agenda
the
LISTINGS@CITYPAPER.NET | OCT. 31 - NOV. 6
[ as spazzy and joyful as ever ]
LET US BEGIN THE STARING CONTEST: Jenny Hval plays the Boot & Saddle on Wednesday. (See p. 35.) KRISTINE JAKOBSEN
The Agenda is our selective guide to what’s going on in the city this week. For comprehensive event listings, visit citypaper.net/listings. IF YOU WANT TO BE LISTED:
Submit information by email (listings@citypaper.net) to Caroline Russock or enter it yourself at citypaper.net/submit-event with the following details: date, time, address of venue, telephone number and admission price. Incomplete submissions will not be considered, and listings information will not be accepted over the phone.
THURSDAY
10.31 [ metal ]
✚ OVERKILL In a scene dominated by Bay Area bands, New Jersey’s Overkill joined Anthrax in bringing a dose of East Coast attitude to thrash. Firmly entrenched in
the second tier of the speedmetal hierarchy — just below the blast-beast Mt. Rushmore inscribed by the Big Four tours — Overkill attacks with a punk ferocity and a taste for the anthemic. No 10-minute epics for this band; their approach is more characterized by song titles like “Hello from the Gutter” and, at their most blunt, their cover of The Subhumans’ “Fuck You.” They’ve steamrolled forward for more than 30 years without messing much with the formula, enjoying a mini-renaissance with 2010’s particularly strong Ironbound. Their 16th album, The Electric Age, continues the momentum, a set of blistering riffs edged as always by Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth’s venom-spitting snarl of a voice (or, as Blitz himself sings on “Old Wounds, New Scars” from the new album: “Got a lot of mouth for a Jersey white boy”). Overkill is currently co-headlining
with German thrash founding fathers Kreator. —Shaun Brady Thu., Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m., $23.50$75, with Kreator and Warbringer, Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-9226888, thetroc.com.
[ theater ]
✚ A CLOCKWORK ORANGE Luna Theater opens its new space just off South Street with Anthony Burgess’ stage adaptation of his 1962 novel, perhaps best known via Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film. Gregory Scott Campbell’s production is going for those not familiar with either. The teenagers among the many characters speak “Nadsat,” Burgess’ artfully fabricated Anglo-Russian-Cockney-slang patois, so keep the program glossary handy. Burgess, a linguist, is nearly Shakespearean in his cleverness with words — for example, horrorshow, the Nadsat
word for “good,” both serves as a characterization of our ultraviolent young protagonists and actually stems from khorosho, Russian for “good” — and the language becomes understandable and even poetic as the brisk 90-minute story unfolds. Alan Holmes plays Alex, leader of his “droogs” and Beethoven aficionado. Condemned as “villainy incarnate,” he’s forced to be a lab rat for the Ludovico technique, which renders him physically ill in situations of conflict and therefore makes his behavior “good.” Meanwhile, a boozy priest wonders, “Does God want goodness, or the choice of goodness?” Burgess’ play, with a capella songs sung to “Lovely Ludwig Van” tunes, keeps us appropriately distant, with the exaggerated Commedia Dell’Arte masks and Millie Hiibel’s clever costumes stressing that the snarky morality tale remains relevant, prescient and horrifying more than 50
years after its creation. —Mark Cofta Through Nov. 9, $15-$25, Luna Theater, 620 S. Eighth St., 215-7040033, lunatheater.org.
FRIDAY
11.1
to help maximize the bootyshaking. There’s also gonna be a traditional altar where they’ll give away pan de muerto (bread of the dead) and attendees can post pictures of lost loved ones. It’s a celebration of life and death alongside sound-system culture. —Gair “Dev79” Marking Fri., Nov. 1, 10 p.m., $7, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org.
[ math rock ]
[ dance/latin ]
✚ TERA MELOS
✚ TROPICALISMO: DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
Sometimes to get weird, you’ve gotta get a little less weird. And if you’re a Sacramento-based time-signature prankster trio, maybe that means embracing traditional pop structure — at least just a little bit. X’ed Out (Sargent House) finds Tera Melos toning down all the schizophrenic tangents and zigzags that made Patagonian Rats an impressive demonstration of sonic control to some and kind
The Tropicalismo Mundial guys turn it up for a Day of the Dead-themed event featuring Latin club music ranging from traditional roots styles to modern electronic like cumbia sonidera and other global bass vibes. Resident DJs Juanderful and Gregzinho will be joined by guest toaster El Sabor del Barrio
C I T Y PA P E R . N E T | O C T O B E R 3 1 - N O V E M B E R 6 , 2 0 1 3 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |
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