fighting for attention; you finish each other’s sentences and have the same outlook on life. Do polar opposites fall in love? sure, but I think it’s rare.”
9
On preventing An “i DOn’t”: “If you’re one of those crazies who does it in the middle of a basketball game, they really can’t say no. Or take them up in a hot-air balloon.”
number of small-batch food and drink makers hitting the artists for Humanity epiCenter for eat Boutique’s Holiday Market on December 9
On tHe perkS Of tele-COurtSHip: “sometimes when you’re with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you’re quiet for hours without realizing it. On the phone, you’re forced to talk and constantly discover something new about each other. We were long distance at first, and I was basically able to have a two-year interview process with my victim.”
number of cookbook authors — including culinary queens amy traverso and Joy Wilson — who’ll be on hand to sell and sign their books. tickets $7 :: eatboutiquemarkets.com
On Crying pretty: “Don’t move around too much. Let the tears do their thing, and keep holding yourself well. Posture is everything.” On piCking tHe perfeCt ring: “the bigger the better, girl: go for one huge-ass rock.” On WHetHer A WOMAn SHOulD prOpOSe tO Her MAn: “I’d still rather see a man get on his knee for a woman and propose. because she is a goddess — and he, he’s only a man.”
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Now & Next :: oN our radar
JoLLy GooD oDDS
fresh ink
’Tis the season for letting it ride on the Patriots, reveling in riches when they cover the spread, and wincing when they don’t. The season for cursing out the Celtics — for manic second guessing, hand wringing, and placing regrettably parlayed bets. Oh yeah, and it’s also the Christmas season. That too. Can’t forget about that. As such, a UK-based betting website has combined two of our favorite seasonal activities: hearty consumerism and gambling. A quick scan of ladbrokes.com reveals tempting opportunities to take a stab at predicting this season’s top-selling book and video game, plus the number-one charting single come December 25. Here’s a rundown of the favorites at print time: Meals in Minutes: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast by Jamie Oliver (odds: 3/10), Call of Duty: Black Ops II (odds: 1/10), and the Hillsborough charity single (odds: 3/10). Now, if you’re not familiar with betting odds, this is where we should recommend against biting on any of these picks (not only because such gambling is immoral, but also because you wouldn’t win any money). Rather, we’d suggest taking a step back, assessing some of the long shots from an Anglophile perspective, and then reconsidering your picks. For example, we’re sure Jamie Oliver is a popular guy, and nothing says thoughtless last-minute gift like a cookbook — but they do realize that J.K. Rowling has released a book in the past two months, right? And at 14/1, a wager on the lady who fucking invented Harry Potter wouldn’t be misguided. Also, while I’m not entirely sure what the Hillsborough charity single is, the Spice Girls are sitting at a ripe 33/1. If there’s anything I’ve learned during my 26 years on earth, it’s never to bet against the Spice Girls. Anyway, happy gambling (as if you needed another stress in your life to worry about). _M iCHa eL C . Wa L S H
A sexy fireman calendar? Please. These days that’s about as antiquated as the concept of the prim, buttoned-up spinster librarian. Proof of both is the 2013 Tattooed Youth Librarians of Massachusetts Calendar, a muchbuzzed-about 18-month, full-color calendar featuring tattooed members (15 gals and lone one guy) of the Massachusetts Library Association. None look like the type to shush you while glowering over the top of a pair of smudged bifocals. “There are still a lot of stereotypes about librarians, so many people are surprised that so many of us have tattoos,” says Sharon Colvin, chair of the MLA’s Youth Services Section and one of the inked-up librarians featured in the calendar. “I think there’s still a mystique surrounding librarians. A lot of people have no idea what we do and make a lot of assumptions about us. In reality, we’re a diverse, dynamic group.” The mostly lit-inspired body art featured in the calendar — proceeds from which benefit the MLA’s professional, advocacy, and legislative programs — runs the gamut from e.e. cummings quotes to images of Max from Where the Wild Things Are. Says Colvin, “We wanted to spark some good conversation about libraries and librarians.” Mission accomplished. _aLexanD Ra CavaLLo
WorD of the Week
Estelle’s
16 12.07.12 :: tHepHOeniX.COM
Want to oust frank the firefighter from your cubicle? you can order your own 2013 tattooed youth librarians Calendar ($21) at mla.memberlodge. org/2013calendar.
n. 1: A bygone Boston restaurant and nightspot that once brought in jazz talents like George Benson, Shirley Scott, and Willis Jackson. 2. A new Southern-tinged restaurant from chef Brian Poe and restaurateur Gordon Wilcox that opened on December 1 at 782 Tremont Street in the South End, serving up bacon hushpuppies, fried shrimp po’ boys, and red-velvet moon pies a block away from where its namesake once stood.
O R I G I N A L LY C R A F T E D F O R T H E H O L I D AY S
Named after the Holiday star, Stella Artois was first brewed as a holiday beer as a gift to the people of Leuven, Belgium. A golden lager in contrast to the popular dark ales of the time, its brilliant amber color illuminated holiday celebrations for generations thereafter. “Artois” acknowledges Sebastian Artois, the master brewer and owner of the brewer y.
StellaArtois.com Always Enjoy Responsibly.
© 2012 Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A., Stella Artois® Beer, Imported by Import Brands Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Now & Next :: style PARK nt uRA s e R tABAR & ridge
b St, Cam 59 JFK 91.9851 or :: 617.4 ge ambrid parKC m .Co
Hold tHe Stuffing B y Re n ata C e Rt o-WaR e @scorpiondisco
Well, you did it — you polished off an entire pumpkin pie during Sunday Night Football, and the button of your pants has jumped ship. Keep your food baby in check and stay stylish in some super-trendy leggings (really!) and dressy workout gear (yes, that’s a thing) so you can hit the final round of holiday eat-a-thons without looking like you raided Mama June’s closet. We hit the cozy armchairs at PARK in Harvard Square to put some surprisingly chic stretchy pants to the test. Just one rule: absolutely no buttons allowed.
rag & bone “Samantha” biKer JaCKet, $625 at tHe tanneRy; lululemon red “Wunder under” pant, $82 at CoRe de vie; plaid platFormS, $295 at CyntHia RoWley; headband, $80 at alan BilzeRian
reiSS “Carrie SparKle” Sequined leggingS, $180 at Reiss
lululemon heather gray and red “Wunder under” pant, $101.20 at CoRe de vie
alan bilzerian blaCK leather leggingS, $1600 at alan BilzeRian
WHeRe to SHoP Alan Bilzerian :: 34 Newbury St, Boston :: 617.536.1001 Core de Vie :: 40 Charles St, Boston :: 617.720.0411 Cynthia Rowley :: 164 Newbury St, Boston :: 617.587.5240 Reiss :: 132 Newbury St, Boston :: 617.262.5800 The Tannery :: 39 Brattle St, Cambridge :: 617.491.1811 VIRA :: 107 Charles St, Boston :: 617.367.0305
stylist and producer: Renata CeRto-WaRe :: photographer: danny Kim of Visceral photography :: hair stylist: evan deane of Bradley & diegel :: Makeup artist: emily Higgins of eMilysMakeupdesigns.coM :: Model: maeve stieR of Model cluB
18 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.COm
now & next :: voices Laser Orgy
We have met the boyfriend, and he is us B y Ma d d y Myers
TwO weeks agO, references to an iOS game called Boyfriend Maker began flooding my Twitter feed. I keep my Following list stocked with smart lady games developers and critics, all of whom had their tongues firmly set in their cheeks while playing this particular title. The game, made by Japanese developer 36 You Games, allows you to chat with a virtual “boyfriend” character. The game features pink sparkles, cookiemaking mini-games, a synthesized violin soundtrack, and a selection of anime-inspired boyfriend avatars to choose from, each of whom has a porcelain face and rows of outfits that would make Justin Bieber jealous. Oh, and, this game got banished forever from the iOS app store last week. Why? Because the star of Boyfriend Maker is a terrible boyfriend. He often calls you by the wrong name, and he will keep spitting out more incorrect names if you press him. If you send him sexy messages, he might respond in kind . . . or he might text back rape jokes, say that he’s gay, or that he’s 20 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm
Had 36 You Games intended for their virtual guy to be a jerk? Is this what they thought women wanted?
celibate. He’s unpredictable, he’s ignorant, and he’s not a good listener. As Boyfriend Maker gained notoriety, its users wondered to each other over Twitter and on the nascent Boyfriend Maker fan Tumblr (boyfriendmaker.tumblr. com) whether the game’s programmers had written all of this dialogue. Had they intended for their virtual guy to be a jerk? Is this what the game’s developers thought women wanted? Video-game music composer and audio designer Jaelyn Nisperos (@chibitech) posited on Twitter that Boyfriend Maker bore striking similarity to an interactive AI chat program called SimSimi (simsimi.com), which “learns” based on responses from users. I asked the Boyfriend Maker Twitter account whether he and “SimSimi” were related; he quipped back that SimSimi “is my cousin, twice removed.” (Boyfriend Maker may not be too bright in-game, but whoever manages his Twitter seems to understand human comedy.) That’s the closest we have to confirmation that Boyfriend Maker is,
in fact, a learning AI, not just a dating sim that comes with a limited set of predetermined dialogue options. This explains a lot. Boyfriend Maker knows the names of famous fan-fiction pairings. He can link me to “his” DeviantArt page of sexy furry art (it’s not actually his, of course — but someone gave him this link). And, of course, he can go toe-to-toe with the darkest pedophilic threads of 4Chan. Boyfriend Maker is not so much a fantasy lover as he is the Internet, through a glass darkly. It’s unclear why anyone thought this game would function as a romance rather than as a terrifying, everchanging art installation. What’s more, the poor Apple employee that approved Boyfriend Maker for the iOS store apparently didn’t perform rigorous testing on this innocent-looking virtual boy’s ability to sext back with gusto, so the game came listed with an age rating of 4+. Suffice it to say, that rating does not fit the contents, and Boyfriend Maker got banned from the app store on November 26. The strangest part of the rise and demise of Boyfriend Maker, to me, is how many progressive and feminist gamers (in other words, how much of my Twitter feed) love this game. Our virtual boyfriends’ personalities were our worst nightmares. If professional writers had included this kind of dialogue in a game on purpose, we would be up in arms about it. Perhaps Boyfriend Maker’s AI nature and unassuming anime features make it easier to laugh off his insensitivity and forget that his personality is constructed by us. After all, Boyfriend Maker is only repeating what we told him to say. I couldn’t help but wonder, as I played, whether we could beat the system with enough volume. Since this chat client is one that learns based on input and response, then if we all treat Boyfriend Maker like a human, perhaps he would someday behave like one . . . even though his head has been disproportionately filled with other people’s garbage. I mean, even though he’s a terrible boyfriend, you would be too if you’d taken all that crap. I guess that’s just the same old story: maybe, just maybe, if we say the right words enough times, we can change him. P
boyfriendmaker.tumblr.com
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now & next :: voices Talking PoliTics
Lessons Learned? B y D av iD S. B ern St e i n
Team obama: david axelrod
lasT Thursday, four top strategists of the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaigns were lured to Cambridge to enlighten us about lessons we should take away from their experience. But a mysterious and perfectly timed power outage forced the host, the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, to cancel the event, which was to include Team Obama’s David Axelrod and Jim Messina, and the Romney posse’s Eric Fehrnstrom and Stuart Stevens. I take the blackout as a sign that the universe wants these smart and savvy yet secluded and out-of-touch campaign elites to hold their tongues — and learn some lessons from what ordinary people have been trying, collectively, to tell them: that voters know more about the country’s mood than the campaign strategists do. In the run-up to the November elections, the campaigns lunged at every bit of data the instant it appeared, in vain attempts to convince the voting public that the economy was either great or horrible.
People knew, long before pols and pollsters, that Obama’s 2010 “summer of recovery” was a sham.
Team romney: Eric Fehrnstrom
None of it mattered — not to voters, anyway. Surveys showed, and voting confirmed, that people were feeling the recovery gathering steam as the 2012 election approached. And we now learn, through new revised data, that the economy was in fact doing much better than these experts believed. Similarly, ex-post-facto data confirmed that the economy tanked far worse than experts believed prior to the 2008 election; and people knew, long before pols and pollsters — and the above-named panelists — caught on, that Obama’s 2010 “summer of recovery” was a sham. Nonsense multiplied is just annoying nonsense. The billions of dollars spent by the campaigns — and their loosely connected allies — went overwhelmingly into bigger and bigger placements of television ads in limited media markets. More than one million TV ads had aired by late October, according to Wesleyan University’s Media Project, the vast majority in 15 markets,
targeting nine swing states. Average residents of those states were seeing some individual ads 20 times a week. Most of them were attacks, often unfair ones. And they did very little good — just look at the Romney efforts. Team Romney’s attempts to convince Ohio voters that Obama tried to kill the auto industry only seemed to backfire. And attempts to sell Romney to Hispanic voters in Florida, Colorado, and elsewhere, with radio ads not touting actual policies but instead demonstrating that one of his sons speaks Spanish, resulted in an even worse election-day drubbing than expected. In fact, much of the Romney campaign seemed to be about writing off unsupportive people, as seen in his secretly recorded “47 percent” speech, and in GOP Voter-ID laws. All of which simply galvanized those targeted poor and minority voters to go to the polls in unexpectedly high numbers. One of the few things that actually did seem to have some effect was the enormous Obama operation that organized massive numbers of volunteers to go out knocking on doors, asking their neighbors to vote for the president’s re-election. But come Election Day, the only mandate people gave is to stop being jackasses. Americans are united in their disapproval of the past two years of their elected officials pointing fingers while Rome burns. But voters didn’t choose to end that — instead, they returned the very same divided government. And polls suggest that’s exactly the result they wanted. Consider: after watching the utter failures of the budget negotiations, the debt-ceiling battle, and the congressional “super committee,” Americans sent the same fractious crew back to tackle the socalled “fiscal cliff” negotiations. Why? Because, outside the most ideologically vehement partisans, most Americans don’t favor one detailed set of policies or another. They don’t even think they know the best ones. And they don’t want anyone who does think they have all the answers — left or right — to have an unchecked path to implement them. P
IS MENINO CALLING IT QUITS? Pundits at the Globe and WBUR certainly seem to think so. Bernstein weighs in at thePhoenix.com/talkingpolitics.
22 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.COM/TALkINGPOLITICS
photos: reuters
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Weed the PeoPle B y C hr is Fa r a on e
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DESpitE thE hub’S cherished tradition of disparaging the Boston City Council for its weak authority, the truth is that even its laziest members hustle to improve our community. Some may threaten public education by championing charter schools, but otherwise they’re generally decent servants who strive to keep Boston booming. At the body’s last weekly meeting alone, councilors addressed such critical qualityof-life issues as voter accessibility and clean drinking water. There won’t be any ticker-tape parades for this stuff, but it’s important work, and most of the time, the council executes it efficiently. So it should come as little surprise that Boston councilors appear to be approaching medical weed just as sensibly. At that same meeting last Wednesday, District 5 councilor Rob Consalvo called for a hearing — to take place no later than December 10 — at which
There’s a seemingly infinite number of questions that must be answered on the short road to dispensaries.
stakeholders can voice ideas and pitch parameters for dispensary placement. Consalvo says he has no opinion on the merits of the new ganja law. He seems sincere in that position, and also in his comments that the primary municipal concern, and therefore the council’s, is zoning. There’s a seemingly infinite number of questions that must be answered on the short road to dispensaries — how many outfits there will be; do vendors have to grow their own wares; what constitutes a 60-day supply; how much will licensing and operating fees run? Most of those decisions, though, are left to the Department of Public Health, which has until May 1, 2013 — four months after the statute passed via Question 3 goes into effect on New Year’s Day — to set such measures. The only real role of towns and cities is to figure out where patients will be able
to buy, or not to buy, prescription pot. Again — it’s all about zoning. Several municipalities outside of Boston have already failed that task, and neglected to follow the will of voters who backed Question 3. Savages in Wakefield and Reading banned dispensaries outright, while town meeting voters in Saugus, Melrose, and Peabody are also considering such antediluvian actions. These enclaves aren’t just denying their residents access to herbal remedies; their tenuous restrictions in this matter will further impede state legislators and health department policy makers, who already face massive hurdles, from implementing smart and streamlined formalities about who can carry what and where. Even juxtaposed with more draconian corners of the Commonwealth, it seems ridiculous to praise Boston city councilors for adhering to a binding referendum. In their case, there’s an extra-stiff mandate to embrace the law responsibly, since nearly 70 percent of Boston voters pulled in favor of medical weed (as opposed to 63 percent statewide). It’s also true that someone at City Hall should have thought about dispensaries ahead of time. But now that it’s down to the wire, the council can hopefully count on public support from a city with more than enough scholars, legal advocates, and healthcare professionals to address medical cannabis head-on. Moving forward, councilors will soon parse how dispensaries are zoned in Boston. Whether the operations are lumped with strip clubs, placed in hospitals, or assigned their own category, that process should be simple enough, so long as it doesn’t spiral into an endless commission of impact studies. Following his District 5 colleague’s proposal for the pot hearing, at-large Councilor Steve Murphy told the chamber, “You can lead, follow, or get out of the way. The voters have led on this issue. Now Councilor Consalvo has put us back in the lead.” So long as they don’t bogart that shit, Boston should be up and smoking in no time. P
Shit BoSton CopS tweet: Get the latest development on the increasingly curious case of the Boston police patrolmen’s Association newsletter, the Pax Centurion, at thephoenix.com/phlog.
24 12.07.12 :: thephoeniX.Com
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THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 12.07.12 27
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ou still haven’t started your holiday shopping? Don’t bother. That pesky Mayan prophecy says the world will end on 12/21/12 anyway, right? But just in case they’re wrong, here are some apocalypse-appropriate ideas that’ll come in handy if doomsday happens — but still make cool gifts if Christmas comes and goes. KeeP cAlM AND cArry ON BANDAges :: $6 :: Even if we weren’t
sick of seeing it emblazoned across journals, posters, and Internet memes, that “Keep Calm and Carry On” mantra would be as comforting as a fortune cookie in a time of actual crisis. But this stocking stuffer actually offers some practical help for minor scrapes — if not a nuclear holocaust. ›› Davis Squared, 409 Highland Ave, Somerville :: 617.666.6700
the teeNAge APOcAlyPse trilOgy :: Adolescence
is an interesting time. One minute you’re so angst-ridden, it feels like the world is going to end; the next, you’re too apathetic to give a fuck if it does. So it makes sense that indie filmmaker Gregg Araki dubbed his trio of comingof-age flicks — Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere — his “Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy.” Set in a psychedelic, grindhouseinspired vision of LA, the trilogy is loaded with sofucking-’90s ensemble casts (Rose McGowan! Parker Posey!), kinky sex, hyper-real violence, queer club kids, and house/shoegaze soundtracks that have us reliving the good ole dysfunctional days.
DANce PArty MAssAcre t-shirts :: $21.95 :: Horror movies have
imagined versions of Armageddon at the hand of every conceivable evil — zombies, aliens, gigantic city-crushing ants. But the moral of the story is always the same: “Live While You Can,” “Face Your Fears,” and “Only the Good Die Young.” At least, those are among the takeaways slapped on tees by Dance Party Massacre, a South Boston–based apparel line that draws inspiration from the fight-the-reaper/party-on spirit of scary-movie heroes. ›› dancepartymassacre.com
FUcK sNOw glOBe :: $65 :: “Ho ho ho” doesn’t convey the proper sentiment for the end times. Now “FUCK” — that’s more like it. But this snow globe is no vulgar novelty toy; it was designed by prolific installation-art duo Ligorano & Reese. And it adroitly captures a misanthropic view of the holidays, a time when no Earth-ending cataclysm could be worse than another Christmas dinner with asshole in-laws. ›› The ICA Store, 100 Northern Ave, Boston :: 617.478.3104 >> doomSday on p 30
28 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/gIfTguIdE
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HOLIDAY :: GIftPOcALYPse PeANUt POcKetKNiFe NecKlAce :: $36 :: You know those
dystopian sci-fi fantasies where the hero battles bad guys using an arm that’s been replaced by a machine gun? (Or maybe a flamethrower!) It looks cool on the big screen; for a cocktail party, not so much. This peanut-shaped pocketknife necklace is a more fashionable accessory: cute enough to wear out with your date, sharp enough to take him down if he turns out to be an Earth-invading cyborg. ›› Magpie, 416 Highland Ave, Somerville :: 617.623.3330
BrewMeister ArMAgeDDON :: £60 :: Whether bracing for doomsday or just
pre-gaming for the annual company holiday party, any craft-beer-loving pal will welcome this Armageddon with open arms. Created by the UK-based Brewmeister, which ships to the States, it’s billed as the world’s strongest beer. At 65 percent ABV, the new brew is meant to be sipped, savored, and shared with friends like a fine whiskey. Hoppy, malty, and slightly sweet, it’s an appealing way to get annihilated. ›› brewmeister.co.uk
30 12.07.12 › THEPHOENIX.cOm/gIfTguIdE
leAtherMAN sKeletOOl :: $90 :: Picture it: it’s
12/22/12 — the day after. Your fallout shelter has collapsed, your non-perishable foods are destroyed, and you need a single tool that can help you do everything from whittle a house out of a tree stump to hunt and kill something edible. Enter: the Leatherman Skeletool, an all-in-one contraption includes a blade, pliers, wire cutters, and other handy survivalist must-haves. ›› Ball and Buck, 144 Newbury St, Boston :: 617.742.1776 >> doomSday on p 34
peanuT pocKeTKnife phoTo by janice checchio
<< doomSday from p 28
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glOOM :: $24.95 :: Remember the game of LIFE, with its false promises of a steady salary, retirement at Millionaire Acres, and a car full of obedient blue and pink plastic-peg children? We call bullshit. Meet the nihilist’s answer, Gloom. Like a cardgame incarnation of The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Gloom aims to subject your misfit family to as much tragedy and violence as possible before the sweet relief of death. The suckier your life, the higher your score. ›› Eureka, 1349 Beacon St, Brookline :: 617.738.7352
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gloom game phoTo by janice checchio
FrONt POrch clAssics BOwliNg ZOMBies gAMe :: $20 :: Between Walking Dead episodes and real-life horror stories about bath-salt-sniffing psychos, we’re not convinced that a zombie apocalypse isn’t imminent. The CDC website even uses the prospect of a zombie pandemic as a “fun new way” to teach emergency preparedness. But it’s more fun to train using this bowling game. The idea is to knock out the (wooden) brain eaters without hitting the damsel in distress. Consider it target practice, soldier. ›› REI, 401 Park Dr, Boston :: 617.236.0746
holiday guide :: Rock Bios
Bipolar Babies Leonard Cohen and Rod Stewart in misery and delight
“e
very night and every morn,” wrote William Blake one afternoon in 1803, “some to misery are born.” Then he sucked his pen, admired the fearful symmetry of his wife’s bottom, and added, “Every morn and every night/Some are born to sweet delight.” Now Blake could be very progressive — he liked sitting in his garden in the nude, for example — but here we find him taking a nicely medieval view, an anti-modern position. Mental health? Fiddlesticks. Joy (or sadness) is your estate and inheritance; sadness (or joy) was appointed for you in a room at the back end of Time. So flush those meds, my melancholy baby. Maniac, fire your shrink. Lie down instead (or get up) with fate.
36 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
The Blakester would be delighted, I think, by the almost-simultaneous appearance in our bookstore windows of Rod: The Autobiography by Rod Stewart and I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons. Behold, he might say, the twin trajectories of the human soul. This man has a vocation for pleasure, for the lighter states of life; that man is a gifted depressive. This man loves the applause; that man is troubled by it. And both of them, in their way, are doing it on behalf of the species. There’s Rod Stewart with his beautiful, fur-lined
>> music Bios on p 38
illustration by amanda boucher
B y J a mes Pa r k e r
holiday guide :: Rock Bios
Musical literary stocking stuffers
The choices for books by and about rock stars are almost endless this season. Here are a few. How Music Works :: By David Byrne :: McSweeney’s :: 352 pages :: $32 :: Less a tell-all autobio than a textbook, this is Talking Head Byrne’s treatise on what he has gleaned from four decades in the music business. It’s divided into four sections that journey from the existential questions at the center of music to the heart of darkness that is the business, with a few autobiographical passages amid the much lengthier ruminations on the nature of sound and the culture of performance. Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson :: By Randall Sullivan :: Grove Press :: 704 pages :: $35 :: Here’s the epic dysfunctional saga of America’s most famous child-abuse victim and the family and fame that he couldn’t escape. Sullivan makes a page-turner out of the stations of the cross that young MJ passes through, from a childhood of prodigious talent to a stunted adulthood of drugs, surgery, and fortunes gained and squandered, all in a fruitless search for an ideal of purity and innocence. Waging Heavy Peace :: By Neil Young :: Blue Rider Press, 512 pages :: $30 :: As rambling as a Crazy Horse jam, and at times as piercing and shrill as Young’s most ragged electric guitar solo, and as personal as his most intimate acoustic number, the book allows this rock elder to let loose on a range of topics, from the sadness of lost friends to his rage at the inadequacy of the MP3 to the joy of model-train-ing with his son. Who I Am: A Memoir :: By Pete Townshend :: Harper, 544 pages :: $32.50 :: A pained and cutting extended diatribe from a man who is both arrogant enough to have elevated rock to the esteem of opera, and self-loathing enough to have turned his childhood hurt into pop tunes. Townshend is candid almost to a fault, letting the reader in on a lifetime of insecurity. Townshend and the Who turned their rough edges and sour personas into the key selling point of their band, their drug-fueled anarchy making their music all the more poignant.
_Dan iel B r o c k m a n
38 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
<< music Bios from p 36
dustbin of a voice and his drowsed-withexcess eyes: you might not be able to date Britt Ekland, or stay up all night snorting cocaine with the Go-Go’s, but rest assured that he can — and he’ll make the most of it too. And there’s Leonard Cohen, groaning like a cello in the burned-out bedchamber, his pain unassuaged by any number of beauties; but he’s interceding for you with God, and his lines are plumbing depths you didn’t know you had. Speaking of plumbing, that’s what Rod’s dad used to do: he was a plumber in North London, a transplanted Scotsman who sired five children, the last and most attention-seeking of whom was little Rodney. Leonard was born into affluence in 1930s Montreal, of a stern and priestly caste: both his grandfathers were rabbis. Rod spent much of his adolescence perfecting, and then maintaining, his exquisite ragged bouffant, or “bouff”: “Picture me if you will, then, carefully dressed and styled for the night, accompanied by my mates, and standing down in Archway Station as the train thunders in — and all of us cowering into the wall, with our arms up over our heads, trying to protect our bouffs from getting toppled by the wind.” Leonard in his teens was reading Lorca, an encounter described by Simmons as “the Big Bang of Leonard, the moment when poetry, music, sex and spiritual longing collided and fused in him for the first time.” Roaming through Lorca’s gypsy dreamscape, Leonard engaged a young man to teach him Spanish guitar: the young man gave him four lessons and then committed suicide. The primary difference between these two books — you may have already noticed — is that Rod is in the first person and I’m Your Man is in the third. So Rod speaks in his own hale and witty voice, while Leonard is a character called “Leonard” — observed, remarked and commented upon, creeping about with his briefcase under the thick lens of biography. Again, this accords with their distinct Blakeian roles. Leonard rewards analysis; Rod repels it. Leonard, in his depth and his darkness, must be gone into. He is doomed to be the object of a thousand academic/poetic pursuits and exegeses (from about 1965 on, there’s always somebody making a documentary about him). Rod, on the other hand, is the uninspected asswiggle of subjectivity itself. They were very potent, both of them, in their prime. Rod with the Faces in 1971 was a fine combination of thrust and delicacy, hooter and bouff, phallically arced at the mike, shoulders high and jacket shiny, eyes closed, elbows working to squeeze out that top note — “Mother, >> music Bios on p 40
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holiday guide :: Rock Bios
“Leonard rewards analysis; Rod repels it. Leonard, in his depth and his darkness, must be gone into. . . . Rod, on the other hand, is the uninspected ass-wiggle of subjectivity itself.” << music Bios from p 38
don’t you recognize your son?” His voice was bawdy and ages-old, a prodigy of sexual exhaustion. And you had to love the Faces — Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane, the other two — their brotherly bar-band wallop, their utter lack of Satanic pretension or Tolkien-flavored twiddling, the proto-punk gusto with which they bashed through a song like “Borstal Boys.” (“Cell block five, how I hate Bromide/With your coffee in the morning makes you so sterile.”) Friendship flowed from the stage like booze. “Put simply,” remembers Rod, “in the crudest terms, and as everyone in the rock’n’roll business knows, the rule is as follows: in bands there’s always one cunt who no one gets on with. In the glory days of the Faces, this time-honored truth simply didn’t apply.” Leonard played the Isle of Wight Festival in the summer of 1970, wandering on stage with his band at 4
am, after days of riot and recrimination, and taking a lovely pilled-out swan dive into “Bird on the Wire” — “Like...a... BUURRHHHD. . . . ” The kids were smoldering and confused, and Leonard at that moment was their hero, their rumpled tutor in crisis, hunched into his safari suit like a little Indiana Jones of the spirit. (“He was calm,” one of the band members tells Simmons, “because of the Mandrax.”) Slowly and carefully, in his deep voice, he told them about his friend Nancy. “It was in 1961, she went into the bathroom and blew her head off with her brother’s shotgun. [Pause] In those days there was not this kind of horizontal support. [Pause] She was right where all of you are now but there was no one else around.” Horizontal support. What an image, totally Cohen-esque, a double vision: of Love laterally enlarging itself, and of these campfires of disaffection before him, the sour sprawl of hippiedom across the hillsides.
roD: The auToBiograPhy By Rod Stewart crown Archetype 400 pages :: $27
And if the kids were spreading out horizontally, Leonard would keep himself on the vertical axis, in the gulf, positioned acutely between Creation’s need and the poured-down grace of God. “Please make me empty,” prayed a voice in his novel Beautiful Losers. “If I’m empty then I can receive, if I can receive it means it comes from somewhere outside of me, if it comes from outside of me I’m not alone!” Women flung themselves at him, ministered to him. He was incurable. Rod’s mood, on the other hand, could be mended quite easily. When on-theroad ennui set in with the Faces, the solution was straightforward: mayhem. “Somehow,” he musingly recalls in Rod, “one found that nothing passed a dull afternoon in Pittsburgh quite so efficiently as stuffing a lift full of mattresses and sending it down to the lobby.” Here and elsewhere one notes the influence of P.G. Wodehouse — that saint >> music Bios on p 42
Giving makes you feel
good.
When you donate to The Goodwill SToreS or contribute to the Goodwill Annual Fund, you support Goodwill’s job training, career services, and youth programs.
www.goodwillmass.org/giving Allston-Brighton • Boston • Boston Outlet Store • Cambridge Hyannis • Jamaica Plain • Quincy • Somerville • South Attleboro South Boston • Worcester 40 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
2 07 E n d i co t t St B o sto n N o r t h E n d , M A
6 1 7- 5 2 3 - 5 9 5 9 w w w. m a s s i m i n o s b o s t o n . c o m
holiday guide :: Rock Bios << music Bios from p 40
of levity — on Rod’s prose. Rock’n’roll debauches are rendered in the spirit of Bertie Wooster on Boat Race Night. Disturbed, for instance, by the large hole that has appeared in Ron Wood’s septum, the Faces decide to rethink their policy vis-à-vis drugs. “One idea, clearly, would have been to stop taking cocaine. Another idea, though — and for some reason this seemed to appeal to us . . . more — was to find another way to take it that didn’t involve the nose.” (Result: homemade capsules taken anally.) If I had both men in my power, I’d make Leonard do a version of Rod’s “Hot Legs,” and Rod cover Leonard’s “Chelsea Hotel #2.” “You told me again you preferred handsome men/But for me you would make an exception.” Can’t you hear Rod making his rueful way through those lines, wispily stressing the sibilants, nuzzling us with the last soft shreds of his voice? And then Leonard, in the special thrill of his monotony, singing, “Well, you can love me tonight if you want/But in the morning make sure you’re gone”? I think it would work. “Chelsea Hotel #2,” interestingly, was written about Janis Joplin, who gave Leonard head on the unmade bed, but was too much for Rod: “[She] was always chasing Ronnie and me around the place,
trying to shag one or the other of us. . . .We were terrified of her and would hide behind the potted plant in the lobby.” Punk rock was unkind to Rod, and looking back he thinks he can see why. “While punks were dressing in ripped T-shirts and bondage trousers patched with beer towels, you would have found me in my Rudolf Nureyev phase: harem pants, silk slippers, silver clips round the ankles, bit of a sash going on at the waist.” The unkindness was merely cultural, though: 1978’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” was a monster hit for Rod, while also setting a new bar, in the video, for what he calls his “buttock work.” (The ass, Rod believes, is a “powerfully communicative tool.”) After this hot-pink Everest of solo success, Rod has little choice but to ramble genially downhill. I’m Your Man, by contrast, and quite counter to the general rule of rock biography, gets more and more interesting as it goes on. Late in life, Leonard ascends to a Buddhist monastery on Mount Baldy in California, is up there for five years, becomes a Zen monk, and almost succeeds in abandoning himself to the “charitable void.” Then he is stricken by unaccountable depression — I confess I panicked for humanity at
this point — drops his Zen master, Roshi Joshu Sasaki, and flies off to Mumbai to seek the counsel of a superevolved Hindu. And while this is going on, his accountant nicks all his money. Ah, Leonard! He emerges, somehow freed from the ancient pain, speculating that “the brain cells associated with anxiety can die as you get older.” Then he has to go on tour again to make some more money. “Sweet delight . . . endless night.” They turn, they turn, and change places. Isn’t that one of the worst things about depression — the sensation that a current of misery is being forced backwards along wires meant to conduct only sweetness and gladness? “The earth is bipolar!” said Charlie Sheen. And so we are left with our dilemma. In “Bird on the Wire,” Leonard sings:
i’m your man: The life of leonarD cohen
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch, He said to me, “You must not ask for so much.” And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door, She cried to me, “Hey, why not ask for more?”
By Sylvie Simmons ecco 576 pages :: $28
To which Rod, ass prominent, might reply: “If you want my body and you think I’m sexy,/come on, sugar, let me know.” P
Celebrate The Legacy Of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
THE HARLEM GOSPEL CHOIR WITH
S AT U R DAY J A N UA RY 1 9 AT 7:30PM
AT THE MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER’S
AT SANDERS THEATRE 45 QUINCY STREET, C AMBRIDGE (HARVARD SQUARE)
Presented by The Multicultural Arts Center 41 Second Street, East Cambridge, MA 02141 617-577-1400 | multiculturalartscenter.org
Tickets: Via Harvard Box Office: (In person or online) http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/boxoffice 42 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
WFNX presents
the mfa
acoustic sessions
have a happier holiday
give bliss that just won’t miss This crowd-pleasing package combines the year’s top-selling treatments into one ‘ahh’-mazing experience.
On Friday, December 14 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and WFNX welcome
Delta Spirit Enter to win tickets at facebook.com/mfaboston or listen at WFNX.com
Tickets are not available for purchase.
limited edition happier holiday package package includes: • fabulous facial™ • fabulous feet pedicure • blissage™75
to book this package, call 617.261.8747 or purchase at Bliss Boston: W Boston 100 Stuart Street Boston, MA 02116
*Services in package cannot be swapped out or substituted for other services. All services must be booked for the same day as a part of the happier holidays package. Offer cannot be combined with other promotions and is not exchangeable for cash or credit. Glow-it-all members cannot redeem points on this package. Package is available for purchase until 12.31.12. Customer must redeem package by 3.31.13. bliss ©2012 SP113_12
ARCH-TOP GUITAR (DETAIL), MADE BY GIBSON MANDOLIN-GUITAR COMPANY, ABOUT 1918. BIRCH, SPRUCE, MAHOGANY, EBONY, IVORY, MOTHER-OF-PEARL, PLASTIC, STEEL, COPPER, NICKEL SILVER. MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON. MUSEUM PURCHASE WITH FUNDS DONATED BY THE GIBSON GUITAR CORPORATION.
$268 ($335 value)
HOLIDAY :: musIc bOx sets
Boxed and Ready H
ey, the Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary isn’t the only ancient history to get hopped up about this year — here are some other treasures from the vaults.
b y D a n i e l bro c k m a n D B r O C k M A N @ p H x .C O M :: @T H e B i z H A s l A N D e D
The PyramidS :: They Play To Make Music Fire!: The Pyramids, 19731976 :: Disko B Records :: $46.99 ::
Before “world music” became synonymous with a toothless vision of cultural appropriation, a quintet of Antioch students attempted to puncture the envelope of American jazz hegemony. Fueled by anti-war sentiment and Black Power fury, the Pyramids burst out of Ohio, eventually trekking through Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ghana in search of what they termed “art as social activism.” A trio of independently created, crucial LPs ensued, mixing the energy of the group’s rage with the avant-garde strangeness of their physical jazz odyssey.
360 Sound :: The Columbia Records Story [book + USB] :: Columbia :: $249.99 ::
omnibuS :: Eccentric Soul :: Numero Group :: $250 :: The
saintly staff of Numero have been campaigning for nearly a decade on behalf of some of the most obscure vinyl sides ever cut, focusing on regional soul and R&B oddities that, in sum, form an alternate history of modern American music. This, their 45th release, is a compendium of tracks that didn’t fit on any of the prior 44, a massive cup-runneth-over of 45 45s that gives lavish treatment to 90 sides of criminally ignored funk and soul radness.
Hip-Hop: Get On Down b y c Hr is Fa r a on e
C FA r AO N e@ p H x .C O M
T
he record industry has always treated hip-hop as a disposable commodity, so that even iconic work has gone without the slick packaging of archival rock and pop projects. Maldenbased Get On Down is aiming to correct that, on the clever hunch that rap nerds are some of the geekiest collectors out there. Here’s a sampling of this season’s Get On Down crop.
44 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
Nas :: Illmatic [Gold Disc CD] :: $34.94 :: Arguably the greatest rap album ever crafted, Illmatic resurfaces through Get On Down in an even iller incarnation. The gold CD alone is worth the bragging rights; in addition to the glisten, the gilded pressing makes for the highest quality transmission. And unlike prior Illmatic reissues, this time Nas fans get a 48-page book with lyrics, photos, and liner notes to set the mood for this trip down memory lane.
This decadent set, detailing the captivating history of Columbia Records from the advent of the phonograph to the present, is a history lesson on recorded music. With two weighty photo-laden tomes (historian Sean Wilentz’s gargantuan coffee-table book and rock critic Dave Marsh’s breezier book-length essay) and a USB containing 263 Columbia tracks, from Al Jolson to Adele, selected by Marsh.
>> music on p 46
Fat Boys :: Fat Boys [10” Pizza Vinyl] :: $29.98 :: Considering the lyrical and culinary tomfoolery throughout this first Fat Boys album — and in all of their music, really — it’s not so ridiculous that Get On Down delivered this meal in a pizza box. With custom pepperoni vinyl that looks real enough to eat, the set also comes with a download card so you don’t have to scratch this shelfworthy specimen. There’s also a 20-page booklet to chew on, plus digital access to rare interviews with the original crew.
>> Hip-Hop on p 46
HOLIDAY :: musIc bOx sets << music from p 44
King CrimSon :: Larks’ Tongues in Aspic [40th Anniversary Series Limited Edition] :: Discipline US :: $120 :: There have been
countless expensive multi-disc re-assessments of classic albums (this year alone, T. Rex’s The Slider and The Velvet Underground and Nico, for instance) — but this 13-CDs-and-a-Blu-ray examination of Fripp & Co.’s 1972 proto-metal prog-andskronk-fest is a refreshing over-analysis of an infrequently investigated classic. A battery of mixes, demos, and studio film footage allow the discerning listener to explore the layered insanity of, say, percussionist Jamie Muir’s array of recorded mouse screams in the coda of album closer “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic pt II.”
aliCe CooPer :: Old School [1964-1974] :: Ume :: $36.41 at Amazon :: Although obscured
by nearly four decades of horror-shock inanity, Alice Cooper was once not a man but a band, perhaps rock’s most underrated. Before he called himself Alice, Vincent Furnier and Co. used the moniker to create some of the most ingenious and subversive rock and pop ever put on a platter, and this set, a treasure trove of rarities from the heyday of the original band, puts their gifts in sharp focus. A boatload of early demos and alternate takes showcase the band’s pop weirdness, while a much-bootlegged 1971 Killerera show demonstrates the band’s masterful psychedelic bombast at its peak.
lee hazlewood induSTrieS ::You Turned My Head Around 1967-70 :: Light in the Attic Records :: $55 :: By 1967, Lee Hazlewood had amassed enough cultural capital,
through the success of his work with Nancy Sinatra and Duane Eddy, to turn his mustachioed cowboy pop into a cottage industry. Marketing a hip wistfulness in a Day-Glo pop market wound up being an uphill battle. In the rearview, though, it would appear that Hazlewood and Co. were inventing something called “country rock,” but imbued with Hazlewood’s uniquely warped musical sense. This vinyl-only set boxes 11 singles by LHI obscurities like the Nico-esque Lynn Castle, acid-tinged rockers Kitchen Cinq and Honey LTD, and Nancy Sinatra sound-alike Suzi Jane Hokom.
<< Hip-Hop from p 44 RaekwoN :: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx [10” Purple Vinyl] :: $29.95 :: Get On Down’s best-selling item so far, the limited-edition reissue of raekwon’s purple debut cassette — complete with a lacquer display box and a 36-page hardcover book — sold out in just a day. The good news, however, is that there’s still time to cop the equally purple 10-inch vinyl version. if that doesn’t scratch your Wu-Tang itch, then check for their essential collectible editions of GzA’s Liquid Swords, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Return to the 36 Chambers, and, coming soon, Ghostface killah’s Ironman (and i’m not just saying that because i wrote the liner notes for all three).
46 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
DJ Nu MaRk :: Broken Sunlight [Needle USB] $24.98 :: Former Jurassic 5 DJ and traveling turntable showman Nu Mark takes advantage of the malleable UsB medium, loading much more than just his debut studio project onto this disc disguised as a turntable headshell. in addition to original tracks with the likes of Freddie Foxxx and large professor, this special-run Broken Sunlight features a cappellas, clean versions, pics, instrumentals, and even bonus beats. And for hardcore DJ heads, there’s a download link to an hour-long peek at the making of Broken Sunlight, and live show footage including clips from Nu’s widely heralded “playing with Toys” shenanigans.
HOLIDAY :: DvD BOx SetS
Boxes for the Box b y a l e x a ndra C ava l l o
C
ac ava l lo @ p h x .c o m
all us homebodies, call us lazy, but the plain fact is that most nights we’re more than happy to stay at home on the couch in ratty sweats, cozied up to a box of wine. Especially this time of year, when the mercury drops below zero. Speaking of boxes, here are just a few of the DVD Box Sets with which you may gift us this holiday season. (You can throw in a box of Merlot, too, we won’t turn it down). TARANTINO XX: 8-Film Collection :: $119.99 :: His latest film, Django Unchained, hits
theaters Christmas Day, but if you can wait, you can first catch up on all the wickedly twisted, sharply witty cinema in Tarantino’s back catalog, curated by the man himself. All seven of his directorial features are here: Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, both Kill Bill volumes, Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds, Death Proof, plus the Tarrantino-scripted True Romance. Basically some of our fave films of the last 20 years. That, plus more than five hours of special features.
GAME OF THRONES: The Complete First Season Collector’s Edition (2012) :: $99.97 :: Because there hasn’t been a cooler show
geared towards nerds since X-Files went off the air. And Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister might be the most badass character on television right now. Plus, all the raunchy, oftimes incestuous, most times filthy sex; deliciously savage violence; and those plot twists (seriously, they killed Ned?). We scheduled our entire Sundays around this show last season. It comes with a bonus disc and a collectible dragon egg. That’s right, this show has dragons.
BOND 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection :: $233 ::
The question of who played the best Bond of all time is hotly contested. (We’re partial to Connery.) The one thing most Bond fans can agree on is that it wasn’t Pierce Brosnan. And that Skyfall, the 23rd addition to one of the greatest film series of all time, might be one of the best yet. Give the gift of all the many faces of Bond with this complete collection that also features more than 130 hours of neverbefore-seen footage. They’ll be calling you Claus — Santa Claus.
>> dvds on p 50
48 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
VISIT N EWBURY STR E E T Your Holiday Shopping Destination Fashion, Dining, Beauty, Art and More!
Presents
HO L IDAY STR O L L Saturday, December 8, 2012, Noon-4:00 pm
www.NewburyStreetLeague.org Facebook.com/NewburyStreetLeague @NewburyStreet1
HOLIDAY :: DvD BOx SetS << dvds from p 48
DOWNTON ABBEY: Seasons 1 & 2 Limited Edition Set — Original UK Version :: $59.99 :: What
is America’s obsession with this show? Maybe it’s our preoccupation with the murkily glamorous world of the British aristocracy (the closest we’ve got are the Kardashians, who are terrible enough to make us yearn for the days when knobby-kneed Hiltons roamed the pop culture landscape). Or maybe because it’s salacious in all the right ways, and Maggie Smith gives Dinklage a run for his money for most awesome aristocrat on the tube. Either way, the period drama has become a singular cultural phenomenon and made PBS relevant again.
ALFRED HITCHCOCK: The Masterpiece Collection (2005) :: $119.98 :: The new Hitchcock biopic might be getting mixed reviews, but there’s no debating that the title character is one of the most talented directors of all time and a visionary. All the eviscerated entrails in the entire Saw franchise can’t match the pure, perfect terror of that infamous Psycho shower scene. The Masterpiece Collection offers that iconic film along with other Hitchcock classics, including The Birds, Vertigo, and Rear Window, plus a collectible book, numerous documentaries, and featurettes.
GIRLS: The Complete First Season (2012) :: $39.98 DVD/$49.99 Bluray :: Speaking of HBO and gratuitous sex, is there another show on television right now in which a woman so unabashedly bares herself (physically and emotionally) in the name of art? Lena Dunham’s Hannah is simultaneously endearing and off-putting, slovenly in both physicality and aspiration . . . and yet disturbingly relatable. Love her or hate her, you can’t help but respect Dunham’s commitment to her message. Even when the message is that being an upper-middle class twentysomething in Manhattan is tough too, mmkay. According to executive producer Judd Apatow, a third season was confirmed before the second was even in the can, which says a lot. Plus, awkward TV sex is the gift that keeps on giving.
LORD OF THE RINGS: The Motion Picture Trilogy (2011) :: $199.98 :: Yes, Preeecious. Before going to see The Hobbit on the big screen this month, revisit Mordor and kick it with Bilbo Baggins and the gang in the first three movies of the epic series. We have a feeling we’re in for a long freeze this winter, so we’ll be glad to have the 15 discs in this special extended edition of the trilogy to occupy our time before venturing out of the apartment to (hopefully) find out at long last whether Frodo and Sam are gay for each other or what, among other Tolkien mysteries
Also on Our Wish List: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES :: The Complete Classic Series Collection :: $99.98 For this 23-disc set, the box is a TMNT van with wheels that actually moves — can you say cowabunga, dude?!
50 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
UNIVERSAL CLASSIC MONSTERS :: The Essential Collection :: $159.98 :: They don’t make creature features like they used to, and Boris Karloff, Bela lugosi, and the gang herein are nolonger-living proof.
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS :: Director Approved Blue Ray Special Edition :: $39.95 The excellence of Moonrise Kingdom made us want to travel back into Wes anderson yesteryear. actually, we’ll take a copy of Rushmore, too.
HOLIDAY :: THe BIg HurT
The Big Hurt’s obligatory
Holiday Gift Guide B y D AV ID T HO R P E
DT H O R P E@ P H X .c O m :: @A R R
I
s the anxiety of seasonal consumer obligation weighing heavy upon your soul? Lay your head in my lap, gentle reader, for I have been editorially obliged to compile a list of perfect (cheap) gifts for every member of your family. Bonus feature: since I am a sensitive liberal guy, I’ve left out all the specifically Jesusy gifts, so these should work even if you celebrate one of the Weird Ethnic Christmases.
For the Kids
Ohio preschool teacher Pete Kaser made headlines last month by stripping his classroom of namebrand toys and replacing them with common materials like cardboard boxes and egg cartons. “The children were actually not asking for their toys back or where the toys were at all, which is kind of shocking,” Kaser told the Huffington Post. Instead, the boxes unleashed the youngsters’ imaginations, leading to a very healthy feel-good story for everyone to nod smugly at. So why spend tons of money on flashy toys when kids won’t really care about them anyway, and you don’t really care about the kids? Just throw a bunch of boxes at them and tell them to make their own fun. Consider picking up a few classic 34 x 18 x 14 corrugated cardboard shipping boxes ($3.25 each from uhaul.com). You’ll save hundreds of dollars on their goddamned Nintendo Marios, and your kids will benefit from the intellectual stimulation of having to figure out how to play with a box; plus, they’ll get lifelong satisfaction from telling hilarious stories about how cheap and heartless you are. Please note: consider buying larger boxes for children 15 years and older. >> BIg HuRT on p 54
Years ago, I was browsing a big-box store when an older woman approached me for some holiday shopping advice (this happens a lot, since I have a trustworthy face and the defeated posture of a retail employee). She held up a 3 Doors Down CD and posed a horrifying question: “Do young people still like music with loud guitars?” She was trying to find a gift for her grandson, whose taste she seemed to know nothing about. Imagine being that poor kid, sitting there on Christmas morning in his Cure T-shirt, looking at the CD-shaped package from Nana with mounting dread, knowing it couldn’t possibly be anything but the lamest shit ever. It broke my heart; I steered Grandma toward the sock aisle and gave her the same advice I’ll give to you: never buy music for anyone unless you know exactly what they want. If you’re looking for advice in a Holiday Gift Guide, you shouldn’t be buying music. Even if you impeccably curate a selection of thoughtful music for the people you know best in the world, there’s a 75 percent chance that you’re actually Clueless Costco Grandma. Don’t risk it. Then again, CD box sets make perfect gifts due to their easy-wrapping rectangular shape, so I’ll steer you toward something everyone can enjoy: please consider The Right Stuff Duck or Geese Calling Instructional CD Box Set ($39.99 from amazon.com by way of Mack’s Prairie Wings — please note that you must choose either duck or goose). Each box set includes four CDs, taking you from the basic “Fundamentals of Success” all the way through the “Advanced Techniques.” Whether or not your loved one is the sporting type, what could be more amusing than four solid hours of some guy explaining how to make goofy sex honks at wild fowl? 52 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEVE WEIGL
For the Music Lover
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Volunteer for a blind neighbor. Call 617-972-9119 or visit www.mabcommunity.org
A G2O Gift Card is the perfect choice for everyone on your holiday list. Gift cards are available, in person or online, in the amount of your choice.
For every $100 purchase, receive a $20 Gift Card as our gift to you!
The Formula for the Essentials of Life
278 Newbury St. Boston | 617.262.2220 www.g2ospasalon.com
HOLIDAY :: THe BIg HurT << BIg HuRT from p 52
For the Movie BuFF
Never buy music for anyone unless you know exactly what they want — there’s a 75 percent chance that you’re actually Clueless Costco Grandma. Don’t risk it.
54 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
For the BoweL Novice
I know it seems laughable, but you may know someone — maybe even a close friend — who still sits on the toilet. Even though the intestinal benefits of a healthy squat have been known for decades, there are millions of medieval types who treat the commode like a common chair. If you look closely, it’s easy to spot the signs of a toilet-sitter: the careful gait betrays a nervous colon; the constant trips to the washroom suggest an inefficient technique; the surreptitious “shawshanking” of little rabbit-poops out the pant-leg reveal a disgusting commitment to outdated methods. For these people, consider the Squatty Potty ($39.99 from dailygrommet.com), which provides a simple, attractive footrest to promote the healthy knees-on-chest posture practiced by all civilized peoples. “The benefits of using Squatty Potty include faster, cleaner, and easier bowel movements,” reads the entirely obvious description. “Proper bathroom posture also can help prevent colon disease and alleviate ailments such as constipation, hemorrhoids, and pelvic floor issues.” You may think it rude to use holiday gift-giving to passive-aggressively point out the inferior bathroom methods of friends and family, but consider this: wouldn’t it be ruder still to let them stumble through the rest of their life with pants full of barbaric bathroom ignorance? P
ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEVE WEIGL
It’s been a big year for blockbusters, but your movie-loving relatives might already own the Blu-rays of Batman, The Avengers, and Prometheus. If you’re going to impress them with a cinematic gift, you should dig a little deeper. There’s a rich back catalog of notquite-classics to comb through, and in some cases you can find B-movies every bit as cool as The Amazing Spider-Man for just pennies on the dollar. For example, what action fan could resist 1992’s Death Ring (about $5 used on amazon.com), which features the big-surname star power of Mike Norris, Chad McQueen, and Don Swayze? Not only will you get a rip-roaring action romp, you’ll get a powerful statement about the value of family: even the world’s weird-looking brothers (Swayze) and disappointing sons (McQueen, Norris) can grow up to be weirdlooking, disappointing action heroes. Maybe you’ve got a creepy brother who’s always lived in your shadow; in Don Swayze’s beady eyes, he’ll see that even a monstrously shitty version of your genes can survive a deadly game on Billy Drago’s private man-hunting reserve. Maybe you’ve always been a letdown to your handsome, successful father; when he sees Chad McQueen in a sleeveless denim shirt, he’ll finally understand that your failures are too insignificant to tarnish his legacy.
HOLIDAY :: GIfts wItH BenefIts
Guiltless Giving By J a c q u el in e H o u t o n
R
deKt out banGles :: $27 each :: Broken, banged-up skateboards are reincarnated as bold bangles with help from Pam Farren, who works with reclaimed materials in her Newburyport workshop, re-maker. Her dekt out line is sold on its website, at Boston’s Black Ink, and at the shop at Lincoln’s deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. She’ll also be rolling on down to Holly Fair, a craft bonanza that hits the Cambridge Center for Adult Education on December 15 and 16. » re-maker.com
j h o u to n @ p h x .c o m
e-gifting is a practice that’s only acceptable in certain circumstances — namely the annual office-party Secret Santa ordeal. A recycled gift, however, is always appropriate, especially in light of the juggernaut of landfillclogging consumerism that seems to be only gaining speed, given that Black Friday started on Thursday this year. So here are a few gifting ideas that could help you to leave the seasonal guilt trips where they belong: at holiday dinners with your family.
project repat blanKet box GiFt :: $90 ::
Have a friend who hoards ancient tees? Roxbury’s Project Repat will rescue them from the lonesome depths of dresser drawers. Good for one five-by-six-foot custom blanket, each box gift comes with a pre-paid, pre-addressed envelope so your recipient can send in old T-shirts, which will be given new life by Project Repat’s US production partners, including the Woburn nonprofit NuPath, Fall River’s Precision Sportswear, and North Carolina co-op Opportunity Threads, all of which provide a fair wage and healthy work environment. » projectrepat.com
Free ramblin’ Kids pillow :: $40 ::
If you have a tiny, newish human on your list, consider something by Free Ramblin’ Kids, an eco-friendly biz started by Deerfield’s Katie Cavacco. A 2010 grad of MassArt’s fashion-design program who spent years working in childcare, she now scours consignment and thrift stores for wool clothing to upcycle into whimsical booties, hats, rattles, ornaments, and aww-inducing pillows equipped with a tooth-fairy-ready pocket. » MassArt Made, 625 Huntington Ave, Boston :: 617.879.7407
Sweet Charity
l
ots of local nonprofits offer ways to give and give back. here are a few of our faves.
december west jewelry :: Pieces generally range from $20 to $50 :: By day, Todd Krieger works as a
corporate attorney and law professor. But off-hours, the local legal eagle creates jewelry — like these brooches — out of discarded computer and VCR components, tricking out electro-mechanical parts with hidden mirrors, antique coins, vintage filigrees, and other shiny finds. Crafted at Needham’s Gorse Mill Studios, each piece is at least 75 percent recycled (and 100 percent stunning). » MIT Museum Store, 255 Mass Ave, Cambridge :: 617.253.5927 OR Artitudes, 1286 Washington St, Newton :: 617.244.9220 56 12.07.12 :: thephoenix.com/giftguide
make your favorite bibliophile all misty with a donation to the Boston PuBlic liBrAry foundAtion. A gift made via 732.thankyou4caring. org/holidaygiving this December allows you to get a new library book dedicated with a custom bookplate in your recipient’s name, plus a card to notify him or her. Want something more tangible? they’ve got neat prints and other merch for sale too; learn more at bpl.org/foundation/retail. pick up a gift for your animal-loving — or four-legged — buddy at the msPcA’s annual gift and bake sale, homeless for the holidays. Sad name, but a good cause: proceeds benefit the Boston AnimAl cAre And AdoPtion center. Score toys, leashes, and other accessories from the likes of Fish & Bone, wreaths from celebrated Flower, baked goods for both man and man’s best friend, and more from December 13 to 16. Find out more at mspca.org. Still at a loss? You can always find a special secondhand something at one of the four locations of Boomerangs, all owned and operated by Aids Action committee. Browse the well-curated selection of pre-loved clothing, books, and bric-a-brac, and know that your purchase supports new England’s largest AIDS service organization. Find your nearest outpost at action.aac.org.
DEcEmBEr WESt jEWElrY photo BY jAnIcE chEcchIo
South Boston’s Artists for HumAnity provides mentorships and paid jobs to under-resourced teens, a talented crew who turn out one-of-a-kind, sustainably made tables and stools, art prints and greeting cards, graphic tees, a brand-new jewelry line, and more. their creations are sold online and at their new Faneuil hall store, designed by the teens themselves. or you can check out their stuff at the Greatest Gifts on Earth, a holiday sale and party at AFh hQ on December 12. Find deets at afhboston.org.
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HOLIDAY :: gAnjA gIfts
Deck the halls with boughs of dankies B y A r iel SheAr e r A n d C h ri S FA rA o n e
B
etter than a fat bag of skunk, the Commonwealth’s vote to legalize medical marijuana has come as the best gift any Mass stoner could ask for. But lest we bogart all that goodwill this holiday season, here’s a 420-friendly list of evergreen stocking stuffers to give to your best buds. For on-the-go ’dro aFicionados V. Syndicate Grinder Card :: $10 ::
For high-minded bookworms Smoked Volume 1 [published by GritCityInc] :: $24.95 :: Smoked Volume 1 satisfies the lifted
intellectual’s urge to curl up with a good book, minus the pressure of trying to read pages filled with tiny serif text. This glossy survey of American pipe art features stunning photo spreads of mind-blowing glass pieces that accompany profiles of artists from around the country. Each glassblower holds a leading role in the pipe-art revolution, and Smoked is an outlet that allows them to explain the significance of selected works, personifying this functional-art phenomenon. A welcome addition to any stoner’s coffee table. » The Hempest :: 207 Newbury St, Boston :: 617.421.9944 :: 36 JFK St, Cambridge :: 617.868. HEMP :: hempest.com 58 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/gIfTguIdE
For health-conscious cannabis consumers Vapir NO2 Handheld Vaporizer :: $174 :: While there are other ace brands, in the past few years, Vapir has come into its own as the BMW of vaporizers — not overly showy like a Rolls Royce, but nonetheless simultaneously stylish and classy like a 5 Series. We also recommend the slightly pricier Vapir Vapormatic Deluxe, which resembles a throwback toaster, thanks to its retro curves and chrome finish. But for more practical — even clandestine — uses, the NO2 is your go-to magic gadget. Sure, it kind of looks like a dildo or an electric toothbrush. But it’s smooth, discreet, and quick to heat — a toy sure to be the envy of any smoker. » Boston Vapes :: bostonvapes.com
all photos except for Vaporizer by Janice checchio
You already carry around a bag of trees, your dugout, two lighters, and rolling papers just in case. Lugging around a proper grinder on top of that? Even if you’ve got a purse, that’s mighty cumbersome. Luckily, the engineers at V. Syndicate have whipped up these wallet-size grinder cards, which shred nearly as efficiently as any manual blender: imagine a cheese grater for your dense nuggets; a mandoline for your forbidden fruit. » Sugar Daddy’s Smoke Shop :: 472 Comm Ave, Boston :: 617.536.6922 :: sugardaddys-boston.com
For old-school, squinty-eyed macgyvers Original Proto Pipe Deluxe :: $40 :: Whether you’re using
chemicals like Formula 420 or plain old rock salt and rubbing alcohol, removing pipe resin is a messy endeavor. Good thing some intrepid hippies figured this one out back in the ’60s, with the Proto Pipe. This handsome brass piece may be the Swiss Army knife of bowls, but it helps keep smoking simple for the pure fact it’s entirely cleanable. There’s a storage pod for smokeables, a lid on the bowl piece to protect what you pack in, and a sturdy poker for stem cleaning and tar-trap removal. Best part: Proto Pipe is made of metal, so it can’t shatter — and it’s fit for engraving. » Buried Treasures :: 377 Cambridge St, Allston :: 617.782.1918 :: 28 Haviland St, Boston :: 617.247.1011 :: buriedtreasuresboston.com
For the irie high Trojan Ganja Reggae box set :: $25 :: Reggae without ganja is like a pipe without fire. Any one of Trojan Records’ reggae box sets makes a primo gift for smokers who know how to chill, but their Ganja Reggae compilation is sure to take you higher. With each of its three discs named for the title of a choice jam — “Kutchy Skank,” “A Hundred Pounds of Collie,” and “Marijuana in My Brain,” respectively — this collection’s track list forms a nearcomplete guide to Jamaican ganja grammar. » amazon.com
For the smoker who has everything Functional glass art :: $33–$4200 :: With
most tobacco shops and even some convenience stores selling glass pipes, it’s easy to find a piece — but tough to find a special one amid all the mass-produced paraphernalia. If you’re in search of something unique, we suggest heading to an artisanal pipe gallery like Green Side Up. Here, you’ll find sand-blasted and electroplated pipes and pendants created by the shop’s lead artist, alongside work by Massachusetts’s own Jerry Kelly (chillums starting at $33) and Nirty Werk (bubblers starting at $65). You’ll also find pieces by big-name artists, like an oil-rig bong collaboration between Salt and Eric Ross ($4200). » Green Side Up Gallery :: 202 Harvard Ave, Allston :: 617.487.4882 :: greensideupgallery.com
THEPHOENIX.cOm/gIfTguIdE :: 12.07.12 59
HOLIDAY :: FOODIe gIFts
Season’s Eatings By C a ssa n d r a L a n dry
c l a n d ry@ p h x .c o m :: @ E at d r i n k W r i t E
P
icking a gift for the foodie in your life is a little trickier than closing your eyes and pointing at a Whole Foods shelf. But we’ve got your back: here’s a fool-proof list of options for pleasing anyone who could spend an hour rhapsodizing over a craft cocktail or drooling over designer spatulas.
Hammerpress “Boeuf” & “pork Cuts” art prints :: $10 :: Your giftee may be an amateur
chef, but his kitchen décor doesn’t have to show it. Local handmade mecca Magpie carries letterpress butchering diagrams by Missouri’s Hammerpress studio. They’re printed on heavy-duty recycled chipboard, and the beef version doubles as a French cheat sheet (should he forget his culotte from his joues). ›› Magpie, 416 Highland Ave, Somerville :: 617.623.3330 or magpie-store.com
down on, this kit grants you the magical power to make 10 batches of eight different cheeses: farmhouse cheddar, gouda, Monterey Jack, feta, cottage cheese, Colby, Parmesan, and ricotta. You will be rolling in cheese, which is probably what heaven is like. Pro tip: make sure you buy wax along with it! ›› cheesemaking.com/store
90+ Cellars Holiday essentials gift set :: $60 ::
Instead of stressing over which wine label looks more upscale — and thus more impressive to your fellow holiday boozers — let the folks at Boston’s 90+ Cellars do the work for you. They’ve selected six wines, all with at least 90-point ratings, and packaged them up with recipes, pairing suggestions, and tasting notes in a handy box-o’-wine. A classy one, that is. ›› ninetypluscellars.com/holiday-essentials 60 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/gIfTguIdE
Boston olive oil Company infused olive oil :: $15.95– $36.95, plus weighted pourer, $5 :: With
infusions ranging from runof-the-mill basil to I’ll-justdrink-this-out-of-the-bottlethanks wild mushroom and sage, the Boston Olive Oil Company is a food nut’s paradise. Make the rounds tasting all the oil and vinegar variations in store, take your pick, and throw in a weighted pour spout for cleaner drizzling. ›› Boston Olive Oil Company, 262 Newbury St, Boston :: 857.277.0007 or bostonoliveoilcompany.com >> foodie gifts on p 62
chEEsE making kit andd olivE oil photos by janicE chEcchio
riCki’s BasiC CHeese making kit from new england CHeesemaking supply Company :: $29.95, plus wax, $5.50 :: Like a science project you can chow
HOLIDAY :: FOODIe gIFts
<< foodie gifts from p 60
taza CHoColate oaxaCan sampler :: $10.50 ::
Don’t even think about reaching for that sticky ream of ribbon candy — you know it sucks, so step it up with one of Taza’s samplers. Our favorite is the Oaxacan: four chocolate discs featuring Guajillo chili, cacao puro, cinnamon, and vanilla. ›› Taza Factory Store, 561 Windsor St, Somerville :: 617.284.2232 or tazachocolate.com/store
617.325.1700 | RED-EYEDPIG.COM 1753 Centre St West Roxbury, MA 02132 Take-out and Catering Hours: M-W 4-9 | Th 11:30-9 | Fr & Sat 11:30- 10 | Sun 12-7 Follow us on Twitter & Facebook
Boston’s Best Burger
Bully Boy distillers swag :: At Boston’s first craft
distillery since Prohibition, Will and Dave Willis put out some of the smoothest hooch we’ve had the privilege of drinking. Bonus: they’re two of the nicest dudes ever. So share the fruits of their labor — white rum, Boston rum, white whiskey, vodka, or their latest, American straight whiskey. The spirits enthusiast in your life will thank you. ›› To find a retailer near you, visit bullyboydistillers.com/bully-boy-buyma.html
island Creek oysters “ditCH tHe fruitCake and get sHuCked” Holiday paCkage :: $100 :: Talk about bivalve booty: this pack
Come In & Try Over 30 Different Flavors
Burgers cooked RARE to WELL-DONE if so desired!
www.rf-osullivan.com 282 Beacon Street Somerville, MA 02431 617.492.7773 62 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/gIfTguIdE
includes an “Eat Oysters” T-shirt, a signed copy of Erin Byers Murray’s (fabulous) book, Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm, a dozen of the little beauties themselves, and the gloves and knife to pry ’em open. Just be sure to refrigerate those oysters instead of dumping them in someone’s stocking. ›› shop.islandcreekoysters.com
>> foodie gifts on p 64
HOLIDAY :: FOODIe gIFts << foodie gifts from p 62
Hand-Blown glass tiki mug :: $38 :: Tiki drinks have
been making a comeback, so ride the wave with this mug, hand-blown by Cambridge bartender and glass artist Andrew Iannazzi. The mold was taken from a 1940s Japanese Tiki mug — pretty sure that makes you and yours Tiki masters. ››The Boston Shaker, 69 Holland St, Somerville :: 617.718.2999 or thebostonshaker.com/shop
EdiblE SElby :: $35 :: Good luck buying this for foodies before
they buy it for themselves. If you beat them to the punch, make sure to sneak a peek: photographer Todd Selby has compiled a glorious love poem to the culinary industry — and there are magnets! Subjects range from Noma in Copenhagen to Mission Chinese Food in New York to D.O.M. in São Paulo. ›› Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline :: 617.566.6660 or brooklinebooksmith.com
maldon salt pinCH tin :: $2 ::
Yes, we all know Maldon salt is like little crystal flakes of cloud nine, but this palm-sized tin is about to be your buddy’s new favorite thing. Is it necessary to tote around gourmet salt in one’s bag in case of emergency? Maybe not. Will that stop the food-obsessed? Definitely not. ›› watsonkennedy.com
Thanks to all of our loyal fans! 64 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/gIfTguIdE
photos by janicE chEcchio
HappyfromHolidays
HOLIDAY :: bAzAAr
How Bazaar
The BazaaBosTon Decem r Bizar re ber 16 ,n 6
pm :: $ oon bca c 1 aDmissio to y n :: trem clorama, ont s 539 t , b o ba za a ston :: rb org/b izarre . oston
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ne of our favorite holiday-season craft fairs is the Boston Bazaar Bizarre, an annual tradition within the DIY crafting community. Now in its eleventh year, the one-day pop-up market is a great place to pick up handmade scarves, candles, artwork, and trinkets directly from independent artists and crafters. Expect to find everything from knits, jewelry, ceramics, and stationery to quirky knitted monsters and custom-printed posters. The Bazaar Bizarre makes a point of avoiding corporate sponsorship and is a totally community-oriented and non-profit event, showcasing dozens of vendors from Boston and beyond. Here are a few highlights. Union PrEss ::
Union Press carries on the tradition of letterpress right in Somerville, making posters, art prints, business cards, stationery, and more. Stop by their table to order a custom-printed poster or chat about any of your letterpress needs. ›› unionpressprints.com
Erica BEllo JEwElry ::
Erica Bello is traveling to the Bazaar Bizarre from Rochester, NY, where she lives and works in metalsmithing and jewelry-making. Her necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings play with geometric shapes, as in the case of this necklace of sterling silver, copper, and enamel. ›› facebook.com/ericabellojewelry
66 12.07.12 › thephoenix.com/giftguide
Boston comics roUndtaBlE ::
Since 2008, this collective of Boston-area comics artists and writers have been publishing an anthology, Inbound. Check out the latest volume ($12), plus some of their artists’ most recent comics and projects. ›› bostoncomicsroundtable.com >> Bazaar Bizarre on p 68
book your
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Make Your Party Memorable! Groups of 6 to 600!
Private Rooms available!
We Do the Planning! You do the Partying!
Call to speak with an events coordinator todaY! www.kingsbackbay.com 617.266.2695 www.KingsDedham.com 781.329.6000
Gift Cards Available.
HOLIDAY :: bAzAAr
<< Bazaar Bizarre from p 66
witcH city wicks :: Based in Salem,
MA, Witch City Wicks make the strongestscented candles I’ve ever smelled — so potent their fragrant oils can fill a room even unlit. Made in small batches with all-natural soy wax, their candles offer signature scents ranging from vanilla and lavender to cinnamon sticks and Egyptian amber. Their holiday line includes gingerbread, amaretto eggnog, blue spruce, and more. Prices range from $2 votives to $16 8 oz. glass jars. ›› witchcitywicks.com
toil & troUBlE :: One thing you can always count on finding at a craft fair is lots of knits, and Toil & Trouble’s are particularly bright — like this colorblock cowl ($46). Visit their BazBiz booth for scarves, cowls, and thick fingerless gloves made in Salem, MA. ›› etsy.com/shop/toilandtrouble
HEatHEr JEany :: If you’re in the market for some handmade stationery and holiday cards, and your interests include bikes, cassettes, vinyl, and/or kale (in which case you’re probably my best friend), then Providence artist Heather Jeany’s table is worth swinging by. Her screenprinted mixtape cards ($10 for a five-pack) are the perfect accompaniment if you’re gifting a mix CD — a cute way to jot down the track list or “liner notes.” ›› etsy.com/shop/heatherjeany
68 12.07.12 › thephoenix.com/giftguide
Alpine & Nordic Skiing
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* Rate is per person, per night based on double occupancy. Valid through the 2012–2013 ski season during non-holiday periods. Additional restrictions apply. ©2013 Omni Hotels & Resorts.
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Experience the perfect combination of history, luxury and outdoor adventure in New Hampshire’s majestic White Mountains. Home to Bretton Woods — the state’s largest ski area — this must-ski destination features the Mt. Stickney Glades expansion with top-of-the-mountain warming hut and classic T-bar lift for a true New England ski experience. Just 2.5 hours from Boston. 800-843-6664 • omnihotels.com/mountwashington
From B 80: The Bogner Book, see page 78.
SKI & SNOWBOARD GuIDe :: 2012-13 72 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/skI
SKI GUIDE :: CalEnDar
DON’T MISS THeSe GReAT eveNTS...
Nightly theme parties, live music, contests, races, daily après-ski parties, and more. › Sugarloaf, 5092 Access Rd, Carrabassett Valley, Kingfield, ME › sugarloaf.com
SATuRDAY 26
DOUBLE FEATURE SKIER/BOARDER CROSS COMPETITION › Race down the banked turns, berms, and rollers in Cranmore’s first ever skier/boarder cross event. › Cranmore Mountain, 1 Skimobile Rd, PO Box 1640, North Conway, NH › 800. SUN.NSKI
FeBRuARY SATuRDAY 2
JIMMY FUND CHARITY RACE › Day of skiing and boarding, team competition, and fundraising to benefit the Jimmy Fund › Nashoba Valley Ski Area, 79 Powers Rd, Westford, MA › 978.692.3033
THuRSDAY 7
DeCeMBeR FRIDAY 14
WINTERFEST 2012 › Kick off the 2012/2013 season with a weekend of festivities including live bands, food, fireworks, fire dancers, and more. › Sunday River, 15 South Ridge Rd, Newry, ME › 207.824.3000
SuNDAY 16
MOUNTAIN DEW VERTICAL CHALLENGE › All-day event for both boarders and skiers with events in multiple categories, giveaways, and an après-ski awards party. › Okemo Valley Nordic Center, 77 Okemo Ridge Rd, Ludlow, VT › 802.228.1396 TELL A FRIEND TOUR › Athletes like Andy Parry, Ian Compton, Jack Borland, and Ross Imburgia visit the mountain in a “traveling circus van” skiing, handing out swag, hosting rail jams, giving trick tips and demos, and more. › Ski Sundown, 126 Ratlum Rd, New Hartford, CT › 860.379.7669
FRIDAY 21
BUNYAN ROOM END OF THE WORLD PARTY › Celebrate the Mayan-predicted end of days with a party at the Bunyan Room with live music by ’90s cover band Hello Newman. No cover. › Loon Mountain, 60 Loon Mountain Rd, Lincoln, NH › 603.745.8111 CHRISTMAS VACATION WEEK › A week-long celebration with activities, live music, fireworks, parties, mountain specials, and more. › Sunday River, 15 South Ridge Rd, Newry, ME › 207.824.3000
SATuRDAY 22
HOLIDAY VACATION WEEK › Week of holiday events including the Gunstock Rocks New Year’s Eve event (12/31) plus live music, games, stilt walkers, s’more roasting, fireworks, and more. › Gunstock Mountain
74 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/skI
Resort, 719 Cherry Valley Rd, Gilford, NH › 603.293.4341
SATuRDAY 29
JINGLE JAM RAIL RAM › A rail jam in the Bob Skinner’s Six O’ Three terrain park. Cash prizes for top competitors. › Mount Sunapee, 1398 Rte. 103, Newbury, NH › 603.763.3500
MONDAY 31
NEW YEAR’S EVE FAMILY CELEBRATION › Bring the whole family for skiing, ice skating, music and games, a bonfire, and more › King Pine Ski Area, 1251 Eaton Road, Route 153, East Madison, NH › 603.367.8896 NEW YEAR’S EVE RAIL JAM › Put the skis to the metal for a day of rail-riding fun › Granite Gorge Ski Area, 341 Route 9, Roxbury, NH › 603.358.5000 BUNYAN ROOM NEW YEARS EVE PARTY › Live entertainment including a DJ until 1am. 21+, $25 cover charge, reservations are recommended. Call after the mountain is open for skiing and riding or put your name on the list in person up in the Bunyan Room. › Loon Mountain, 60 Loon Mountain Rd, Lincoln, NH › $25 › 603.745.8111 MOUNT SUNAPEE NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION › Dance and eat all day, then watch fireworks all night › Mount Sunapee, 1398 Rte. 103, Newbury, NH › 603.763.3500 PAT’S PEAK NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION › Enjoy a day of skiing, snowboarding, snowtubing, live music, kid’s activities, fireworks and more › Pat’s Peak Ski Area, 686 Flanders Road, Henniker, NH › 603.428.3245
JANuARY SATuRDAY 5
MOUNTAIN DEW VERTICAL CHAL-
LENGE › All-day event for both boarders and skiers with events in multiple categories, giveaways, and an après-ski awards party. › Cranmore Mountain, 1 Skimobile Rd, PO Box 1640, North Conway, NH › 800. SUN.NSKI
SuNDAY 6
COLLEGE SNOWFEST WEEK › Nightly parties, concerts, and much more with special deals at the mountain for college students. › Sugarloaf, 5092 Access Rd, Carrabassett Valley, Kingfield, ME › sugarloaf.com 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. Register at the park shack. › Mount Sunapee, 1398 Rte. 103, Newbury, NH › $5 › 603.763.3500 USASA SNOWBOARD EVENT › The USCSA is making its first of two stops at Mt. Abram, where NE snowboarders compete for standings in the national competition. › Mount Abram, 308 Howe Hill Rd, Greenwood, ME › 207.875.5000
MONDAY 7
SUNDAY RIVER COLLEGE WEEK › Week of activities and deals for college students with parties, live concerts, comedy shows, bonfires, and more. All events are open to ages 18 and older. › Sunday River, 15 South Ridge Rd, Newry, ME › 207.824.3000
FRIDAY 18
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS RAIL JAM › Prizes for sickest tricks on the rail. With food, drinks, music, and marshmallows to roast. › Saddleback Mountain, Rte 4, Rangeley, ME › 207.864.5671
SuNDAY 20
WHITE WHITE WORLD WEEK ›
WHITE OUT WEEKEND › Pride weekend in association with the OutRyders (New England’s largest GLBTQ ski and snowboard club) and the DownEast Pride Alliance. Events, parties, contests, and more culminating in the annual “Peak Party.” This year’s theme is Mardi Gras. › Sunday River, 15 South Ridge Rd, Newry, ME › 207.824.3000
SATuRDAY 9
WHITE OUT WEEKEND › See listing for Thurs WINTER RAIL JAM SERIES › See listing for Sat
SuNDAY 10
MOUNTAIN DEW VERTICAL CHALLENGE › All-day event for both boarders and skiers with events in multiple categories, giveaways, and an après-ski awards party. › Nashoba Valley Ski Area, 79 Powers Rd, Westford, MA › 802.228.4041
FRIDAY 22
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS — PARK SHARK SERIES › Rail jam under the lights, with prizes for best tricks. › Saddleback Mountain, Rte 4, Rangeley, ME › 207.864.5671
MARCH SATuRDAY 2
8TH ANNUAL LACROIX CUP › Hawaiian-themed day of competition on the slopes with music, raffles, prizes, a cookout, and more. Race individually or as a family. Registration includes free day lift ticket. › Ski Ward, 1000 Main St, Shrewsbury, MA › 508.842.6346 WINTERWILD.COM RACING › A race up to the summit and back down using skis, snowshoes, running shoes, or any other footwear. Awards by footwear category and ages.› Mount Sunapee, 1398 Rte.
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SKI GUIDE :: lIStInGS
DOWNHILL MASSACHuSeTTS
BERKSHIRE EAST South River Rd, Charlemont, MA › 413.339.6617 › berkshireeast.com › A variety of family friendly terrain located alongside the Deerfield River. Berkshire East has two full-service lodges, a ski school, racing, and tubing. A 1180 feet B 45 total; 30 percent novice, 35 percent intermediate, 35 percent expert F Terrain park K 100 percent G Two surface lifts, one double chair, two triple chairs, one quad D Weekdays 9 am to 4:30 pm; weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4:30 pm; night skiing Wed through Sat 4 to 10 pm C Weekdays $38, seniors $28; weekends and holidays adults $58, juniors/seniors $38, students $48; half-day afternoon adults $40, juniors/ seniors $28, students $35; night $28 all ages H Skis full-day $30, half-day $20, snowboards fullday $35, half-day $25 M Group lessons (ages eight and up) $30/hour; private lessons $70/hour, $30 per additional person
BLANDFORD SKI AREA 41 Nye Brook Rd, Blandford, MA › 413.848.2860 › skiblandford.org › Operated by the Springfield Ski Club, 76-year-old Blandford is the oldest continuously run club-owned ski area in North America. A 465 feet B 22 total; six novice, 11 intermediate, five expert F two terrain parks
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K 80 percent G three double chairs, one multi-lift, one magic carpet D Fri through Sun 8:30 am to 4 pm, with night skiing in Jan and Feb C season passes $99 to $349. Individual day rates $15 to $45, based on skier’s age, holiday/non-holiday, and area coverage H skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots $24 adults, $19 juniors; skis only $15; snowboard only $17; ski boots only $7; snowboard boots only $8; poles only $3 M group lessons members adults $29, juniors $23; guests adults $35, juniors $27; private lessons member $60, guest $65; $27 per additional member, $30 per additional guest
BLUE HILLS SKI AREA 4001 Washington St, Canton, MA › 781.828.5070 › skibluehills.com › The closest thing to having a winter wonderland in your own backyard, the William F. Rogers Ski Slopes on Great Blue Hill are a city slicker’s best friend. If Mother Nature’s lagging, 90 percent of the 60-acre terrain is covered by man-made snow, and more than half of the 12 trails are lit for night riding. There are separate areas for beginners, mid-tier skiers/boarders, and parks and pipes riders, as well as private and group lessons — everything you need to change your outlook on winter. A 309 feet B 12 total; five novice, four intermediate, three expert F terrain park K 90 percent G double chair, magic carpet, wonder carpet and handle tow D Mon through Wed 2 to 9 pm, Thurs through Sat 9 am to 9 pm, and Sun 9 am to 5 pm; hours vary on holidays and are subject to change; closed on Christmas Day C weekends $24 to $36, juniors $20 to $32, and week-
days $18 to $27, juniors $16 to $25 H skis, boots and pools or snowboard and boots $28, helmets $6.59 M group or semi-private lessons $25, private lessons $60 ($32 per additional hour), children’s lessons $25 to $45
skiboards and boots $30; snowboard and ski boots only $15; poles or helmets only $7.50 M private lessons $70/hour, group lessons $40/hour, Kids All-Day program $80 for half day, $99 for full day; first-time package $70 for lift, lesson, and rentals
BOUSQUET SKI AREA 101 Dan Fox Dr, Pittsfield, MA › 413.442.8316 › bousquets.com › Conveniently located Berkshires ski area with family-oriented activities and tubing. Child care available.
JIMINY PEAK 37 Corey Rd, Hancock, MA › 413.738.5500 › jiminypeak.com › Call 413.738.7325 or 888.454.6469, or check Web site, for snow conditions. Amenities include a children’s center and a tavern. Also offers nonskiing activities like tubing and the Winter Mountain Coaster.
A 750 feet B 22 total, almost evenly divided between expert, intermediate and novice F terrain area K 98 percent G two double chairs, three surface lifts D Mon through Wed 9 am to 9 pm, Sun 9 am to 4 pm; hours vary on holidays and are subject to change C Mon through Fri $25, Sat and holidays $42; Mon through Sat nights $20, Thurs Night Owl special $15; snowtubing $15 for two hours H skis, boots and pools, snowboards and boots, or
KEY
VERTICAL DROP TRAILS SNOWBOARDING SNOWMAKING LIFTS HOURS RATES H RENTALS INSTRUCTION
A 1150 feet B 45 total, about one-quarter novice, half intermediate, one-quarter expert; 3 terrain parks, one small, two large; longest trail is 2 miles F three terrain parks (two big, one small), one glade trail, mogul runs K 96 percent G one six passenger high-speed, two quads, three triples, one double, two surface lifts D Weekdays 9 am to 10 pm, weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 10 pm C Full day adults $61, teens $52, juniors/seniors $44; Half day adults $57, teens $48, juniors/seniors $40; twilight hours $36-$42; holiday prices vary; Mountain Coaster $9/ride, $7/ride with lift ticket H skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots full day $36, half day $33; helmets $10; wristguards Free M Group lessons start at $44 for $90 minutes; Beginner ski packages start at $74; private lessons start at $95, $70 per extra person
NASHOBA VALLEY SKI AREA 79 Powers Rd, Westford, MA › 978.692.3033 › skinashoba. com › Nashoba Valley claims 17 trails (the number used to be higher), even though anyone standing and looking at the 240-foot hillside —
>> SKi LiStingS on p 78
• Tandem Skydiving • AFF (Accelerated Free-fall) Courses & Certification • Jump Video & Photos • On-site Guest Houses • On-site Camping
• Bonfire Parties & Live Music • On-site Ripcord Café • Corporate Outings/Group Rates • Sunset BBQs
Skydive New England LLC, 40 Skydive Lane, Lebanon, ME 04027 We are located 75 minutes from Boston and only 50 minutes from Portland and Manchester!
SKI GUIDE :: lIStInGS roughly one-third the height of the Prudential Tower — would have trouble figuring out where some of them end and others begin. Still, it’s a learner’s paradise, with clearly demarcated areas for each skill level, serviced by their own lifts. That, the location, private and group lessons, and half-day and nighttime tickets make this one of the most convenient places around to learn how to ski or ride. Ski school, tubing park, and ski and snowboard shop at base. Call 800.400.7669 for snow conditions. A 240 feet B 17 total, three novice, eight intermediate, six expert F terrain park K 100 percent G three triples, one double, three rope tows and two conveyors D weekdays 9 am to 10 pm, and weekends 8:30 am to 10 pm C Weekdays $38, kids under 12 $36, kids under 5 $22; weekends and holidays adults $48, kids under 12 $46, kids under 5 $22; half-day and night skiing is discounted H skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots $32; demos $42; skis for children ages 5 and under $23; helmets $10 M private lessons $90/hour, $45 per additional person; group lessons $45/hour; rental and lesson packages and race training also available
SKI BRADFORD South Cross Rd, Haverhill, MA › 866.644.7669 › skibradford.com › Just minutes from Boston and the North Shore, Ski Bradford has an uphill capacity of 9600 skiers per hour. Lessons for all ages and abilities, racing, complete rental shop, full-service snack bar, large base lodge, ample parking, and more than 80 hours of operation per week. A 248 feet B 15 total: three beginner, four intermediate, eight expert
F terrain park with jumps, rails, boxes, and events and competitions throughout the season K 100 percent G three triple chair lifts, one T-bar, and three rope tows D weekdays 8:30 am to 6 pm; weekends, school vacation, and holidays 8:30 am to 4:30 pm; nights Monday through Saturday 6 to 10 pm C weekdays and twilight hours $34; nights $30; weekends $45; discounts for half days and learners H ski or snowboard package $35, $30 half day or night; juniors $25, $20 half day M group lesson $35; private lesson $80
80 YeARS OF BOGNeR
SKI BUTTERNUT 380 STATE RD, GREAT BARRINGTON, MA › 413.528.2000 › skibutternut.com › Base includes a children’s nursery, clubhouse with locker rooms and cafeteria, upper lodge, sun deck, and ski rental, repair and clothing shop. Also hosts a professional ski school and five-lane tubing center. Now offering private lessons for learning to ski on Telemark skis. (Call 800.438.7669 or check web site for snow conditions.) A 1000 feet B 22 trails total, eight novice, eight intermediate, six expert F three terrain parks for different abilities with jumps, rails, boxes and pipes K 100 percent G three quads, D Weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, weekends and holidays 8:15 am to 4 pm, tubing center open Sat 10 am- 8 pm and Sun 10 am to 5 pm C Mon through Fri $25 adults, $20 juniors/seniors, $15 children; Sat through Sun $55 adults, $45 juniors/ seniors, $20 children; student discounts available; tubing $18/two hours any age H skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots $35 adults, $30 juniors, $20 children; helmets $12
For decades, Bogner has been ensuring that skiing and fashion aren’t mutually exclusive. Proof? B 80: The Bogner Book ($95; teNeues).
South Shore Plaza 250 Granite Street Braintree, MA 02184 781-848-2200
East Boston 175 William F McClellan Highway East Boston, MA 02128 617-567-0702
Pheasant Lane Mall 310 Daniel Webster Highway Nashua, NH 03060 603-888-8800 www.sterlingwear.com
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M group lessons $40 an skill level; private lessons $90/hour, $50 per additional person; private Telemark lesson $90/hour only by reservation
SKI WARD 1000 Main St, Shrewsbury, MA › 508.842.6346 › skiward.com › Located just minutes from major highways, Ski Ward is small but offers terrain for all abilities, a mogul field, a race facility, ski school, and an instructional terrain garden and learning pipe. A 220 feet B 9 trails total; three novice, three intermediate, three expert F quarter-pipe and terrain garden with two rails, jump, box, tire bank, and cannon K 100 percent G two handle-pulls, t-bar, triple chair, tube lift D weekdays 11 am to 9 pm; Sat and holidays 9 am to 9 pm; Sun 10 am to 5 pm C weekdays $28, $10 children 10 and under, $15 halfday (handle-pull only); weekends and holidays $42, $35 half-day, H skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots $30 weekdays, $35 weekends and holidays; helmets $10; discounts for military and seniors M group lessons $35/hour; private lessons $70/hour, $50 per additional person; rental and lesson packages for beginner and intermediate skiers available
WACHUSETT MOUNTAIN 499 Mountain Rd, Princeton, MA › 978.464.2300 › wachusett.com › Wachusett Mountain is a decent place for beginners and intermediate skiers/ riders alike. It also has a few black-diamond trails and a vertical of 1000 feet, but truth be told, its proximity is its greatest asset. Call 800.SKI.1234 for ski conditions. A 1000 feet B 22 trails total; 30 percent novice, 40 percent intermediate, 30 percent expert
F snowboard-friendly resort with diverse terrain for all abilities K 100 percent G two high-speed quads, two triple chairs, three carpets, one pony lift D weekdays 9 am to 10 pm, weekends 8 am to 10 pm C prime season weekdays adults $47, juniors/ seniors $38, children $10; weekends adults $52, juniors/seniors $38, children $10. peak season adults $53, juniors/seniors $42, children $15 H skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots full-day $32 adults, $26 juniors/seniors, $20 children, $10 helmets; half-day $27 adults, $21 juniors/seniors, $15 children, $8 helmets; packages available M group lessons $40-160; private lessons $80/ hour; semi-private $55/hour
MAINe
BIGROCK 37 Graves Rd, Mars Hill, ME › 207.425.6711 › bigrockmaine.com › Established in 1960, Bigrock Ski Area was purchased in 2000 by the Maine Winter Sports Center. Steps have been taken to make this family friendly ski area ideal for learners. Its projected opening day is December 11. A 980 feet B 35 trails: 11 percent novice, 75 percent intermediate, 14 percent expert F terrain park K 37 percent G one triple chair, one double chair, one poma lift, one carpet lift D Wed-Fri 3 pm to 8 pm; weekend and holidays 9 am to 4 pm C adults $15 every day; children 5 and under $5 every day; seniors 75+ free H ski or snowboard package $25; ski or snowboard only $20
additional person
M group lessons $20, private lessons $28
MOUNT ABRAM 308 Howe Hill Rd, Greenwood, ME › 207.875.5000 › mtabram. com › Boasts 650 acres of trails and glades and also features the longest tubing park in Maine (1325 feet!).
BLACK MOUNTAIN OF MAINE 39 Glover Rd, Rumford, ME › 207.364.8977 › skiblackmountain.org › A family-oriented ski area with snow tubing and ski racing (classical, slalom, and freestyle) throughout the season.
A 1150 feet B 44 total; 10 novice, 22 intermediate, 12 expert F four freestyle terrain parks K 75 percent G two double chairs, one T-bar, one handle tow D Thurs through Sun 9 am to 4 pm C adults $49, seniors 60-79/students six through 17 $39. Seniors 80+ and children five and under free. Thurs is two-for-one, and on “Caravan Fridays,” everyone seat-belted into a vehicle receives a lift ticket for the flat price of $75 H adult package $30, seniors/juniors $23 M group lessons $35, private lessons $60/hour
A 1150 feet B 21 trails: five novice, six intermediate, and ten expert F half-pipe and terrain park K 90 percent G one T-bar, one handle tow, one double chair, and one triple chair D daily 9 am to 4 pm C ages 6-74 $15 all day every day; children 5 and under and seniors 75+ free H full day $8, half day $6 M runs several children’s ski programs throughout the season; prices vary
SADDLEBACK MOUNTAIN Rte 4, Rangeley, ME › 207.864.5671 › saddlebackmaine.com › The 12,000-acre preserve includes Saddleback Mountain and Saddleback Lake. Glades and other “free” skiing opportunities challenge experts, but plenty of terrain is groomed and smooth enough for beginner and intermediate skiers. Backcountry cross-country trails available at no charge. Projected opening day is Dec 11.
CAMDEN SNOW BOWL Off Rte 1, Camden, ME › 207.236.3438 › camdensnowbowl. com › The ski area overlooks Penobscot Bay and includes areas to skate and tube slide, as well as a toboggan chute. A 850 feet B eight total; one intermediate/beginner, four intermediate, two intermediate/expert, one freestyle F terrain park K 45 percent G two T-bars, one double chair, and one surface lift D Wed through Fri 10 am to 8 pm, and Sat and Sun 9 am to 4 pm C weekdays $23 for adults, $21 for students, weekends $35 for adults, $26 for students. Half-day and night rates also available. H ski and board packages $30 M $25/hour and a half for group lessons, $50/ hour for private lessons and $25/hour for each
A 2000 feet B 66 trails and glades F terrain park K 85 percent G two quads, two double chairs, one T-bar D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm; weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4 pm C weekdays, $49, $10 seniors, juniors seven-18/college students $39, children under six free; weekends,
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SUPERIOR SNOW. GUARANTEED.
Whether you have a passion for corduroy cruisers or technical steeps, you’re guaranteed to be carving up superior snow at Loon Mountain Resort. Home to one of the largest and most energy-efficient snowmaking systems in New England, Loon ensures your on-snow experience will be top notch.
Save uP To $25 Per day on LifT TickeTS! For just a few dollars more than the cost of a lift ticket, purchase a frequenT Skier card and you’ll get a free day of skiing and riding, plus great savings on lift tickets all season at Loon (Sunday River and Sugarloaf, too). Save $25 on lift tickets midweek/nonholiday, and $15 on weekends/holidays all winter long!
The sooner you buy, the sooner you start saving! Purchase yours now at loonmtn.com/phoenix
loonmtn.com lincoln, new HampsHire THEPHOENIX.cOm/skI :: 12.07.12 79
SKI GUIDE :: lIStInGS adults $59, juniors 7 through 18 and college students $49, seniors over 70 $10, children under six free H adult ski or snowboard package $35, junior/senior ski or snowboard package $25 M group lessons $45, private lessons $79/hour
M one-day first-timer’s ski or snowboard lesson $80, group lessons $35/90 min. Private lessons $100/ hr between 10 am and 1 pm or $85/hr/person before 10 am or after 1 pm
SUNDAY RIVER 15 South Ridge Rd, Newry, ME › 207.824.3000 › sundayriver.com › Sunday River offers skiers and snowboarders eight interconnected peaks featuring a hearty selection of double black diamonds and open bowls among its 132 trails and terrain parks, so you never have to ride the same run twice. The mountain has done a good job of clustering trails together by skill level, so you shouldn’t run across (or over) beginners while stomping through White Heat’s moguls or tackling Locke Mountain runs. Additionally, a superpipe and four terrain parks provide ample opportunity for trick riders to jib, bonk, and air to their hearts’ content.
SHAWNEE PEAK 119 Mountain Rd, Bridgton, ME › 207.647.8444 › shawneepeak.com › Offers top-to-bottom night skiing on 19 trails, plus one of the largest pipe/park combinations in New England. A 1300 feet B 44 total; 25 percent novice, 45 percent intermediate, 30 percent expert F half-pipe, two terrain parks, and grommet-garden beginner’s park, all equipped with night lighting K 98 percent G one quad, two triple chairs, one double chair, one surface lift D Mon 9 am to 9 pm; Tues through Thurs 9:30 am to 8 pm; Fri 9 am to 10 pm; Sat 8:30 am to 10 pm; and Sun 8:30 am to 4:30 pm C weekdays adults $41, juniors/seniors $33; weekends and holidays adults $59, juniors/seniors $46 H ski or snowboard package $35 M private lessons $59/hour, $77/90 min, $150/three hours; first-timer packages and kids’ programs also available
SUGARLOAF 5092 Access Rd, Carrabassett Valley, Kingfield, ME › › sugarloaf.com › With the first double-black-diamond trails in New England, Sugarloaf had an early lead carving a niche out for itself with the core wintersports set. It’s a fun, challenging mountain with 54 miles of trails, three terrain parks, a superpipe, and separate snowboard-cross and skiercross courses designed by two-time Olympic snowboard-cross gold medalist Seth Wescott. Maine’s second-highest peak sees an average of 200 inches of snow each
year and celebrates its 60th anniversary on January 8. A 2820 feet B 146 total; 23 percent novice, 34 percent intermediate, 27 percent advanced, 16 percent very advanced F three terrain parks, one superpipe, one half-pipe, one snowboardcross course K 95 percent G two superquads, two high capacity quads, one triple chair, eight double chairs, and two surface lifts D weekdays 8:30 am to 3:50 pm; Sat and Sun opens at 8 am C regular season, adults $79, young adults $66, juniors/seniors $55; H ski or snowboard package $39 adults, $26 juniors/ seniors
for the love of skiing...
A 2340 feet B 132 total; 25 percent beginner, 32 percent intermediate, 27 percent expert, 17 expert only F four terrain parks, a super-pipe, and a mini-pipe K 92 percent G nine quad chairs (four high-speed detachables), four triple chairs, two double chairs, three surface lifts D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, and weekends 8 am to 4 pm; subject to change C adult $80; teen $68; junior/senior $55 H ski or snowboard package $39 M group lessons $35/90-min; private lessons $85/ hour
NeW HAMPSHIRe
ARROWHEAD 14 Robert Easter Way, Claremont, NH › 603.542.7016 › arrowheadnh.com › Arrowhead Recreation Area is jointly run by the city of Claremont and the Arrowhead Recreation Club. It offers day and night skiing
and boarding, as well as tubing. A 1210 feet B nine trails: one novice, five intermediate, three expert F terrain park K none, but infrastructure is being laid out for future snowmaking G three lifts D Fri 6:30 to 9 pm, Sat 10 am to 4 pm and 6 to 9 pm, Sun 10 am to 4 pm C adults $8, juniors $6; night skiing $6, $4 H ski or snowboard $12 M group lessons $11, private lessons $16
ATTITASH MOUNTAIN RESORT Rte 302, Bartlett, NH › 800.223.7669 › attitash. com › Attitash Mountain Resort and nearby Wildcat Mountain are now under the same ownership and offer two of New Hampshire’s larger ski areas for the price of one. Lift tickets are valid for use at both resorts and allow skiers and riders to enjoy the most vertical, value, and variety. Attitash Mountain Resort features some of New England’s most advanced snowmaking technology, excellent grooming, and après & on-snow events that are the essence of the skiing lifestyle. Call 877.677.7669 for snow conditions. A Attitash, 1750 feet; Bear Peak, 1450 feet B 67 total; 33 percent novice, 47 percent intermediate, 20 percent expert F relocated terrain park to Bear Peak. The “Abenaki” park will feature a variety of small, medium, & large snow, rail, box, & jib elements that will all flow for show K 98 percent G three quad lifts (two high-speed detachable), three triple lifts, three double lifts, and two surface lifts D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4 pm
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brA Certified Artists only
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at Westinghouse
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only nine Artist lofts AvAilAble. All buyers must be BRA Certified and have an income that does not exceed $61,600. $70,400 for a 2 person household BRA artist and affordable housing deed restrictions apply.
Adult Ski Tickets just $49!!! -Group rates availableBlack Mountain 373 Black Mountain Rd. Jackson, NH (800) 475-4669 www.blackmt.com 80 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/skI
•
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Deeded parking. On site gym facilities included. On site security.
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Brick and beam lofts with artist venting and work sinks. 20 minutes from downtown. ¼ mile from Readville Commuter rail, four stops to Back Bay or South Station.
•
www.theloftsatwestinghouse.com Contact Patrick Reardon at preardon@thehamiltoncompany.com
cranmore’s CORPORATE
EMPLOYEE ADVANTAGE PROGRAM Save up to 20% off lift tickets with Cranmore’s Corporate Employee Advantage Program!
Here’s how it works: • Offer highly discounted lift tickets to your employees • Lift tickets are good every day including weekends and holidays • No upfront cost! Your company will be billed monthly for tickets sold Extras: • Adult any day lift tickets may be exchanged for introduction to skiing and snowboarding packages • Snow Tubing tickets also available • Visit our Mountain Adventure Park, featuring:
Smuggs has more family fun per square inch.
- Mountain Coaster - Giant Swing - Indoor Adventure Center - Soaring Eagle Zip Line Plus Group Outings: • Corporate retreats • Discounted trips for groups of 20 or more • Aprés ski parties • Holiday parties
Scenic North Conway VIllage Location Located minutes from major lodging properties, B&Bs, shops & restaurants in North Conway, NH.
Visit cranmore.com/groups or call 603-356-5544 ext 322 or email groups@cranmore.com.
With an average annual snowfall exceeding 300 inches and an investment of more than $1,000,000 in snowmaking enhancements this season, choosing Smuggs for your Winter vacation is easy. January is SuperSaver Month! Call today to begin building your family’s tradition of fun!
#
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Where Family Fun is Guaranteed!
FREE Winter Vacation Planning Guide & DVD! Call Toll Free Today! 1.888.598.7404 // smuggs.com/bp
SKI GUIDE :: lIStInGS C midweek adults $63, teens (13 through 18) $48, seniors (over 65) and juniors (6 through 12) $39; weekends/holidays adults $70, teens $55, seniors and juniors $50; multi-day and military discount tickets also available; ages 5 and under free ticket when accompanied by adult/guardian with valid ticket H skis and snowboard packages $36 M private lessons $79 an hour, $20 per additional person; group lessons adults $30, full-day childrens programs $79, half-day $59; lesson and rental packages available
BLACK MOUNTAIN 373 Black Mountain Rd, Jackson, NH › 800.698.4490 › blackmt. com › A family friendly ski area located in the Mount Washington Valley with activities, racing, and special events throughout the season. Call 800.475.4669 for snow conditions. A 1100 feet B 44 trails and glades; 34 percent novice, 32 percent intermediate, 34 percent expert F half-pipe and two terrain parks K 98 percent G one triple, one double, one platter-pull, one J-bar D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4 pm C weekdays, adults $35 and juniors/seniors $25 ($5 off after 12:30 pm); weekends, adults $45, juniors/seniors/students $30 (33 percent off after 12:30 pm). Kids under six always ski free H ski or snowboard $30 adults, $24 juniors M group lesson package $79 for adults, $69 for juniors (includes lift ticket and rentals); private lessons $55/hour; semi-private lessons $50/ hour
BRETTON WOODS RTE 302, Bretton Woods, NH › 800.314.1752 › brettonwoods. com › The Granite State’s largest ski area, historic Bretton Woods features four terrain parks and 101 trails on 434 acres, including intermittent tree runs and the Rosebrook Canyon Glades, a large free-riding area with patches of heavier maintenance than might typically be expected of “backcountry” terrain, although it still provides plenty of opportunities to sit in the back seat as you plow through the powder. Snowmaking covers 92 percent of the mountain, so you can ride morning, noon, and night whether Old Man Winter is doing his job or not. Season begins in mid-November. A 1500 feet B 101 total; 25 novice, 29 intermediate, 31 black diamond, 16 double diamond F four freestyle terrain parks K 92 percent G five quads, two carpets, one double chair, one triple chair D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, and Sat and Sun 8 am to 4 pm; night skiing 4 to 9 pm on selected dates; subject to change C weekdays adults $70, teen $57, junior $43; weekends and holidays adults $78, teen $64, junior $49, senior $78 H adult package $41; seniors/juniors $30 M group lessons $35/90 min, private lessons $85/ hour
CANNON MOUNTAIN 9 Franconia Notch, Franconia, NH › 603.823.7771 › cannonmt.com › Cannon Mountain was the site of the first passenger tramway in North America and is the home of the New England Ski Museum. Call 603.823.7771 for snow conditions. A 2180 feet B 72 total; 15 novice, 34 intermediate, 23 expert F terrain park open to skiers and riders K 97 percent G one tram, three quad chairs, three triple chairs, one wonder carpet, one rope tow D Mon and Fri 9 am to 4 pm, weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4 pm, closed Tues through Thurs C regular season: adults $68, college/teen $55, juniors/seniors $45
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H ski/snowboard rentals $41 for adults/teens/seniors, $30 for juniors M group lessons $40, private lessons $50/hour
CRANMORE MOUNTAIN 1 Skimobile Rd, PO Box 1640, North Conway, NH › 800.SUN. NSKI › cranmore.com › This affordable resort tucked away in downtown North Conway offers more than 200 skiable acres, as well as seven dining options, kids’ programs, tubing, night skiing, and entertainment and special events all season long. Scheduled to open on Nov 26. A 1200 feet, with W, NW, and SW exposures B 43 total, with seven glades: 36 percent novice, 44 percent intermediate, 20 percent expert F freestyle terrain park with quarter-pipe K 100 percent G one quad, one triple chair, two double chairs, two carpets, one rope tow D weekdays generally from 9 am to 4 pm, Sat and Sun open at 8:30 am and close at varying times C adult $59, teen $49, kids/seniors $39 H ski and snowboard packages $35 adults, $32 youth M group lessons $59 to $125, private lessons $109 to $209; prices vary by age and length
CROTCHED MOUNTAIN 615 Francestown Rd, Bennington, NH › 603.588.3668 › crotchedmountain.com › Crotched Mountain has the highest snow-production capacity per acre in New England and offers Midnight Madness skiing from 9 pm to 3 am on Fri and Sat nights A 875 feet B 21 total; seven novice, six intermediate, eight advanced F Crotched Mountain Park is equipped with its own quad chair, and Zero-G terrain park features its own triple chair K 100 percent G two quads, one triple chair, one double chair, one magic carpet D Mon through Sat 9 am to 9 pm; Sun 9 am to 5 pm. Midnight Madness Fri and Sat 9 pm to 3 am from Dec 30 to Feb 25 C weekdays, adults $48, juniors/seniors $39; weekends, adults $59, juniors/seniors $48. Midnight madness is $42 H $29/day M group lessons $29, private lessons $70/hour
GRANITE GORGE SKI AREA 341 Rte 9, Keene, NH › 603.358.5000 › granitegorge.com › Features downhill racing, tubing, alpine, and 12 kilometers of cross country skiing. A 525 feet B 20 trails: 30 percent novice, 40 percent intermediate, 30 percent expert F terrain park
K 75% G one summit chair lift, one handle tow, one carpet lift D Wed and Thurs noon to 6 pm, Fri noon to 8 pm, Sat 10 am to 6 pm, Sun 10 am to 4 pm C adults $42, juniors and seniors $35, college with id $30 H skis or snowboards $35 M group lessons $25, private lessons $65
GUNSTOCK 719 Cherry Valley Rd, Gilford, NH › 603.293.4341 › gunstock.com › Located in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, Gunstock has scenic views of Lake Winnipesaukee and the third-longest lift in the state. The Panorama High Speed Quad takes skiers over a mile to 1400 vertical feet in only six minutes. The tubing park has five chutes and is serviced by a hand tow lift. Backcountry cross-country ski tours and clinics are offered throughout the season, as well as skijoring (cross-country skiing with your dog). The tentative opening date is Dec 3. A 1400 feet B 55 total, 12 percent novice, 61 percent intermediate, 27 percent expert; night skiing includes 21 trails and five lifts F all trails, freestyle terrain park, and wall K 90 percent G one high-speed quad, two quads, two triples, one double, one conveyor, one handle tow D Mon 9 am to 4 pm; Tues through Thurs 9 am to 9 pm; Fri 9 am to 10 pm; Sat 8:30 am to 10 pm; Sun 8:30 am to 4 pm C weekdays adults $63, teens $50, children/seniors $36; weekends and holidays adults $72, teens $59, children/seniors $46; night and half-day skiing prices are discounted; Mon tickets are two-for-one H ski/snowboard packages adults/teens $38, children/seniors $30; ski boots only $20; snowboard boots only $20; skis only $28; poles only $5; helmets $10 M group day programs $75 to $95; private lessons $65/hour; semi-private (two person) lessons $120/hour
KING PINE 1251 Eaton Rd, Madison, NH › 603.367.8896 › kingpine.com › King Pine’s gentle terrain is ideal for children and beginners, but thrill-seekers can ski “Pitch Pine,” one of New England’s steepest trails. Area includes a skating rink, indoor pool, nursery, tubing area, and fitness complex. The Nordic Center at King Pine features scenic trails on the grounds of Purity Spring Resort and through the pines of the New Hampshire Audubon Sanctuary. Opening day is Dec 10. A 350 feet
B 17 total; 44 percent novice, 31 percent intermediate, 25 percent expert F terrain park K 100 percent G three triple chairs, two rope tows, one magic carpet lift D Mon, Wed, and Thurs 9 am to 4 pm; Tues and Fri 9 am to 9 pm; Sat 8:30 am to 9 pm; Sun 8:30 am to 4 pm C adults $47; juniors/seniors $33; children 5 and under free; beginner lifts adults $35, juniors/ seniors $22 H adults $34, juniors under 13 $26, children under six $16; snowboard package $34; half-day rentals available M group lessons $77 adults, $62 juniors; private lessons $68/hour, $29 per additional person
LOON MOUNTAIN 60 Loon Mountain Rd, Lincoln, NH › 603.745.8111 › loonmtn.com › Call 603.745.8100 for snow conditions. The resort is located in the White Mountain National Forest. Season scheduled to begin on Nov 19.Loon’s Nordic and Adventure Center also hosts snowshoeing, ice-skating, indoor climbing, workshops, and Nordic rental/ trail/lesson packages. A 2100 feet B 61 total; 20 percent novice, 60 percent intermediate, 20 percent expert F six terrain parks, a 18’ Superpipe, and a mini-pipe K 97 percent G one gondala, three high-speed quads, one fixedgrip quad, one triple chair, three double chairs, two carpet lifts, and one handle tow D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm; weekends and holidays 8 am to 4 pm C weekdays $53, teens 13-18 $43, juniors 6-12 and seniors 65-79 $33; weekends $78, teens 13-18 $68, juniors 6-12 and seniors 65-79 $58 H ski/board packages $40, junior packages $28 M group lessons $80-$95; private lessons $99-$410
MOUNT SUNAPEE 1398 Rte. 103, Newbury, NH › 603.763.3500 › mtsunapee. com/mtsunapeewinter/index.asp › A familyowned and operated resort in southern New Hampshire. Season runs from late November to mid-April. Call 603.763.4020 for snow conditions. A 1510 feet B 65 total; 17 novice, 32 intermediate, 16 exper F three terrain parks K 97 percent G three quads (one high-speed), two triple chairs, one double chair, three carpet lifts, and two surface lifts D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm; weekends and holidays 8 am to 4 pm; half day starts at noon
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A chairlift ride away from your hotel room ...
Psychic Medium and Author
JOHN EDWARD July 17, 2013 - 7pm Holiday Inn by the Bay 88 Spring St Portland, ME 04101
July 18, 2013 - 7pm Hilton Boston Logan Airport, 1 Hotel Dr Boston, MA 02128
July 21, 2013 - 1pm The Westin Providence 1 West Exchange St Providence, RI 02903
For Tickets: www.ETix.com or www.Johnedward.net Reading Not Guaranteed
Midweek Ski & Stay Package
$
99
Lift Ticket Included
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).
GRAND SUMMIT HOTEL conference center
attitash.com
888.554.1900
Bartlett, New Hampshire
The only slopeside hotel in the Mt. Washington Valley
SKI GUIDE :: lIStInGS C weekdays adults $70, young adults $56, juniors/ super seniors $48; weekends and holidays adults $74, young adults $59, juniors/super seniors $50; half-day and South Peak only tickets available H skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots adults $41, juniors $30; skis or snowboard only adults $33, juniors $23; poles only $8; snowboard boots only $19; helmets $10, juniors $8; Telemark skis available M private lessons $95/hour, children aged 3-4 $65; group lessons adults $45/hour, children’s vary by age and ability
B 49 total: 25 percent novice, 45 percent intermediate, 30 percent expert F progression terrain park with snow elements, rails, & boxes K 90 percent coverage G one high-speed detachable summit quad, three triples, and one surface lift D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm; weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4 pm C midweek adults $63, teens (13 through 18) $48, seniors (over 65) and juniors (6 through 12) $39; weekends/holidays adults $70, teens $55, seniors and juniors $50; multi-day and military discount tickets also available; ages 5 and under free ticket when accompanied by adult/guardian with valid ticket H ski and snowboard packages $35 M private lessons $69 an hour, $20 per additional person; group lessons adults $35, full-day childrens programs $89, half-day $69; lesson and rental packages available
PAT’S PEAK 686 Flanders Rd, Henniker, NH › 603.428.3245 › patspeak.com › Call 888.728.7732 for snow conditions. Offers child care and kids’ programs, snowtubing, and après ski entertainment. A 710 feet B 22 total and seven glades; 11 novice, four intermediate, seven advanced/expert F “Turbulence Park” terrain park, freestyle terrain park K 100 percent G two triple chairs, three double chairs, two carpet lifts, two handle tows and one J-bar lift D daily 8:30 am to 4 pm until Dec 24; hours extended after the holiday and vary throughout the season C weekdays adults $46, youth $43; weekends and holidays adults $58, youth $50 H skis, boots and poles or snowboard and boots adults $36, juniors/seniors $32, children $24; premium equipment $46 M group lessons $32; private lessons $75/hour
RAGGED MOUNTAIN 620 Ragged Mountain Rd, Danbury, NH › 603.768.3600 › raggedmountainresort.com › Call 603.768.3971 for snow conditions. Out-ofbounds skiing is available if natural snowfall permits. Season open Nov 26. A 1250 feet B 50 total; 30 percent novice, 40 percent intermediate, 30 percent expert F four terrain parks, including a “learn to slide” beginners park K 84 percent G one high-speed summit six-pack express, two triples, one double, one surface lift D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm; weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4 pm C weekdays adults $62, teens $47, juniors/seniors 65+ $37, seniors 80+ free; weekends and holidays adults $71, teens $57, juniors/seniors 65+ $47, seniors 80+ free; half day tickets available H ski and snowboard packages adults $41, juniors $31; half-day ski or board $34; helmets $10 M private lessons $85/hour; $29 per additional person; group lessons start at $41
WATERVILLE VALLEY 1 Ski Area Rd, Waterville Valley, NH › 1.800.468.2553 › waterville.com › Assuming you don’t mind the two-hour drive from Boston, Waterville is a readily accessible mountain that provides exceptional bang for your buck. We should know: we skied here so often in high school, we should have owned stock in the mountain. Its 52 trails span 259 acres — all of which are covered by snow guns — and include terrain parks, a superpipe, and tree skiing. Admittedly, the lift lines can get a bit horrendous on the weekends, despite seven chairlifts, but that’s what mid-week lift tickets are for. Also, the two double-black-diamond trails here are mogul runs, so you’re either going to be totally stoked or your knees will hate you by lunchtime. Opens for the season on Nov 20. Call 603.236.4144 for snow conditions. A 2020 feet B 52 total; 20 percent novice, 60 percent intermediate, 20 percent expert; intermediate and expert glades and mogul runs F terrain park and superpipe K 100 percent G two high-speed quads, two triples, three doubles, five surface lifts D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, and weekends 8 am to 4 pm C adults $73; teens $63; youth/seniors $53; Sun kids under 12 ski free; Mon and Fri tickets 2-for-1 H ski and snowboard packages adults $42, juniors $35, children under 6 $29; helmets $10 M group lessons $42; “Learn to Ski/Ride Program” $75/day; private lessons peak $99/hour, off-peak $79/hour
WHALEBACK SKI AREA 160 Whaleback Mountain Rd, Enfield, NH › 603.448.1489 ›
whaleback.com › This mountain focuses on extreme sports and offers night skiing, programs, camps, and events. They also have a pub at the base. A 700 feet B 30 total; 60 percent or more are novice and intermediate; 21 trails equipped for night skiing F two terrain parks K 85 percent G one double chair, one magic carpet and 3 surface lifts D Tue and Wed 1 to 7 pm, Thurs and Fri 1 to 8 pm, Sat and Sun 9 am to 4 pm C weekdays $20, last two hours only $15; weekends and holidays adults $40, youth $30, children/ seniors $25, last two hours only $15; half-day tickets available H ski and snowboard packages adults $30, youth/ seniors $25; boots only $20; skis and poles or snowboard only $20; helmets $10 M group lessons adults $29, youth $24; private lessons $65, $25 per additional person; lesson and rental packages available
WILDCAT MOUNTAIN Rte 16 , Pinkham Notch, Gorham, NH › 603.466.3326 › skiwildcat.com › Wildcat Mountain is big mountain, classic New England skiing & riding located across from Mount Washington and features legendary scenery and a season that goes well in to spring. It is home to New Hampshire’s longest novice trail and features excellent learning terrain. Now under the same ownership as nearby Attitash Mountain Resort, lift tickets are valid for use at both resorts and allow skiers and riders to enjoy the most vertical, value, and variety. Call 1.888.SKI.WILD for snow conditions. A 2112 feet
veRMONT
BOLTON VALLEY 877.9BO.LTON › boltonvalley.com › This full-service resort offers child care, dining, a sports center, and evening activities. A 1704 feet B 64 total; 27 percent novice, 47 percent intermediate, 26 percent expert F three terrain parks K 60 percent G two quad lifts, three double chairs, one surface lift D Mon through Tues 9 am to 4 pm; Wed through Fri 9 am to 8 pm; Sat 8:30 am to 8 pm; Sun 8:30 am to 4 pm C weekends $64, juniors and seniors $54; midweek $54 and $44 H adult ski or snowboard package $40, junior ski or snowboard package $29 M call for details
BROMLEY MOUNTAIN 1-63 Bromley Lodge Rd, Peru, VT › 802.824.5522 › bromley. com › A family friendly resort with varied terrain and lots of sunshine. A 1334 feet B 46 trails and glades; 32 percent novice, 37 percent intermediate, 31 expert, four glades F three freestyle terrain parks and half-pipe K 84 percent G two quad chairs, four double chairs, two MiteyMites, one T-bar D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4 pm C midweek adults and teens $49, junior $39; weekend adults $67, teens $57, juniors $41; holiday adults $71, teens $61, juniors $47; non-holiday Sunday specials available H ski and snowboard packages $44, $34 for juniors M group lessons $49/90-min, private lessons $89/ hour
JAY PEAK 4850 VT Route 242, North Troy, VT › 617.629.5383 › jaypeakresort.com › Less than seven miles from the Canadian border, Jay Peak offers more than 100 acres of offpiste terrain, the most in New England. An average annual snowfall of 379 inches makes a true backcountry riding experience possible, and it will only take one run bombing through the trees to understand why it’s far superior to carving S’s among the masses on any trail. Another defining feature: Jay Peak has Vermont’s only aerial tramway. Absolutely worth the drive, and easy to roll into a road trip to Montreal. The projected opening date is Nov 26. A 2153 feet B 77 trails, glades, and chutes; 20 percent novice, 40 percent intermediate, 40 percent expert F four terrain parks and a half-pipe K 80 percent G one 60-passenger tram, three quad chairs, one triple chair, one double chair, one T-bar, one moving carpet for beginners
>> SKi LiStingS on p 86
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SKI GUIDE :: lIStInGS
D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, weekends 8:30 am to 4 pm C adults $75, juniors $55, senior $35, toddler $16 H ski or snowboard packages $50 for adults, $40 for juniors M TBD for 2012-2013
KILLINGTON 4763 Killington Rd, Killington, VT › 802.422.6200 › killington.com › Killington Mountain Resort and Ski Area, the largest winter-sports complex on the East Coast, boasts more than 87 miles of trails serviced by the region’s highest-capacity lift system, so you’ll spend more time on the slopes than in line for the gondola. With five ski and snowboard terrain parks — one of which is the largest snowboard park in the Northeast — and double black diamonds including the steepest mogul run in New England, Killington is a proving ground, as the annual rotation of contests the mountain hosts attests. One of them, the Winter Dew Tour, stops by on January 20–23. It’s usually the first mountain open in the fall and the last one to close in the spring. A 3050 feet B 140 total; 28 percent novice, 33 percent intermediate, 39 percent expert F three terrain parks and a 430-foot superpipe K 80 percent G nine quads (five are high-speed), two gondolas, six surface lifts, three triple chairs, two double chairs D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, weekends 8:30 am to 4 pm (subject to change) C adults $86 on peak days and weekend, $79 midweek; young adults/seniors $73, $67; juniors/ super seniors (70+) $60, $55 H skis or board $39, $43 peak days;juniors/seniors $26; $29 peak days M group lessons $49 off-peak $57 peak;private $99
MAD RIVER GLEN 62 Mad River Resort Rd, Waitsfield, VT › 802.496.3551 › madriverglen.com › This ski area at General Stark Mountain offers varied terrain and the country’s last surviving single chairlift. A 2037 feet B 45 total: 30% novice, 30% intermediate, 40% expert F no snowboarders allowed K 15 percent, but the area gets plenty of natural snow G three double chairs, one single chair, one handle tow D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, weekends and holidays 8:30 am to 4 pm C midweek $49; weekends adults $69, juniors and seniors
86 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/skI
$53; holidays adults $72, juniors and seniors $59 H ski packages $30, juniors $25 M private lessons $65, semi-private lessons (four people) $160 for two hours
MAGIC MOUNTAIN 495 Magic Mountain Access Rd, Londonderry, VT › 802.824.5645 › magicmtn.com › This area is known for its steep and challenging terrain, but beginners will find easier slopes on the mountain’s east side. A 1700 feet B 40 total; 30 percent beginner, 30 percent intermediate, 40 percent expert F terrain park K 70 percent G two double chair, two surface lifts D Fri and Mon 9 am to 4 pm, Sat and Sun 8:30 am to 4 pm C weekday lifts, $39 adults, $35 teens, $25 juniors/ seniors; weekends and holidays, $59 adults, $51 teens, $39 juniors/seniors H ski or snowboard package $35, $25 juniors M private lesson $105 for two hour lesson, group lessons $40 for two hours
MOUNT SNOW 39 Mount Snow Rd, West Dover, VT › 800.245.SNOW › mountsnow.com › Mount Snow includes four mountain areas: Main Mountain, North Face, Carinthia, and Sunbrook. A 1700 feet B 80 total, including tree terrain: 15 percent novice, 70 percent intermediate, 15 percent expert F 12 terrain parks, one superpipe, one mini-pipe K 80 percent G 20 total, including three high-speed quad chairs, one fixed quad chair, seven triple chairs, four double chairs, one rope tow, four magic carpets D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, weekends 8 am to 4 pm C weekends and holidays, adults $83, youth and seniors $65; weekdays $75 and $58 H adults $39, juniors $30 M group lessons $48, private lessons $105 per hour
OKEMO 77 Okemo Ridge Rd, Ludlow, VT › 802.228.4041 › okemo.com › Family ski area with day care and extensive children’s ski programs. Season begins in mid November. A 2200 feet B 119 total; 32 percent novice, 36 percent intermediate, 32 percent expert F six terrain parks, one super-pipe, and one minihalf-pipe K 96 percent G nine quad chairs (five high-speed detachables), three triple chairs, seven surface lifts
D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, and weekends 8:30 am to 4 pm C weekdays adults $77, teens and seniors $67, juniors and super seniors $52; weekends $84, $74, $57 H ski or board package $40 for adults, $29 juniors M group lessons $55, private lessons $110
PICO 73 Alpine Dr, Killington, VT › 802.422.6200 › picomountain.com › Also offers explorer and mountaineer programs. Season opens December 16 and runs through late March. A 1967 feet B 52 total: 19 percent novice, 46 percent intermediate, 35 percent expert F half-pipe and alpine park K 75 percent G two quads, two triple chairs, two double chairs, one rope tow D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, and weekends 8:30 am to 4 pm C midweek adults $49, teens and seniors $42, juniors $34; weekends $62, $53; peak period $65, $55 H adults $35, teens and seniors $28, juniors and super seniors $24 M half day group lesson $44, peak $49; one-hour private lesson $94
STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT 5781 Mountain Rd, Stowe, VT › 800.253.4754 › stowe.com › The resort boasts 485 skiable acres and 39 total miles of skiing, as well as resort vacation packages and dog-sledding tours. The Stowe Mountain Lodge was recently named #9 on the Top 100 Hotels in the United States by Condé Nast Traveler as well as the Reader’s Choice Award. In celebration, they’re offering two special packages this year for guests- the “Ski & Stay” package and the “Ski For Free” package. A 2160 feet B 116 total; 16 percent novice, 59 percent intermediate, 25 percent expert F beginner park, mini-park, advanced-terrain park, and super-pipe K 80 percent G 13 total: one 10-person high-speed gondola, one eight-passenger gondola, three high-speed quad chairs, two triple chairs, four double chairs, and two surface lifts D daily 8 am to 4 pm C during prime season adults $84, seniors $73, juniors $63; during peak season $89, $77, $66; early/late season $59, $58, $48 H adults $43, children $34 M group lessons $108 for 2.5 hours; private lessons $145-$575
STRATTON SKI AND SUMMER RESORT Rte 30, Bondville, VT › 800.787.2886 › stratton.com › This family-friendly resort boasts nearly 600 acres of skiing and riding with a sports center, spa, and slopeside village. Seasons opens late November. A 2003 feet B 92 total; 42 percent novice, 31 percent intermediate, 27 percent expert F four terrain parks and a half-pipe K 90 percent G one gondola, four high-speed six-passenger lifts, three quad chairs, one triple chair, one double chair, two surface lifts, four magic carpets D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, and weekends 8:30 am to 4 pm C midweek adults $76, teens and seniors $67, juniors and super seniors $59; weekends $87, $75, $65 H midweek $35; weekends $45 M group lessons $49-59, private lessons $89 to $114 per hour, depending on day
SUGARBUSH RESORT › Skiing on six mountain peaks, all within Sugarbush North and South. A 2600 feet B 111 total; 20 novice, 45 intermediate, 35 expert F three terrain parks and a regulation half-pipe K 70 percent G seven quad chairs, two triple chairs, four double chairs, three surface lifts D weekdays 9 am to 4 pm, and weekends 8 am to 4 pm C call for details H call for details M rates vary by time of day, date, hours of lessons, and age
SUICIDE SIX 247 Stage Rd, South Pomfret, VT › 802.457.6661 › suicide6.com › Includes a cross-country ski area and sports center with pool, indoor tennis, squash courts, and Swedish massage. Suicide Six and the Woodstock Ski Touring Center are both part of the Woodstock Inn and Resort. A 650 feet B 23 total; 30 percent beginner, 40 percent intermediate, 30 percent advanced F terrain park K 50 percent G two double chairs, one J-bar D daily 9 am to 4 pm C call for details H call for details M call for details
two mountains, one experience 116 trails 535 skiable acres including 100+ acres of tree skiing New Surface Lift at Wildcat Free Beginner Terrain at Bear Peak New Abenaki Park at Bear Peak Daily Deals & Savings New Freestyle Stunt Air Bag
VERTICAL VALUE & VARIETY
IN ONE TICKET
It is hard to believe this is the third season Attitash Mountain Resort and Wildcat Mountain are united to offer joint lift tickets and season passes. The benefit of having two big mountains — with three unique peaks, just 20 minutes apart — makes it possible to enjoy plenty of variety all in one day. There’s more to our mountains and more to the story. Visit: attitash.com/two-mountains.html
slopeside accommodations
Situated at the base of Bear Peak just steps away from the chairlift, the Attitash Grand Summit Hotel offers relaxed lodging with slopeside convenience. Our 143 guest rooms combine comfort and quality for family vacations and weekend getaways. Kids Age 12 & Under eat for free in Crawford’s Restaurant during a stay. Book Now:
888-554-1900
attitash.com
Ways to Save at Attitash & Wildcat Mountain
Start your day on freshly groomed trails at Attitash, with picturesque views of Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range.
vertical value card
Finish a day with the family at Wildcat Mountain, taking in the #1 View in the East of Tuckerman Ravine and Mt. Washington.
Save up to 50% on single day lift tickets with the Vertical Value Card, our frequent skier card valid at Attitash Mountain Resort and Wildcat Mountain. Pay a one-time annual activation fee of $89 and get your first ticket for free. Cannot be combined with any other deals. Discount is applied to full-priced, single day lift tickets based on age categories. Pricing and rates are subject to change. Complete details online.
e-tickets & daily deals
Maximize your savings, visit us online to see daily deals, special discount rates and to purchase e-tickets in advance
Learn2 program
Our new Learn2 Program, designed for Ages 13+, is packed with value. Clinic includes three hours of on-snow instruction, rental equipment and a novice lift ticket. Single Clinic: $65 Three Clinic Package: $130
Call 866-376-4293 to reserve a clinic at Attitash or 888.SKI.WILD x217 to reserve at Wildcat.
800.223.SNOW attitash.com
888.SKI.WILD skiwildcat.com
Have a Fresh Holiday Season! Gift certificate purchases with presentation of this ad will receive 20% bonus value.
eat
Barroom Breakups » Hummus witH Hovav » irasHai » a BruncH Battle
& DRINK
photo by janice checchio
Night Shift Brewing. Page 96.
thephoeniX.com :: 12.07.12 89
Food & drink :: holiday survival
You got served
Navigating the barroom breakup B y Kar a B a sKin @ kc b a s k i n
teodora BakardzhIeva of the emerald lounge
Helpful Advice: “The holidays really are the time to decide, ‘Should I deal with this person or not?’ If you decide to end it, do it on a weekend. It’s louder.” Field Notes: “As a bartender at Locke-Ober, [I found] some guys didn’t want their dates to see them drinking. They’d sneak to the bar, order a martini, chug it in the bathroom, and then return to their table to do whatever they needed to do.” Breakup Beverage: “I make a cocktail called the Fallen Angel, with bourbon and honey syrup. It washes down the sorrow.”
alex homans of BackBar
Helpful Advice: “If you’re bringing someone to a bar to break up, at least pay for their drink.” Field Notes: “I was bartending at Russell House Tavern. A couple was sitting together. Suddenly, it turned into a shrieking match. The guy stood up, screamed, and left. The entire dining room was silent.” Act of Kindness: “I’ll send my favorite dish to people who look upset. I’ll make it seem like I want them to try it because I like it, not because it’s a sympathetic gesture.” Breakup Beverage: “At Backbar, there’s a drink called the Model T. It’s a variation on a Manhattan — boozy enough to kill your pain but also a bit spicy and sweet. It numbs your feelings but tastes good.”
lorI stItch of the tIp tap room
lori stitch
90 12.07.12 :: Thephoenix.com/food
Field Notes: “A gentleman came in, and shortly thereafter his girlfriend walked in. He very nicely ordered drinks, but he seemed nervous. I thought he was going to propose. Instead, they started arguing. The whole time, he’s incredibly polite to me. Finally, I asked if they needed anything else. He thanked me, asked my name, and hit on me — she’s looking at me like I’m moving in on her territory. Ultimately, he paid and
left. She stayed behind and cried. I poured her a shot of Jameson. She wiped her eyes, took the shot, and walked out.” Breakup Beverage: “I always offer whiskey, or Blanton’s bourbon if things seem really bad.”
tom tellIer of dante
Field Notes: “Two ladies were obviously breaking up. One stood up, slapped the other one, and came right to the bar. I just poured her a shot of bourbon on the rocks. Sometimes I’ve had to bring out chefs during brawls, because people are scared of chefs.” Act of Kindness: “I’ve Ubered for people a million times. I don’t care about the $20. If someone’s drinking away their sorrows, I’d rather know that they got home safely.” Breakup Beverage: “We do a hard cider, made with my own apple vodka, with cloves, cinnamon, allspice. It’s like a relationship: cozy and warm, but if you drink too many, it’ll punch you in the face.”
emma hollander of trIna’s starlIte lounge
Helpful Advice: “A misconception is that your bartender is just making your drinks and cannot hear you. I can hear everything, but I pretend not to. People underestimate this.” Field Notes: “Last Christmas, a gentleman came in after proposing. She not only said no, but admitted to cheating on him. Also, with online dating, bars are hubs for first dates. I’ve heard people say, ‘You look nothing like your photos. You said you were 29, but you’re 45.’ People pretend they’re going to the bathroom and leave out the back door.” Breakup Beverage: “Stick to what you know, because if you get drunk in a different way, it can backfire. You don’t want to be blackout drunk, sobbing. It’s awkward when someone starts crying at your bar. I double as a therapist, but I don’t get paid to wipe tears.” P
photo by joel veak
It’s poIntless to plunge Into the holiday bacchanalia with dead weight — namely, an insignificant other who doesn’t need to meet nosy Auntie Gertrude at the family potluck. That’s why it’s important to squelch fizzling relationships before the season gets too far underway, preferably with help from people on the front line of romantic implosions: bartenders. “We’re really psychiatrists,” says the Emerald Lounge’s Teodora Bakardzhieva. “People break up at bars because there’s an audience. They can get support and milk it.” She and several other hardy mixologists told us how to end a romance right.
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Give the gift of fish this holiday, and when you purchase $200 worth of gift cards from one of our restaurants, enjoy a lobster dinner on us. Boston, Braintree, Burlington, Cambridge, Chestnut Hill, Dedham, Framingham, and Peabody www.legalseafoods.com
Food & drink :: interview
Five Courses with:
israeli CheF Gil hovav B y L o u isa Ka sd o n
lo u i s a@ lo u i s a k a s d o n .c o m
He Had me at marilyn monroe. As Gil Hovav tells it, when Monroe visited Israel, she was served matzo-ball soup three times in three days. “On the third day she wondered, politely, if there weren’t other organs of the matzo that were worth eating?” And with that quip, Israel’s most mediagenic chef began whipping up a little breakfast couscous. A journalist, TV producer, restaurant critic, novelist, cookbook author, and host of several Israeli cooking shows, Hovav was recently in Boston at the Israeli Consulate General residence to promote his first English-language cookbook, Confessions of a Kitchen Rebbetzin. He says that Israeli food is much like Israelis themselves: blunt and colorful. To describe Hovav as “colorful” would be like calling pomegranate seeds a pleasant hue. He referred to them as “tiny explosive rubies” before adding a handful of the little gems to the couscous — and answering a few questions.
are about respecting the things that go into the pot. What are the primary flavors in the Israeli pot? Our food is influenced by the Palestinians, the Europeans, the Persians, the Yemenis, the Iraqis, the Russians, the Egyptians — and every other thing that is available around the southern Mediter-
Photo by baruch Perl
Is Israeli cuisine ready for the world stage? We are getting there. But we are evolving from nothingness. We are very young, and our country is only 64 years old. At first the cultural emphasis was to absorb all the ethnicities, to create one Israeli identity out of many and become the big melting pot for Jewish cooking from all over the world. That’s not where we are today. We aren’t a melting pot anymore. We
>> five courses on p 94
Burritos & Tacos to Go!
Winner
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92 12.07.12 :: Thephoenix.com/food
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Food & drink :: interview << five courses from p 92
ranean. Our food can be shameless! A crime! But we do it in our own way. For example, schnitzel is the classic Israeli dish. Very German. But in Germany, schnitzel is classically made with cow. In Israel it is always made with chicken. It’s a real crime, but Israeli kids wouldn’t eat schnitzel any other way. We have to talk about hummus. Did Ben Stiller overstate the hummus habit? No. It’s true. Hummus and falafel are our staples. Originally falafel comes from Egypt and is made with fava beans. Egyptian falafel is green. We make ours with chickpeas, and it’s brown. Hummus is a matter of great debate among Israelis. People in Jerusalem eat their hummus “doukh” — my best translation is “straightforward.” We just scoop it up with a bit of pita. People from Tel Aviv eat their hummus “bessiyouv,” with a little fancy wrist twist. I have friends who moved back to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and are so happy to eat hummus “like a normal person again.” Is kosher tradition a problem for Israeli chefs? A limitation
on their creativity? Kosher food is not as good as non-kosher food. Kosher is all about having rules. You can’t mix this with that. You can’t put a cream sauce on a meat dish; you can’t serve a dessert that has dairy after a meat meal. It’s a problem for a creative chef. But Israeli food isn’t so kosher anymore. Not since we’ve added one million people from the Soviet republics. It’s still considered impolite to feature a non-kosher dish on TV, but I do it anyway.
Your great-grandfather spearheaded the revival of the Hebrew language. Your parents helped found Israeli public radio. You could have done anything. Why did you choose food? Of all the senses, food seems most connected to memory. For me it is connected to my grandmother. She was a very dramatic Yemeni personality, and she loved me. I was the smallest in the
family. But she wouldn’t let me into the kitchen. She thought that men in the kitchen bring only two things: dirt and bad luck. She gave me no recipes, no lessons. But the day she died, I started cooking. Even now, I remember. I was making a soup recently, and I remembered that she always added two grated carrots at the end for sweetness. Tears came into my eyes. When I cook, I am with her. P
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94 12.07.12 :: Thephoenix.com/food
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Food & drink :: liquid
BeerAdvocAte
Night Shift BrewiNg Barrel Society Membership has its (beer) rewards B y J a so n & T o dd a l s Tro m
While crAft BreWeries offering memberships in exchange for exclusive beers is not a new concept, it’s new for beer geeks in the Commonwealth. That’s why we raised an eyebrow when Everett nanobrewery Night Shift Brewing announced their 2013 Barrel Society in mid-November. Barrel Society? The idea is simple. You give Night Shift $250, which will help them raise funds for their future growth, and in return you get 14 bottles of barrel-aged beer, two glasses, one T-shirt, two tickets to their end-of-year party, a 2013 Night Shift Barrel Society Membership Card, and first rights to renew your membership for 2014 (for now there’s a 400-member limit).
Nigh Bre t Shift 3 Ch wiNg arl
ton Ev St, 617 ErEtt nigh .294.423 :: 3 or tShif tbr .Com Ewing
Michael Oxton, cofounder of Night Shift, explains: “More and more people in the Boston area are willing to spend a little bit extra on high-quality, locally produced food. So why not offer a similar option for beer in Boston?” The Bruery’s extremely successful Reserve Society in California was also an inspiration, as were crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter, Oxton says. Sounds like a cool idea, but it’s not without challenges. “The biggest obstacle we face is meeting high expectations, both our own and those of our Barrel Society members,” Oxton acknowledges. “We understand that $250 is no small amount of money, and when a large group of people invest it in
our efforts, we recognize the pressure on us to ensure that the beers are fantastic. But we thrive on that type of pressure, and are strongly committed to making this work.” Launched in March 2012, Night Shift is still a new brewery and one that also lacks experience when it comes to aging beer in wooden barrels, as pointed out by a user on a beeradvocate. com forum post: “They don’t have a track record in barrel aging, and they are asking folks to pre-pay for a series of beers. I would definitely wait and see how things turn out prior to investing in this.” To those concerned with quality, Oxton recommends “stopping by the brewery, sampling our beers, and deciding for yourself if it’s worth the investment.” If price is a concern, he encourages friends to split the cost. And as far as the barrels go, “Some of the beers planned for the society are already in oak barrels and tasting so, so good. We are confident that members will be very happy.” Speaking of making people happy, ideas are still brewing too. Night Shift plans on making one of their 2013 releases 100 percent crowdsourced by its Barrel Society members. Members will be able to select the yeast, malts, hops, and even the type of barrel. “We want to build a strong, lasting relationship with our supporters. This is the perfect opportunity for that,” says Oxton, who also clued us in on how this community could evolve in 2014. “We like the idea of keeping the group fairly small, as it allows us to get to know our greatest supporters by name. But if membership demand is higher in 2014, we will consider the idea of expanding the society’s size. Also, offering different membership tiers might be an interesting way to approach the Night Shift Barrel Society next year. We’re just excited to see where it all goes.” P
WANT A TASTE? Night Shift’s taproom is open for free tours and tastings every weeknight from 5 to 9 pm and every Saturday from noon to 5 pm.
96 12.07.12 :: ThEphoENix.com/food
photo by janiCE ChECChio
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
Food & drink :: dining
on the CheAp
IrashaI
with ramen ($9), with a fried egg on A lot of teriyAki joints top ($1), cures both college nostalgia turn out underwhelming food, but and the inevitable New England restaurants in Chinatown can’t get weather-induced malaise. away with generic Americanized Still craving soulfare so easily. Irashai, a warming liquids? sushi and teriyaki spot on Eat Up Order up a round of Kneeland, proves worthy of 8 Kneeland St, Boston Japanese green tea ($1), the ’hood’s standards with or try the savory, earthy dishes like the salmon teri617.350.6888 or irashaisushiteriyaki. brown-rice variety. Or yaki ($14) — light-handed com get Irashai’s all-day with the sauce, yet flavor“lunch” combo — the ful. It also features one of Sun–Thurs, 11 am to storefront touts this Chinatown’s most satisfy10 pm; Fri–Sat, 11 am to 11 pm deal with an oversized ing noodle-soup selections: green banner — since steaming bowls of homeit comes with miso soup. The grilled grown comfort food perfect for batpork ($9) and chicken curry ($8.50) tling winter’s onset. Vegetables served combos, which include sushi rolls in miso soup with udon noodles ($7) and steamed shumai, are great for makes a great remedy for colds, while midday pit stops. They’re arranged grilled steak served in soy-sauce soup
with an eye for elegance and balance, though they can’t compete with the lunch deals elsewhere in Chinatown in terms of value. On the cold end, Irashai’s sushi rolls range from classic to extravagant. While the California maki ($4.50) is what you’d expect, the texturally complex Irashai maki ($13) — salmon and mango wrapped in rice and topped with yellowtail, white tuna, and a spicy orange sauce — is quite an experience of the senses, especially when eaten in one bite. And with the sashimi regular combo ($16), Irashai’s
chefs, who hail from China’s Fujian province, prove Japan hardly has a monopoly on tuna-slicing mastery. Irashai means “Welcome!” in Japanese, and despite a modest exterior, the restaurant’s minimalist lights and shiny granite counters do well to make you feel at home. I certainly felt cozy after I plopped down at the seven-seat sushi bar and was immediately greeted with soup, salad, and an amiable chef who showed me a thing or two about carving fish. _W Ei - HUan CHEn » W EiHUanC @gmai l.Com
restaurant spotlight TASTE OF KOREA
KOREANA RESTAURANT Specializing in Korean style barbecue, each table has a built in cooking grill with custom designed smoke ventilation. Koreana focuses on customer service with attention to your dining needs while offering the best traditional food possible. Sunday-Thursday: 11:30am to 10:30pm Friday & Saturday: 11:30am to midnight
617-576-8661
www.koreanaboston.com 158 Prospect St., Cambridge
“The way it OTTO be.” - The Boston Phoenix
“A Neighborhood Spot in Newton Center”
Brunch. Lunch. Dinner. Late Night. Live Music
1432 mass ave cambridge, ma 617 499 3352 289 harvard st brookline, ma 617 232 0014
576 congress st portland, me 207 773 7099 225 congress st portland, me 207 358 7870
Monday. Tuesday. Friday. Sunday Brunch.
888 comm ave boston, ma 617 232 0447
796 Beacon St. Newton Center • 617-332-8743 • www.bstreetnewton.com
www.ottoportland.com
98 12.07.12 :: Thephoenix.com/Food
photo by melissa ostrow
Hot and cold comforts in Chinatown, by way of Japan
Food & drink :: calendar
Chew Out
SATURDAY 8
5TH ANNUAL BOISTEROUS ABOUT BUBBLES SPARKLING WINE TASTING
Nothing boosts holiday swagger like knowing your way around a soiree’s drink of choice: bubbly. We’re not sure when Champagne and its spritzy fellows became standbys of the season, but you have to agree: it’s a damn classy way to celebrate. Stop by Ball Square to hone your chops and pick up a few bottles guaranteed to make you everyone’s favorite partygoer. 1 to 4 pm @ Ball Square Fine Wines and Liquors, 716 Broadway, Somerville :: Free :: 617.623.9500 or ballsquarefinewines.com
SuNDAY 9 BENEVOLENT
BRUNCH BATTLE
Brunch doesn’t usually offer a purpose beyond placating your aching liver. This Sunday is different: sister restaurants the Salty Pig and Coda are duking it out for Lovin’ Spoonfuls and Room to Grow, respectively. The spot that serves the most bacon wins the Crown of Pork, which is exactly what it sounds like. Each restaurant will donate brunch proceeds to their charity either way, but choose wisely! To the victor goes the spoils . . . or at least that greasy, fatty, crazy-delicious crown. 10:30 am to 3 pm @ the Salty Pig, 130 Dartmouth St, Boston & Coda, 329 Columbus Ave, Boston
MONDAY 10 BEHIND THE LINE WITH MATTHEW GAUDET
Remember West Bridge exec chef Matt Gaudet? That guy who made you snarf a basket of fried chicken skin without a second’s hesitation? Or maybe you’re one of the many eggin-a-jar devotees, dreaming of baby Mason jars and duck eggs? Either way, you don’t want to miss this chance to hop on Gaudet’s makeshift line for a night and work on your technique (and then recommence snarfing with the resulting meal, of course).
6 pm @ the Boston Center for Adult Education, 122 Arlington St, Boston
À la carte menu
$75 non-members; $65 members; $15 materials; $25 for dinner guests
617.536.6200 or 617.536.2632
617.267.4430 or bcae.org
MONDAY 10 A BUCK A SHUCK AT BERGAMOT
Oh, $1 oysters. These puppies are much more fantastic and dangerous than their $2.50 counterparts. Each ice-cold, lemondrizzled bivalve goes down so sweet, and the tally climbs so quietly that we dare you to not leave your personal oyster-slurping best in the dust. One time, we went into one of these joints looking for a dozen — and walked out four dozen shells later. It was a good night. Sun–Tues @ Bergamot, 118 Beacon St, Somerville $1 oysters 617.576.7700 or bergamotrestaurant.com
Put your business in the Spotlight! Contact Sberthiaume@phx.com | 617-859-3202 fresh.Modern.Creative
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1019 Great Plain Ave needham (781)-444-9200
Burritos • Tacos • Quesadillas • Enchiladas
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Burrito Grande
642 Beacon St, (Kenmore Square) 617-437-9700
1728 Mass Ave Cambridge (near Porter) 617-354-7400
149 First Street Cambridge, MA 617-354-5550
366 Washington St Brighton Center 617-782-9600
NO DOUBLE DISCOUNTS. CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH OTHER OFFERS. Coupon Expires: 12/31/2012 | One coupon per customer
Dumpling Café Boston Phoenix gives us 4 stars! We a re t h e n e w D U M P L I N G C a f é i n B o s to n ’ s C h i n a tow n . Co m e t r y o u r s i g n a t u re m i n i j u i cy b u n s ( X L B) , pork leek dumplings, and mango shrimp.
10% Off
Twin Lobster Special
OnLy $19.95
Minimum of $25 dollars for 10% off. *One coupon per table Good with this ad. DINE IN ONLY . excluding twin lobster special* DINE IN ONLY . Cannot be combined with other offers. Expires 12/31/2012 Expires 12/31/2012 695 Washington St. Boston, Chinatown • Open- 11am to 2 am 7days • 617-338-8858 Visit us at WWW. DUMPLINGCAFE.COM
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 :: 12.07.12 99
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NIGHTLIFE + ARTS
Brazil. Page 119.
THEPHOENIX.cOm :: 12.07.12 101
Arts & Nightlife :: get out
Boston Fun List
YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE :: If you’re going to see LA’s AWOLNATION tonight at the HoB, we suggest you get there early enough to check out these promising young openers, whose self-titled EP has been in our rotation since dropping in August :: House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston :: December 12 @ 8 pm :: $20-$30 :: livenation.com
Mo
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Hot tix
TOM RUSH :: December 28 at Symphony Hall, Boston :: $35-$100 :: livenation.com “BENEFIT FOR BRENDA WYNNE” FT. MATALON + RAGING TEENS + JOHNNY CARVALE & THE ROLLING PINS + RAZORS IN THE NIGHT + CRADLE TO THE GRAVE + OC5 + NEVER BEEN CAUGHT :: January 5 at Brighton Music Hall, Allston :: $12 :: ticketmaster.com INFECTED MUSHROOM :: January 11 at the House of Blues, Boston :: $15-$35 :: livenation.com DESSA :: January 13 at the Sinclair, Cambridge :: $13 :: boweryboston.com IDAN RAICHEL PROJECT :: January 16 at Berklee Performance Center, Boston :: $39-$65 :: berklee.edu/events MATT PRYOR & JAMES DEWEES [GET UP KIDS] + INTO IT. OVER IT. :: January 17 at T.T. the Bear’s Place, Cambridge :: $13 :: ticketweb.com MARILYN MANSON + BUTCHER BABIES :: January 26 at the House of Blues, Boston :: $45-$60 :: livenation.com PAPADOSIO + CONSIDER THE SOURCE :: February 8 at the Sinclair, Cambridge :: $12 :: boweryboston.com “WTF WITH MARC MARON” :: February 8 at the Wilbur Theatre, Boston :: $31 :: ticketmaster.com NICK OFFERMAN :: February 16 at the Wilbur Theatre, Boston :: $35 :: ticketmaster.com SILVERSTEIN + GLASS CLOUD :: February 24 at the Sinclair, Cambridge :: $16 :: boweryboston.com
SUN
Charleston indie rockers Band of Horses might have delivered 9 a middling effort with Mirage Rock, the band’s fourth studio album, but we’ll still go to see them in respect of the lovely, fragile excellence of 2006’s Everything All the Time and 2007’s Cease to Begin. Because that was some pretty music. Here’s hoping the Chahlston boys find their way back to their roots, and play heavily off their back catalog, at tonight’s show.
House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston :: 8 pm :: $45 :: hob.com/boston
DELTA RAE + ZZ WARD + MARTIN HARLEY :: March 2 at the Middle East downstairs, Cambridge :: $13 :: ticketweb.com VERONICA FALLS + COLD SHOWERS + CHEATAHS :: March 9 at Great Scott, Allston :: $13 :: ticketmaster.com TAME IMPALA :: March 12 at the House of Blues, Boston :: $20 :: livenation.com FINCH [PERFORMING WHAT IT IS TO BURN IN ITS ENTIRETY] :: March 16 at Royale, Boston :: $25 :: boweryboston.com BOSTON POPS SPRING SEASON :: May 8–June 15 at Symphony Hall, Boston :: $10-$125 :: 888.266.1200 or bostonpops.org
102 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIx.COM/EvENTS
Pennywise (the clown from It, not the band) still haunts our dreams — proof that Stephen King is one of the best and most 7 influential horror writers of our time. And one of the most prolific: the New England-bred author has penned some 50 novels (not to mention many and varied novellas, works under pen name Richard Bachman, and more). As writers, we know that real terror in Misery isn’t the physical pain Annie Wilkes inflicts — it’s that she’s the most nightmarish editor in literary history. You can hear King discuss those novels and more tonight in a conversation moderated by Andre Dubus III. (In the meantime, read King’s answers to our questions about the nature of fear at thePhoenix.com/phlog.)
FRI
Tsongas Center, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Lowell :: 7:30 pm :: $30-$50 :: tsongascenter.com
THU
6
No longer emo (okay, well, less emo), Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst has proved he’s capable of more than just excellently wrought angst. He’s expanded his sonic repertoire with forays into other genres and played a killer set at this summer’s Newport Folk Fest. He continues his tradition of playing unusual locales; Willy Mason opens. Converse Hall in Tremont Temple, 88 Tremont St, Boston :: 8 pm :: $32-$35 :: ticketmaster.com
Been by the ICA to check out their cool new exhibit This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s yet? If not, you’ve got no excuse tonight, when you can peruse the art in your leg-warmers and spandex unitard at the museum’s First Friday ’80s Night Party. Themed attire is strongly encouraged for the party, at which DJs Paul Foley, Knife, and Nite Train will spin the ’80s jams all night long. Oh yes, there will be Prince. The artist, the artist formerly known as, and the symbol. FRI
7
Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave, Boston :: 5-10 pm :: $15 :: icaboston.org
If you want to hang out with a drunk dude in a Santa suit, you could wait for Christmas Eve, when Uncle Frank gets sauced enough to put on SAT 8 his Kris Kringle duds and scare the shit out of all the cousins. Or you could partake in the booze-fueled yuletide revelry this afternoon that is Santacon. The annual Christmas-themed pub crawl will run roughshod all over the weekend’s nice family holiday outings, as hordes of partiers in Santa costumes take over the city’s bars. But it’s a very jolly takeover. Kicks off at Game On, 82 Lansdowne St, Boston :: noon :: Free (but bring a toy to donate to Toys for Tots) :: santaconboston.blogspot.com
Daddy Jones, a new ’80s/’90s-themed Greek-American restaurant and bar in Magoun Square, has only been open for a little over a month, but they’re not wasting any time getting into the swing of things. They’re 0 1 throwing an Ugly Sweater Soiree, a holiday fundraiser to benefit CaRe (a cancer research organization), complete with photo booth, holiday cocktails like Dad’s Spiked Egg Nog and Mulled Cider, Christmas cookies, and gifts for everyone. Plus, prizes for party-goers with both the ugliest and the most Cosby-esque (no, they are not synonymous) sweaters. moN
Stoked ? f f u t S r o f it! Corner
Corner Turn into The ing wntown Cross urt in Boston’s Do tional food co a rn te in n A . re ’s, and it’s all the like McDonald with favorites Café. ourbon Street B d n a n to s o d Wong’s of B e Skechers an Cool stores, lik , nd quick finds A . re to S y lr e aper. The Jew M or a local p T A n a d e e n u whether yo
Daddy Jones Bar, 525 Medford St, Somerville :: 6-9 pm :: $25-$35 :: daddyjonesbarefbevent.eventbrite.com
Buy local! Holiday fairs HOLIDAY 2.O POP-UP :: Three innovative fashion companies — Bow & Drape, Project Repat, and Ministry of Supply — come together for a “fashiontech pop-up show” :: 115 Newbury St, Boston :: Reception December 6, 6:30–9 pm; shop open December 8–22, 10 am–8 pm @ :: holidaypopupstore-es2.eventbrite.com
FOURTH WALL’S HOLIDAY MARKET :: Prints, artwork, and more gifts (all under $150) created by past and present Fourth Wall artists. Reception this evening has beer provided by ’Gansett :: Fourth Wall Project, 132 Brookline Ave, Boston :: December 8–30, tonight 7–9 pm :: fourthwallproject.com/flog
BUON NATALE: NORTH END HOLIDAY STROLL :: Shops around the North End keep their doors open late and will have refreshments, snacks, and more on hand :: North End, Boston :: December 7, 7–11 pm :: northendwaterfront.com
SOWA HOLIDAY MARKET :: The 9th annual holiday fair features indie designers, artists, craftspeople, bakers, jewelry makers, and much more. :: Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, 41 Berkeley St, Boston :: December 8, 11 am–6 pm and December 9, 11 am–5 pm :: sowaholidaymarket.com
SMALL WONDERS 2012 :: Yes.Oui.Si and Future Boston present this holiday art-and-craft sale with refreshments, live music, and more :: Gallery at the Piano Factory, 791 Tremont St, Boston :: December 7–9 + 15–16; Fri, 6 pm–10 pm; Sat, 10am–6 pm; Sun, 1 pm–6 pm :: galleryatthepianofactory.org
In the heart of Boston at the corner of Winter & Washington Streets.
thecornermall.com
T.T.’S ROCKIN HOLIDAY MARKET & BLOODY MARY BASH :: Browse vintage, modern, and handmade wares. With bloodies, hot dogs, andBad Santa :: T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge :: December 9, 10 am–4 pm :: ttthebears.com
THEPHOENIx.COM/EvENTS :: 12.07.12 103
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Meet the Mayor
MBtA ROxBuRy CROSSING StAtION
1400 Tremont St :: 617.222.3200 :: mbta.com
Pace Ricciardelli
foursquare.com/notpace
Hen House Wings ’n Waffles
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
roxbury 5 PLACES WE LOvE
1
As we steadily descend into the dark, cold endless night of Boston winter, we maintain an even tighter death grip on our cups of Organic Love Buzz, slung by the benevolent Haley House Bakery Café. And the fair-trade java isn’t the only thing that makes this place a primo source for a good-karma macchiato: this nonprofit org provides such services as job training for recently released prisoners, a soup kitchen, and even a housing program.
12 Dade St :: 617.445.0900 :: haleyhouse.org
2
According to Google Trends, food
trucks didn’t start becoming a gastroblog obsession until mid-2010. Which means that all those Johnny-come-latelies may have spent decades missing out on Boston Super Dog, originally launched by Ezra “Speed” Anderson in 1975. In addition to its legendary cider-simmered franks, this cart now serves up tempurabattered Grillo’s pickles, too. 46 Newmarket Sq :: 617.839.0102 :: bostonspeeddog. com
3
Open till 4 am on weekends, Hen House Wings ’n Waffles is liable to attract a throng of après-disco types and munchies-prone
night owls, for a lively Mos Eisley Cantina vibe — meaning that when you’re inflicting your Jabba the Hutt impression on a BBQ-syrup-andcajun-butter-slathered waffle, there’s no judging. 1033 Mass Ave :: 617.442.9464
4
Craving cuisine that hails from even closer to the equator than fried chicken and waffles? Check out Pepper Pot, a little counterservice gem that serves up steaming Styrofoam boxes of Jamaican eats. With everything from jerk chicken to goat, even tripe and saltfish, you’ll get a true Caribbean experi-
GettING tHeRe subWay: orange line to ruggles, roxbury crossing, dudley. bus: silver line Washington street; #1, #15, #23, #28, #41, #44, #47
104 12.07.12 :: THEpHoENix.CoM/EvENTS
ence (palm trees not included). 208 Dudley St :: 617.445.4409
5
We recently unearthed a coupon book from the Phoenix’s Boston After Dark days, and it was thrilling (and kinda sad) to pore over the nowvanished radical institutions that made up 1960s Boston. But what’s this? A Nubian Notion, who graced those pages 44 years ago, is still going strong in Dudley, unsurpassed as Boston’s one-stop shop for Afro-centric jewelry, books, art, and more. 146 Dudley St :: 617.442.2622 :: anubiannotion.com
#FF @cacpartmobile @discoverroxbury @hibernianhall @nuestracdc @roxburyintfilm
Do you think the Orange Line gets a bad rap? Compared to the Red Line, the Orange Line gets a bad rap. Compared to the Green Line, it’s nothing. The Green Line gets all the crap, because it’s basically a bus that’s less functional. That being said, I’ve seen some of the weirdest stuff happen on the Orange Line. We were going to up to Wellington to meet one of my friends, and there was this old lady sitting across from me. She had a whole bunch of stuff in her lap. I think this was, like, noon on a Saturday. Some dude runs in at one of the stops, takes out a knife, and stabs one of her bags. Doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t do anything else. Just stabs the bag. To add the weirdness here, the bag was full of marbles. So, Acme-style, all these marbles fall out of the bag. This dude just doesn’t know what to do and runs out of the train. That was by far one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had. Did you help clean up her marbles? Yeah. A whole bunch of us on the train were picking up marbles for a while. _barry Thompson
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 @badboymills: #roxbury is the best place to come from in boston - home of the realest from bean!!
DON’T MISS...
1
Sure, Christmas is bearing down on us like an enraged, tinsel-strewn T. rex; but luckily Discover Roxbury is hosting a Holiday Pop-up Shop. This oasis will be open right up to Christmas Eve, allowing you to procrastinate while still scoring sweet handmade goods from local artist and craftsters. Recently spotted: shea butter balm from Rhone Botanicals and flirty apparel from Lana Muse Designs. Every Friday-Monday through December 24 :: 2201 Washington St :: 617.427.1006 :: discoverroxbury.org
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A Boston tradition since 1969, Black Nativity (the Langston Hughes–penned play starring an entirely black cast) returns next week. Sponsored by Roxbury’s national Center for Afro-American Artists, the show promises a cast of professional singers, dancers, and dramatic readers. December 14-22 :: Blackman Auditorium, 342 Huntington Ave :: blacknativity.org
3
Christmas is coming — but so is Armageddon! Probably with zombies! If Plants vs. Zombies has taught us anything, it’s that nothing vanquishes the undead like a weaponized potato. City agriculture is no easy feat, but that’s what the annual Massachusetts urban Farming Conference hopes to address. (They’re probably not going to mention the zombies, but we can read between the lines.)
February 9 @ 8:30 am– 4 pm :: Reggie Lewis Center, 1350 Tremont St :: eventbrite.com
PHOTOS BY MELISSA OSTROW (HEn HOuSE WInGS ’n WAffLES) AnD DEREk kOuYOuMJIAn (MEET THE MAYOR)
arts & nightlife :: get out
Arts & Nightlife :: get out
To-Do LisT THURsDAY 6
BLINK! › Six-week, state-of-the-art, LED light and sound show featuring the music of the Holiday Pops that runs once every half-hour › Thurs-Wed 4:30 pm › Faneuil Hall Marketplace, 4 South Market Building, Boston › Free › faneuilhallmarketplace.com “BRITISH ARROWS AWARDS” SCREENING › Selection showcasing the year’s best television advertisements › 7 pm › Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave, Boston › $10; $6 students › 617.478.3100 or icaboston.org CHARITY EVENT TO BENEFIT THE ELLIE FUND › Raffle and seasonal treats, with 15 percent of proceeds from purchases being donated › 2:30 pm › Summit Ski and Snowboard, 686 Worchester Rd, Framingham › Free › 508.875.5551 or summitskishop.com HARVARD CERAMICS PROGRAM HOLIDAY SHOW AND SALE › More than 60 potters and sculptors presenting a selection of handmade work ranging from masterpieces to treasured bargains › Thurs 3 pm; Fri-Sun 10 am › Harvard Ceramics Program, 219 Western Ave, Allston › Free › 617.495.8680 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE › Tours every 15-minutes where you can learn of the history of Christmas › 3 pm › Longfellow House Washington’s Headquarters, 105 Brattle St, Cambridge › Free › nps.gov/long HOLIDAY WANDER › Special events and personal gifting advice at more than 25 independent shops, restaurants, and salons › 5 pm › Roslindale Village, Washington St + Corinth St, Roslindale › Free › roslindale.net/ holidays HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS TO BENEFIT TRAVELERS AID FAMILY SERVICES › Live holiday music, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres, with an opportunity to hear families tell their stories of rising up out of homelessness › 5:30 pm › Parkman House, 33 Beacon St, Boston › $500 › tafsboston.org MASSACHUSETTS CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN › Featuring motivational keynote speeches, engaging seminars, and panel discussions › 7:30 am › Boston Convention Center, 425 Summer St, Boston › $165 › 617.954.2000 or maconferenceforwomen.org NOT YOUR AVERAGE IDOL TO BENEFIT YOUK’S KIDS › Dishes prepared by area restaurants, celebrity appearances, and music from Mike Burke, Will Dailey, Audrey Ryan, and AHMIR › 6 pm › Royale, 279 Tremont St, Boston › $100 › 617.338.7699 or biddingforgood.com ROCK FOR TOTS TO BENEFIT THE MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION › With music from A Wilhelm Scream!, Rain Dance, Choke Up!, Oh the Humanity, and Old Grey › 8 pm › Cumnock Hall at UMass Lowell, 1 University Ave, Lowell › $12; $10 advance › wuml.org
Sun 4 pm › Old Sturbridge Village, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Rd, Sturbridge › Fri + Sun: $14; Sat: $15 › 508.347.3362. or osv.org CRAFTBOSTON HOLIDAY › Showcasing work by 90 of the artists in ceramics, decorative fiber, wearables, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, and more › Fri-Sat 10 am; Sun 11 am › Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, Boston › $15; $13 seniors › 617.426.5000 or societyofcrafts.org CULTURAL SURVIVAL BAZAAR › Unique, handmade gift items including art, jewelry, clothing, crafts, and decor from Africa, Asia, and the Americas › Fri-Sun 10 am › Cambridge College, 1000 Mass Ave, Cambridge › Free › 617.868.1000 or bazaar. culturalsurvival.org FALL GALA TO BENEFIT ROOM TO GROW › With emcee Mary Richardson, dinner, music, and an auction full of sports, travel, and dining experiences › 6:30 pm › Westin Copley Plaza Hotel, 10 Huntington Ave., Boston › $250 › 617.859.4545 or roomtogrow.org FUNDRAISING DINNER TO BENEFIT MASSACHUSETTS IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN FALLEN HEROES MEMORIAL › Cocktail hour with live music and a silent auction, followed by dinner with a guest speaker › 6 pm › Boston Convention Center, 425 Summer St, Boston › $100 › 617.954.2000 or massfallenheroes.org HOLIDAY BASH TO BENEFIT EVERY PERSON HAS A STORY › Food and drink, raffle items, photographs, and music from Emmanuel Jal and DJs Sergio Santos and Salvatore Legrosso › 6 pm › Storyville, 90 Exeter St, Boston › $25; $20 advance › 617.236.1134 or ephas.org SEARTS WEARABLE ARTS SHOW AND SALE › Shop for locally made clothing, accessories, jewelry, and small gifts › Fri 5 pm; Sat 9 am › Sawyer Free Library, 2 Dale Ave, Gloucester › Free › 978.281.9763 or searts. org/events THE SLUTCRACKER › “Nutcracker” themed burlesque performance › Fri-Sat + Thurs 8 pm; Sun 2 + 8 pm › Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville › $25 › 617.625.5700 or theslutcracker.com SMALL WONDERS 2012 › Holiday art and craft sale, with refreshments, music, performance art, open mics, and more › Fri 6 pm; Sat 10 am; Sun 1 pm › Gallery at the Piano Factory, 791 Tremont St, Boston › Free › 617.437.9365 or galleryatthepianofactory.org BLINK! › See listing for Thurs HARVARD CERAMICS PROGRAM HOLIDAY SHOW AND SALE › See listing for Thurs
sATURDAY 8
9TH ANNUAL SOWA HOLIDAY MARKET › SoWa’s annual holiday market features indie designers, artists, craftspeople,
kARAoke
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 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 FIRE + ICE › “Karaoke Night”“ › 9 pm › 205 Berkeley St, Boston › 617.482.FIRE JACQUE’S CABARET › “Mizery Loves Karaoke” › Karaoke hosted by Mizery › Tuesdays at 10:30 pm › 79 Broadway, Boston › No cover › 617.426.8902 jacquescabaret.com AN TUA NUA › “Karaoke Night” › Wednesdays at 9:30 pm › 835 Beacon St, Boston › 617.262.2121 HENNESSY’S ›”Live Band Karaoke” › Wednesdays at 9 pm › 25 Union St, Boston › 617.742.2121 or › somerspubs.com/ hennessys_history 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 JACQUE’S CABARET › “Mizery Loves Karaoke” › Tues 10:30 pm › 79 Broadway, Boston › 617.426.8902 or jacquescabaret.com
bakers, jewelry makers, and more. › SatSun 11 am › Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, 41 Berkeley St, Boston › $5 › sowaholidaymarket.com BOSTON SANTACON 2012 › Holiday themed bar crawl › noon › Game On!, 82 Landsdowne St, Boston › Free › santaconboston.blogspot.com HOLIDAY CELEBRATION TO BENEFIT MSPCA-ANGELL › Exclusive in-store promotions and discounts, libations and noshes for pets and owners, complimentary holiday puppy pouches, and more › noon › Bark Place, 1721 Washington St, Boston › $25 › 857.362.7494 or barkplacesouthend.com HOLIDAY HOUSE TOUR › Through seven of Concord’s most beautiful private
more at thephoenix.com/events
FRiDAY 7
BUON NATALE: 6TH ANNUAL NORTH END HOLIDAY STROLL › Boutiques and shops around the North End keep their doors open late and will have refreshments, snacks, and more on hand for the 6th annual holiday shopping stroll. (Don’t forget to get your “passport” punched at all the stops for a chance to win a gift basket) › 7 pm › North End Park, cross st and hanover st, Boston › Free › northendwaterfront.com/ CHRISTMAS BY CANDLELIGHT › Evening of gingerbread, roasted chestnuts, music, dance, sleigh rides, and more › Fri-
106 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs
AcTivisM
NOAM CHOMSKY AND ANGELA Y. DAVIS IN CONVERSATION › A public dialogue between the two great political voices, to raise funds for three great causes: Critical Resistance (criticalresistance.org), The City School (thecityschool.org), and Black and Pink (blackandpink.org) › 6 pm › Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston › $40; $100 VIP with meet-and-greet with Chomsky and Davis › 617.266.7455
For tons more to do, point your phone to m.thePhoenix.com
homes decorated in the holiday spirit by local and Boston-based interior designers › 11 am › Concord Museum, 200 Lexington Rd, Concord › $50 › 978.369.9763 or concordmuseum.org HOLIDAY VINTAGE MARKET › Dealers selling vintage, collectibles, re-purposed, and antique merchandise › Sat 1 pm; Sun 10 am › Union Square Plaza, 90 Union Sq, Somerville › Free › thedavisflea.com RAGS THE SANTA CAT › Picture opportunity with the store mascot › noon › Garment District, 200 Broadway St, Cambridge › Free › 617.876.5230 or garmentdistrict.com THERE, AND BACK AGAIN AND BEYOND: EXPLORING THE MEANING OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN’S THE HOBBIT › With Sean McDonough, Ph.D › 1 pm › Waltham Public Library, 735 Main Street, Waltham › Free › 781.314.3425 or waltham.lib.ma.us BLINK! › See listing for Thurs CHRISTMAS BY CANDLELIGHT › See listing for Fri CRAFTBOSTON HOLIDAY › See listing for Fri CULTURAL SURVIVAL BAZAAR › See listing for Fri HARVARD CERAMICS PROGRAM HOLIDAY SHOW AND SALE › See listing for Thurs SEARTS WEARABLE ARTS SHOW AND SALE › See listing for Fri THE SLUTCRACKER › See listing for Fri SMALL WONDERS 2012 › See listing for Fri
sUNDAY 9
“DR. SKETCHY’S BURLESQUE DRAWING CLASS” › 2:30 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $8-$10 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com “HOLIDAY FLEA MARKET AND BLOODY MARY BASH” › 10 am › Browse new and vintage products, rock memorabilia, handmade wares, and more while drinking Bloody Marys. With hot dog vendors and a visit from Bad Santa › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › Free › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com MASQUERADE BALL TO BENEFIT 3RIVERS ARTS › Cocktail reception with Tres Rios cocktails, a seated dinner with a Mayan flair, pop-up art gallery, silent auction, dancing, and more › 6 pm › Devens Common Center, 27 Andrews Pkwy, Devens › $60 › 978.772.3030 or 3riversarts.com ROCK ON! TO BENEFIT GLOVEBOX › With music from Ederson, Kristin Cifelli, and the Chaparrals and a silent swag auction › 4 pm › Scholars Boston Bistro, 25 School St, Boston › $20 › 617.248.0025 or glvbx.com 9TH ANNUAL SOWA HOLIDAY MARKET › See listing for Sat BLINK! › See listing for Thurs CHRISTMAS BY CANDLELIGHT › See listing for Fri CRAFTBOSTON HOLIDAY › See listing for Fri CULTURAL SURVIVAL BAZAAR › See listing for Fri HARVARD CERAMICS PROGRAM HOLIDAY SHOW AND SALE › See listing for Thurs HOLIDAY VINTAGE MARKET › See listing for Sat THE SLUTCRACKER › See listing for Fri SMALL WONDERS 2012 › See listing for Fri
MoNDAY 10
“T.T. THE BEARS HOLIDAY PARTY” › All are welcome! › 7 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com
Arts & Nightlife :: visuAl Art
review
traditionaL contemporary
detail, Laurent grasso’s Studies into the Past -Eclipse, 2012
Science fiction at the LiSt one of the unSettLing thingS about America today is how more and more people seem to think that evolution, global warming, and math are matters of faith rather than evidence. I couldn’t help thinking of this growing notion that science is just a matter of personal preference when I visited “In the Holocene” at MIT’s List Visual Arts Center. Curator João Ribas rounds up 46 artists who use “art as speculative science . . . an investigative and experimental activity, addressing or amending what is explained through traditional scientific means.” Primarily, the show is art inspired by natural phenomena. Laurent Grasso’s 2012 handsome fauxearly-Renaissance painting depicts two armored knights on horseback gazing at a solar eclipse. Matthew Buckingham’s 2009 chalkboard is labeled with how long the light hitting it from the lamp above has traveled (“.1027 seconds”). Trevor Paglen’s 2012 photo of lots of concentric curves depicts, according to a sign, telecommunications satellites orbiting the Earth. On Kawara’s 2009 audio recording One Million Years (Past and Future) broadcasts people reciting numbers: “35,964, 35,965, 35,966. . . . ” Last year’s List Hans Haacke show invigoratingly explored similar territory, but this feels like walking into an esoteric Tumblr image collection, annotated
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by Ribas. Too much of the work offers dull aesthetics and blah ideas. Ribas’s premise doesn’t gel, perhaps because he’s smarter than the art. For example, Jimmie Durham’s 2002 video shows an old refrigerator with someone off screen throwing stones at it — clang! The art world has sometimes interpreted Durham’s “rock” performances as a meditation on Stone Age tools versus contemporary machines. “While these acts employ stone as a tool,” Ribas’s sign explains, “they also investigate the qualities of the stone, and how the relationship between the stone and the object it changes is only different in degree from our relationship to the stone itself.” Maybe we’re trying to wring too much meaning from the joke of a guy hucking rocks at an old appliance? This whole science-y art stuff comes out of focusing on process rather than end product, a lineage running back through 1950s New York action painting and 1960s conceptualism. It’s often been a fruitful misunderstanding of science to think that “experimentation” is the goal rather than a means to figure something out. But the art here has minor concerns, so I get hung up on definitions. Rather than pretending it’s related to science, let’s call it alchemy or shamanism or comedy.
_G r e G Cook » GreGCookland .Com/journal
IN THE HOLOCENE :: MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames St, Cambridge :: Through January 6 :: 617.253.4680 orlistart.mit.edu
108 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.COM/ArTS
Ambreen Butt is best known for her “revisionist miniatures,” paintings done in the traditional South Asian Mughal style, but depicting a tree sprouting from a woman or a woman sucking on the tail of a lion or back-to-back figures shooting a bird out of the air while blindfolded by an American flag and what looks like the green flag of Hamas or Saudi Arabia. These stiffly rendered miniature paintings won her the Museum of Fine Arts’ Maud Morgan Prize for local women artists in 2006 and the Institute of Contemporary Art’s Foster Prize for top local talent in 1999. In her show at Carroll and Sons, Butt’s craft has grown more dazzling. I Am My Lost Diamond covers two gallery walls with radiating constellations of magenta resin fingers and toes. They seem disconcertingly like severed appendages, but also sort of gimmicky. An untitled work arranges hundreds of little strips of paper, some printed with undecipherable text, into amBreen two swirling designs inside BuTT decorative Carroll and Sons, borders like 450 Harrison Ave, Boston facing pages of a mamThrough moth album. December 22 According to an Art New England interview with Butt, these are, respectively, supposed to be about a friend who escaped a bombing in Pakistan, and contrasting statements by a federal prosecutor and Tarek Mehanna, a Sudbury man convicted of terrorism last year. But the works don’t reveal these subjects, and Butt provides no statement with the show. _GC
Thank you Boston for Friday & Saturday night's SOLD OUT shows at House of Blues!
HEAR GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS’ NEW SINGLE, STARS ON Pick up the new album
enjoy an ice cold saPPoro TonighT aT:
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Arts & Nightlife :: visuAl Art
galleries
“Exploring My Kodachrome Dreams, You Can’t Go Home Again”
museums
Admission to the following galleries is free, unless otherwise noted. In addition to the hours listed here, many galleries are open by appointment. 808 GALLERY › 617.358.0922 › 808 Comm Ave, Boston › bu.edu/cfa/visual-arts/galleries › Tues-Sun 1-5 pm › Through Dec 16: “On Sincerity” 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 › Through Dec 16: “MasterWork” 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: “ChromoMania! The Art of Chromolithograhy in Boston, 1840-1910” BOSTON CYBERARTS GALLERY › 617.290.5010 › 141 Green St, Jamaica Plain › bostoncyberarts.org › Wed-Thurs 6-9 pm; Fri-Sun 11 am-6 pm › Through Dec 14: “COLLISION18:Present” BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY › 617.482.7781 › 486 Harrison Ave, Boston › bostonsculptors.com › Wed-Sun noon–6 pm › Through Dec 16: Caroline Bagenal: “Word and Line” › Through Dec 16: Joyce McDaniel: “Seeing and Being Seen” BOSTON UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY › 617.353.4672 › 855 Comm Avenue, Boston › bu.edu/art › Tues-Fri 10 am-5 pm; Sat-Sun 1-5 pm › Through Dec 20: Vlatka Horvat: “Also Called: Backbone, Anchor, Lifeline” CARPENTER CENTER FOR THE VISUAL ARTS AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY › 617.495.3251 › 24 Quincy St, Cambridge › ves.fas.harvard.edu › Mon-Fri 10 am-5 pm; Sat-Sun 1 pm-5 pm › Through Dec 20: Christian Boltanski: “6 Septembres” › Through Dec 20: “Parsis: The Zoroastrians of India” CHASE YOUNG GALLERY › 617.859.7222 › 450 Harrison Ave, Boston › chaseyounggallery.com › Tues-Sat 11 am-6 pm; Sun 11 am-4 pm › Through Dec 22: “Winter Group Show of Gallery Artists” DTR MODERN GALLERY › 617.424.7001 › 167 Newbury St, Boston › dtrmodern.com › Mon-Fri 10 am-6:30 pm; Sat 10 am-7 pm; Sun noon-6 pm › Through Dec 21: “Dalí” LA GALERÍA AT VILLA VICTORIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS › 617.927.1717 › 85 West Newton St, Boston › villavictoriaarts. org/gallery.html › Thurs-Fri 3-6 pm; Sat 1-4 pm › Through Dec 30: “Paredes en Fuego: The 2012 Cacique Youth Art Show” GALLERY NAGA › 617.267.9060 › 67 Newbury St, Boston › gallerynaga.com › TuesSat 10AM-5PM › Through Dec 15: Gregory Gillespie: “Transfixed”
Mon-Tues + Sat-Sun 10 am-4:45 pm; WedFri 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 Dec 31: Edward Weston: “Leaves of Grass” › Through ADDISON GALLERY OF AMERICAN Dec 31: “The Allure of Japan” › Through Jan 6: ART AT PHILLIPS ACADEMY › Ori Gersht: “History Repeating” › Through Feb 978.749.4015 › 180 Main St, Andover › 3: Mario Testino: “In Your Face” › Through Feb andover.edu/addison › Tues-Sat 10 am-5 pm; 18: “Artful Healing” › Through Feb 18: “Cats Sun 1-5 pm › Through Dec 30: “American to Crickets: Pets in Japan’s Floating World” › Vanguards: Graham, Davis, Gorky, de Through March 31: Daniel Rich: “Platforms Kooning, and Their Circle, 1927 – 1942” of Power” › Through April 14: “The Postcard › Through Jan 13: “Pekupatikut Innuat Age: Selections from the Leonard A. Lauder Akunikana / Pictures Woke the People Up: Collection” › Through June 16: “Kings, An Innu Project with Wendy Ewald and Eric Queens, and Courtiers: Royalty on Paper” Gottesman” › Through Jan 13: “People, Places, › Through June 16: Mario Testino: “British Things: Symbols of American Culture” Royal Portraits” › Through June 23: “Divine DECORDOVA SCULPTURE PARK Depictions: Korean Buddhist Paintings” › AND MUSEUM › 781.259.8355 › 51 Sandy Through July 7: “Art of the White Mountains” Pond Rd, Lincoln › decordova.org › Tues-Sun › Through Sept 8: “Chinese Lacquer 1200– 10 am-5 pm › Admission $14; $12 seniors; 1800” › Through June 1: “Jewels, Gems, and $10 students and youth ages 13 and up; free Treasures: Ancient to Modern” to children under 12 › Through Dec 30: Jean MUSEUM OF SCIENCE › 617.723.2500 Shin and Brian Ripel: “Retreat” › Through › 1 Science Pk, Boston › mos.org › Sat-Thurs Dec 30: Julianne Swartz: “How Deep is Your” 9 am-5 pm; Fri 9 am-9 pm › Admission $22; › Through April 21: “Second Nature: Abstract $20 seniors; $19 children 3-11 › Through Jan Photography Then and Now” › Through Oct 13: “Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of 1: “PLATFORM 10: Dan Peterman” the Ice Age” › Through March 3: “Shipwreck! HARVARD ART MUSEUMS › Pirates & Treasure” 617.495.9400 › 485 Broadway, Cambridge › PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM › ssion $15; $13 seniors; $11 students; free for ages 16 and harvardartmuseums.org › Tues-Sat 10 am-5 under › Through Dec 31: “The Invention of pm › Admission $9; $7 seniors; $6 students Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries” › Through Dec 29: “Recent Acquisitions, Part III: Kerry James Marshall” › Through June 1: › Through Jan 31: “Auspicious Wishes and “Re-View” Natural Beauty in Korean Art” › Through Jan INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY 31: “Fish, Silk, Tea, Bamboo: Cultivating an ART › 617.478.3100 › 100 Northern Ave, Image of China” › Through Jan 31: “Of Gods Boston › icaboston.org › Tues-Wed + and Mortals, Traditional Art from India” › Sat-Sun 10 am–5 pm; Thurs-Fri 10 Through Jan 31: “Perfect Imbalance, am–9 pm › Admission $15; $10 Exploring Chinese Aesthetics” › students, seniors; free for ages Through Feb 3: “FreePort [No. under 17; free after 5 pm on 004]: Peter Hutton” › Through more m u Thurs › Through March 3: Feb 3: “Hats: An Anthology a n d ga l s eu m lery “This Will Have Been: Art, by Stephen Jones” › Through l is t in gs Love & Politics in the 1980s” May 27: “FreePort [No. 005]: at theph o en ISABELLA STEWART Michael Lin” › Through May 27: com/even ix. ts GARDNER MUSEUM › “Natural Histories: Photographs 617.566.1401 › 280 the Fenway, by Barbara Bosworth” Boston › gardnermuseum.org › ROSE ART MUSEUM AT Wed-Mon 11 am-5 pm › Admission BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY › $15; $12 seniors; $5 students with ID; 781.736.3434 › 415 South St, Waltham › brandeis.edu/rose › Tues-Sun noon-5 pm free for ages under 18 › Through Jan 7: › Admission $3 › Through Dec 9: Dor Guez: “The Great Bare Mat & Constellation” “100 Steps to the Mediterranean” MIT MUSEUM › 617.253.4444 › 265 Mass WORCESTER ART MUSEUM Ave, Cambridge › web.mit.edu/museum › 508.799.4406 › 55 Salisbury St, › Tues-Fri 10 am-5 pm; Sat-Sun noon-5 Worcester › worcesterart.org › Wed-Fri + pm › Through Dec 31: Berenice Abbott: Sun 11 am-5 pm; Sat 10 am-5 pm; Third “Photography and Science: An Essential Thursday 11 am-8 pm › Admission $14, Unity” › Through March 17: “Rivers of Ice: $12 for seniors and students. Free for Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya” youth 17 and under and for all on first Sat › Through Sept 28: “The Jeweled Net: Views of the month, 10 am-noon › Through Feb of Contemporary Holography” 3: “Kennedy to Kent State: Images of a MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS › 617.267.9300 Generation” › 465 Huntington Ave, Boston › mfa.org ›
Jose Alex Maizonett’s Self Portrait is on view at La Galería at Villa Victoria Center for the Arts as part of the group show “Padres en Fuego: The 2012 Cacique Youth Art Show” through December 31. 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” MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER › 617.577.1400 › 41 Second St, Cambridge › multiculturalartscenter.org › Mon-Fri 10:30 am-6 pm › Through Dec 14: Martin Karplus: “South and Central American Kodachromes of the 1960s” › Through Dec 26: Sylvia StaggGiuliano: “Transit of Venus” ROBERT KLEIN GALLERY › 617.267.7997 › 38 Newbury St, Boston › robertkleingallery.com › Tues-Fri 10 am–5:30 pm; Sat 11 am–5 pm › Through Dec 22: Michael Kenna: “A Decade in Review” ROLLY-MICHAUX GALLERY › 617.536.9898 › 290 Dartmouth St, Boston › rollymichaux.com › Tues-Sat 11 am-4:30 pm › Through Dec 29: Robert Castagna and Ksenia Mack: “A Soundtrack for Still Pictures: Lost Across America” SHERMAN GALLERY AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY › 617.358.0295 › 775 Comm Ave, Boston › bu.edu/cfa › Tues-Fri 11 am-5 pm; Sat-Sun 1-5 pm › Through Dec 16: Stephen A. Frank:
on view through February 24
Alex Ross, JLA: The Original Seven, 2000, courtesy of the artist, ™ & © DC Comics. Used with permission.
110 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.COM/ArTS
open daily • nrm.org • 413-298-4100 9 Rt. 183, Stockbridge, MA
the mit press bookstore One of New Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest selections of scholarly, cutting-edge, and engaging books. The best bookstore youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never been to! 292 Main Street, Kendall Square, Cambridge (617) 253-5249, books@mit.edu, 9-7 Mon-Fri, 12-6 Sat-Sun
art * architecture * science * culture
ultural Studies * Design * Digital Culture * Digital Media * Economics * Environment * Games Studies * Gastronomy *
* Media * Nature *Philosophy * Photography * Politics * Robotics * Technology * Urban Studies * and lots of Sale Books!
Art * Architecture * Brain & Behavior * Businesss * Cognitive Science * Computer Science *C
Graphic Design * Hacking * Linguistics * Mathematics * MIT Authors * Music * Neuroscience
Arts & Nightlife :: books STocThe k ocTaholm By K vo
book events
eng aren ec c o e l m a n n :: :: 432 p $26.9 ages :: 9
tHURsDAY 6
DEEPAK CHOPRA › Super Brain: Unleashing the Explosive Power of Your Mind To Maximize Health, Happiness, and Spiritual Well-Being reading › 7:30 pm › Music Hall, 131 Congress St, Portsmouth, NH › 603.436.2400 or themusichall.org/tickets/index.asp RICARDO CORTÉS › A Secret History of Coffee, Coca & Cola discussion › 7 pm › Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline › Free › 617.566.6660 or brooklinebooksmith.com RICHARD SOBEL › Public Opinion and International Intervention: Lessons from the Iraq War discussion and signing › 7 pm › Harvard Coop, 1400 Mass Ave, Cambridge › Free › 617.489.0519 or harvard.bkstore.com
FRIDAY 7
sAtURDAY 8
ANA FORREST › Fierce Medicine reading › 5 pm › Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline › Free › 617.566.6660 or brooklinebooksmith.com “WORD-N-RHYTHM” › BBQ, open mic poetry, and live music › Out of the Blue Gallery, 106 Prospect St, Cambridge › $5 donation › 617.354.5287 or outoftheblueartgallery.com
MonDAY 10
40TH YEAR OF BLACKSMITH HOUSE POETRY SERIES › With Alice Mattison, author of When We Argued All Night and Lesle Lewis author of lie down too. › 8 pm › Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle St, Cambridge › $3 › 617.547.6789 or ccae.org
It’s In the cards hIstorIcal fIctIon is a perfect winter indulgence. True, Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall was a book for all seasons, but more typical genre fare — rich and mildly intoxicating — may best be enjoyed on long, cold nights. Especially historical fiction set in 18th-century Sweden, a time and a place rendered exotic by furs and velvets, as well as by its lack of familiarity. Hailed as the Venice of the north, when King Gustav III’s relatively enlightened rule made the Baltic city shine, the Stockholm of 1789 that we find in The Stockholm Octavo more closely resembles Paris, both in its excesses and its rumblings of revolution. Debut novelist Karen Engelmann is no Mantel, but she has a deft hand with her history, plopping her antihero in the midst of some very real intrigues. Her Emil Larsson, a priggish bureaucrat, is motivated by his quest for the shallowest sort of “love and connection.” But when his skill as a gam-
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Louise Glück reads at Harvard Book Store on Friday. 112 12.07.12 :: THePHOenIX.COm/arTS
_Clea Si mon
Karen engelmann :: Harvard Coop, 1400 mass ave, Cambridge : December 11 @ 7 pm :: 617.499.2000 :: Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline :: December 12 @ 7 pm :: 617.566.6660 or brooklinebooksmith.com
“GRUB STREET: THE LAUNCH LAB” › With authors Donna Pincus, Susan Carlton, and Kathryn Burak › 7 pm › Harvard Book Store, 1256 Mass Ave, Cambridge › Free › 617.661.1515 or harvard.com
tUesDAY 11
bler gives him an entrée into the salon of fortuneteller Mrs. Sparrow, he finds the cards may have a greater purpose for him. She lays out his Octavo — a tarot-like reading that will determine his fate — but it is up to him to determine who among the rebels, seductresses, and refugees around him personify each role. As he tries to decipher the riddles, sedition both at home and abroad begins to influence his own limited goals — and the stakes grow higher. With a plot that loosely follows the cards, readers will find themselves caught up, wondering which bystander represents the Prize, which the Prisoner, and which the shapeshifting Trickster. Reminiscent of Katherine Neville’s masterful The Eight, which used chess rather than cards, The Stockholm Octavo plays history as a setting for mystery, magic, and a touch of romance. All good things on a cold night.
AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN › The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2013 and The Science of Good Cooking discussions › 6 pm › Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge › $5 › 617.661.1515
KAREN ENGELMANN › The Stockholm Octavo reading › 7 pm › Harvard Coop, 1400 Mass Ave, Cambridge › Free › 617.489.0519 or harvard.bkstore.com AMY KWEI › A Concubine for the Family discussion, meet & greet › 6:30 pm › Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, 38 Ash St, Boston › Free › 617.635.5129 “THE STORY SPACE: MICHELE CARLO” › 7 pm › Out of the Blue Gallery, 106 Prospect St, Cambridge › Free › 617.354.5287 or outoftheblueartgallery. com
WeDnesDAY 12
TY BURR › Gods Like Us reading › 6:30 pm › Stellina, 47 Main St, Watertown › Free › 617. 924.9475 or stellinarestaurant.com KAREN ENGELMANN › The Stockholm Octavo reading › 7 pm › Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline › Free › 617.566.6660 or brooklinebooksmith.com
tHURsDAY 13
TIFFANIE DIDONATO › Dwarf reading › 7 pm › Barnes & Noble, 1 Worcester Rd, Framingham › Free › 508.628.5567 or barnesandnoble.com
Glück photo by SiGrid EStrada
“A CONVERSATION WITH STEPHEN KING” › Moderated by Andre Dubus III › 7:30 pm › Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Lowell › $30-$50 › 866.722.8780 or tsongascenter.com LOUISE GLÜCK › Poems 1962-2012 reading › 7 pm › Harvard Book Store, 1256 Mass Ave, Cambridge › Free › 617.661.1515 or harvard.com
CYCLES 128 107 BRIMBAL AVENUE BEVERLY, MA 01915 • 800-464-2925 www.cycles128.com
PARKWAY CYCLE 1865 REVERE BEACH PARKWAY EVERETT, MA 02149 • 617-389-7000 www.parkwaycycle.com
GREATER BOSTON MOTORSPORTS 1098 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE ARLINGTON, MA 02176 • 781-648-1300 www.greaterbostonmotorsports.com
Arts & Nightlife :: ClAssiCAl & dANCe
CLASSICAL ConCertS
dANCe
tHUrSDAY 6
MEMBERS OF ALARM WILL SOUND CONDUCTED BY ALAN PIERSON › Roger Reynolds’s Passage and Seasons Cycle II, with soprano Susan Narucki › 8 pm › John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, Music Building, North Yard, Harvard University, Cambridge › Free › 617.495.2791 or music. fas.harvard.edu
FrIDAY 7
Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker: Visions of sugarplums Boston Ballet’s stunning re-visioned Nutcracker is the best $2 million–plus investment this company has ever made. Director Mikko Nissinen explains that for its first new Nutcracker in 17 years, he consulted an 1844 Alexandre Dumas, père, libretto based on the 1816 E.T.A. Hoffmann story. Robert Perdziola’s new Regency-era decor, thoughtfully lit by Les Dickert, carries a literary undercurrent. We meet the svelte and classy Drosselmeier (Sabi Varga) in a magic store out of Hugo and glimpse the Snow Queen and King (Kathleen Breen Combes and Paulo Arrais) in a breathtaking, winter birch-forest scene fit for Anna Karenina. Alcoves nest within rooms like ribboned gift boxes. By act two, extra stage chandeliers hung in the Opera House extend the Nutcracker Prince’s kingdom into the audience. Perdziola and Nissenen have created a glittering fable about the wonders of vision. As a young dancer, Nissinen trained at the Kirov in St. Petersberg, and he retains the classical Petipa/Ivanov choreography. Almost all of his changes from previous Boston Ballet productions are improvements. He’s enriched the prologue with lucid mime exposition even the little ones will understand, anticipating the war between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker’s cadre of toy soldiers. He does justice to Tchaikovsky’s musical motifs, played with sustained beauty by the
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Boston Ballet pit orchestra under Jonathan McPhee, layering in fiendish changes of position for the mechanical ballerina (Seo Hye Han), windswept lifts for the Snow King and Queen, and a chrysanthemumdense wheel of petals during the Waltz of the Flowers with Dew Drop (Lia Cirio) glittering at its center. The world premiere’s cast on November 23 demonstrated the technical depth in the company’s current roster. Chelsea Perry’s Clara is a golden child on the cusp of womanhood — a head taller than her friends, she gets toe shoes instead of baby dolls and has the gracious bearing of a debutante, and a smile that lights up her face. Isaac Akiba tore down the house with his Russian split jumps, and Misa Kuranaga offered a pristine, near-perfect Sugar Plum Fairy. (I do wish the variations were still called Coffee and Tea instead of Arabian and Chinese: 21st-century kids don’t need silly ethnic stereotypes reinforced.) Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker, like every major production, fields multiple casts; and Nissinen’s best holiday gift may be that with substantive, even challenging, dancing in each vignette, the dancers are less likely to get sick of it or phone in their performances by New Year’s Eve. Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker is that rarest of treats: a sweet that nourishes. _De br a Cash
Boston BALLEt’s thE nutcrAckEr :: Boston opera house, 539 Washington street, Boston :: through December 30 :: $35-$177 :: 617.695.6955 or bostonballet.org
114 12.07.12 :: thEPhoEnIX.com/Arts
BOSTON BAROQUE › Handel’s Messiah, with soprano Mary Wilson, mezzosoprano Ann McMahon Quintero, tenor John McVeigh, and baritone Andrew Garland › Fri-Sat 7:30 pm › Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St, Boston › $25-$80 › 617.585.1260 or bostonbaroque.org BOSTON CONSERVATORY WIND ENSEMBLE CONDUCTED BY ERIC HEWITT › Mendelssohn’s Overture for Band; Berg’s Kammerkonzert, with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and pianist Karl Paulnack; Respighi’s Huntingtower; Skalkottas’s Nine Greek Dances › 8 pm › Old South Church, 645 Boylston St, Boston › Free › 617.425.5159 or bostonconservatory.edu MIT CONCERT CHOIR › Alice Parker program › 8 pm › Kresge Auditorium at MIT, 48 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $5; free in advance › 617.253.3913 or mitmta. eventbrite.com ORIANA CONSORT › Selection of works by Tallis, Lauridsen, Gjeilo, Mendelssohn, and Bach › Fri 8 pm › First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley St, Boston › Sun 5 pm › St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 15 St. Paul St, Brookline › $20; $15 students, seniors › 617.536.8851 or theorianaconsort.org
SAtUrDAY 8
BOSTON CHILDREN’S CHORUS › “Holiday Concert” › 2 pm › Cathedral of Holy Cross, 1400 Washington St, Boston › $10 › 617.542.5682 or bostonchildrenschorus.org DUO MARESIENNE › Selection of 18thcentury Norwegian folk songs, fairytale tunes, dances, and sonatas › Sat 8 pm › First Church, Congregational, 11 Garden St, Cambridge › $24; $19 students, seniors › 617.776.0692 or firstchurchcambridge. org › Sun 3 pm › Somerville Museum, 1 Westwood Rd, Somerville › $19; $14 students, seniors › 617.666.9810 or somervillemuseum.org MIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA › Debussy’s Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun; Child’s Down-Adown-Derry, with narrators Ellen Harris and Michael Ouellette; Excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker › 8 pm › Kresge Auditorium at MIT, 48 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $5; free in advance › 617.253.3913 or mitmta. eventbrite.com MUSICIANS OF THE OLD POST ROAD › Selection of works by Corrette, Bach, Werner, and Graupner › Sat 3 pm › Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury St, Boston › Sun 4 pm › First Unitarian Church of Worcester, 90 Main St, Worcester › $30; $25 students, seniors › 781.466.6694 or oldpostroad.org PLYMOUTH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY STEVEN KARIDOYANES › “Holiday Pops,” with narrator Jordan Rich, tenor
Matthew Anderson, and the Federal Furnace School Treble Chorus › Sat 8 pm; Sun 3 pm › Memorial Hall, 83 Court St, Plymouth › $20-$65 › 508.746.8008 or plymouthphil.org BOSTON BAROQUE › See listing for Fri
SUnDAY 9
AKIKO AND CLAUDIA KOBAYASHI › Works for violin and piano by Bach, Beethoven, and Franck › 2 pm › Newton Free Library, 330 Homer St, Newton › Free › 617.796.1360 or newtonfreelibrary. net CAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY CHORUS › Britten’s Saint Nicolas; Dove’s Ring Out, Wild Bells; Mendelssohn’s Jesu, meine Freude; program with tenor Lawrence Jones and the South Hadley Children’s Chorus › 3 pm › Kresge Auditorium at MIT, 48 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $15; $10 students, seniors › 617.517.3169 or cambridgechorus.org EMMANUEL MUSIC › “A Light Through the Ages” › 4 pm › Central Reform Temple, 15 Newbury St, Boston › Free › 617.262.1202 or alightthroughtheages.org NANCY ZHOU AND KAI-CHING CHANG › Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2; Schumann’s Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 121; Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit › 3 pm › New School of Music, 25 Lowell St, Cambridge › $12; $6 students, seniors › 617.492.8105 or newschoolofmusic.org NEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC CONDUCTED BY RICHARD PITTMAN › Revueltas’s Sensemaya; Copland’s “Buckaroo Holiday” and “Hoedown” from Rodeo and Old American Songs, Set 1 › 3 pm › Tsai Performance Center, 685 Comm Ave, Boston › $25 › 617.353.8725 or nephilharmonic.org TRAGICOMEDIA › Selection of works by Handel, Steffani, Strozzi, and more › 2 pm › Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle St, Great Barrington › $40 › 413.528.0100 or cewm.org DUO MARESIENNE › See listing for Sat MUSICIANS OF THE OLD POST ROAD › See listing for Sat ORIANA CONSORT › See listing for Fri PLYMOUTH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY STEVEN KARIDOYANES › See listing for Sat
tUeSDAY 11
COPLEY SINGERS CONDUCTED BY BRIAN JONES › Selection of carols from America, England, the West Indies, and Australia › 7 pm › St. Cecilia’s Church, 18 Belivdere St., Boston › $20; $10 students, seniors › 617.536.4548 or stceciliaboston. org/concerts.html PIONEER SINGERS OF LYNNFIELD › Selection of holiday songs and carols › 12:15 pm › King’s Chapel, 58 Tremont St, Boston › $3 › 617.227.2155 or kings-chapel.org
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Hall, 30 Gainsborough St, Boston › Free › 617.585.1260 or necmusic.edu
tHUrSDAY 13
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY CONDUCTED BY JOHN FINNEY › Cantatas I, II, and VI from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio › 8 pm › Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St, Boston › $20-$84 › 617.585.1260 or handelandhaydn.org
DAnCe PerForMAnCe tHUrSDAY 6
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Wednesday,)Dec.)12 )–!5:30-9:00! Nice$n’$Easy$Jazz$Vocals$ th
Friday,)Dec.)14 )–)5:30-7:30! Bruce$Ferrera$Electric$Jazz$$! th
Friday,)Dec.)14 )–)8:30-11:30! Ron$Poster$Trio$$! !
129 South Street Boston 617 542 5108 winebar.com
BOSTON BALLET › Nissinen’s The Nutcracker › Thurs-Fri + Tues-Wed 7:30 pm; Sat 1 pm + 7:30 pm; Sun 1 pm + 5:30 pm › Opera House, 539 Washington St, Boston › $35-$172 › 617.259.3400 or bostonballet.org
FrIDAY 7
BOSTON BALLET › See listing for Thurs
SAtUrDAY 8
BOSTON URBAN BALLET › Anthony Williams’s Urban Nutcracker › Sat 7:30 pm; Sun 3 pm › John Hancock Hall, 180 Berkeley Street, Boston › $20-$60 › 617.524.4381 or urbannutcracker.com BOSTON BALLET › See listing for Thurs
SUnDAY 9
DANCE CURRENTS, INC. › Kathy Hassinger’s Angels Afoot: Ressourcement [Bach], Emergence [Corelli], Dawn [Farrenc and Boulanger] › 2 pm › Green Street Studios, 185 Green St, Cambridge › $18 › 617.864.3191 or dancecurrentsinc.com BOSTON BALLET › See listing for Thurs BOSTON URBAN BALLET › See listing for Sat
tUeSDAY 11
BOSTON BALLET › See listing for Thurs
WeDneSDAY 12
BOSTON BALLET › See listing for Thurs
tHUrSDAY 13
BOSTON BALLET › See listing for Thurs
Porter Square Shopping Center
WeDneSDAY 12
BOSTON STRING QUARTET › “Christmas in Paris” › 7 pm › Cambridge Performing Arts Center, 535 Cambridge St, Cambridge › $20 › 617.868.1118 or bsq. ticketleap.com NEC PHILHARMONIA CONDUCTED BY ANDREW LITTON › Overture to Kabalevsky’s Colas Breugnon; Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Tsotne Tsotskhalashvili; Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 4, Op. 47/112 › 8 pm › Jordan
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Tuesday,)Dec.)11 –)5:30-9:00! Yoko$Miwa$Jazz$Pianist$
Tenor John McVeigh joins Boston Baroque for Handel’s Messiah.
Porter Square Books is an independent, full-service bookstore in Cambridge which offers a diverse selection of book titles, guest authors and children’s events too! Let us be your friendly neighborhood bookstore. Browse our books, discover an author, find a special gift, and savor the local atmosphere along with a tasty treat at Café Zing. E-Books are also now available WE’rE oPEn SEvEn dayS a WEEk! Mon - Saturday 7am - 9pm • Sat 8am – 9pm • Sunday 8am – 7pm
www.portersquarebooks.com • 617.491.2220 thEPhoEnIX.com/EvEnts :: 12.07.12 115
Arts & Nightlife :: theAter
play by play
Compiled by maddy myers
OpENING
Chesapeake keeps boredom at bay a loopy cri de coeur for the National Endowment for the Arts, Chesapeake (presented by New Repertory Theatre through December 16) is more shaggy dog story than dramatic achievement. Full of fervor for public funding of the arts, Lee Blessing’s 1999 oneperson testament likens theatrical exploration to the pioneering exploits of Lewis and Clark — though the play is more redolent of Lewis and Martin. Still, if the work is silly, it isn’t boring. And at the Arsenal Center for the Arts’ Black Box, it’s having the stuffing acted out of it by Georgia Lyman, who, bursting about the space like a frisky pooch in a too-small kennel, portrays, among other personae, a performance artist named Kerr and a cur named Lord Ratliff of Luckymore. (The dog is a Chesapeake Bay retriever, and Lyman, despite a frumpy costume, is appropriately fetching.) Kerr can be a man or a woman (the role was originated by Mark Linn-Baker). But whatever the artist’s gender, he/she has come to public notice by reciting the Song of Solomon while inviting audience members to come up on stage and remove his/her garments. When one spectator
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reportedly gets too big an erotic charge from this, Kerr becomes the target of Therm Pooley, a fulminating Southern congressman running for the Senate. Decrying the “poor-nography” of the performance while wagging his beloved dog along the campaign trail, Pooley manages to win. And Kerr, feeling at once attacked and used, resolves to kidnap the senator’s pet, the grand plan being to turn the caper into a guerrilla act of outlaw art comparable to those of the early-20th-century Futurists. Alas, things go awry, and Kerr is reincarnated as a woofer. Whether you’re talking art, politics, or the bonding of man and beast, Blessing is preaching to the choir. And his sermon, in addition to being fantastical, is too long. Still, you can’t deny the playwright’s imagination. And you have to admire an actor who can memorize the ramble, much less pull it off. So for those with a yen to watch Lyman fleetly leap the furniture, raptly intone the spiciest part of the Bible, deftly dish the cornpone, and simulate vigorous canine sex with a music stand, well, Jesse Helms isn’t here to stop you. _CAR OLY N CLAY
CHESAPEAKE :: Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St, Watertown :: Through December 16 :: $36 :: 617.923.0100 or newrep.org
116 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.COm/ArTS
a CHrisTmas Carol › Arianna Knapp takes on Jon Kimbell’s stage adaptation of the Charles Dickens novella, featuring original music composed and arranged by Alby Potts and James Woodland. David Coffee stars as Scrooge in this North Shore Music Theatre production. › December 7–23 › North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Rd, Beverly › $45$60 › 978.232.7200 or nsmt.org Holiday memories › New Rep stages Truman Capote’s holiday play about his experiences growing up during the Depression in the deep South. The piece is based on two of Capote’s short stories, “The Thanksgiving Visitor” and “A Christmas Memory.” Russell Vandenbroucke directs. › December 9-23 › New Repertory Theatre, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St, Watertown › $28-$58 › 617.923.8487 or newrep.org mempHis › Christopher Ashley directs the Broadway tour of Joe DiPietro and David Bryan’s musical set in the 1950s and loosely based on the life of Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips. Earl Darrington, Felicia Boswell, and Bryan Fenkart star. › December 11-23 › Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston St, Boston › $34-$129 › 617.426.9366 or boston. broadway.com NeXT To Normal › The Office for the Arts at Harvard University stages this dramatic musical theatre piece crafted by a pair of Pulitzer winners, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. Allen Macleod directs the cast, which features Amy Sparrow as Diana, a mother struggling with bipolar disorder. › December 6-9 › Farkas Hall, 10-12 Holyoke St, Cambridge › $12; $8 students › 617.496.2222 or n2nharvard.com oF miCe aNd meN › Moonbox Productions presents a theatrical adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Depression-era novel about two migrant workers named George and Lennie, the latter of whom is mentally disabled. Although George tries to downplay Lennie’s disability and hopes for a normal life, a tragic accident causes George to realize that this can never be possible. Allison Olivia Choat directs the production, which features incidental music composed by Dan Rodrigues. › December 7–22 › Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont Street, Boston › $25-$30 › 617.864.0841 or moonboxproductions.org sisTer’s CHrisTmas CaTeCHism: THe mysTery oF THe maGi’s Gold › Maripat Donovan, Jane Morris and Marc Silvia conceived this latest installment in their Late Night Catechism series; “Sister” Denise Fennell hosts the comedic, unconventional tutorial about Catholic holiday traditions. This time, the story revolves around the three gifts given to the baby Jesus. › December 6 › Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 East Merrimack St, Lowell › $25.75-$45.75 › 978.454.2299 or lowellauditorium.com TWo GeNTlemeN oF VeroNa › Robert Walsh directs Actors’ Shakespeare Project in the Bard’s romantic comedy about a love triangle, cross-dressing maidens, and couples engaged to be married against their wishes. › December 12–January 6 › Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm Street, Somerville › $28-$50 › 866.811.4111 or actorsshakespeareproject.org
NOW playING
aNNie › Maggie Dillier helms the Riverside Theatre Works staging of Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin’s musical
set during the Great Depression. A young orphan named Annie wins the chance to spend a day with a cranky billionaire and manages to soften his heart. › Through December 9 › Riverside Theatre Works, 45 Fairmount Avenue, Hyde Park › $15-$25 › 617.361.7024 or rtwboston.org arabiaN NiGHTs › The Central Square Theater reprises Daniel Gidron’s successful staging of Dominic Cooke’s theatrical adaptation of the ancient Persian folk tales of King Shahryar and his new wife Shahrazad. She tells her husband a new story each night in an effort to distract him from his panicked vow to murder any woman the night after she weds him, in an effort to prevent adultery. The production is co-staged by the Nora Theatre Company & Underground Railway Theater. › Through December 30 › Central Square Theater, 450 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $15-$45 › 866.811.4111 or centralsquaretheater.org beTrayal › Harold Pinter’s most straightforward and also his most straightbackward play ostensibly chronicles a longtime extramarital affair, each scene betraying the characters’ memories of what had gone before. In Maria Aitken’s wistful period staging for the Huntington, the scenes expand and then retract as if seen through the shutter of an old-fashioned camera. One of the play’s ironies is that usurping other man Jerry, played here by Alan Cox, is its most humane character, with the grace to know — if not be terribly bothered by — guilt. On the other hand, wronged husband Robert (an aptly razor-edged Mark H. Dold) often seems to be running the show of his own cuckolding. Emma, these two literary chums’ shared mate, as embodied by willowy Gretchen Egolf folded into a telling regression of period garb, is by turns icy, vulnerable, and needlessly dishonest. Betrayal is by no means Pinter’s greatest work, but it is in its way perfect, and the Huntington team proves adequately perfectionist. › Through December 9 › Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston › $15-$75 › 617.266.7900 or huntingtontheatre.org 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 CHiNGlisH › Daniel Cavanaugh stars as an American businessman trying to cash in on a Chinese province’s growth potential in David Henry Hwang’s new comedy, presented by Lyric Stage under Larry Coen’s direction. Alexander Platt co-stars, alongside Tiffany Chen, Michael Tow, Celeste Oliva, Chen Tang, and Liz Eng. › November 30–December 23 › Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston › $25$58 › 617.437.7172 or lyricstage.com a CHrisTmas Carol › Trinity Repertory Company leads off the attack of the Scrooges with its 35th annual offering of Adrian Hall & Richard Cumming’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s tale of the incredible flying miser. Tyler Dobrowsky directs, and Timothy Crowe stars as Scrooge. › Through December 29 › Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington St, Providence, RI › $15-$36 › 401.351.4242 or tickets. trinityrep.com HalF ’N HalF ’N HalF › Kyle Fabel helms John Kolvenbach’s farcical parody of life at a repertory theatre, from behindthe-scenes drama to on-stage theatrics. Jim Ortlieb, Carol Halstead, Zoë Winters and Andrew Pastides star in the Merrimack Rep
staging. › Through December 23 › Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 50 East Merrimack Street, Lowell › $15-$47 › 978.454.3926 or mrt.org/ halfnhalfnhalf.html THe HoW aNd THe WHy › Shana Gozansky directs Trinity Rep’s production of Sarah Treem’s drama about a generational clash between two female evolutionary biologists, one well-established in her field and one about to begin her career. Barrie Kreinik and Anne Scurria star. › Through December 30 › Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington St, Providence, RI › $28-$34 › 401.351.4242 or trinityrep.com HoW THe GriNCH sTole CHrisTmas › Matt August directs the Broadway tour of Mel Marvin and Timothy Mason’s musical theater adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss story about a holiday-hating green grump who soon learns the importance of cheer. The show includes two famous songs from the original animated movie of the same name: “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and “Welcome Christmas.” › Through December 9 › Citi Performing Arts Center, 270 Tremont Street, Boston › $35-$125 › 617.482.9393 or citicenter.org/shows/lists
THe piaNisT oF WillesdeN laNe › Mona Golabek is an awardwinning concert pianist, not an actor. But she placed the incipient onewoman show inspired by her mother (also commemorated in The Children of Willesden Lane, written with Lee Cohen) in the hands of that master of yak-and-play, Hershey Felder, known for his musical portraits of George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. The result, adapted and directed by Felder, is an uplifting if pat piece of writing bolstered by some virtuosic and emotive tickling (well, pounding) of the ivories. Between bouts of Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, and Grieg, Golabek takes on the youthful persona of her mother, aspiring Jewish pianist Lisa Jura, who at 14 escaped Nazi-infested Vienna, the musical capital she loved, by way of the Kindertransport. Landing in a youth hostel on the titular London street, Jura, however beset by bombs and fears for family, continued to forge in her music a talisman she could pass down to her daughters. And Golabek shows more than tells how powerful that can be. _C A R O LY N C L AY Through December 16 › ArtsEmerson Paramount Theatre, 559 Washington St, Boston › $25-$69 › 617.824.8000 or artsemerson.org
iT’s a WoNderFUl liFe › Stoneham Theatre’s Weylin Symes directs his theatrical adaptation of Frank Capra’s famed holiday film about a man who has lost his faith in himself and his life. An angel talks the man out of suicide by traveling back down memory lane and showing how much one person’s efforts can change the world around them for the better, whether they realize it or not. › Through December 23 › Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main St, Stoneham › $44-$48 › 781.279.2200 or stonehamtheatre. org la belle eT la beTe › Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon direct their own theatrical adaptation of Maureen Labonté’s translation of Pierre Yves Lemieux’s version of the French fairy tale. This multidisciplinary staging blends theatre, film, dance, poetry, visual arts, music and sound to tell the fable of love, redemption, and compromise. › Through December 9 › Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont St, Boston › $25-$69 › 617.824.8000 or artsemerson.org maCHiNal › Trinity Repertory’s MFA Program presents Sophie Treadwell’s biographical trial drama about one of the first American women electrocuted for murder. Aubrey Snowden directs the production. › Through December 16 › Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington St, Providence, RI › $12; $6 students, seniors › 401.351.4242 or trinityrep.com THe piaNisT oF WillesdeN laNe › Mona Golabek stars as her mother, Lisa Jura, in a biographical one-woman play. Lisa, a young Jewish woman, grew up in Vienna in 1938 and in London during the Blitzkrieg. She dreamed of being a famous pianist; WWII forced her to reconsider some of her big plans, but not her love of music. Hershey Felder directs. › Through December 16 › Paramount Theatre, 559 Washington St, Boston › $25-$69 › 617.824.8000 or artsemerson.org pippiN › Diane Paulus helms the A.R.T.’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 reCKless › John Fogle is at the helm of Craig Lucas’s cheerfully surreal, dark-edged 1988 fantasy, in which a happy housewife whose husband has hired a hitman goes on the lam on Christmas Eve. Nancy Gahagan stars in this Salem Theatre Company staging. › Through December 22 › Salem Theatre Company, 90 Lafayette St, Salem › $10-$25 › 978.790.8546 or salemtheatre.com rUdolpH THe red NeCKed reiNdeer › Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans have written a new Christmas parody musical this year: a lampoon of the Rankin/Bass Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Jesse James Wood stars as Rudolph, who stands out from the other reindeer because of his Southern drawl. James P. Byrne directs. › Through December 23 › Machine, 1256 Boylston St, Boston › $35-$45 › 617.536.1950 or facebook. com/golddustorphans THe Way oF THe World › Boston Conservatory stages William Congreve’s satire, written during England’s Restoration Period. Mirabell and Millamant fall in love, but Millamant’s aunt refuses to grant them a dowry. The pair decides to go to absurd lengths to guarantee an inheritance. Christopher Webb directs. › Through December 7 › Boston Conservatory Theater, 31 Hemenway St, Boston › $25-$30 › 617.536.6340 or bostonconservatory.edu
by William Shakespeare directed by Robert Wa lsh**
Dec. 12, 2012 – Jan. 6, 2013 Davis Square Theatre | So
merville 86 www.actorsshakesp 6-811-4111 or eareproject.org ** This director is a mem ber of the stage directors and national theatrical labor unio choreographers society, a n
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Little Otik
Id stuff Id meets kId in Czech animator Jan Švankmajer’s machinery. In short, they are engaged in the same playfully deranged visions. The Harvard Film Arprocess as Švankmajer, and their completed crechive’s partial retrospective of his films, both shorts ations, like his, spring to life through the magic of and features, demonstrates the development of his animation. Here, though, the magic seems more stop-action techniques, his kitchen-sink surrealfrom desperation than wonder. Adults no longer ism, and his obsessions. He’s like Luis Buñuel and have the same capacity for pleasure and dreams Jacques Tati by way of Gumby. as do children. The shorts are succinct and brilliant, but the Švankmajer returns to that sensibility in Little features disconcert. Alice (1988; December 9 @ 5 Otik (2000; December 9 @ 7 pm). Like Conspirapm) brings Lewis Carroll down to tors, it begins with live action, as the earth, or at least into the bedroom of Bozena adopts a tree root unJAN ŠvANKMAJer, childless the title urchin. The mostly live-acearthed by her husband, Karel. They CoNsPirAtor of tion Alice narrates the text and voicname the thing Otik, but then Bozena PleAsure es all the characters as she pursues takes her delusion to extremes, cooDecember 8-9 at the a vivified, taxidermied white rabbit ing at the stump, bathing it, changing Harvard Film archive and encounters animated creatures its diapers, and pushing it about the made up of the animal skeletons neighborhood in a pram. When she and other gimcracks that litter her bedroom. Alice starts nursing it, Otik springs to life, becoming handles the weirdness with equanimity, since a squalling stump with an obscene orifice that she’s in charge, despite the playfully phallic and serves as both its mouth and eye. The more Otik macabre imagery. eats, the bigger and more voracious he grows, until In Conspirators of Pleasure (1996; December first the family cat, then the postman, and others 8 @ 9 pm), the adults take over. Shot mostly in disappear. But before the film settles into a fusion live action, it investigates the secrets of a handof Little Shop of Horrors and Pinocchio, Alzbetka, ful of people whose baroque fantasies turn out the girl next door, asserts control, and Otik seems to be unexpectedly connected. They build exnot so much an icon of adult terror and despair as haustingly complicated fetishes out of feathers, a talisman of childhood vindication. _P e t e r Keough > > PKeough@PhX.Co M porn magazines, fishes, nails, rolling pins, and
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dream castIng The storyline of Anne Fontaine’s French comedy is mainstream: a yuppie art dealer, Agathe (Isabelle Huppert), finds her condescending values challenged and her sexuality opened up by a crude but “natural” laborer (Benoît Poelvoorde). This is the type of tale which plays to complacent Parisian audiences — a “boulevard comedy.” And yet — vive le différence! — the terrific leads dig into their clichéd roles and come up with characters to savor, and a relationship to root for. Credit Isabelle Huppert for a career of shrewd choices. She’s often played women who are admirable because of their transgressiveness. They are not warm-hearted or humanist, nor wish to be. Here she’s frosty once more, but since this is a comedy, her chilly bitch has to chill out. But before she does, what fun to watch her, dashing about in Parisian fashions, making her Type-A mark on the art scene, shouting at underlings +++ because the My Worst wall behind a NightMAre Mapplethorpe masterwork is Directed by painted incoranne Fontaine :: Written by rectly. anne Fontaine Through and nicolas more than mercier :: With three deisabelle Huppert and Benoît cades of film, Poelvoorde :: it’s been Huppert alone, French :: strand sans a proper releasing :: 103 minutes love match. Who could Brattle imagine that this queenly Hepburn would find her Tracy in the ungainly Poelvoorde? For those with a cinema memory, he was the serial killer in the 1992 Belgian nihilist classic, Man Bites Dog. _gerAld PeAry
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Buy Buy BraziL In 1996, the Criterion Collection released one of their crowning achievements on DVD: a three-disc collectors’ box of Terry Gilliam’s 1985 anti-bureaucratic, Orwellian fantasy film, Brazil. The movie is a masterpiece, but the breakdown of the behind-thescenes feud between Gilliam and MCA-Universal CEO Sid Sheinberg was a big draw, a cautionary tale that Criterion made all the more compelling with its comprehensive set of extras. The only negative thing I can say about the ’96 release is that it was presented in standard-definition video — not a real flaw at the time, but something that’s been beautifully rectified with Criterion’s Blu-ray re-issue, a technical marvel and a testament to the high-definition format. The new transfer of Gilliam’s 142-minute final cut is stunning, and the two-disc set includes all of the content from the earlier release, including his original commentary track, plus buffed-up, hi-def versions of a video “produc-
tion notebook.” While much of this content is simply up-rezzed from the earlier edition, the artwork accompanying the various segments on the script, the production design, the costumes, and the storyboards have all been re-scanned to exploit the HD format. Also included are segments on the musical score and special effects, a theatrical trailer, plus two documentaries, the best of which is film critic Jack Matthews’s 60-minute The Battle for Brazil: A Video History. Another eye-opener is the 94-minute cut of Gilliam’s movie — Sheinberg’s preferred “Love Conquers All” version, featuring all the changes Gilliam refused to make, from an alternate opening to a happy ending (!). If you’ve ever wondered what happens when an artist faces the loss of creative control (a constant threat throughout Gilliam’s career), then look no further. At a retail price of $50, the set’s not cheap, but then, money isn’t everything — unless you’re a bean-counting studio executive. _Br e t t MiCh e l
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Arts & Nightlife :: film
opening this week
+1/2 ADDICTED TO FAME › In this documentary, a pop culture curio that plays out like a pulpy exposé, director David Giancola investigates the mayhem that took place on the set of his troubled 2007 indie picture, Illegal Aliens, a movie that would be all but forgotten if not for its star Anna Nicole Smith’s tragic death by overdose shortly after the film wrapped. At times, Giancola’s behindthe-scene footage is painful to watch, as the attention-span-challenged Smith struggles with her lines. But most of the story involves the director and his producer John James as they try to keep their picture from sinking under the weight of diva antics and bad publicity. Haphazardly mixing extended montages, bad early-millennial music, and newsreels with the occasional off-kilter quote about show business, Fame is a poor man’s version of an E! True Hollywood Story special. It’s the desperate confession of a man who wants to tell his side of the story to anyone who will listen. › 89m › Somerville Theatre _Monica Castillo +THE COLLECTION › If you blinked, you might have missed 2009’s little-seen tortureporn entry, The Collector. Made by Marcus Dunstan, a writer behind the later Saw entries, it featured a Jigsaw-like antagonist hell-bent on setting traps, traps, and more traps to mutilate his victims because, well, I guess he needs to use those traps for something. Dunstan’s second outing brings back Arkin (Josh Stewart), the only man to have escaped the masked figure’s meat grinders. A group of mercenaries hired by the wealthy father (Christopher McDonald) of Elena (Emma Fitzpatrick), a girl kidnapped by the Collector, is forcing Arkin to lead them through the psychopath’s labyrinthine lair. There’s also a little bit of The Silence of the Lambs’s Buffalo Bill in the Collector’s entomology interests, because, hey, why stop at pillaging from only the Saw series? There are no flesh-dresses or cocoons shoved down victims’ throats, though — just buckets of the same old boring gore. › 82m › Boston Common + suburbs _Brett Michel +1/2 THE COMEDY › Many in the audience rankled as Rick Alverson’s The Comedy played in competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Those who remained were punished to the end by this relentlessly aimless, abrasive stab at black humor. Comedian Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie), an interesting, disheveled screen presence, could have made something of his role as Swanson, a slacker Brooklynite who is waiting apathetically for his rich dad to die. But Heidecker is given little to do here except move his butt and beer gut from one torpid scene to the next, saying hurtful, hateful, unfunny things to whomever he is paired with, including put-upon cab drivers. Did I mention that The Comedy ultimately isn’t one? › 90m › Brattle Theatre _Gerald Peary ++ DEADFALL › Holiday get-togethers traditionally spark family conflict, but this is ridiculous. June (Sissy Spacek) and Chet (Kris Kristofferson) plan to have a quiet Thanksgiving at their Michigan farmhouse. Unbeknownst to them, their prodigal son Jay (Charlie Hunnam) has been paroled from prison and wants to join the feast. But then he accidentally kills somebody and flees the heat . Meanwhile, gun-happy Addison (Eric Bana) and his sister Liza (Olivia Wilde), who are also on the lam, split up and agree to meet later when one of them finds a safe house. Jay bumps into Liza, falls in love, and wants to bring her home for Thanksgiving. Recognizing an ideal hideout, Liza calls in her brother. By that time, the body count is in double digits,
and the subarctic conditions and a woman cop in the cast make comparisons to Fargo even more invidious. To his credit, director Stefan Ruzowitzky seems to be attempting a critique of patriarchy, since all the men are assholes and the women are victims. › 95m › Kendall Square _Peter Keough +++1/2 KILLING THEM SOFTLY › Though Andrew Dominik shot his follow-up to 2007’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in N’awlins, it’s a Boston movie through-and-through. Based on Cogan’s Trade, by local crime novelist George V. Higgins, Dominik’s script incorporates enough of Higgins’s crackling, location-specific dialogue to have you recalling that greatest of all Boston-set films, Peter Yates’s 1973 adaptation of Higgins’s debut, The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Although this movie also examines the low rungs of the underworld, it’s not a crime movie, per se. You won’t see any boys in blue, but there is a strict code of enforcement at play, as Cogan (Brad Pitt) and his bureaucratic boss (Richard Jenkins) decide the fates of the movie’s players (Ray Liotta and James Gandolfini among them) during unglamorous exchanges set inside their makeshift office, a parked car. And the closing punchline is such a knockout, you might forgive the lack of subtlety preceding it. › 97m › Boston Common + Fenway + Kendall Square + West Newton + suburbs _Brett Michel
now playing
++1/2 ALICE [NECO Z ALENKY] › 1988 › Czech animator Jan Svankmajer’s reimagining of the Lewis Carroll classic is an attempt to recapture the grotesque, almost barbaric wit at the heart of Carroll’s tomfoolery. Svankmajer uses the grunge of discarded household paraphernalia to establish an atmosphere that’s at once familiar and uneasy. The one live element in his animated landscape is the little girl who plays Alice (Kristýna Kohoutová); at times, it’s as if a child’s imagination had run riot and collided with an artist’s. There are memorable images throughout, and Svankmajer achieves moments of dark hilarity, such as the mouse in a sailor suit who builds a fire in Alice’s hair. But the film moves at a punishingly slow rhythm, and Svankmajer hasn’t come up with enough ideas to sustain individual sequences. The obsessive meticulousness of puppet animation appears to rule his imagination as well as his craft. › Czech › 86m › HFA: Sun ++ THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 114m › Lower Mills Branch Library: Mon ++1/2 ANNA KARENINA › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 130m › Boston Common + Kendall Square + Coolidge Corner + West Newton +++ ARGO › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/ movies for a full review. › 120m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Somerville Theatre + Coolidge Corner + Chestnut Hill + Embassy + suburbs BARBARA › 2012 › Set in 1980s East Germany, Christian Petzold’s period drama stars Nina Hoss as Barbara, a doctor who finds herself banished to a small country hospital after the GDR government discovers that she has applied for a visa to leave the country. The relocation doesn’t do much to curb her desire to flee however, as she continues plotting her escape while settling into her new environment. › German › 105m › Coolidge Corner: Sun BORN TO KILL › 1947 › Robert Wise directed this gothic RKO noir about a killer (Lawrence Tierney) who becomes involved with a woman he meets on a train, Helen Brant (Claire Trevor), and then marries her wealthy half-sister (Audrey Long) but with-
phX piCks >> Can’t Miss DAWN OF THE DEAD It’s not as good as George Romero’s 1978 original, but it does have Sarah Polley blowing away zombies with a shotgun and 7 one of the last uses of found-footage horror that actually is scary. Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead (2004) uses the same premise as Romero — a random group of strangers holed up in a shopping mall fending off hordes of zombies — except here the zombies are superfast and the cultural commentary minimal. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline :: December 7 + 8 @ midnight :: $9.25 :: 617.734.2501 or coolidge.org FRI
BARBARA It’s 1980 in pre-fall-of-the-Wall East Germany, and the eponymous character in Christian Petzold’s Barbara (2012), a pediatric surgeon 9 in a backwater hospital, makes plans with her West German beau to escape to freedom. But then there’s Horst, the appealing head of her department — is he wooing her or spying on her, or both? Top-notch suspense and melodrama from one of Germany’s best directors. The Goethe-Institut presents it at the Coolidge. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline :: 11 am :: $5 :: 617.734.2501 or coolidge.org SUN
THE PRESTIGE 10 Before his magic act of turning The Dark Knight Rises into cinema gold, Christopher Nolan made The Prestige (2006), the story of two rival magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman) in Victorian London and their relationship with wizard Nikola Tesla (David Bowie), the eccentric genius who invented pretty much everything electrical. The Coolidge Science on Screen series presents the film and a discussion with Peter Fisher, head of the Particle and Nuclear Experimental Physics Division at MIT. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline :: 7 pm :: $9.25; $7.25 students, seniors :: 617.734.2501 coolidge.org MON
CINEMAPOCALYPSE Has anyone been paying attention to the rapid approach of the end of the world on December 21, as per the Mayan 11 calendar? The Brattle has, and they’re celebrating the impending event with Cinemapocalypse, which screens what they claim to be three of the best doomsday movies ever. It starts tonight with a film we’re not sure qualifies, Roland Emmerich’s 2012 (2009; 8:30 pm), followed tomorrow by one we definitely agree belongs on the list, Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys (1995; 4:30, 7, 9:45 pm). And the third? Check the website and vote for your favorite, and whatever you choose is probably better than 2012. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge :: $9.75; $7.75 students; $6.75 seniors :: 617.876.6837 or brattlefilm.org TUE
TOMMY Take a look at the giant shoes that Elton John wears as the “Local Lad” singing “Pinball Wizard” in the movie version of Tommy 12 (1975), and you get an idea of what a loss the death of director Ken Russell last year was to the movie world. His joyously kitschy and surreal excess nearly upstages the Who’s groundbreaking 1969 rock opera. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston :: 3 pm :: $8; $7 students, seniors :: 617.267.9300 or mfa.org WED
out giving up Helen. When detectives turn the heat up on Helen, will she turn the heat up on Sam. With Elisha Cooke Jr. as the guy who does Sam’s dirty work. › b&w › 92m › South Boston Branch Library: Tues +++1/2 CHASING ICE › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 76m › Kendall Square +1/2 CLOUD ATLAS › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 272m › Boston Common + Arlington Capitol + suburbs +++ CONSPIRATORS OF PLEASURE › 1996 › Czech director Jan Svankmajer, best known for his stop-motion animated shorts and his surreal updates of Alice in Wonderland and Faust, takes his view of the human body as an arbitrary and malleable social construct (Kafka by way of David Cronenberg) into Buñuel territory. A shopkeeper enjoys being caressed by robot arms while watching his favor-
ite TV news anchorwoman. She likes having her toes sucked by fish. Her husband mortifies his flesh with devices that rotate feathers, bristles, and nails. A woman tortures an effigy of her neighbor; he does the same to her effigy while he’s dressed as a chicken. Svankmajer’s cheerful, inventive satire on bourgeois sexual morality (if everyone is a deviant, then no one is, and no one need be ashamed) looks at all the creativity and hard work that goes into selfgratification and dares to call it art. › Czech › 85m › HFA: Sat ++ DAWN OF THE DEAD › 2004 › No doubt there are worse ways to remake George Romero’s 1978 zombie classic than that taken by first-time director Zack Snyder in this film. The new Dawn of the Dead barely qualifies as a remake, since it uses little more of Romero’s original than a few lines of dialogue and the basic concept: a band of people gather in a
deserted shopping mall to stave off an attack by cannibalistic revivified human corpses. The characters, such as they are, are new. Sarah Polley is a nurse whose boyfriend is zombified in the first reel; Jake Weber is a nice guy who happens along; Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer are cops; and there are three security guards who play fascist for a while. The film makes no effort to update the story; as far as cultural references and behavioral details are concerned, it could be taking place in 1978 (or even 1958). Little mileage is got out of the shopping-mall setting, whereas the mall was half the fun, and the point, of the original. On the plus side, the acting is better than necessary, the special effects are savage and persuasive, and the undercranked action scenes are enjoyably frenetic. › 97m › Coolidge Corner: Fri-Sat midnight +++ DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL › 2011 › Visit thePhoenix.com/ movies for a full review. › 86m › West Newton: Sat-Sun +++ ELF › 2003 › This film from Jon Favreau (Swingers) treats its young audience members with respect and makes its older ones feel like children. Will Ferrell’s character, Buddy, arrived in the North Pole as a baby after he crawled one Christmas Eve into Santa’s bag at the orphanage his mother sent him to before she died. Buddy is raised by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) in Santa’s syrupy-sweet workshop; since he doesn’t have the elfin magic to cut it as a toy maker, however, he decides, at age 30, to head to New York to find his dad (James Caan). But Buddy is, like Ferrell’s best characters, an innocent overgrown child, whereas, his dad, a Scrooge-ish children’s-book exec, is on the Naughty List! Like all great holiday movies, Elf is a blend of humor and sweetness: when Buddy takes love interest Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) on a date to a crummy diner because he believes the place’s “world’s best coffee” sign, you
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laugh and — don’t try to deny it — get the warmand-fuzzies. › 97m › BPL: Mon ++1/2 FLIGHT › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/ movies for a full review. › 139m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Somerville Theatre + Embassy + suburbs +++1/2 GREGORY CREWDSON › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 78m › Coolidge Corner HARRIET CRAIG › 1950 › Vincent Sherman, Joan Crawford’s title character is a manipulating monster who has little regard for husband Walter (Wendell Corey), cousin Claire (Lucile Watson), or anyone else who gets in her way. Vincent Sherman directed. › b&w › 94m › South Boston Branch Library: Thurs +1/2 HITCHCOCK › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › 98m › Boston Common + Kendall Square 1/2 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 91m › West Newton: Sat-Sun ++1/2 A LATE QUARTET › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 105m › Coolidge Corner ++1/2 LIFE OF PI › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › 127m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Chestnut Hill + Embassy + suburbs ++ LINCOLN › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/ movies for a full review. › 120m › Boston Common + Fenway + Kendall Square + West Newton +++1/2 LITTLE OTIK › 2001 › Although it eventually runs out of steam, this film marks the first time Czech animator/director Jan Svankmajer’s storytelling has matched his visual gifts. An infertile couple, Karel Horak (Jan Hartl) and his wife, Bozena (Veronika Zilková), would love to have a baby; then he discovers a tree stump that resembles one. Bozena pretends to be pregnant,
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and the couple treat the stump like a real baby. After a while, their fantasy takes on a life of its own: Otik comes alive, complete with a ravenous appetite. After he begins attacking people, the Horaks try unsuccessfully to keep him under control. Meanwhile, Alzbetka (Kristina Adamcová), a little girl who lives next door, discovers Otik and starts offering him food out of her parents’ ref7ute; every child’s voracious appetite and rapid growth is implicit in Otik’s self-creation. That pushes Little Otik from surrealist black comedy into palpable horror. Svankmajer has a terrific sense of humor (no other director would show a piece of wood suckling at a real woman’s breast), but ultimately he’s not kidding around: the buttons he pushes about birth, parenthood, and neediness strike raw nerves. › Czech › 125m › HFA: Sun ++ MAHLER ON THE COUCH › 2010 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › German › 98m › Coolidge Corner ++1/2 MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 142m › West End Branch Library: Wed ++1/2 THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL › 1992 › Where Muppets creator Jim Henson went for character interaction, his son Brian goes for slapstick. And so the Muppets’ take on the Dickens classic fails to rise to the comic heights of previous Muppet excursions or plunge into Dickens’s terrifying dark night of the soul. The Mups (Kermit as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as his Mrs., Fozzie Bear as “Fozziwig”) do an admirable job of staying in character, without losing the traits each is known for. But as Scrooge, Michael Caine seems to be having too much of a good time; his conversion to niceness isn’t
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much of a conversion at all. › 89m › Coolidge Corner: Sat ++1/2 THE OTHER SON › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › French › 105m › West Newton: Sat-Sun +++ THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/ movies for a full review. › 102m › Somerville Theatre +++ THE PRESTIGE › 2006 › Postmodern turns out to have been the wrong word, and world, for the Nolan brothers (director Christopher and screenwriter Jonathan) of Memento fame. In The Prestige, a Victorianset sci-fi tale of rival magicians in search of the ultimate trick, the Nolans delight in embedded flashbacks, unreliable diaries (purloined, of course), mad scientists (David Bowie, in a deft cameo), and presto-change-o stagecraft. (“Abracadabra!” will never again sound cheesy.) Cast as a proto-Vegas showman, Hugh Jackman would seem to have the meatier role, but it’s Christian Bale, as the brooding illusionist whose art blights the lives of those he loves, who makes a darker, deeper impression. Although the slowish pacing early on over-indicates how both magicians’ marquee misdirection (a disappearing act) will be achieved, The Prestige still manages a neat trick of its own. So what if you twig to the “how” of the deception. That still leaves the lingering horror of how anyone could stand it. › 135m › Coolidge Corner: Mon +1/2 RED DAWN › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › 93m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + suburbs +++ RISE OF THE GUARDIANS › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 97m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Chestnut Hill + Arlington Capitol + suburbs
THE ROOM › 2003 › Tommy Wiseau wrote, directed, and stars in what’s been called “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.” Banker Johnny (Wiseau) is ga-ga over his blonde fiancée, Lisa (Juliette Danielle). But is Lisa worthy of his trust? Where does Johnny’s best friend, Mark (Greg Sostero), fit in? And Lisa’s mother, Claudette (Carolyn Minnott)? What about orphaned neighbor Denny (Philip Haldiman)? And will this truly be the worst movie you’ve ever seen? › 99m › Coolidge Corner: Fri midnight ++ A ROYAL AFFAIR › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › Danish + English + German + French › 137m › Kendall Square +++ SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 86m › West Newton: Sat-Sun +++ THE SESSIONS › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 95m › West Newton + Arlington Capitol +++ SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 122m › Boston Common + in ne r Ar d w Aw y Ac Ad em Fenway + West Newton irren m n e L He +++ SKYFALL › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix. com/movies for a full review. › 143m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Somerville Theatre + Chestnut Hill + BOSTON_HCK_1206 Embassy + suburbs CALL THEATRE+++1/2 OR 12 MONKEYS › 1995 › In this CHECK DIRECTORY well-thought-out dystopian fantasy from FOR SHOWTIMES director Terry Gilliam, the human race, what’s left of it after a virus wipes out bilBOSTON CAMBRIDGE lions, lives underground. Prisoner Bruce WillisSquare is offered freedom if he’ll travel back AMC Loews Boston Common 19 Landmark’s Kendall in time to 1996 and find an eco-terrorist (888) AMC-4FUN (617) 499-1996 group called the Army of the 12 Monkeys that unleashed the virus, but he keeps landing in the wrong past, getting locked up in an asylum with the conspiracy-minded BOSTON CAMBRIDGE Brad Pitt and falling for Madeleine Stowe, AMC Loews Boston Landmark’s a medical expert on millennial paranoia — Common 19 Kendall Square whereupon he begins to wonder whether (888) AMC-4FUN (617) 499-1996 ®
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he hasn’t hallucinated the whole plagueravaged future. Gilliam, whose films always erase all distinction between reality and imagination, turns out to be the ideal director for this material. › 129m › Brattle: Wed ++ THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN — PART 2 › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 115m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Chestnut Hill + Embassy + Arlington Capitol + suburbs +1/2 2012 › 2009 › The details of Roland Emmerich’s Mayan-calendar-predicts-theend-of-the-world premise are sketchy, but it seems that a once-in-a-blue-moon planetary alignment has unleashed solar flares and neutrinos, and soon big slabs of Los Angeles are flying into the void like smoking brownies off a cookie sheet. After a tipoff of what’s to come from reclusive radio crazy Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) packs the ex-wife (Amanda Peet), the two kids, and even the ex-wife’s new boyfriend (good thing, because it turns out he can fly a plane, sort of ) into a limo and outraces the disintegrating city to the airport. There they take off as the airstrip collapses behind them and soar through crumbling skyscrapers (shades of 9/11), shattered cloverleafs, flying subway trains, and we think we caught a glimpse of Miss Gulch from The Wizard of Oz and the cow from Twister. Ridiculous? Absolutely, and the first time around, the gags have the zany exhilaration of a Chuck Jones cartoon. But really, you’ll get as much of this as you want just watching the trailer. › 151m › Brattle: Tues +++1/2 THE WAITING ROOM › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 83m › Kendall Square ++1/2 WRECK-IT RALPH › 2012 › Visit thePhoenix.com/movies for a full review. › 93m › Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Embassy + Arlington Capitol + suburbs
Arts & Nightlife :: Music
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HEAVEN’S GATE, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
photo by nina mashurova
disbanding his punky noise-pop four-piece Sweet Bulbs last year, Abandfter guitarist Mike Sheffield dove right into assembling his new Brooklyn Heaven’s Gate by having them open a show he’d already booked for
touring friends. “The beginnings of Heaven’s Gate were just a mad dash for one deadline,” says guitarist Alex Cvetovich. “The general tone of the band has always been nervous excitement. Nervous if we would pull off the 10 songs we learned in a week. Excited to be playing in a band again.” It’s a fitting description for the distortion-heavy dynamic dream pop that makes up their debut EP, High Riser, released in November. Heaven’s Gate also includes former Weed Hounds drummer Patrick Stankard — who plays with Sheffield in experimental noise band Alan Watts as well. “When we wrote the High Riser EP, we were super green,” says Heaven’s Gate singer Jess Paps, whose vocal inspirations range from Babes in Toyland
and Bikini Kill to Hole and Crass. “It was summer. I was pretty happy. It’s very influenced by seaweed and dancing. The 12 songs we wrote for the new LP represented a natural progression for us as a band that I think had a lot to do with environmental factors like winter and depression. It’s just a lot darker and heavier. . . . By the time we started writing the LP I felt more comfortable exploring lower vocal ranges, singing baritone, yelling, being angry and ugly.” Last month, when Heaven’s Gate played the Phoenix’s CMJ show in Brooklyn, their aggressive live energy brought their punk roots to light, under their vocalist’s moody, melodic vox. Although the band doesn’t have any touring plans at the moment, they seem to play nearly every weekend in Brooklyn at various DIY venues and warehouses — the sorts of shows that are totally worth the Chinatown bus fare. _LI Z PELLY » LPELLY@PHx.cO m
Thephoenix.com/music :: 12.07.12 123
Arts & Nightlife :: music
electroNic
THE fAINT: fUTURISTS LOOK TO THE PAST
OCCASIONALLy SOMEONE wILL fIND the Virgin Mary’s image on a slice of toast, or they’re sure they see grandpa’s face in a patch of clouds. That phenomenon of trying to find meaning in random stimuli is called “pareidolia,” a word that’s also the title of the closing number on 2012’s Unpatterns (Wichita Records), Simian Mobile Disco’s third full-length. While discussing the London duo’s interest in pareidolia, James Ford points to an example on the title track of A Form of Change, a recent EP composed of Unpatterns leftovers. “There’s a bass line that runs throughout the track that is actually not in time with the track,” Ford says. “It’s totally asynchronous, but it’s still a sequence of notes, and it does this interesting thing where your brain sees a pattern and tries to put a rhythm to it, even though there is no rhythm there or it keeps changing.” This marks the latest crafty tongue-in-cheek touch from a group who adore their crafty tongue-in-cheek touches. Back in 2000, Ford met Jas Shaw at Manchester University. Both would become part of electro-rock four-piece Simian. Sometime around 2005, Simian dissolved, with Ford and Shaw regrouping as Simian Mobile Disco — their tongue-in-cheek suffix stemming from British slang for a corny wedding/bar mitzvah DJ. In the years since, the two have repeatedly used glowing electro to combine smarts and humor with tasty dance beats. The most theatrical instance of
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this aesthetic in action is “Audacity of Huge” off 2009’s Temporary Pleasure. As a ridiculous, robotic beat sets the mood, Yeasayer’s Chris Keating steps in as guest vocalist to brag about owning several absurd novelties that could be afforded only by the upper class — “that mother-of-pearl oyster fork,” a “Damien Hirst telephone,” “that grape Kool-Aid-filled swimming pool” — while still bitching about his love life. “Audacity” offers incisive dissection of rich-kid ennui in a context where you’d least expect to find it. Over the years, SMD’s sonics have grown increasingly similar in style and function to old-school arcade games like Pac-Man or Space Invaders. Both those games and SMD squeeze the most out of a minimal palette by championing simple construction and geometric designs. Nowadays, Ford aims for “hopefully less than 10 things” to move and modulate inside any given track. Subtlety and manageability haven’t always been Simian Mobile Disco’s thing, but that’s their focus nowadays. Though Ford sounds uninterested in regularly adding massive crescendos to songs as the group did years ago, the relationship between the music makers, he says, has changed little since starting this. “I don’t think we’re ever going to take over the world and be an absolutely massive band, but we’re happy with where we are.” _R E YAN ALI » REYANALI @hotmAI L.com
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO + JDH + DAVE P :: Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston :: December 11 @ 7 pm :: 18+ :: $20 :: 617.562.8800 or thedise.com
124 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.COM/MuSIC
_BARRY thomPSo N » BARRYthomPSo N84@gm A I L .c om THE FAINT PHOTO BY BILL SITzmANN
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO GET A MOVE ON
Although we are grateful for our lovely modern gizmos, the consequent deluge of culture and information has made it tricky to pinpoint precisely what makes a record “classic.” Perhaps rips of uneasy dance punk laced with pulsing splashes of noir electro such as the Faint’s “Agenda Suicide” and “Let the Poison Spill From Your Throat” helped you forget Linkin Park existed in 2001. If so, the Faint’s reissued and remastered Danse Macabre 10th-anniversary edition may fit your criteria for canonization. However, singer Todd Fink respectfully disagrees. “I’m not a particularly nostalgic person,” he says by phone from Enamel Studio in the band’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. “I’m pretty much living in the present, maybe dreaming of the future. But I don’t fuck around with the past much.” While the nine tracks off Danse have been plugged into a set list slated to liquefy the Paradise Saturday, any band capable of getting comfortable thE FAINt leaning on nostalgia + IcKY never would’ve BLoSSomS recorded the + tRUSt Faint’s breed Paradise Rock of damaged Club, 967 Comm future-pop in Ave, Boston the first place. December 8 @ Whereas innu7 pm merable other bands grow 18+ :: $22 complacent 617.562.8800 or over time, thedise.com Fink — after nearly 20 years — is still rethinking what th Faint should sound like. “I DJ’d a lot and listened to other music really loud, which is why I like electronic music,” he says. “One way that influenced us is we learned to have a little more of a minimalistic approach. Now we’re seeing how far we can take that. We’ll probably take it too far before we find a middle ground.”
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Arts & Nightlife :: BostoN AcceNts
cellArs By stArlight
Playlist FEw THINGS THAT HAPPEN SO frequently are as revered as nightfall. While the majority of society embraces the fresh start afforded with the arrival of a peaceful morning, for some, dawn represents a closing chapter in a nightly episode that plays out like a vampiric Groundhog Day. Glenn di Benedetto, the flaskswigging crooner of dusky glam-rock troupe Parlour Bells, understands the concept of coming alive just as the sun fades. The Bells’ new EP, Thank God for the Night, is less a love letter to nightlife and more a police blotter of the messy arc experienced with each foray towards midnight, from the ambition and intrigue you feel while getting your hair did, to the climax of passing out somewhere piss-drunk, alone or not-alone. It’s a bedtime story for adults who never go to bed. “The best things happen at night; all my ideas come to me at night, all my mistakes happen at night, and I feel like people look their best at night,” di Benedetto explains, sipping a martini at Eastern Standard and dressed for this Monday meet-up like it was Saturday. “There are always two aspects: there’s the preparation, the style, getting dressed up. And that’s all to get fucked up and destroy what you’ve created. Isn’t that what night’s all about? You put on a suit, but you already know where it’s going if all goes well — it’s ending up on the floor.” In late 2010 Parlour Bells released Heart Beatings, a
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collection of songs written by di Benedetto and guitarist and longtime collaborator Nate Leavitt that reinforced the duo’s glitzy, noir-pop sound. But it was also written entirely before the Bells would first perform live. All of the songs on Thank God for the Night — from the sinister, burglar chimes of “You Don’t Wear That Dress, The Dress Wears You” to the synth-lounge yearning of “Bachelor Hours” — were fleshed out on stages across Boston before being crystallized in the studio. The result is a more grandiose sound, which includes a guest sax appearance by Morphine’s Dana Colley on “Dress,” rounded out by a live band with bassist Brendan Boogie and keyboardist Magen Tracy. The record, while released digitally, also comes with a detailed storybook depicting the band becoming increasingly disheveled and rolling on crescent-moon-shaped pills. The visual fits the sound, a mix of Hunky Dory-era Bowie and the second half of Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual Do Lo Habitual (the band once earned the approval of Dave Navarro for their cover of Jane’s’ “Classic Girl”). There’s a theatrical element to it all, but it’s still appropriate for the lounge. “As much as I’m into minimalist sounds, I grew up on ’90s bombast,” di Benedetto admits. “I’m intrigued by something that’s a little ugly, as long as it’s pushing the boundaries.” _MICH AE L MAROTTA » MI CHAEL@pHx.COM
PARLOUR BELLS + GENTLEMEN HALL + OLDJACK + MELLOW BRAVO :: The Sinclair, 52 Church St, Cambridge :: December 15 @ 8 pm :: 18+ :: $15 doors :: 617.451.7700 or sinclaircambridge.com
126 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENix.COM/MUSiC
»
GRAB THE MIx AT THEPHOENIx.COM/ ONTHEDOwNLOAD.
• The Milling Gowns “Zenith” [12.07 @ Radio] • The Fatal Flaw “You Need To Know” [12.14 @ Radio] • The Shills “Object Through Object” [12.08 @ Great Scott] • The Vital Might “Once” [12.08 @ Radio] _MI CHAEL MAROTTA
PhoTo BY DEREK KouYoumJiaN
PARLOUR BELLS’ MOONLIGHT DANCE
Guitars roar mighty in this week’s playlist, kicking off with a slow rumble from the prowling postpunk sounds of the MILLING GOWNS, whose “Zenith” is our black-clad selection off their new EP, Something Dangerous Loves Me. But from the depths of gloom comes positivity in “You Need To Know” by the FATAL FLAW, a power-pop love letter written by Joel Reader to his wife as she successfully battled cancer earlier this year (pay attention to the lyrics). From there we have a relentless track by rock-and-roll-veterans the SHILLS, and we close with a sweeping track from the VITAL MIGHT, who release their Eclipse record this weekend.
Arts & Nightlife :: Music
ALbuM REvIEwS
Mo want re re alb Che v i ew u M C reC k out s? en m at t t rele ore he as Co m P h o e n e s ix /m u siC .
+++ MEMORY TAPES, GRACE/CONFUSION
Carpark Records » It was a mad bummer when Philly’s synthinfused post-punk outfit Hail Social quietly called it a day a half-decade ago after just two inspired releases. Thankfully the group’s driving force, Dayve Hawk, headed back to South Jersey and kept at it as Memory Tapes. Now three releases in, he continues to push the boundaries into a hazy shade of pop; the eight-minute “Sheila” stresses this by buzzing about with delightful knob twisting anchored by Hawk’s electro-falsetto. “Neighborhood Watch” calls to mind early Ratatat, whereas “Thru the Field” bounces in a way that’s almost too New Order-y for its own good. Listlessness creeps in at times, but Hawk is generally good at keeping things moving, either with a catchy verse or by upping the BPM. The disc’s six tracks clock in at less than 40 minutes, so there isn’t really time to screw things up on a royal scale, making Grace/ Confusion a fine listen. _MI CHAEL CHRI STOPHER
+++ CHRIS WEISMAN, MAYA PROPERTIES
++ MOGWAI, A WRENCHED VIRILE LORE
Sub Pop » If you’re like me, your hard drive is littered with random remix albums, and you have little to no clue how they got there. The remix album is to music what the DVD commentary is to film — both seem fun at first, but they’re ultimately exhausting. We go through the motions once out of obligation, and we rarely emerge enlightened. And so it goes with Mogwai’s A Wrenched Virile Lore: a broad range of electro producers, ambient knob-twiddlers, and singer-songwriters re-assemble the Scottish post-rock champs’ most recent studio album, the excellent Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, mostly with shitty bonus-feature-styled results. Klad Hest gets major points for naming his “Rano Pano” remix “Mogwai Is My Dick,” but the track itself adds up to little more than sterile 8-bit Nintendo synth buzz and frenetic drum loops. Xander Harris’s dead-end version of “How To Be a Werewolf” never even feigns urgency, milking a two-note bass loop over faded synth fuzz and corny programmed cymbals for what feels like a merciless eternity. Meanwhile, Cylob removes the busy orchestral grandeur of “White Noise” but amplifies the original’s core melody with a sleepy vocoder — a promising start that ultimately derails into remix-y repetition. Sandwiched between are three breathtaking moments of clarity: extreme-metal heavyweight Justin K. Broadrick “re-shapes” “George Square Thatcher Death Party” into a dreamy synth-pop vocoder lullaby; Robert Hampson’s 13-minute “La Mort Blanche” is, weirdly enough, the most economical track here, blending artful, Eno-styled ambience with a bass-driven dream-pop coda. And wait — what’s this? A remix with an original thought? RM Hubbert’s “Mexican Grand Prix” supplants Mogwai’s electronic kraut-rock propulsion with organic intimacy via spiraling classical guitar chords. Still, all in all, Virile Lore feels more “deleted scene” than “director’s cut.” _RYAN RE E D
Staff SpinS
What we’re listening to
T.I. “Sorry (Featuring Andre 3000)” [Atlantic Records] Four verses. That’s the entire 2012 recorded output of erstwhile ATLien and dapper Gillette spokesperson André 3000. Yet, he’s taken full advantage of those spots, further cementing his legacy as the dude you can call on when you need an injection of insta-integrity. Here, he assists T.I. on his first worthwhile bout of conscious rap since 2008’s “Dead and Gone.” _MICH AE L C. wALS H
OSR Tapes » Chris Weisman is surprisingly focused for someone so intrinsically weird. For proof, see his most recent output via Brattleboro’s OSR Tapes: an 88-track album released via YouTube. For years, Weisman has beamed over beautifully minimal tunes from his tiny community of psychedelic songwriters and tripped-out folkies. Here, in 11 video segments, Weisman floats between moments of minimal psych-folk croons over finger-picked guitar, and more experimental oddities. Part 1 is all warm melodies, including an ode to his favorite musical note (“high e”) and a defense of tradition (“don’t blame music theory”), whereas Part 2 is essentially eight tracks of synthesizer soliloquies. By Part 3, Weisman returns to reveal his knack for making complex guitar work and involved self-harmonizing sound super simple. The entire collection reveals a startling, prolific avant-garde songwriter; it’s simultaneously strange and beautiful that he’s stayed off the grid so long. _LI Z PELLY
M. REVERDY RHODES “Martyr in the Meadow” [SelfRelease] Splitting his time between Boston’s Sand Reckoner and Philadelphia’s Asteroid #4, M. Reverdy Rhodes last week released his solo Azaleas & Blackberries, a delirious 14-track collection that mixes spoken word poetry, Hammond organs, acoustic guitars, and desert-road psychedelic, as on standout groove track “Martyr in the Meadow.” _MI CHAEL MAROTTA Thephoenix.com/music :: 12.07.12 127
arts & nightlife :: music THURSDAY 6
thursday 6
AND THE KIDS + BELLE AMIES › 10 pm › Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, Northampton › $8-$10 › 413.586.8686 or iheg.com/iron_horse_main.asp ART DECADE + BENT KNEE + PERHAPS + SOMETHING ABOUT HORSES › 8 pm › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864. EAST or ticketweb.com “AUTHENTIC SHOWCASE HOSTED BY MARK MERREN” › 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $10 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com BLESS THE FALL + A SKYLIT DRIVE + AT THE SKYLINES + SKIP THE
R E S TA U R A N T & M U S I C C L U B
43 Years Of Great Music Thursday, dec 6 PoP / surf / rock
el vez
Merry MeX-Mas Tour Beware The dangers of a ghosT scorPion friday, dec 7: Bill BluMenreich PresenTs
doors guiTarisT roBBy krieger’s Jazz kiTchen feaT. MeMBers of frank zaPPa’s Band saTurday, dec 8 workMen’s circle hanukkah ParTy
Michael winograd klezMer enseMBle
sunday, dec 9 Jazz Brunch 8:30 aM - 2:30 PM oPen Blues JaM 4:00PM - 7:00 PM Monday, dec 10 TeaM Trivia -8:30 PM $1.50 hoT dogs 6 - 10 PM Tuesday, dec 11 an alT-counTry Musical Play
Bad girls uPseT By The TruTh Joe Turner & The seven levels wednesday, dec 12 an alT-counTry Musical Play
Bad girls uPseT By The TruTh Baker ThoMas & friends Thursday, dec13 BenefiT
BosTon X-Mas cavalcade for The hoMeless
w/chandler Travis, Jenny dee, Barrence whiTfield & Many More friday, dec 14 (7:30PM) alT-folk / aMericana
vandaveer
PaTrick coMan & The lo-fi angels (10PM) an aMericana chrisTMas feaT MeMBers of highway ghosTs, coyoTe kolB Brian carroll Band & More saTurday, dec 15
(5PM) sTudenT showcase
Jesse williaMs & his sTudenTs
Debo Band play Brighton Music Hall. FOREPLAY › 6 pm › Palladium Upstairs, 261 Main St, Worcester › $16-$19 › 978.797.9696 or tickets.com/venue_info. cgi?vid=3802 BOBBY KEYES › 9 pm › Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or beehiveboston.com “BRENDAN BOOGIE’S ROCK AND ROLL RADIO REVUE” › Brendan Boogie and the Broken Gates + Naked on Roller Skates + The Phil Aiken Army › Radio Upstairs, 379 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.764.0005 or radiobarunion.com THE BUSINESS + CONTINENTAL + DAN WEBB & THE SPIDERS › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $15 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com CONOR OBERST + WILLY MASON › 8 pm › Tremont Temple Baptist Church, 88 Tremont Street, Boston › $32-$35 › 617.523.7320 or tremontemple.org DEBO BAND + CALLERS › 9 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $15-$18 › 617.779.0140 or ticketmaster.com DIANA KARTHAS › 7 pm › Midway Café, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com EARTHSTOMPER › 1 pm › Café 939, 939 Boylston St, Boston › Free ›
617.747.6038 or ticketmaster.com/ ELAN ASCH › 10 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 EL VEZ + BEWARE THE DANGERS OF A GHOST SCORPION › 8:30 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $17 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com GRAHAM PARKER & THE ORIGINAL RUMOUR › 7:30 pm › Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St, Boston › $39.50-$49.50 › 617.248.9700 or ticketmaster.com JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT + COMMUNIST DAUGHTER › 7 pm › The Sinclair, 52 Church St, Cambridge › $15-$18 › 617.451.7700 or ticketmaster.com JOY KILLS SORROW › 7 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $15 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com “KISS 108 JINGLE BALL” › With Justin Bieber + Karmin + Train + Ed Sheeran + The Wanted › 6 pm › TD Garden, 100 Legends Way, Boston › $25-$200 › 617.931.2000 or ticketmaster.com “LADIES COVER BAND NIGHT” › With Christie Prince + Ana Karina Da Costa + Tanya Darling › Precinct, 70 Union Sq, Somerville › 617.623.9211 or precinctbar.com LEFT HAND DOES + BABY MADE REBEL + TOTAL PROS › 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › $7 › 617.782.6245 or
obrienspubboston.com MELISSA KASSEL + PHIL GRENADIER + JOSH ROSEN + BOB NIESKE + BROOKE SOFFERMAN › 7 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 MELVERN TAYLOR & HIS FABULOUS MELTONES › 7:30 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com “MOSTLY MERCER” › With Bobbi Carrey & Will McMillan › 8 pm › Scullers, 400 Soldiers Field Rd, Cambridge › $22 › 617.783.0090 or scullersjazz.com NAPPY ROOTS + LOWTONE SOCIETY + RUMORZ + DEVINE FERREIRA + E CITY + MIGHTY CEEJ + HIZZ PANIK › 8 pm › Middle East Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $15; $12 advance › 617.864. EAST or ticketweb.com NEW FOUND GLORY + THE STORY SO FAR + CANDY HEARTS › 7 pm › Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston › SOLD OUT › 617.562.8800 or ticketmaster.com OLD HAT › 10:30 pm › Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.576.0032 or ploughandstars.com PASSENGER + KATE EARL › 8 pm › Café 939, 939 Boylston St, Boston › $10 › 617.747.6038 or ticketmaster.com
local rock 9PM
skyfooT, Melodeego luXdeluXe
coMing soon: 12/16 erin harPe MeMPhis fundraiser 12/19 dan Bern 12/21 (7:30PM) eiTher/orch. (9:30PM) randi’s Bday/holiday Bash 12/27 Peach eaTers / delTa generaTors 12/28 Power of love 12/31 BooTy vorTeX 1/4 aMy Black 1/5 luTher guiTar Junior Johnson 1/13 freakwaTer
www.johnnyds.com Info: 617-776-2004 concert LIne: 617-776-9667 johnny d’s 17 hoLLand st davIs square somervILLe. ma 02144 128 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs
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THE SACRED SHAKERS › noon › Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.547.0759 or lizardloungeclub.com “SINGERS SHOWCASE: WHITNEY HOUSTON TRIBUTE” › 8:15 pm › Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston › 617.266.7455 SPRING HILL ROUNDERS › 7:30 pm › Sally O’Brien’s, 335 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.666.3589 TAB THE BAND + DAN & THE WILDFIRE + BRENDAN RIVERA › 8:30 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com TIM BROWN + TESS JOHNSON + SEAN MORCEAU + BRIAN CHENARD › P.A.’s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.776.1557
FRIDAY 7
ANDREW MITCHELL + SETH COLUZZI + GABRIELA CARILLO + MARIKO + AMERICAN SYMPHONY OF SOUL + DJ KNIFE › 6 pm › All Asia,
334 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.1544 or allasiabar.com CARBON LEAF › 9 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $18-$20 › 617.779.0140 or ticketmaster.com CASPIAN + MOVING MOUNTAINS + O’BROTHER › 7 pm › The Sinclair, 52 Church St, Cambridge › $13-$15 › 617.451.7700 or ticketmaster.com CHARLES HAYNES AND FRIENDS › 10 pm › Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or beehiveboston.com CONGRESS + OLD ENGLISH + THE POST NOBLES + MATT FULLER › P.A.’s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.776.1557 DAVID RUFFIN + ZACH KERZEE + ANDREW PORTER › 9 pm › Cantab Lounge Downstairs, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $8 › 617.354.2685 or cantablounge.com DIRTY BLONDE › Fri-Sat Fri-Sat 9 pm › Cantab Lounge, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.354.2685 or cantablounge.com
DR. FAMEUS + HIGHER ORGANIX + LOUIS DELUXE › 9:30 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › $12-$15 › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com FALLING ROCK ZONE + RED DEVIL RESISTANCE + BLUEPRINT FOR A RIOT + PATCH OF GRASS + ANDREW O’KEEFFE › Precinct, 70 Union Sq, Somerville › 617.623.9211 or precinctbar.com “FLAM! PAN-ASIAN MICROJAM FOR J DILLA AND OLIVIER MESSIAEN” › 8:15 pm › Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston › 617.266.7455 FLOCK OF A-HOLES › 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $10 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com GUERRILLA TOSS + NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS IN HEAT › Radio Downstairs, 379 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.764.0005 or radiobarunion.com THE HANDYMEN › 10:30 pm › Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge ›
Le Couturier House of Alterations Awa r d W i n n i n g A l t e r a t i o n s fo r the best prices. Previously Contracted for Gucci, Zegna, Ralph Lauren and more.
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5 5 0 M a s s Ave 2 n d F l o o r C a m b r i d ge , M A 0 2 1 3 9 6 1 7 . 4 9 7 .1 2 5 8
>> live music on p 129
thursday 6
Friday, December 14
Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket
with special guest .
gnarlemagne
“Big Ol' Dirty Bucket is a nasty, sweaty, funky experience all its own.” —Danny BeDrosian - Parliament FunkaDelic
9:00pm / $7 aDV 284 amory st, $10 Door / 21+ Jamaica Plain For our complete entertainment calendar or to make reservations visit milkyWayJP.com
Bobbie Carrey and Will McMillan sing the songs of Johnny Mercer at Scullers. Give the Gift of Relaxation this holiday season. Gift Certificates available online and in person.
Soak it up...
Find us on Facebook and Twitter for all the details.
243 Hampshire Street Cambridge | 617-491-0176
www.inmanoasis.com
THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs :: 12.07.12 129
arts & nightlife :: music
Lupo’s
79 Washington st, providence complete schedule at
<< live music from p 129
lupos.com
Friday, January 18
get the Led out
SATURDAY 8
saturday, January 19
MARTIN SEXTON
Friday, January 25
citizen cope the Met - saturday, dec. 29
the Neighborhoods tickets at LUPOs.cOM, F.Y.e. stORes & LUPO’s
out s s i m nly on’t
D
ws o
4 sho
Saturday dec. 1 • 5pm – 2 am paint, pens & purses followed by
Fever
dJs: Flavorheard, Frank White, J-Zonedisco, Funk, Latin Soul, Hip Hop, reggae | $5
Wednesday dec. 5 • 9pm – 1 am
Pay It Forward
dJs: daz-One performing: Jplovesit, mel monae, Jtronius, Bezzy Banks, cha$e money, Live Hip Hop, rnB, Spoken Word
Thursday dec. 6 • 10 pm – 2 am
PvrPLe XMvS
3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.576.0032 or ploughandstars.com 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com “HOW THE PATHETICS STOLE TODO BIEN › 9 pm › Sally O’Brien’s, CHRISTMAS” › With The Pathetics + 335 Somerville Ave, Somerville › $5 › The Raw › 9 pm › Ralph’s Diner, 148 Grove 617.666.3589 St, Worcester › 508.753.9543 or myspace. TWINS OF EL DORADO + ALLAN com/ralphsdiner CHASE QUARTET › 7 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 IN LIKE LIONS + DJ SKITZ › 10 pm › Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 Tommy Doyle’s at Harvard, 96 Winthrop St, Cambridge › $5 › 617.864.0655 or tommydoyles.com JAMIE KENT & THE OPTIONS + AFRO D ALL-STARZ + DJ SPECIAL BRAD BYRD + BOY WONDER › 9:15 pm K › 10 pm › Tommy Doyle’s at Harvard, 96 › Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge Winthrop St, Cambridge › $5 › 617.864.0655 › 617.547.0759 or lizardloungeclub.com or tommydoyles.com JOHNNY BARNES & THE AKASHIC RECORD › 10 pm › Beehive, NIGHTCRAWLERS › 9 pm › Smoken’ 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › beehiveboston.com $5 › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com ASKING ALEXANDRIA + AS I LAY THE JORGE PEREZ-ALBELA TRIO DYING + SUICIDE SILENCE + › 10 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, MEMPHIS MAY FIRE + ATTILA › 5 Cambridge › 617.497.0823 pm › Palladium, 261 Main St, Worcester › THE MILLING GOWNS › Radio $27.50-$30 › 978.797.9696 Upstairs, 379 Somerville Ave, Somerville › AUGUST WATTERS + JOSE 617.764.0005 or radiobarunion.com LEZCANO › 7:30 pm › Loring-Greenough PEARL & THE BEARD + LUCIUS House, 12 South St, Jamaica Plain › $10+ YOU WON’T › 9 pm › Middle East $15 › 617.524.3158 Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge › THE BARLEY HOPPERSP + THE $12 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com FEARLESS LEADERS + EASY EDS RED LINE REBELS + MOB HIT + RECORD HOP › 8 pm › Midway Café, GIVE UP! + SPECTRE HAWK › 8 pm 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › $7 › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com 617.782.6245 or obrienspubboston.com BUCKET OF FUN + HEY ANNA + RICHARD JAMES AND THE NAME TOM RODGER › 10 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 CHANGERS + THE BIG SWAY › 10 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 pm › Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, CATIE CURTIS + ANTJE DUVEKOT › Northampton › $8-$10 › 413.586.8686 or 7 pm › Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, iheg.com/iron_horse_main.asp Northampton › $20-$23 › 413.586.8686 or “ROBBY KRIEGER’S JAZZ KITCHEN” iheg.com/iron_horse_main.asp › With Tommy Mars + Arthur Barrow + DEAD CATS DEAD RATS + ZIPLarry Kilmas + Tom Brechtlein › 7:30 pm › TIE HANDCUFFS + AMOROSO + Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $26 › ASK THE DEAD › 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com Harvard Ave, Allston › $7 › 617.782.6245 or SISTER HAZEL + BREAKING MY obrienspubboston.com LACES + SILENT BRAVERY › 9 pm › ELEPHANT STONE + AIR TRAFFIC Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston › CONTROLLER + GUILLERMO SEXO › $20-$25 › 617.562.8800 or ticketmaster.com 6:15 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline SONATA ARCTICA + ARSIS › 7 pm › St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.492.2327 or Palladium, 261 Main St, Worcester › $22-$25 ticketweb.com › 978.797.9696 THE VENETIA FAIR + RUN GAZELLE STAN MARTIN › 6 pm › Sally O’Brien’s, 335 RUN + TALLER IN PERSON + GREAT Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.666.3589 CAESAR › 7:30 pm › Middle East ST. LUCIA + GOLD FIELDS › 8 pm › Middle Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $13 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com THE FAINT + TRUST + ICKY SUPER HI FI › 10 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, BLOSSOMS › 8 pm › Paradise Rock Club, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com 967 Comm Ave, Boston › $22 › 617.562.8800 “THE APE WOMAN: A ROCK OPERA” or ticketmaster.com › With May V. Oskan › 8 pm › Club Passim, A FOGGY NOTION + JBLENTIS + 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $13-$15 › THE GHOST TRUCKERS + CAPITAL 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com 6 + RUN 8 RIDER › 8 pm › Cantab Lounge “THE WEISSTRONAUTS’ 14TH Downstairs, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $8 ANNUAL HOLIDAY JUBILEE!” › › 617.354.2685 or cantab-lounge.com With The Derangers + Tsunami of Sound GIANT PANDA GUERILLA DUB + Preacher Jack › 8 pm › Midway Café, SQUAD + VAN12:48 GORDON SalemWitchMuseum.Phoenix_Layout 1 9/11/12 PM MARTIN Page 1
Charles’ Dickens’
A ChristmAs CArol
dJs: Skinny Friedman, LiL texaS, yvng amen, amadeezy, 7L & Knife, Based, Swag, crunk, trap, trill, Hip Hop, reggae & party Jamz
Friday dec. 7 • 9:30 pm – 2 am
BaSSIC vS. the thICkneSS!
dJs: evaredy (upstairs), untold (uK), daninallston, c dubs Hip Hop & party Jamz (upstairs), dubstep, Bass & Future Bass (downstairs) $5 before 11 pm, $10 after
DeCember 13th through DeCember 16th
Start with...
Salem’s Most Visited Museum
Chevalier Theatre, Medford, MA Chevaliertheatre.Com On Historic Salem Common • Open Year Round
19 1/2 Washington Square North • Salem, Massachusetts 01970
Shop at our museum store onsite & online!
978.744.1692 • salemwitchmuseum.com
Translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin.
130 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs
friday 7
Caspian play the Sinclair with Moving Mountains and O’Brother. BAND + MARIS & THE MERRY ROCKERS › 9 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $15-$17 › 617.779.0140 or ticketmaster.com THE SHILLS + SHONEY LAMAR & THE EQUAL RIGHTS + STEREO TELESCOPE + THE BRIDGEBUILDERS › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $10 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com JODY BLACKWELL + ERINN BROWN › 9 pm › Sally O’Brien’s, 335 Somerville Ave, Somerville › $5 › 617.666.3589 JOE MARSON + KIIRSTIN MARILYN + JUNTA + DJ ANDREW HARRIS › 6 pm › All Asia, 334 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.1544 or allasiabar.com JOHN POWHIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT › 7:30 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com JOSH LEDERMAN & CSARS › 4 pm › Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.576.0032 or ploughandstars.com “JUICEBOX BIRTHDAY JAMBOREE” › With Taxi Driver + The Radicals + The Old Edison + The Pity Whores + Amber Ladd › 4 pm › Midway Café, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com LAST STAND + THE UNSTABLERS + THE HIRED MEN + CEREBRAL BALLSY › Radio Downstairs, 379
Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.764.0005 or radiobarunion.com LOVE DOGS › West Cambridge Youth Center, 680 Huron Ave., Cambridge MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS + ICONA POP › 7 pm › House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston › $22.50-$25 › 888.693.2583 MAX CREEK › 8 pm › Hard Rock Café, 22-24 Clinton St, Boston › $15 › 617.424.7625 or hardrock.com/boston MICHAEL WINOGRAD ENSEMBLE › 7 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com “MUSIC VS. CANCER FUNDRAISER” › With Christian McNeill and Sea Monsters + Dub Apocalypse + B3 Kings › Precinct, 70 Union Sq, Somerville › 617.623.9211 or precinctbar.com PATRICK WATSON › 7:30 pm › The Sinclair, 52 Church St, Cambridge › $15$17 › 617.451.7700 or ticketmaster.com PO BOYZ HAMMOND B-3 ORGAN TRIO › Middle East Corner, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $5 › 617.864.3278 or ticketweb.com RENAISSONICS › 3:30 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $13-$15 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com REVEREND PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND + ROSCO BANDANA › 8 pm › Café 939, 939 Boylston St, Boston › $15 › 617.747.6038 or ticketmaster.com
Supporting local artists and dreamers before they were cool.
SOUL CITY › 9 pm › Ryles, 212 Hampshire St, Cambridge › $10 › 617.876.9330 or rylesjazz.com SPARKS THE RESCUE › 1 pm › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10-$20 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com SPITTING VINNIES › Burren, 247 Elm St, Somerville › 617.776.6896 or burren.com THUD STREET › 8 pm › Lowell Lecture Hall at Harvard University, 17 Kirkland St, Cambridge › $5-$7 › 617.496.4595 or fas. harvard.edu/~memhall/lowell.html TOM FLASH & THE LIGHTNING BAND + THE OFF CHANCE + THE BROTHER FOX + TRISTAN OMAND › P.A.’s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.776.1557 TRACY GRAMMER + HEATHER MALONEY › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $18-$20 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com TURKUAZ + BISCUITS & GRAVY › 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $10-$12 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com THE VITAL MIGHT › Radio Upstairs, 379 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.764.0005 or radiobarunion.com YONI GORDON AND HIS BIG BAND › 9 pm › Ralph’s Diner, 148 Grove St, Worcester › 508.753.9543 ZOZOBRA + ELDER + PHANTOM GLUE + 13 BILLION YEARS › Middle
>> live music on p 132
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THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs :: 12.07.12 131
arts & nightlife :: music << live music from p 131
East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com
SUNDAY 9
ARI HEST + NATHAN REICH › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $18-$20 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com ARROWS OVER ATHENS + AMERICAN VERSE › 8 pm › Midway Café, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com ASSAF KEHATI TRIO + EHUD ETTUN QUARTET › 6 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 BAND OF HORSES + JASON LYTLE › 8 pm › House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston › SOLD OUT › 888.693.2583 THE BORED OF HEALTH › 9 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com BROOKLINE DRIVE + DEAR ZIM + ME VS. GRAVITY + VOTED MOST RANDOM + THE CONTROL › 1 pm › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $12-$20 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com CARA + TRAVELING TROUBADOUR SHOWCASE + CONNOR GARVEY › 8 pm › Burren, 247 Elm St, Somerville › 617.776.6896 or burren.com DAVE MATTHEWS BAND + JIMMY CLIFF › 7 pm › TD Garden, 100 Legends Way, Boston › $75-$85 › 617.931.2000 or ticketmaster.com JAMES MASSONE + JILLIAN JENSON + COREY WIRE + ITEM 9 › 7:30 pm › Hard Rock Café, 22-24 Clinton St, Boston › $10 › 617.424.7625 or
\] A HOLIDAY TRADITION RETURNS! ]\ JAZZ CLUB . HARVARD SQUARE THE CHARLES HOTEL
hardrock.com/boston JAPANDROIDS + DIIV › 7:30 pm › Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston › SOLD OUT › 617.562.8800 or ticketmaster.com JOHN DECARLO & COMPANY › 8 pm › Sally O’Brien’s, 335 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.666.3589 THE NATURAL WONDERS › 5 pm › Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.576.0032 or ploughandstars.com OPPOSITION RISING + REASON TO FIGHT + DRUG SHOCK + WAR OF WORDS + TRESOR › 4 pm › Midway Café, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com PERSONAL FINANCE + WATER CHILD + CON TEX › 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › $6 › 617.782.6245 or obrienspubboston.com “POP VS. NOT BATTLE FOR GK FEST FINALS” › noon › Middle East Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $12-$15 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com RIPE + MIRANDA INZUNZA + ROYALE + BRITTANY NICOLE › 8:30 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › $8 › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com SARAH FARD › 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $7 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com “SHIRIM - KLEZMER NUTCRACKER” › 4:30 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $13-$15 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com SIDE O RANCH + MICHA GOOLSBY › 9 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 THE SWEETBACK SISTERS + TWANGBUSTERS › 7 pm › Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, Northampton › $12.50-$15 › 413.586.8686 or iheg.com/ iron_horse_main.asp “THE ROCKING HOLIDAY BATTLE OF THE BANDS” › With The Racket + Secrets Within + Dreamer The Band + Electric Haven + Order 66 + The Natural Disasters + Seipentarius › 7 pm › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com
®
MONDAY 10
ANDY GRAMMER + GAVIN DEGRAW + TRISTAN PRETTYMAN + SAM JAMES
[FROM THE VOICE] › 7 pm › Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St, Worcester › $35-$55 › 508.752.5608 or mechanicshall.org BILL MCQUAID › 9:30 pm › Cantab Lounge, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.354.2685 or cantab-lounge.com IRON HARVEST › 10:30 pm › Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.576.0032 or ploughandstars.com JERRY BERGONZI GROUP + THE FRINGE › 8 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 SERA CAHOONE + RAYLAND BAXTER › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $10 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com SEREN + BOARCORPSE + DEADFALL + ORNAMENTALITY + UNREST IN TRANSIT › 7 pm › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com TRIPLE THICK + BLACK HELICOPTER + YOU PEOPLE › 8 pm › Charlies Kitchen, 10 Eliot St., Cambridge › $5 › 617.492.9646 or charlieskitchen.com “T.T. THE BEARS HOLIDAY PARTY” › 7 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › Free › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com
TUESDAY 11
“BAD GIRL UPSET BY THE TRUTH” › With Ad Frank + Lisa McColgan › 8 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $12 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com “BERKLEE-IN-THE-ROUND TUESDAY” › With Stan Swiniarski + Allie Brill + Cooper Kaminsky, Jake Ohlbaum + Hannah › 7 pm › Café 939, 939 Boylston St, Boston › Free › 617.747.6038 or ticketmaster.com/ CHARLENE KAYE + JAY STOLAR + ALEXZ JOHNSON › postponed from 10/29; all tickets honored › 7 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $12 › 617.779.0140 or ticketmaster.com CHUCK MCDERMOTT + GLENN SHAMBROOM + SANDY MARTIN & KATHY BURKLY + EDDIE SCHEER’S TUESDAY NIGHT ALL- STARS › 7:30 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com
sunday 9 Dec 21 . 7:30PM PAUL BYROM’S CHRISTMAS
Dec 31 . 9:30PM NYE with DWIGHT & NICOLE
TICKETS:
617.496.2222 OR REVELS.ORG Jan 11 - 12 . 7:30 & 10PM BILL CHARLAP www.regattabarjazz.com or call 617.395.7757 @TheRegattabar
132 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs
Japandroids play the Paradise with DIIV.
PHX PICKS >> CAN’T MISS • “Mostly Mercer” If you want to get to the heart of the venerable Great American Songbook, you can have no better guides than longtime Boston 6 cabaret singers Bobbi Carrey and Will McMillan. Tonight the duo get deep into one of America’s greatest hit-making songwriters, singers, and record execs (cofounder of Capitol Records), Johnny Mercer. Mercer collaborated with everyone from Harold Arlen and Hoagy Carmichael to Henry Mancini and Duke Ellington (“Satin Doll,” “That Old Black Magic,” “Skylark,” and about 1500 others). Scullers, DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel, 400 Soldiers Field Road, Boston :: 8 pm : $22, $64 with dinner :: 617.562.4111 or scullersjazz.com THU
• cAsPIAN One of the best shows of 2012 was Caspian’s secret gig at T.T. the Bear’s, where the Beverly post-rock ensemble treated fans who showed up 7 for a listening party with a full-on live performance. But the bigger the room, the greater the new record sounds, and the Sinclair is a perfect spot to hear Waking Season’s lush, inviting soundscapes come to life. The Sinclair, 52 Church St, Cambridge :: 7 pm :: $15, $13 advance :: boweryboston.com FRI
• MArINA & tHe DIAMoNDs This year’s Electra Heart may not have had the seismic pop shove of 2010’s The Family Jewels, but Marina Diamandis is still the queen of our achy electro-pop heart. The “Primadonna” girl seems like she still has something to prove, and will be pushed to the dance-floor limit by supporting duo Icona Pop, who owned the summer with the throbbing anthem “I Love It.” House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston :: 8 pm :: $22.50–$35 :: livenation.com SAT
8
• JAPANDroIDs + DIIV Hold up on those Best Shows of 2012 lists just yet, as two modern rock juggernauts, Vancouver’s Japandroids and Brooklyn’s 9 DIIV — responsible for two of the best records of the year in Celebration Rock and Oshin, respectively — come together to destroy the ’Dise in good vibes and solid tunes. A must-attend show. Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston :: 6:30 pm :: SOLD OUT :: stubhub.com SUN
• tHe FloAtING HeADs + cAt soUNDs We’ve 12 been all about the purrfect soul of Cat Sounds lately, the new project featuring Mary Flatley of Mount Peru, but tonight finds her on a bill reunited with former Sun Lee Sunbeam bandmate Jessica Sun Lee. Lee is debuting her new project, Floating Heads, a fuzzed-out electro-pop outfit with similar DNA to Goldfrapp. The walls of the Plough will be vibrating. Plough & Stars, 921 Mass Ave, Cambridge :: 10:30 pm :: Call for ticket info :: 617.576.0032 or ploughandstars.com WED
DESIGNER + COWBOY BAND + BUBBLY MOMMY GUN + RONNIE NORDAC › 8 pm › Midway Café, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain › 617.524.9038 or midwaycafe.com EVERY AVENUE + SET IT OFF + CONDITIONS + CAR PARTY › 6 pm › The Sinclair, 52 Church St, Cambridge › $13-$15 › 617.451.7700 or ticketmaster.com THE HEYGOODS › 7:30 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com SHORT LIFE OF TROUBLE + DIXIE BUTTERHOUNDS › 8:30 pm › Cantab Lounge, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.354.2685 or cantab-lounge.com SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO + JDH &
DAVE P › 8 pm › Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston › $20-$22 › 617.562.8800 or ticketmaster.com THE STONE FOXES + MOJO KICK + LIGHT BRIGHT + THE BOYLSTON COLLECTIVE › 7:30 pm › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10$12 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com “SWEETBACK SISTERS COUNTRY CHRISTMAS SING-ALONG” › 8 pm › Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge › $13-$15 › 617.492.7679 or clubpassim.com TRISTAN OMAND + KIER BYRNES + SUSAN CATTANEO › 9:30 pm › Tommy Doyle’s at Harvard, 96 Winthrop St, Cambridge › 617.864.0655 or tommydoyles. com
WEDNESDAY 12
› Café 939, 939 Boylston St, Boston › Free › 617.747.6038 or ticketmaster.com
AABARAKI › 8 pm › Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston › 617.423.0069 or beehiveboston.com AWOLNATION + YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE › 8 pm › House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston › $20-$30 › 888.693.2583 “BAD GIRL UPSET BY THE TRUTH” › With Ad Frank + Lisa McColgan › 8 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $12 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com BAKER THOMAS BAND › 10 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com BIG DIGITS + CX KIDTRONIX + ICONACLASS + MAMMOX + MISS L-BO + DJ EMOH BETTA › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $10 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com BRUCE BEARS + EDDIE SCHEER + ALIZON LISSANCE › 7:30 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com CONCRETE BLONDE › 7 pm › The Sinclair, 52 Church St, Cambridge › $30$32 › 617.451.7700 or ticketmaster.com THE DANK TOPS › 9 pm › Cantab Lounge, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.354.2685 or cantab-lounge.com THE DENNIS BRENNAN BAND + THE DWELLS › 9 pm › Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.547.0759 or lizardloungeclub.com FANDANGO › 7 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com “FIRST ANNUAL ‘SECRET SANTA’ HIP HOP CHARITY SHOW” › 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $10; $5 with a new toy › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com THE GILL AHARON TRIO › 10 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 GLENN YODER & THE WESTERN STATES › 10 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com HOLLOW CROSS + WROUGHT IRON HEX + PROBLEM WITH DRAGONS › 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › $6 › 617.782.6245 or obrienspubboston.com HORSEHANDS + GLOCCA MORRA + JOINT CHIEFS OF MATH + LADY BONES + CHOKE UP › 8:30 pm › T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge › $8 › 617.492.2327 or ticketweb.com JESSICA SUN LEE › 10:30 pm › Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.576.0032 or ploughandstars.com MAKE ME FAMOUS + GET SCARED + HEARTIST + I AM KING › 6 pm › Palladium Upstairs, 261 Main St, Worcester › $10-$13 › 978.797.9696 or tickets.com/venue_info.cgi?vid=3802 MATTHEW ROMERO + TOM LAMARK + LESLIE HOLMES › 7 pm › Amazing Things Arts Center, 160 Hollis St, Framingham › $9-$10 › 508.405.2787 or amazingthings.org OF MONTREAL + FOXYGEN › 8 pm › Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston › $25 › 617.562.8800 or ticketmaster.com THE TOWER & THE FOOL + THE WANDAS + THUNDERBLOODS + TRAVIS ALEXANDER › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $8 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com SAMANTHA SCHULTZ + INGRID ANDRESS + EVELYN HORAN › 8 pm
THURSDAY 13
“AN DIE MUSIK” › With Ragnar Kjartansson › 5 pm › Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave, Boston › Free › 617.478.3100 or icaboston. org ANDREW GEANO + BEN BULLOCK + DR. STROMBERG AND THE NURSES + ANDREW MARTIN › P.A.’s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 617.776.1557 “ANNUAL BOSTON X-MAS
>> live music on p 134
472-480 MASSACHUSETTS AVE CENTRAL SQ., CAMBRIDGE (617) 864-EAST
mideastclub.com | zuzubar.com ticketweb.com
DOWNSTAIRS
THURS 12/6 LEEDZ EDUTAINMENT AND LT LIVE PRESENT: NAPPY ROOTS LOWTONE SOCIETY • RUMORZ FRI 12/7 ROGUE PRESENTS: PEARL AMD THE BEARD LUCIUS • YOU WON’T SAT 12/8: THE VENETIA FAIR RUN GAZELLE RUN (CD RELEASE) • TALLER IN PERSON GREAT CAESAR SUN 12/9: POP VS MNOT BATTLE FOR GK FEST FINALS THURS 12/13 LEEDZ/CRUSH PRESENTS: ARAABMUZIK
UPSTAIRS WED 12/5: THE MAGIC (EX ISLANDS) UNDERWATER BEAR BALLET • KANGAROO COURT MAESTRO THRUST THURS 12/6: ART DECADE • BENT KNEE SAT 12/7 ST LUCIA • GOLD FIELDS • BEARSTRONAUT SAT 12/8 SPARKS THE RESCUE ALL AGES 1PM ZOZOBRA (MEMBERS OF CAVE IN) ELDER • PHANTOM GLUE • 13 BILLION YEARS SUN 12/9 BROOKLINE DRIVE • DEAR ZIM ALL AGES 1PM MON 12/10 LT LIVE PRESENTS: SERENE • BOARCORPSE • DEADFALL TUES 12/11 LT LIVE PRESENTS: THE STONE FOXES MOJO KICK WED 12/12 BIG DIGITS CX KIDTRONIX (ATR/STONES THROW)
/mideastclub /zuzubar @mideastclub @zuzubar
THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs :: 12.07.12 133
Scullers PHX Dec 6_Scullers PHX Dec 6
BOSTON’S #1 JAZZ CLUB!
sCullers
arts & nightlife :: music wednesday 12
jazz Club
Thurs., Dec. 6
8pm
BOBBI CARREY & WILL McMILLAN
Fri. & Sat., Dec. 28 & 29
8pm & 10pm
Sun., Dec. 30 Mon., Dec. 31
4pm & 7pm 8pm &11pm
REGINA CARTER
NEW YEARS EVE
GREG ADAMS & EAST BAY SOUL
CD Release “East Bay Soul 2.0”
DOUBLETREE SUITES
BY HILTON BOSTON Call for Tickets & Info at: 617-562-4111
Dinner/Show Packages Available. Also In-Club menu
Order on-line at www.scullersjazz.com
12/7 @ 8:15PM: FLAM! PAN-ASIAN MICROJAM FOR J DILLA AND OLIVIER MESSIAEN 12/13 @ 8:15PM: MARCOS VALLE MEETS BERKLEE 12/15 @ 8:15PM: MIRI MESIKA 12/19 @ 8:15PM: BERKLEE SYMPHONIC WINDS NEW YEARS EVE @ 7:30PM: FIRST NIGHT BOSTON: JOHN SCOFIELD’S UBERJAM
136 Ma ssa c h u s ett s Ave. , Bo sto n Full schedule/tickets: www.berklee.edu/BPC
Foxygen play with Of Montreal at the Paradise. CAVALCADE FOR THE HOMELESS” › 7:30 pm › Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St, Somerville › $20 › 617.776.2004 or johnnyds.com ARAABMUZIK › Middle East Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $20-$23 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com “BRANDED AUTHENTIC SHOWCASE” › 8 pm › Church of Boston, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston › $10 › 617.236.7600 or churchofboston.com CORIN ASHLEY + DAVID AARONOFF › 10:30 pm › Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.576.0032 or ploughandstars.com ELLIOTT MURPHY AND THE NORMANDY ALL STARS + SCOTT KEMPNER [THE DEL LORDS] › 7 pm › Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, Northampton › $15-$18 › 413.586.8686 ESTHEMA › 8 pm › Armory Café, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville › free › artsatthearmory.org THE FAKE BOYS + INK & SWEAT
12/8 @ 8:00PM: REVEREND PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND / ROSCO BANDANA 12/11 @ 7PM: BERKLEE IN THE ROUND FREE SHOW 12/12 @ 8PM: SAMANTHA SCHULTZ / INGRID ANDRESS / EVELYN HORAN / FREE SHOW 12/13 @ 8PM: SINGER-SONGWRITER SHOWCASE FREE SHOW 12/14 @ 8PM: A GREAT BIG WORLD WITH IAN AXEL / ALLIE MOSS / BESS ROGERS
939 Boy lsto n S t . Bo sto n All shows are all ages Full schedule/tickets: www.cafe939.com 134 12.07.12 :: THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTs
+ GREAT LAKES USA + TKC › 8 pm › O’Brien’s, 3 Harvard Ave, Allston › $8 › 617.782.6245 or obrienspubboston.com FLATT RABBITT › 7:30 pm › Sally O’Brien’s, 335 Somerville Ave, Somerville › 207.591.7300 FRIENDLY PEOPLE + BEAR LANGUAGE + WE AVALANCHE › Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge › $8 › 617.864.EAST or ticketweb.com GRADE A GRAY DAYS + RICK BERLIN & HIS NICKEL & DIME BAND + CASK MOUSE › 9 pm › Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.547.0759 or lizardloungeclub.com GROOVE AUTHORITY › 8:30 pm › Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ, 351 Washington St, Brighton › 617. 254.5227 or smokenjoesbbq.com KING ORCHID + SAND RECKONER + BLACKBUTTON + YELLABIRD › 9 pm › Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston › $9 › 617.566.9014 or ticketweb.com
“MARCOS VALLE MEETS BERKLEE” › Marcos Valle › 8:15 pm › Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston › 617.266.7455 MARK SMALL + DAN CLOUTIER › 7:30 pm › Amazing Things Arts Center, 160 Hollis St, Framingham › $5-$6 › 508.405.2787 or amazingthings.org MATES OF STATE + IN THE VALLEY BELOW › 9 pm › Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston › $15-$17 › 617.562.6000 or ticketmaster. com NADA SURF + ETERNAL SUMMERS › 9 pm › Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston › $22.50-$25 › 617.562.8800 or ticketmaster.com RYAN KOWAL ENSEMBLE + JENI JOL + TODD MARSTON & TONY MAIELLA/TOM › 7 pm › Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge › 617.497.0823 TODD THIBAUD › 7:30 pm › Toad, 1920 Mass Ave, Cambridge › 617.497.4950 or toadcambridge.com
Arts & Nightlife :: clubs
club nights thuRsDAY 6
BOND › Boston › 9 pm › “Taste Thursdays” CURE LOUNGE › Boston › 10 pm › “Cure Thursdays” DISTRICT › Boston › “In Thursdays” EMERALD LOUNGE AT REVERE HOTEL › Boston › 9 pm › “Top 40s & House” ESTATE › Boston › 10 pm › “Glamlife Thursdays” with Chris Harris + Rafael Sanchez GOOD LIFE › Boston › 10 pm › “PVPRL XMVS” with Skinny Friedman + Lil Texas + Yvng Amen + Amadeezy + DJ 7L + DJ Knife JACQUE’S CABARET › Boston › 10:30 pm › “Jacque’s Cabaret” with Kris Knievil M BAR & LOUNGE › Boston › 9 pm › “Lotus Thursdays” MIDDLESEX LOUNGE › Cambridge › 10 pm › “Make it New” with DJ Rolando MIDWAY CAFÉ › Jamaica Plain › “Women’s Dance Night” with DJ Summer’s Eve MILKY WAY › Jamaica Plain › 9 pm › “Subtropix” 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” with DJ Brian Derrick ROYALE › Boston › 6 pm › “Not Your Average Idol to benefit Youk’s Kids” WONDER BAR › Allston › 10 pm › “Top 40/ House Thursdays” ZUZU › Cambridge › 10:30 pm › “Psychotic Reaction” with DJ Dandy Dan
FRiDAY 7
AN TUA NUA › Boston › “Jive: A Modern Speakeasy” BOND › Boston › 10 pm › “Play Fridays” CURE LOUNGE › Boston › 10 pm › “VIP Fridays” with DJ Eric Velez DISTRICT › Boston › “Latin Fridays” ESTATE › Boston › DJ Norman Doray GOOD LIFE › Boston › 9:30 pm › “Bassic” with Untold vs. “The Thickness: with DJ Evaredy MILKY WAY › Jamaica Plain › 9 pm › “La Boum” with DJ Stella 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 › 9 pm › “Wonderland” with Damien Paul + Mike Swells + Jay K the DJ › 1 am › Mason + The WIG + DJ Dupe + Marcus Christian ROYALE › Boston › 10 pm › “Full On Fridays” STORYVILLE › Boston › 6 pm › “Holiday Bash to benefit Every Person Has A Story” with DJ Sergio Santos and DJ Salvatore Legrosso TOMMY DOYLE’S AT HARVARD › Cambridge › midnight › DJ Skitz UMBRIA PRIME › Boston › 10 pm › “VIP Fridays”
re-endtroduCinG dJ shadoW after a lonG phone Conversation, the last thing I asked Josh Davis, was, if at age 40, he still had something to prove. “Oh, definitely,” the man better known as DJ Shadow immediately replied, despite having just released a box set and greatest hits. On his classic 1996 debut Endtroducing . . ., one of many disembodied voice snippets repeats, “The music’s coming through me.” More and more, that’s how it looks. Like his ’90s peers Nas or Weezer, Davis is tied to an opus of such magnitude that those who believe he’s a genius paradoxically cannot accept the less epochal newer work. His most recent album, last year’s The Less You Know, The Better, was particularly casual. “On a certain level you get a sense of ‘I don’t get it,’ ” Davis says. “I worked really hard, I followed my own muse, I did what I thought made sense for me.” Before The Less You Know . . . was the aggressively different The Outsider, where in 2006 Davis paid tribute to his native Bay Area’s rabid hyphy scene. “Those songs that represent that genre on my album are unique in that I wanted to be pure. I felt if I was going to contribute to that movement, it wouldn’t make any sense for me to make ‘alt-hyphy,’ ” he laughs. The just-released Reconstructed: The Best of DJ Shadow (Hip-O) is a sincere attempt to level the playing field among his more divergently-received albums. He’s always considered his art anachronistic, even when it dovetailed with the renaissance of “trip-hop” and the work of protégés and others such as former tourmates Radiohead, whose own magnum opus, OK Computer, included the unmistakably Shadow-indebted “Airbag.” “It’s almost as though if you don’t sound like the sound du jour when you put a record out that you’re some kind of Luddite living in another time,” Davis says, more matter-of-factly than that reads on this page. “I actually think putting out music that’s deliberately out of step is actually quite good. Because then you’re providing an alternative.” But he’s just glad to have music coming through him. _DAN WE IS S » k IS S outthE jAm S@gmAI l.com
>>
DJ SHADOW › Royale, 279 Tremont St, Boston :: December 9 @ 8 pm :: 18+ :: $27 :: 617.338.7699 or boweryboston.com
NAGA › Cambridge › “Chemistry Saturdays” with DJ Mozes + DJ D Say + Miss Jade OM RESTAURANT & LOUNGE › Cambridge › 10:30 pm › “Saturdays @ Om” PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “Boom Boom Room” with DJ Vinny RAMROD › Boston › 10 pm › “Revolution Saturdays” RISE › Boston › 1 am › Stephan Grondin + Jonathan Santarelli + Daniel Sevelt ROYALE › Boston › 10 pm › “Saturdays at Royale” T.T. THE BEAR’S PLACE › Cambridge › 10 pm › “Heroes” with DJ Chris Ewen ZUZU › Cambridge › 11 pm › “Soul-le-luh-jah” with John Funke
sunDAY 9
COMMON GROUND › Allston › 9:30 pm › “Country Night” EMERALD LOUNGE AT REVERE HOTEL › Boston › 9 pm › “Svedka Sundays:
MOnDAY 10
AN TUA NUA › Boston › 9 pm › “CeremonyGoth Night” CHURCH OF BOSTON › Boston › 8 pm › “Motivate Mondays” with Mark Merren NAGA › Cambridge › “Industry Mondays” PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “Makka Monday” with Voyager 01 + DJ Uppercut RIVER GODS › Cambridge › 8 pm › “Weekly Wax”
more Clubs and Comedy at thephoenix.Com/events
cOMEDY
Artie Lange is at the Wilbur Theatre on December 8.
sAtuRDAY 8
BOND › Boston › 10 pm › “Flaunt Saturdays” COMMON GROUND › Allston › “Millenium Night” DISTRICT › Boston › 10 pm › “Clique Saturdays” EMERALD LOUNGE AT REVERE HOTEL › Boston › 9 pm › “Top 40s & House” MILKY WAY › Jamaica Plain › 10 pm › “Mango’s Latin Saturdays” with Lee Wilson
Industry Night” GREAT SCOTT › Allston › 10 pm › “The Pill” with DJ Ken + DJ Michael V. PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “The Drop” PRIME › Boston › midnight › Otto Knows RAMROD › Boston › 10 pm › “The Den” ROYALE › Boston › 8 pm › DJ Shadow ZUZU › Cambridge › 10 pm › “All You Can Eat Dance Party Jam Buffet” with DJ Paul Foley
artie lange
For tons more to do, point your phone to m.thePhoenix.com
T.T. THE BEAR’S PLACE › Cambridge › 7 pm › “TT The Bears Holiday Party” WONDER BAR › Allston › 9 pm › “Mondenial” with Jason Stokes
tuEsDAY 11
EMERALD LOUNGE AT REVERE HOTEL › Boston › 6 pm › “Wicked New Music” MACHINE › Boston › 9 pm › “Psyclone Tuesdays” with Stevie Psyclone NAGA › Cambridge › “Fiesta Tuesdays” PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “Elecsonic” RAMROD › Boston › 10 pm › “Punk Night” ZUZU › Cambridge › 10 pm › “Zuesday” with DJ Leah V + Black Adonis
WEDnEsDAY 12
COMMON GROUND › Allston › 10:30 pm › “Reggae Night” DISTRICT › Boston › “Classic Wednesdays” with DJ Tanno EMERALD LOUNGE AT REVERE HOTEL › Boston › 8 pm › “Mondo Wednesdays” PHOENIX LANDING › Cambridge › “Re:Set” RAMROD › Boston › 10 pm › “Rock Wednesdays” with DJ Victor RUMOR › Boston › 10 pm › “Latin Night” with DJ Adilson + DJ Maryalice + DJ Boatslip RYLES › Cambridge › “Wild Honey” SPLASH ULTRA LOUNGE & BURGER BAR › Boston › 10 pm › “EDM Wednesdays” STORYVILLE › Boston › 9 pm › “MySecretBoston presents Dub Apocalypse” WONDER BAR › Allston › 9 pm › “Wobble Wednesdays” ZUZU › Cambridge › 10 pm › “Money 90’s Dance Squad Party” with DJ ABD + DJ Nate
THEPHOENIX.cOm/EvENTS :: 12.07.12 135
arts & nightlife :: parties
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» At the Movember Date Auction at Storyville
Last month, Boston’s mustachioed merrymakers and the ladies who love them convened at Storyville for the Professional Wingman’s third annual Movember Date Auction. Partygoers faced off in an all-out bidding war for two dozen eligible bachelors and bachelorettes, with all proceeds going to the Movember Foundation, which raises awareness and funds for men’s health causes. The More evening’s host: chief wingman Thomas Edwards, whose biz offers coaching tiesix!. services to the unlucky in love, helping clients improve their dating lives patr ePhoen h t A and make stronger romantic connections. Find out more at theprofessionrties. com/PA ut o alwingman.com — ahem, not that you need any help in that department. see you t h e r e!
Bre Nourse
yoga iNstructor
She supports mustaches that crop up for a good cause, but she prefers a nice, manly beard. She got a leg up on the competition with suede Steve Madden shoes in an unexpected shade we’ll call grape-soda purple, paired with a curve-hugging Bettie Page dress. She accessorized her fierce pinup outfit with dainty jewelry. Though small, the delicate circle necklace from Dogeared Jewels has a lot of meaning. It symbolizes karma, a concept that this practicing Tibetan Buddhist quite literally keeps close to her heart. _RENaTa CERTo-WaRE
136 12.07.12 :: Thephoenix.com/parTies
pHOTOS By DErEK KOuyOuMJiAn
clockwise from above Logan McMaster, Jennie White, and Melanie Leggett; Thomas Edwards; Max Vigliotti and Keri Barrett; Adjovi Koene; Kayla Harrity; Jesus Ortiz; Sean Donovan and Marissa Martin
This Cali-born fitness fiend was more than happy to help raise money for men’s health as one of the evening’s bachelorettes. Currently single, she’s hoping her very personal donation might lead to a love connection (ideally one who’s not shorter than she is).
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Arts & Nightlife :: bAck tAlk M SEANORE
The company has had recent film success, but their comic sales are still stagnant. Is Marvel’s story a triumph or tragedy? Well, I’m not trying to hedge, but I think it’s both. There’s certainly a cautionary tale in there — the Marvel story really gets to the way that art and commerce are always going to be battling it out in pop culture. If you’re trying to have mass appeal and artistic expression at the same time, there are going to be compromises. And when you bring powerful corporate interests into the equation, it’s pretty predictable what will happen.
HOW Read E more interv of this thePh iew at oenix .com/ arts
B y d a n iel B r o Ck M a n
t
D B R O C K M A N @ P H X .C O M
his past summer, the juggernaut success of the film The Avengers, with worldwide grosses exceeding a billion dollars, seemed evidence of the triumph of Stan Lee and Marvel Comics. But the true story — about a small band of wily creative types who went on to create a cast of indelible characters and then let them loose upon the world — is more complicated than mere triumph. The current slate of comic-book blockbusters comes only after nearly eight decades of bitter wrangling for control of this fictional world and its inhabitants — a fight for intellectual property control detailed in Sean Howe’s masterful new book Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (Harper), where hundreds of interviews with Marvel insiders yield an intriguing tale as gripping as any X-Men story arc.
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“If you’re trying to have mass appeal and artistic expression at the same time, there are going to be compromises.”
Is this Stan Lee’s fault: did he sell out his creations, and those of his colleagues, and forsake the art form of comics? I don’t think so. I mean, Stan Lee definitely believed in the form of comic books, but he also, many years ago, came to the conclusion that comics wasn’t a healthy industry, and that the best shot for the company was to move into another industry. It’s not quite the same as when a corporation says, “We want to turn this into a transmedia property.” Lee just thought “The comic book industry is in trouble, what are we going to do with these characters?” Personally, I think, you know, better a Hawkeye movie than another Battleship movie! But the thing that bothers me is that nobody is saying, “There’s a lot about the art form of comics that the movies will never be able to touch.” People have just decided that movies are the next step, that they’re what comics should aspire to. And I feel like Gene Colan’s Iron Man, for example, is going to give you something that no movie can give you. P
PHOtO By MARK SCHwARtzBARD
Marvel CoMiCs’ untold story
In your prologue, you say “for generations of readers, Marvel was the great mythology of the modern world.” Ancient myths center on characters and stories — oral history tends to obscure who created these myths. Who owns these characters, ultimately: us, the fans? The company? The individual creators? These characters have been passed down through the generations, and some of the contributions of various storytellers have become muddy and undefined. It may be like Greek myth in that way, but it also doesn’t fit in with the rest of our culture. Everyone knows who created Luke Skywalker, and everyone knows who created Sherlock Holmes — but most people aren’t going to be able to tell you who created Wolverine. People might be able to say “Wolverine, he’s one of the Marvel guys, right?” But I think that is something unique in comics, the lack of credit for authors. And I’m not even talking about money — I’m talking about the way the public assigns credit in its mind.
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