Newsletter
The V-Spot: Husband Seeking Female-Friendly Sex-ed
Hi Yana, My wife is interested in exploring her sexuality a little further — things she might be interested in trying, etc. — but is hoping to do so in a way that is female- and feminist-friendly. Do you have any suggestions for things she can do or read either...
Club Picks: July 21 to July 27
SUNDAY: Build it YourselfSunday is for relaxing — and that includes a day of rest for the bartenders at Arkham at Harmony Place in Brattleboro. The quintessential hipster dive bar, complete with air hockey and arcade games, has a Build Your Own Bloody Mary party. It’s...
This Friday: Dream Ring Dance Competition
Dare to CompeteBrooklyn-based flex dance pioneer Reggie ‘Regg Roc’ Gray, the co-creator of the show FLEXN, performs at Jacob’s Pillow Dance for four days in August. But first, he has a dream. Gray hosts a D.R.E.A.M. RING (Dance Rules Everything Around Me)...
Nightcrawler: Root Effect
Musician and artist Wendell Rheinheimer, the owner of Moonlight Designs screenprinting in Easthampton, has been doing a little moonlighting of his own in recent months. The fruits of a new collaborative effort with his partner, organic vegetable farmer Shana Totino,...
Club Picks for the Weekend
Swing and a HitSinger and guitarist Erin Harpe formed her Delta blues quintet in Jamaica Plain in 2010, and the group has been all over since then, winning the Boston Blues Challenge three times, playing the five-day International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 2015,...
Libations and Ciders and Beers, Oh My!
Magic on the MountainThe lower Valley has plenty of reasons to boast about its brews, but this weekend, it’s Franklin County’s turn. Hilltown pride and local products prevail at the first-ever On Tap festival at Berkshire East, featuring local beer, mead, cider, and...
Northampton’s Scottish Invasion
Great ScotsYou thought your Independence Day was wild, food-stuffed fun? Just stop by the annual Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival to see how the brave of heart really get down. Highland dancers, pipers, and drummers (like Albannach, pictured here) cast a spell of sound...
Circus Smirkus Comes To Town!
Circus with a Smile No elephants were harmed in the making of this motion-filled picture. The only ASPCA likely to take notice of the new high-flying act by Circus Smirkus is the American Society for the Perpetuation of Cool Acrobatics — a group we just made up, but...
Cinemadope: Prince’s Purple Reign
We all have a tendency, as we get on in years, to remember our better days and let the not-so-great times wash away in the river of time. It’s human, and while you might roll your eyes at your great-aunt launching into that same story about sneaking into a Beatles...
Music Review: Haas Kowert Tice
Triple Threat I tried to be open-minded as a young music lover, but despite the curious sonic wanderings of my teenage years, my ears could never quite latch onto songs with no vocals. As soon as I’d hit a track called “Instrumental,” I’d stubbornly skip it (the...
Basemental: Inside the Western Mass DIY Music Calendar
Book It Yourself The Western Mass DIY music calendar does what Facebook can’t Amherst punk musician Will Killingsworth and Belchertown visual artist, musician, and show-booker Miranda Wiley have noticed a disconnect between subsets of the DIY music scene in...
The V-Spot: Babe Needs to Break Up
Dear Yana,I want to break up with my boyfriend of a few years. As we both near 30 I’m getting clearer that he’s just not the guy for me.But here’s the thing: We live together. We have a lease together. We share a car and a cat and just have so many logistical ties to...
On Stage: Time Stands Still
War-Torn Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies gives the trauma of battle, and the sting of accountability, a voice in Sarah Goodwin, the protagonist of Time Stands Still. An Iraq War photojournalist recovering in America from severe injuries suffered in...
“We Are Not Machines”
Body of Work Living wage legislation seems like a flurry of statistics and economic reports until you focus in on the faces, voices, and lives of the millions of Americans affected by low-wage work. Pioneer Valley Workers — in collaboration with curators and artists...
The Beerhunter: Bright Ideas Brewing in North Adams
Back to the Mill New breweries tend to pop up in unlikely industrial spaces, and Bright Ideas Brewing in North Adams is no different. The small but ambitious operation is a new tenant of MASS MoCA, which means that finding the front door to the brewery involves some...
Hartford’s Three-Day Food Truck Fest
Meals With WheelsWhat’s that delicious aroma wafting from the scenic grassy terraces of Hartford’s riverfront plaza? Probably some combination of Cheesesteakissimo, Maui Wowi, New Haven Pizza, Four Flours Baking Company, Taco Tequila, Ben & Jerry’s, Caribbean Food...
Bang on a Can! at MASS MoCA
In With a Bang Just in time for MASS MoCA’s welcome shift to summer hours, we’re jazzed to spread news of the return of the museum’s annual Bang on a Can festival, which ushers in three weeks of music all day, every day. Museum-goers and the general public can choose...
Starting Friday: Ko Festival in Amherst
Evening Becomes Eclectic The 25th annual Ko Fest at Amherst College welcomes back many of its most treasured artists from previous years. This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, July 8-10, three evenings of special guests — from as far away as New Orleans and as close as...
Acoustic Open Mic at the Waterfront
Testing the WatersSince it re-opened in March under new ownership, the Waterfront Tavern has been looking for ways to let the Valley know that it’s an up-and-coming nightspot all over again. One appealing addition to the music venue’s regular lineup: Wednesday...
Nightcrawler: Happy Campers
This weekend, July 8-10, marks the 30th year of Greenfield’s Green River Festival. The much-ballyhooed hullabaloo has been feted by the likes of Rolling Stone and USA Today as one of the nation’s must-catch summer festivals in recent years, with its...
The V-Spot: Double the Pleasure: Synced Orgasms
Hi Yana,I recently attended one of your workshops about the G-spot and it worked! My partner and I went home that night and I squirted. But it’s so strange because when I squirt it doesn’t happen as I climax. It isn’t like a climactic orgasm. It just feels crazy good...
Queer Music Before WWII
Wilkommen, Bienvenue Sarah Kilborne’s revelatory new night of cabaret delves into a little-known yet revolutionary moment in music history: queer music composed and performed prior to World War II. Her one-woman show is “an enlightening, enchanting trip to a...
Free the Beasts! Dragon Boat Race in Springfield
Dragons of myth come in all shapes and sizes, but human athletes have pared their real world replicas down to some clear-cut dimensions. A dragon boat is 40 feet by 4 feet, long and narrow and manned by 20 paddlers, sitting two by two. A drummer sits up front,...
Red Hot Blues with Shemekia Copeland
Red Hot Blues Shemekia Copeland sings electric blues, gospel, and R&B like her heart and soul depend on it. Whether she’s belting out a raucous blues-rocker, firing up a blistering soul-shouter, bringing the spirit to a gospel-fueled R&B rave-up, or digging...
Frendly Gathering Festival in Southern Vermont
The Friend Zone Dip your hippie head into a cool sonic pool this weekend by day-tripping up (or, hey, camping out) for the sixth annual Frendly Gathering, a three-day grassroots music festival in the Green Mountains of Southern Vermont. Vibe-wise, this fest is heavy...
Cinemadope: Here and Gone
Small films shown quickly, so see them today Showing movies is a tough racket, and the hard truth of the matter is that an opening weekend can make or break a film’s chances at breaking even at the box office. Do decently out of the gate, and you might get a chance at...
Korean sculptor Jaehyo Lee
Against the Grain Korean artist Jaehyo Lee works with wood and metal to create both functional works and abstract shapes, embedding fresh-cut wood discs, bent steel bolts, and nails into “backgrounds” of burnt-black wood. Of his hulking, playful pieces, Sculpture...
The V-Spot: Jealous Over My Flirty Girlfriend
Dear Yana,My girlfriend and I have been polyamorous for three years. We have established boundaries and as far as poly relationships go, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. Usually I’m a very low-jealousy partner.But lately she’s been flirting with this one woman that I...
Art Review: “Animal Dreams” by Holland Hoagland
Animal Dreams: Souls of Wildlife in Stone, Wood, and Paper by Holland HoaglandU.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, 300 Westgate Center Dr., HadleyThere are probably one hundred pieces and photos of Pelham artist Holland Hoagland’s artwork on display at the Fish and...
Basemental: What’s a Jaume I? New Performing Art Space in Greenfield
Downtown Jam Matt Robidoux is nervous. He is sitting on a patch of grass in downtown Greenfield, adjacent to a municipal parking lot and the Mexican restaurant Mesa Verde. Across the street, a small handful of musicians are shooting the shit and smoking cigarettes,...
Tuesday: Trombone Shorty in Northampton
Get Shorty Google “kid Trombone Shorty” and try not to smile. The top search result shows Troy Andrews, age 5, playing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1991. The child is bug-eyed, with puffed cheeks, blowing into an instrument twice as long as his...
Saturday: RiverWalk in Shelburne Falls
Go with the FlowThis Saturday, the village of Shelburne Falls takes the outdoors as inspiration for RiverWalk, a day of downtown activities celebrating art, nature, and the Deerfield River. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Friends of the Arms Library hosts a books sale....
Friday: Four metal bands play Agawam
Metal Detected in AgawamThe Tank (American Legion Post 185) in Agawam isn’t just the local go-to spot for great buffalo wings — it’s a hangout pretty much guaranteed to be hosting something fun each weekend. This Friday will deliver four times the excitement, with...
Now Showing: Mail Art exhibition in Greenfield
We’ve Got Mail In October 2015, the Art Club at Greenfield Community College put out a call for mail art. That’s “simply art that has been sent through the mail, but generally is made knowing that the piece will journey via the post,” and could include small painting,...
Saturday and Sunday: Mutton & Mead Festival in Montague
Orcs Gone WyldPrithee, take heed: The annual Mutton & Mead festival returns this weekend. The humble realm of Montague will be suddenly, and strangely, populated by creatures, craftspeople, warriors, musicians, mystical beings, and merchants hawking their handmade...
Welcome to Our Newsletter!
Greetings everyone, Welcome to the Valley Advocate’s newsletter! Twice a week we’ll be emailing you our top news stories and live coverage of the local art scene. In the next week, the Valley Advocate will relaunch, with emphasis on new columns, and a...
The Kirk Whatley Challenge: Before you write guns off, fire one, safely
Open-carry laws in Massachusetts allow Kirk Whatley to strap a gun holster to his hip, secure his favorite pistol there, and keep it visible on his walks around town. But he wouldn’t recommend it. For one thing, he says, there’s no good reason to let everyone know...
Scene Here: Vigils for Orlando
On June 12, the day of the massacre at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida, people in the Valley held vigils to mourn the tragedy and to comfort each other. In Greenfield, people sang “We Shall Overcome” on the town common. In Northampton, they held a vigil...
Between the Lines: Nothing to See Here? Pharmaceutical prices skyrocket
Usually, when you buy something, you know the price before you step up to the register. Most of us have a pretty good bead on how much a gallon of milk is and who has the best prices on gas, but when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs, everyone’s standing before the...
The Beerhunter: Five O’Clock Everywhere: Western Mass Beer Week June 11-18
The Beerhunter’s ears are always pricked to news of local craft beer happenings, and this month, they’re positively tingling. All that excitement in the air is thanks to the first-ever Western Mass Beer Week, a series of events at breweries, bars and restaurants all...
Stage Struck: True Illusions
Two world-premiere musicals have just opened in the region. One is an unassuming little pocket piece with a nifty hook, the other a glamorous spectacular that assumes it’s going to Broadway. The Musical Theatre Lab at Barrington Stage has developed dozens of new works...
And The Kids near indie rock graduation on new album “Friends Share Lovers”
And The Kids Friends Share Lovers (Signature Sounds) Release date: 6/3/16 In the midst of graduation season in Western Mass, it’s easy to forget that graduation itself is about more than caps and gowns. Students, who four years ago were mere freshmen in high school or...
‘Gross Negligence’ Alleged in Death of UMass Lab Monkey
By Peter Vancini An animal welfare watchdog group is alleging that “gross negligence” led to the death of a research monkey in a UMass Amherst animal care facility on Oct. 15, 2015. The marmoset was severely burned while it recovered from surgery. The incident was...
Oh, Honey: Can spoonfuls of the all-natural sweet stuff help ward off allergies?
Ah, spring: The time of year when nature wakes up from its deep winter slumber: birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and allergy sufferers are miserable. A runny nose, itchy eyes, and constant sneezing are facts of life for the nearly 8 percent of Americans that...E-Edition
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