Newsletter
by Hunter Styles | Jul 10, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Don’t let the name of their new Westfield brewery fool you — Mark Avery and Rich DeSousa aren’t preparing to quit their day jobs. But the two friends and business partners are still opening up every spare hour, every day they can, to get Two Weeks Notice Brewing...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Review
Thirteen of America’s presidents gather for a summit. They listen as Thomas Jefferson explains this new majesty before them — a giant, wonderfully fluffy chocolate-glazed doughnut with rainbow sprinkles. Teddy Roosevelt gathers his jacket at the hip judging the round...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
Get your Scot on at the 24th annual Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival Saturday at Look Park in Northampton. The day-long event is jammed with all things Celtic and “tidy” (that’s Scottish slang for excellent). The day will feature Scottish music, athletic feats of...
by Jennifer Levesque | Jul 10, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Review, Review, Valley Show Girl
I hear the sound of jazz in the parking lot as I walk towards New City Brewery in Easthampton last Thursday night. People are gathered in the patio area enjoying the music while also enjoying the summer night air. Inside, the old factory building with exposed beams,...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jul 10, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
I recently started going out with this girl, but it already feels like we are magnets to one another (both inside and outside of the bedroom). But the last time we had sex an issue came up that broke up that magnet-like feeling for me. I’m someone who really wants to...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jul 7, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
A religious pilgrimage is taking place to oppose fossil fuel use in New England. Members of the New England Yearly Meeting, a group made up of Quakers from the six New England states, plan to walk 60 to 70 miles the week of July 9 from Schiller Station power plant in...
by Will Meyer | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Review, Review
Tundrastomper, an explosive, chaotic, and notey rock band, formed about 10 years ago when Skyler Lloyd, Sam Brivic, Andrew Jones, and Max Goldstein were teenagers — about 13 years old each. They grew up in a town in Westchester, New York, called Ardsley. I looked it...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Before the sounds of mic checks and inflating balloons echo over the Greenfield Community College verdant field to signal the start of Green River Fest next weekend (July 14-16), this Friday (July 7) Sun Parade and Twisted Pine will give the Valley a taste of the the...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 5, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter
Brickabrack is an indie basement rock band with plenty of grunge rock attitude. The local trio played a set on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage and the full performance will be released this Friday on July 7. Until then, here’s a teaser for Brickabrack. Can’t...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Music, News, Newsletter
On July 14, attendees of the Green River Festival will get a taste of the future of music in the Valley. The Next Wave Stage will feature a five-band concert with local bands with members ages 18 and younger. As a bonus, anyone 18 and under gets into the festival for...
by Jack Brown | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Film, Newsletter
In film, there have always been levels of stardom. There are those stars whose wattage is measured in tooth whiteness, and whose films are expected to earn many millions based more or less on their mere presence — your Pitts, your Cruises, your Lawrences. Then there...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Woman of Rock Lexi Weege has picked up on how solo female acts are received: they’re objectified, controlled, censored, and restrained — but you won’t see any of that at a Weege show or hear it in her music. She’s punk AF in that way. Weege’s...
by Blaise Majkowski | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Blaise's Bad Movie Guide, Columns, Film, Newsletter, Review
For Father’s Day, I was treated to a screening of the new Wonder Woman movie. My daughter summed it up well: It was better than good, but not great. What I cannot understand is the fever this movie has generated. Women-only showings? Were there any women-only showings...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
Do You Represent the Lollipop Guild? After more than 70 years since the film’s release (and more than 100 since the book’s), is there any more magic to be wrung from The Wizard of Oz? PaintBox Theatre has answered this jaded question with a resounding,...
by From Our Readers | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
With Rep. Neal in Office, Who Needs a Republican? Thank you for the excellent article on Representative Richard Neal (“Can Rankled Rural Voters Dethrone Congressman Neal?” June 22-28, 2017). I remember when the state redrew our districts so that Northampton and...
by Chuck Shepherd | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Editors Note: News of the Weird is ending, but we’ll be continuing the tradition at the Advocate, starting our own feature highlighting the oddities we find in the news. Watch for it next week! Weird News is forever, but this is my last “News of the Weird”...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter
Sticks and Stones II, the new exhibit at Hope & Feathers Framing and Gallery, is a contemplation of the very small and natural. The four artists contributing to this show meditated on things like pebbles, pieces of cloth, terra cotta, and textiles. The end result...
by Chris Goudreau | Jul 3, 2017 | Featured, News, Newsletter
Ninety-eight-year-old peace activist Frances Crowe of Northampton is thinking about the future. That’s why she was arrested last month along with seven other people protesting Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s $93 million 13-mile tri-state Connecticut Expansion Project in...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 30, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
Four months ago, then-Advocate arts editor Hunter Styles wrote an excellent take-down of the hugely unpopular ad campaign trying to rebrand our region with the name “West Mass.” The heart of it was a list of questions about a dizzying, poorly-thought-out video...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 28, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter
EYES is a post-rock band that excels at creating sonic soundscapes; walls of sound that are meditative and engaging. There are a lot of epic moments with EYES’ music that defy genre conventions. This local experimental quartet appeared on the Valley Advocate...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Get Out With Staff Picks, Newsletter
Giraffes? Giraffes! + More Math — Friday It’s a night of awesome math rock at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield this Friday. Expect unusual time signatures, angular guitar lines, and sheer epic experimental forays into the boundaries of rock...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
The publicity for Downstairs, which opened at the Dorset (VT) Theatre Festival last week, gives rather short shrift to the fact that it’s a world premiere by the prolific Theresa Rebeck, whose plays Bad Dates and Mauritius are also being produced in the region this...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Review
What do you get when you combine Pink Floyd’s brand of jazzy progressive rock; the bittersweet melodies of The Beatles; soulful R&B a la Stevie Wonder; and a punk rock attitude? You find a band like Sodada, which succeeds in being much more than the sum of its...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Customs officials in Abdali, Kuwait, apprehended a pigeon in May with 178 ketamine pills inside a fabric pocket attached to its back. Update Three weeks ago, News of the Weird touted the “genderless,” extraterrestrial-appearing Hollywood makeup artist known as Vinny...
by Jack Brown | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Film, Newsletter
Many years ago, I found myself deep in the basement of the old Pleasant Street Theater (now the location of McLadden’s pub in Northampton), cleaning out some old storage lockers. From one of them, I pulled out a dented, dusty, film can, a flat circle of metal about 15...
by Lena Wilson | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Stream Queen
Filmmaker Michelle Ehlen practically invented multitasking. Her IMdB profile stretches on with credits that range from editing and production to cinematography and soundtrack. Though she’s had a hand in other LGBT films, like the popular Eating Out series, Ehlen is...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
It’s Going to be a Blast Communities all over the region are lighting off fireworks this week to celebrate America’s independence — July 4, the day, back in 1776, the 13 colonies told King George to kick rocks. It’s a good time to party and reflect on what made the...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
The Family That Rhymes Together … This hip-hop workshop is family-friendly and focused on training young people in fashion, rhythmic poetry, and visual arts. The weekly class integrates inner-city arts and graffiti using constructive “off the wall” methods....
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
Take in Some Trash Trailer Trash is headlining this Friday’s edition of Summit View’s Pavilion Summer Concert Series. The immensely popular weekly shows at the banquet hall, on Route 5 in Holyoke, are free and open to the public. There’s a BBQ buffet for purchase and...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Film, Food + Booze, Get Out With Staff Picks, Leisure, Music, News, Newsletter, Stage
Hanging around the house is something we all do, but usually in an unfocused, squished-between-chores-and-obligations sort of way. But when you stay home for vacation, your dwelling can become a sanctuary, free from the day-to-day grind. If you can’t afford to get out...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News, Newsletter
Familiar Forgotten Places Catherine Gibbs picked a ubiquitous, but faded piece of local history for her exhibit at the Elusie Gallery in Easthampton: Mill buildings and train yards. Though not as much is manufactured here anymore, not that long ago people in places...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter
Art in a (Butter)Nutshell Strolling through booths of fine art with a glass of wine in your hand underneath a sunny sky in the Berkshires isn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon, or two. That’s what you’ll get at the 16th Berkshires Arts Festival at the Ski Butternut...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Readers Respond to Story on Congressman Neal Several readers wrote in about our cover story on rural and progressive activist dissatisfaction of Congressman Richard Neal [“Can Rankled Rural Voters Dethrone Congressman Neal?” June 22-28, 2017]. Here are some of the...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Cannabis!, Columns, News, Newsletter
The battle over how recreational marijuana will be taxed and managed in Massachusetts will come to a head Friday. Gov. Charlie Baker has said he wants a bill on his desk by June 30 in order to allow enough time for retailers to apply for marijuana sales licenses and...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 26, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter
A food so splendid it gets its own day of the week (Taco Tuesdays!); tacos are a comfort food built for the summer. They’re sturdy, can be super healthy (or not), and are a little messy to eat (great for munching outdoors). Whether you like them soft or crunchy, corny...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
When Sara Weinberger moved from her longtime community of Northampton to neighboring Easthampton three years ago, she mostly loved it. The worst part, she said, was changing congressional districts — going from being represented by Worcester Democrat James McGovern to...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Faith leaders from six churches in Springfield have formed a “sanctuary network,” to provide shelter to undocumented immigrants in response to increasingly aggressive deportation tactics from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), including waiting...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
Whether you’re a 20-something fresh out of college looking for work or near retirement age and can’t find a job at your skill level, the trials and tribulations of unemployment are very real. It’s an issue that most people face in their adult lives and an age old...
by Christin Howard | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Though he is commonly considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, due to Soviet censorship, Mikhail Bulgakov never saw his most famous work published in his lifetime. Now, more than 40 years after its publication, and 70 years after Bulgakov’s death,...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, Newsletter
Compiled by Kristin Palpini The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western...
by Lena Wilson | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Stream Queen
Feminism is a word that has puzzled/infuriated/strengthened so many people in this country. Debates over the goals of feminism rage on, while popular media outlets inject the word into their headlines for maximum clicks. Are selfies feminist? Is makeup feminist? Am I...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter
Some might describe The Leafies You Gave Me as a “band,” but that would be an understatement. At least in the musical sense. Yes, they are musicians. And yes, they make music. But they are a band more like New Oxford American Dictionary’s second definition of the word...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 19, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
I met a girl on a dating app. It was sort of an accidental swipe, but we started chatting and met up. She was really cool to hang out with, but physically, I didn’t find her very attractive. We kept talking and started spending time together. Now it has been a...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, News, Newsletter
Hot Gypsy Jazz Northampton’s annual Django in June is a week-long bonanza of Gypsy jazz workshops, concerts, and jamming with artists from across the globe. The event celebrates the musical stylings of Django Reinhardt. The music has been described as hot jazz or...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 15, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
By Kristin Palpini The late-Wednesday delay of the House vote on recreational marijuana legislation signals politicians are taking weed — and the up-coming weed tax — seriously. The House bill would have levied up to a 28 percent tax rate on recreational...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
Pablo Picasso often painted himself as a bull. A fan of attending bullfights in his native Spain, the Cubist master saw himself as the hulking beast with big muscles, wild eyes, and swinging genitalia. In a piece now on view at The Clark in Williamstown, Large...
by Anita Fritz | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
The Art of Rock, Paper, Scissors Take part in celebrating the newest sculpture in downtown Turners Falls — Rock, Paper, Scissors, a new work by artist Tim de Christopher. Christopher’s work was selected last spring as an addition to Avenue A from 30 proposals...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Get Out With Staff Picks, Newsletter
Led Zeppelin Acoustic Tribute • Saturday The Acoustic Led Zeppelin Tribute Orchestra Project (TALZTOP, of course) will be performing the songs of Led Zeppelin without the use of electricity. The show will feature Houses of the Holy and the band’s strangely...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 13, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
By Chris Goudreau “America’s Toughest Sheriff” Joe Arpaio — the controversial right wing former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, who is known for placing prisoners in tents under temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, forcing inmates to wear pink underwear, and...
by Christin Howard | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Across the country celebrations are taking place for national Pride month, and the Pioneer Valley is no exception. Franklin County and the city of Holyoke are hosting events to bring together the LGBTQIA community. This year marks the return of Franklin Country Pride,...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Current Bloomers Bloom is a loaded word. Stuffed with all the meaning we attach to it — hope for new beginnings, youth, mortality, inspiration — ‘bloom’ says more than its five letters. Gallery A3 is exploring this concept in their June exhibit: Bloom! Featuring two...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 12, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Are You Worthy? Yes, yes you are — if you’re 21 or over. The Worthy is back, ya’ll, and sudsier than ever for this year’s outdoors craft beer showcase. The Springfield brewfest, in the city’s most entertaining neighborhood: Worthington Street, is going down Saturday...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 8, 2017 | Advocate Chat, Articles, Newsletter
The Advocate Chat is a recurring series where the Valley Advocate staff talks about a topic on their minds. The text below has been lightly edited. kristinpalpini (Editor-in-Chief Kristin Palpini): To set the mood on this feminist convo, a story from our buds at The...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Any out-of-towner who would guess Western Mass has a quiet craft beer scene is bound for a rude, brewed awakening. But even locals may be surprised at the scope of the second annual Western Mass Beer Week, which runs June 10-17. Last year’s series of events at...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
An exhibit featuring Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol might seem like polar opposite artists sharing a space, but that’s selling both of these geniuses short. Rockwell is best known for a “wholesome” style that doesn’t have a hint of subversion. But a closer look at...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
In a new addition to the 30-plus -year-old Green River Fest, Signature Sounds has found the best local bands with musicians ages 18 and under to be featured performers Friday night on the Next Wave Stage. But wait there’s more! Friday night admission will be...
by Will Meyer | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter
Editor’s note: Jaclyn Walsh uses they/them pronouns. Valley musician, student, and DIY booker Jaclyn Walsh wants you to dump your boyfriend so much that they named their band Dump Him. On the surface such a statement might charm the misandrists and queercore punks...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 7, 2017 | Articles, Music, Newsletter
Spirit Ghost, an Amherst-based indie garage rock band with a splash of surf, came into the Valley Advocate Offices to record for Valley Advocate Sessions on May 23. The band’s full performance and interview will be available on Valley Advocate’s website...
by Jack Brown | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Film, Newsletter
Fans of filmmaker John Waters might be familiar with the director’s odd fascination with rats. They crop up with some regularity in his life and work — from the original poster for 1977’s Desperate Living, which featured a cooked rat on a restaurant dinner plate, to...
by Chuck Shepherd | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Reverence for the lineage of asparagus continues in epic yearly Anglican church festivities in Worcester, England, where in April celebrants obtained a special blessing for the vegetable by local priests as a costumed asparagus pranced through the street praising the...
