Pick of the Day 8/14: Black Klansman
He’s back…and better than ever. Spike Lee is putting an historical mirror up to our present day faces. A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same. Black Klansman, winner of the 2018 Cannes Film Festiva lGrand Prix, is at Amherst Cinema tonight; here’s the synopsis: “It’s the early 1970s, a time of great social upheaval as the struggle for civil rights rages on. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington)...
Pick of the Day 8/13: Eighth Grade
If you’ve been through eighth grade, then you know how AWKWARD life can be. It’s no different for Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher), the subject of You Tube star Bo Burnham’s directorial debut, also called Eighth Grade. Kayla is the average kid who makes You Tube videos about being confident–which she’s not. “In the final week of a thus-far-disastrous school year—and with high school looming on the...
Pick of the Day 8/12: Sweet Crude at the Iron Horse
If you have doubts about the beauty of all the different ethnic and cultural nooks and crannies in America, this act may well erase them. Sweet Crude is straight out of Louisiana and they proudly sing out in French and in English. As a matter of fact, one of their desires is to preserve the relevancy of their beautiful French language in the arts. Fun, energetic, bayou-y, and just plain talented, Sweet Crude is at the Iron Horse...
Pick of the Day 8/11: Punk Prom at the Flywheel Arts Collective
It’s not an ordinary lame prom at the Flywheel. Western Mass punks unite wearing their best alternative formal wear as they jam to local favorites, pose in a photobooth, and stop by a temporary tattoo station. The musical lineup for the evening includes pop punk band Nanny, alternative fuzz pop group Kindling, math metal punk band OroborO, atl-country meets punk group Julie Cira & the Wake, and Brinna Dessert. The Flywheel Arts...
Pick of the Day 8/10:Colorway at Luxe Burger Bar in Springfield
Colorway is awesome. They blew us away during their Advocate Sessions performance and I’ve gotten to see them here and there since then. Here’s a chance to catch them at a no cover, all ages show in Springfield. Luxe Burger Bar, 1200 West Columbus Ave., Springfield. 413-785-5893.
Stagestruck: End-of-summer shows in the Berkshires — food for fun and thought
When Shakespeare & Company first set up shop in the Berkshires, their mainstage was a greensward before a wooded glade at the Mount, Edith Wharton’s Lenox estate, with the audience seated on folding lawn chairs. That tradition has lately been revived, with outdoor performances at their present home in Lenox, as well on the grounds of the Mount, just down the road. The productions are generally the Bard’s comedies that have some...
Pick of the Day 8/8: Concert for George
It’s hard to believe that George Harrison of the Beatles shuffled off his mortal coil almost twenty years ago. But, alas, it’s been that long. If you’re feeling like you want to reminisce, check out Concert for George, the 2002 performance tribute in his honor. Held at London’s Royal Albert Hall and featuring Harrison’s songs and the music he loved, the concert includes rock luminaries Eric Clapton, Joe...
Staff Picks 8/9- 8/15
Punk Prom at the Flywheel Arts Collective // SATURDAY, AUGUST 11 It’s not an ordinary lame prom at the Flywheel. Western Mass punks unite wearing their best alternative formal wear as they jam to local favorites, pose in a photobooth, and stop by a temporary tattoo station. The musical lineup for the evening includes pop punk band Nanny, alternative fuzz pop group Kindling, math metal punk band OroborO, atl-country meets punk group...
Pick of the Day 8/7: BSO at Tanglewood
One of the finest reasons to live in western Mass is our proximity to great art. So get out there and lap it up! It’s a day of musical activities for the entire family at Tanglewood and the whole shabang ends with an 8 p.m. concert featuring all the festival’s orchestras performing together. Tanglewood on Parade: 12 p.m. – 10 p.m. Tanglewood Music Festival, 297 West St.,...
Local Calendar: Monday 8/6 – Wednesday 8/9
MONDAY 8/6 MUSIC 43rd Annual Vermont Jazz Center Summer Jazz Workshop: 4 p.m. The Putney School, 418 Houghton Brook Rd., Putney. Berkshire High Peaks Music Festival: $12 – $50. The Berkshire School, 245 N. Undermountain Rd., Sheffield. 800-843-0778. cewmusicinfo@aol.com. Plainfield Concert Series: 7 p.m. Free. Donations are accepted. Plainfield Congregational Church, 356 West Main St., Plainfield. 413-634-0025....
Pick of the Day 8/6: The Berkshire High Peaks Music Festival
So what’s happening in Sheffield? Yes, Sheffield, Massachusetts. You know that small town out west in the Berkshires and home to Big Elm Brewing. Well, the Berkshire High Peaks Music Festival is happening, that’s what. French Baroque, Russian piano, and Moonlight Sonatas. August 6-16: $12 – $50. The Berkshire School, 245 N. Undermountain Rd., Sheffield. 800-843-0778....
Pick of the Day 8/5: Dangerous House
The Williamstown Theater continues it summer run with a new play called Dangerous House. An aspiring black South African footballer named Noxolo moves to London for a fresh start. But she’s drawn back when Cape Town becomes host to the World Cup and she discovers her ex-lover (played by Emmy nominee Samira Wiley of Orange is the New Black) may be in danger. Will Noxolo risk everything to confront the secrets of a life she swore to...
Pick of the Day 8/4: Valley Showgirl
The Valley Advocate’s own Valley Show Girl columnist Jennifer Levesque is curating a lineup of local acts at the 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence, which includes guitar and synth driven duo Fire Letters, progressive synth sorcerer John Trudeau, Grey Matter, led by ex Sebadoh member Eric Gaffney, and doom folk songwriter Celseigh. 99 Main St., (Above JJ’s Tavern), Florence. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. 18+, $7. We love you, Jen! Keep on...
Stagestruck: Dancing down Hubbard Street— 40 years young
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is a frequent and popular visitor to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. This year, celebrating its 40th season, the company presents a quartet of works showcasing its history and its current 16-member troupe, one of the most technically accomplished ensembles I’ve seen. The program, running through Sunday on the Pillow’s Ted Shawn mainstage, begins with “Decadance/Chicago,” excerpts from Israeli...
Pick of the Day 8/3: Blondie!
Deborah Harry (and her boys) aka Blondie are rockin’ the Berkshires tonight. Yeah, boy! Call me nostalgic, I don’t care. She and her bandmates are at Mass Moca playing the greats and making the world a new wave paradise once again. And the Kids open up for this legendary late 70’s/80’s joy ride. Catch it if you can! 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. $55 advanced, $65 day of, $75 preferred. MASS MoCa, 1040 MASS MoCA...
Local Calendar: Thursday 8/2 – Sunday 8/5
THURSDAY 8/2 MUSIC Amherst Downtown Beats – Flathead Rodeo & Colorway: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Free. The Amherst BID’s Downtown Beats Summer Concert series continues with a performance by Flathead Rodeo and Colorway.Kendrick Park, East Pleasant St., Amherst. 413-345-2945. ann@amherstdowntown.com. An Evening with Pat Metheny: 8 p.m. $45 – $95. Pat Metheny with Antonio Sanchez, Linda Oh& Gwilym Simcock. Mahaiwe...
Pick of the Day 8/2: The Amendments
Thanks to the Northampton Arts Council, The Cardboard Sea Theater presents The Amendments. It’s a play about the sorrows of death and embattled family relationships. Judith and and her estranged brother Gabe’s father die; Judith just wants one thing from his estate. Gabe, however, lays claim to what Judith wants and he’s got an amended will to back him up. “As the night stretches on, Judith is forced to...
Stagestruck: Three in the Hills
A trio of two-character plays now running in the Hilltowns and Berkshires offer a summer-season variety of subjects, styles, and even venues – a black-box theater, a converted town hall, a church sanctuary. Pauline Productions is dedicated to “producing and creating theatre with a focus on strong roles for women onstage and behind the scenes.” The Roommate, running till Saturday on a purpose-built stage in the Ashfield Congregational...
Staff Picks Week of 8/2 – 8/8
Valley Show Girl Presents at the 13th Floor Music Lounge // SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 The Valley Advocate’s own Valley Show Girl columnist Jennifer Levesque is curating a lineup of local acts at the 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence, which includes guitar and synth driven duo Fire Letters, progressive synth sorcerer John Trudeau, Grey Matter, led by ex Sebadoh member Eric Gaffney, and doom folk songwriter Celseigh. 99 Main St., (Above...
Pick of the Day 8/1: Joe Purdy at the Iron Horse
Firstly: Welcome to August! We have now entered the eighth month of 2018 and it’s kind of hard to believe! Anyway, folk rocker Joe Purdy is in Northampton tonight. Purdy is prolific; he’s released fourteen albums over the last fifteen years. His music is the kind you find on a Kia commercial or in the background of a show or movie. Purdy also made his film debut as the lead in American Folk; it has a 79 percent Rotten...
Local Calendar: Tuesday 7/31 & 8/1
TUESDAY 7/31 MUSIC Alceste: 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. 12 Senior/$14 General. Opera based on heartbreaking story narrated by Euripides: King Admetus is dying and his wife, Alceste offers Apollo her own life in exchange for that of her beloved. $South Hadley’s Tower Theaters, 19 College St., South Hadley. 413-533-3456. info@towertheaters.com. Greenfield Military Band Concert: 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. Free. Energy Park, 50 Miles St.,...
Pick of the Day 7/30: Sorry to Bother You
Okay, I have a funny feeling and a sneaking suspicion that there are going be some serious laugh out loud moments in Sorry to Bother You, a new movie about race, money, politics, and morals. This is what the Amherst Cinema site says: “In an alternate reality Oakland, California, telemarketer Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) finds himself in a macabre universe after he discovers a magical key that leads to material glory. As...
Stagestruck Abroad: Shakespeare’s Haunts, Part 2 — Stratford
Nowadays, Stratford-upon-Avon feels not so much like a town as a gift shop. The once-sleepy hamlet where William Shakespeare was born some 450 years ago, which he abandoned for a life on the London stage, has become a mercantile monument to Stratford’s most famous son – which must seem ironic to the “anti-Stratfordians” in the Shakespearean authorship controversy, who can’t credit the notion that an uneducated bumkin from a provincial...
Stagestruck Abroad: Shakespeare’s Haunts, part 1 — The Globe
When I was in England earlier this month, I saw four plays at the two venues most closely associated with William Shakespeare – his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon and the Globe playhouse on London’s South Bank. At the Globe, there was a gender-switching Hamlet and a time-switching Winter’s Tale, and on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s two Stratford stages, a bloody Macbeth and a revenge tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, by Shakespeare’s...
Pick of the Day 7/27: Elliot Street Block Party in Brattleboro
If you’re in Brattleboro, Elliot Street is the place to be on Friday. Celebrate food, the arts, and the shops with your green mountain neighbors. Get your grub on at the international food crawl, take your little ones to a concert for kids, and do your grown up thing with some music by Pinedrop, and M.O.D. featuring Molly Steinmark and Parker McQueeney. Elliot Street will be closed from the intersection of Main to the crosswalk in...
Local Calendar: Thursday 7/26 to Sunday 7/29
THURSDAY 7/26 MUSIC A Little Night Music: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Trinity United Methodist Church will present “A Little Night Music” every Thursday during the month of July at 6:00pm. Free, donations accepted for all food items. Trinity United Methodist Church, 361 Sumner Ave., Springfield. 413-737-5311. Alex Johnson: 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Alex Johnson of Colorway, formerly of the Drunk Stuntmen. Luxe Burger Bar, 1200 West Columbus...
Pick of the Day 7/26: Corazon de Granada
Ready to heat things up? Check out Corazon de Granada tonight as they bring their impeccable Flamenco music and dance to New City Brewery in Easthampton. You can expect “a passionate evening … steeped in tradition,” the event hosts promise. Corazon de Granada made its U.S. premiere in last year at the Kennedy Center in DC. 180 Pleasant St. (12 Rear), New City Brewery,...
Stagestruck Abroad: Two plays in London show theater’s unique power
When I was recently in London, I saw two plays with connections to my favorite (make that favourite) British venue, the National Theatre. One was an African-American riff on a 19th-century melodrama, the other a dramatic immersion in a migrant camp on the English Channel. Though quite different in style and content, both wrestle ingeniously with wrenching issues and engage their audiences in unorthodox ways. An Octoroon has just...
Staff Picks: Greenfield Psych Fest, Elliot Street Block Party, and The Machine Shop
Greenfield Psych Fest at Hawks & Reed // SUNDAY, July 29 It’s going to be two floors of psychedelic rock music from noon until 9 p.m. at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield on Sunday, July 29. On the lineup are surf meets Latin-influenced psych rock band Money Chicha (Austin, Tex.), local avant-garde progressive psych band Bunnies (pictured), Ralph White of Bad Livers (Austin, Tex.), Greenfield-based polyrhythmic...
Pick of the Day 7/25: We the People
In this time of political chaos and division, it makes sense to go back to the beginning to determine exactly what the Great Experiment was all about. But We the People can’t be put in a box; not only because it’s outside on the farm in Ashfield Double Edge calls home, but because their vision is larger than an a mere examination of the meaning of democracy. Artistic Director Stacy Klein says in a Greenfield Recorder...
Pick of the Day 7/24: After the Rain at the Whately Library
Sometimes you just want to mellow out, right? So why not scoot up (or down) I-91 and check out an outdoor concert by After the Rain at the Whately Library. After The Rain performs acoustic and a cappella arrangements of everything from traditional Appalachian to classic rock and contemporary folk. Think Eagles, Indigo Girls and The Wailin’ Jennys and all the rich wonderful harmonies that make you feel as though every thing is gonna be...
Podcast: Local author Kathy Harrison discusses being prepared for your own personal apocalypse
Kathy Harrison doesn’t believe the zombies are coming to get us. But she does believe in being prepared for the worst. Harrison, of Cummington, just wrote her fifth book, called Prepping 101: 40 steps you can take to be prepared. Stocking up on necessities might seem obvious, but another thing Harrison takes pride in is stocking up on the good will of her neighbors. “I’m not food secure unless my neighbors are food...
Pick of the Day 7/23: Leave No Trace
Amherst Cinema is just a gold mine. No, really, their film curation is the bee’s knees. And my pick, once again, can only be found in the dark. Leave No Trace is the story of a father and his daughter who have lived off the grid for some time. They make their home in the forests of Portland, Oregon. When an event disrupts their private and idyllic world, they are both shuttled through the social service maze. Unable to live in...
Local Calendar: Monday 7/23 – Wednesday 7/25
MONDAY 7/23 MUSIC Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival 2018: MASS MoCa, 1040 MASS MoCA WAY, North Adams. Kitchen Jam – Local Music Rocks! Concert: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. 2nd performance of our Local Music Rocks! Concert Series. Happening rain or shine!! Free. Emily Williston Memorial Library, 9 Park St., Easthampton. 413-527-1031. slevine@ewmlibrary.org. Monday Night Music – Jazz Duo Steve Kurtz and Dan Belmont: 7...
Pick of the Day 7/22: The Southern Vermont Dance Festival
The Southern Vermont Dance Festival 2018 is all day today! From 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Take your pick of over “113 dance classes, two Galas at the Latchis, an outdoor Promenade Performance and picnic, two Informal Showings, and lots of free community events!” The event includes both free and ticketed events. Now that sounds like a good day! The River Garden, 157 Main St.,...