Staff Picks
Staff Picks: X, veteran poetry, Chris Goudreau, and free burgers
X at Gateway City Arts // SATURDAY Legendary punk band X is heading to Gateway City Arts in Holyoke this weekend. Never heard of X? Get ready to hear one of the most influential first wave punk bands of the late 1970s, which continues to play songs new and old to...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Acid Dad, Majestic Open Mic, and Santo Taco
Acid Dad, Receivers, Phenomena 256, and Hot Flakes at Hawks & Reed // SATURDAY It’s a night of psychedelic rock n’ roll, experimental music, and a little bit of emo thrown in for good measure at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield this Saturday....
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Weege & the Wondertwins, Old Flame, Sodada, and Bad Bad Hats
Weege & The Wondertwins Album Release Show // FRIDAY, 5/10 Weege & The Wondertwins’ sophomore album “Do I Seem Weird Lately?” is a gem to your ears. It’s strong and sophisticated and one of those albums you can put on to instantly change your mood. On Friday,...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Maniac, Valley Winds Cinco de Mayo, and Motherhood Out Loud
Motherhood Out Loud at STCC // FRIDAY-SATURDAY Stagestruck columnist Chris Rohmann recently wrote about this production and described this play as 14 vignettes that “traverse the full terrain of the mom experience, from the throes of labor to the empty nest.” While...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Opal Canyon album release, experimental music, and the Radical Interconnectedness Festival
Opal Canyon album release @ The Parlor Room // FRIDAY, 4/26 A little bit country, a little bit psychedelic rock and a lot of heart and soul. Valley supergroup Opal Canyon are releasing their debut album, “Beauty and Loss,” this Friday at The Parlor Room. The group is...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Christa Joy & Rosie Porter, Weege & the Wondertwins/ The Screaming Hearts, and Shakespeare’s Birthday Bash
Christa Joy & the Honeybees / Rosie Porter & the Neon Moons at the Ashfield Lake House // SATURDAY, 4/20 Two great local country-folk singers will be performing at the Ashfield Lake House this Saturday from 8 to 11 p.m. Both Christa Joy and Rosie Porter are...
Staff Picks: Kalliope Jones & Moving Day, Zines and Punk at Flywheel, Revolutionary re-enactors in Deerfield
Kalliope Jones & Moving Day at the Stone Church // FRIDAY, April 12 Two great local bands and past Advocate Sessions groups will be performing at the Stone Church in Brattleboro this Friday. Kalliope Jones is a teenage post-rock group with rich vocal harmonies and...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: DakhaBrakha at Gateway City Arts, Mini Golf and Cocktails, and Plants of the Bible Release Show
DakhaBrakha @ Gateway City Arts // TUESDAY, April 9 When I got the press release for this show a couple weeks ago, I was immediately intrigued by their name and their look. World music quartet, DakhaBrakha from Kiev, Ukraine, are bringing their unique style to Western...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: NoHo Hoedown, Waiting for Godot, and Life/Like
The NoHo Hoedown at the Iron Horse // FRIDAY The newly created Valley Twang Cooperative is bringing a night of local roots music to the Iron Horse Music Hall on Friday featuring three bands. There’s rockabilly/ country group Flathead Rodeo, Americana acoustic string...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Goblet and Jeopardy, Poetic Open Mic, Women’s Film Fest
Goblet and Jeopardy at The Perch // THURSDAY Mar. 21 Thrashy Thirsty Thursday! The top floor of the Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield is a nice open spot for some pits. Western Mass bastard thrasher’s Goblet and Brattleboro’s thrash metalist’s...
Staff Picks: The Mammals at Hinterland; Art of Adam Bosse; The Fly at Amherst Cinema
Saturday, March 16 // The Mammals at Hinterland One of my favorite folk bands of all time, The Mammals, led by Ruth Ungar and Mike Merenda (Mike + Ruthy), will be playing at Valley View Farm in Haydenville this Saturday in collaboration with Laudable Productions. The...
Staff picks: 17 Years Boy: Epilogue; Big Surf Dance; Spring Bulb Show
Imo Nse Imeh: 17 Years Boy: Epilogue // Through March 15 Visual artist Dr. Imo Nse Imeh’s latest project “17 Years Boy: Epilogue” is now on display at Readywipe Gallery in Holyoke. His work is remarkable and powerful and absolutely beautiful. The exhibition stems from...
Staff Picks: Stop Making Sense/Bach and Friends/Krewe les Gras
Talking Heads Film @ Amherst Cinema // Friday, MARCH 1 This Friday, March 1, Amherst Cinema brings Talking Heads’ fantastic and groundbreaking concert film “Stop Making Sense,” to the screen as part of its Late Nights series. The film was shot during the course of...
Advocate Staff Picks: Feb. 15 – 23
Ch’CHUNK! at Luthier’s Co-op // FRIDAY, Feb. 15 Ch’Chunk is self-described as “a modern take on classic swing.” The band plays great original songs as well as Tin Pan Alley classics that instantly transports your mind to a dimly lit speakeasy. So, with that in...
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...
Staff Picks: Jazz in July, Poetic Recovery, and Shakespeare Under the Stars
Jazz in July Week 2 All Star Faculty Concert // THURSDAY, July 19 It’s not truly July until UMass launches the Jazz in July program in Amherst. And The Jazz in July faculty concerts are always showstoppers. Greg Caputo, Steve Davis, Bob Ferrier, Catherine Jensen-Hole,...
Staff Picks: Next Wave Stage, Artney Jackson, and violinist Kristin Lee
Next Wave Stage at Green River Fest // FRIDAY, July 13 Signature Sounds Recordings will continue its Next Wave Stage this year at the 2018 Green River Festival, highlighting up and coming teenage bands across the Pioneer Valley and northern Vermont. The lineup this...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Rocky Horror, Twelfth Night, and Ashfield Lake House Anniversary Party
Rocky Horror Picture Show // SATURDAY, July 7 In 1975 something amazing happened: Rocky Horror Picture Show burst on the scene and life would never be the same again – especially for college kids who want to throw toast and toilet paper. On top it all, The Come Again...
Pick of the Day 3/24: Darlingside at the Academy of Music
If you like folk and bluegrass and haunting vocals you shouldn’t miss Darlingside’s tour stop at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton. I’m a little biased because the four members of Darlingside met while they were attending my alma mater, Williams College but...
Staff Picks: Folk music, Valley Music Showcase, Jewish Film
Darlingside // SATURDAY, March 24 If you like folk and bluegrass and haunting vocals you shouldn’t miss Darlingside’s tour stop at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton. I’m a little biased because the four members of Darlingside met while they were attending my...
Get Out with Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Ingmar Bergman, Pinedrop, and High Mud Comedy Fest
Smiles of a Summer Night // SUNDAY, March 18 It took Ingmar Bergman fifteen films to attract an international following, and it was his 1955 erotic comedy Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) that did it. The black and white film follows 8 Swedes (four...
Get Out with Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Beatles Open Mic, Elton John Tribute, and 500 Years discussion
500 YEARS // WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28 500 Years exposes Guatemala’s official history of brutality, entrenched racism and genocide through the indigenous Mayan population’s uprising that threatens to topple a corrupt government. Director Pamela Yates will be...
Get Out with Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Ch’Chunk!, Butterfly Swing Band, and Musical Thrones
Musical Thrones: A Parody of Ice and Fire // THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, FEB. 15, 16 Really, the name says it all. A musical comedy send up of Emmy award winning Game of Thrones. There will be dragons, comedy, dragons, music, and, yes…dragons. 7:30 p.m. City Stage,...
Staff Picks: Marc Chagall, Amy Beach weather, and Jeremy Turgeon Album Release
Marc Chagall and Friends: The Salon des Indépendants // Through Sunday Marc Chagall has been described as “the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century.” A pioneer of modern expressionism, Chagall’s work is a celebration of his Jewish...
Staff Picks: Dirty Words II, Rock at the Bing, Bon Appetit Burlesque, and French Film Fridays
Children of Paradise // FRIDAY French Film Fridays up at the Hooker-Dunham in Brattleboro is featuring Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis). I just read about this movie somewhere and the claim was that it was like Gone with the Wind only better … not...
Staff Picks: Stay inside with comic books, fusion jazz, democratic candidates for Governor, and yoga
Comic Book Craft Night with Beer // SUNDAY Oh my goodness, comic book crafting and beer?? Wake up your inner nerd from freezing cold weather-induced hibernation and get your craft on! Comics N’ More will provide all the materials needed to make some collages,...
Get Out With Staff Picks: First Night Music, Rubblebucket, Weeds, and Home Alone
2018 First Night Northampton // SUNDAY Checking out all the great local bands while meandering through the chilly streets of downtown Northampton is a tradition for me on New Year’s Eve, and this year is no exception. There’s a plethora of amazing acts...
Holiday Staff Picks: A Solstice Celebration, Creepy Christmas, Ugly Sweaters, and Holiday Benefit
Songs of Joy and Peace — Holiday Benefit Show // THURSDAY It’s a night of music at the Sierra Grille featuring a plethora of local bands playing holiday music to benefit the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and Me Too. Bring $3 for donations of three items...
STAFF PICKS: Snow White, Christmas Metal, Eavesdrop, and Art After Depression Treatment
Overcoming Depression // SATURDAY Chris Goudreau wrote a great piece on transcranial magnetic stimulation (in a crude sense getting zapped by a magnet) as a way to treat depression. The treatment has been shown to be effective enough that the FDA approved its...
Staff Picks: Music Across the Valley and Ladies Arm Wrestling
Nate Martel Album Release at Hawks & Reed // SUNDAY Nate Martel, best known for being the singer/guitarist of Northampton rock group Outer Stylie is releasing his debut solo album — and it’s on his birthday! The release show will feature a handful of musicians...
STAFF PICKS: Snow Farm, Labyrinth Walk, a Hendrix Tribute, and Eddie Japan
Snow Farm Seconds Sale // FRIDAY-SUNDAY My number one goal for the holiday season is to get as much of my shopping done before December as possible. Shopping in December is the worst, and I am trying to avoid giving Amazon my money so I’m heading to the last...
STAFF PICKS: Jazz, Folk, Funk, and Tattoos for a Cause
Home Brewed Jazz // SATURDAY Hadley singer-songwriter Jacki Odess-Gillett already has a jazz album under her belt. In 2015, she recorded 10 original jazz tunes with local jazz masters, including Charles Neville, Miro Sprague, Dave Wertman (now deceased), and Billy...
STAFF PICKS: A Week’s Worth of Films, Blues, and the New England Neck Wrecker
Brattleboro Film Fest // THROUGH SUNDAY I haven’t been to a film festival in awhile, but it only took one look at the lineup for this week’s sixth annual Brattleboro Film Festival to seal the deal. The festival takes place at the historic Latchis Theatre in downtown...
STAFF PICKS: Incarcerated artists, Roxane Gay, and dinner and a show
Inside Art IV // FRIDAY The Elm Street Think Tank is a group of incarcerated locals and community educators who meet weekly inside the jail to have discussions, raise awareness, and work on a collection of different projects. The fourth annual “Inside Art,” an art...
STAFF PICKS: Haunted Evenings, Electronic/Art Rock, and Ukulele’s
A Haunted Evening at Gateway City Arts // SATURDAY The weekend before Halloween is usually when all the fun happens. The Valley is full of events going on, and this just happens to be one of them. There will be many treats in store. Halloween-inspired cocktails and...
Staff Picks: A HeART for Puerto Rico
HeART for Puerto Rico Benefit Fundraiser // FRIDAY, SATURDAY, and SUNDAY It’s a weekend of music, live shows, and art at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke all in support of a relief fund for Puerto Rico and the Holyoke community, which is preparing to receive more...
Staff PICKS! Lady Snowblood in Amherst, Freak Folkers, Orchard Ballet, and Yucks
Lady Snowblood at Amherst Cinema // FRIDAY Ah, the classic story of bloody and brutal revenge. There’s nothing quite like it. Although many think Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films are the peak of stylized action in the sub-genre, there is another film...
Staff Picks: Smell You Later in Williamstown
Smell You Later // Thursday The Osmotheque in Versailles, France, brings visitors to the museum on a journey of smells, cataloging the historic smells of perfumes. It’s name comes from the Greek words meaning “smell storehouse.” Now Williams College is taking a stab...E-Edition
Best Of 2024
Readers Choice 2024
