1730dig

THEATER

DIGBOSTON.COM 7.29.15 - 8.5.15

DIANE PAULUS WAITRESS

MUSIC

HOUSE OF THE

RISING FUZZ

ON

STAN INTERVIEW

SWINGS THROUGH TOWN

EATS

WHISK A NOMADIC SUPPER

CLUB DROPS ANCHOR IN JAMAICA PLAIN

THE MAN

LEE

FOR BOSTON COMIC CON

C O S U Y F G N2024:

TO S O B G N TROLLI RECAP A

2

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

VOL 17 + ISSUE 30

JULY 29, 2015 - AUGUST 5, 2015

EDITOR Dan McCarthy NEWS, FEATURES + MEDIA FARM EDITOR Chris Faraone ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR Nina Corcoran ASSOCIATE FILM EDITOR Jake Mulligan CONTRIBUTORS Nate Boroyan, Mitchell Dewar Christopher Ehlers, Bill Hayduke, Emily Hopkins, Micaela Kimball, Dave Wedge INTERNS Oliver Bok, Emily Tiberio

DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tak Toyoshima DESIGNER Brittany Grabowski INTERNS Amy Bouchard, Stephanie Buonopane, Kelsey Cole COMICS Tim Chamberlain Pat Falco Patt Kelley Tak Toyoshima

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Nate Andrews Jesse Weiss FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION sales@digpublishing.com

BUSINESS PUBLISHER Jeff Lawrence ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Marc Shepard OPERATIONS MANAGER John Loftus ADVISOR Joseph B. Darby III DigBoston, 242 East Berkeley St. 5th Floor Boston, MA 02118 Fax 617.849.5990 Phone 617.426.8942 digboston.com

ON THE COVER This week’s cover is dedicated to all the true believers. Comic book legend Stan Lee swings by the Hub for the Boston Comic Con. Read all about it on page 28.

©2015 DIGBOSTON IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY DIG PUBLISHING LLC. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT. DIG PUBLISHING LLC CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. ONE COPY OF DIGBOSTON IS AVAILABLE FREE TO MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS AND VISITORS EACH WEEK. ANYONE REMOVING PAPERS IN BULK WILL BE PROSECUTED ON THEFT CHARGES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.

DEAR READER The bid is dead.

What’s being called by several local media voices “this year’s Market Basket story”—or “The People vs The Money,” as it were—the news that after seven months of (reluctant) public discussion, the USOC has dropped Boston as the prospective United States host city for the 2024 Summer Games came in as hastily a fashion as they tossed the original announcement in the ring to begin with.

And now that it’s done, the constant mixedmessaging, shadowy efforts by organizers to maintain beneficial layers of secrecy regarding the full extent of the potential disruption, as well as a lack of hard promises that the taxpayers would not be on the line for a penny of cost overruns (save for the final presser by the Mayor, a red herring of a protective move by Walsh that we point out on Page 4) and all the rest are now a thing of the recent past.

Amidst all the noise, this ultimately boiled down to a matter of “could” vs “should.” Supporters were all about the fact that with certain levels of tacit acceptance and genuflecting to the Boston 2024 gods, we could bring the games here. Opponents never doubted that. Instead, their questioning was always rooted in some form of, “Should we, and why?”

As we all know, that was never sufficiently explained, reasoned, or even debated. Unless you count the spectacle of former NYC city deputy mayor and wealthy USOC member Daniel Doctoroff telling Boston we just needed to “adjust” and take what was coming if the Olympics happened here. It was that very tenor that hit the eardrums of the populace like the fat side of an Olympic rower’s paddle upside the head, and in the end, the entire project fell under the sword of the warbly, roaring oppositional chorus of voices.

Which turned out to be a lot more than “10 people on Twitter.”

DAN MCCARTHY - EDITOR, DIGBOSTON

DIGTIONARY

FOLLEYBALL

noun ˈfälē bôl 1. Uncelebrated Olympic sport pitting supporters against opponents of bringing the Summer Games to Boston over the course of seven months, with the most recent victors being the opponents.

OH, CRUEL WORLD Dear Beacon Hill People, It’s not that you annoy me ‘cause you have all kinds of money. That’s too easy. What kills me is how nobody between Beacon Street and the Liberty Hotel seems to have any clue that anyone exists besides them. You walk into the street when cars are coming, pause for no apparent reason in the least convenient places, and in countless cases take up an entire sidewalk with a brunch crew too drunk off mimosas to realize they are human cholesterol clogging a major artery. That’s what I can’t freaking stand.

ILLUSTRATION BY AMY BOUCHARD

EDITORIAL

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

3

NEWS US END GAMES NEWS TO US

Put this in your Boston 2024 time capsule and choke on it

BY CHRIS FARAONE, ZACK HUFFMAN, AND DAN MCCARTHY For those with the ability to think critically, Boston 2024 was unquestionably headed for dark waters before the bid landed on Plymouth Rock. Since Massachusetts was bestowed with the loaded honor of being thrown into the deep end of the international pool, the prospects for a Hub Olympics have grown uglier, muddier, and sleazier with each passing news cycle. Which is all the more reason why, now that the offending parties have been utterly humiliated, we feel it’s of the utmost importance to make sure the record shows what kind of horrors have unfolded.

It may seem inevitable that extraterrestrials, when they come to pick our bones, will find the proof that Boston folk were among very few other populations with enough smarts and privilege to stop an Olympics. After all, writers and opinion mongers produced countless op-eds, screeds, and flames in lambasting goons like John Fish, the construction honcho bolstering the 2024 bumrush, and Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung, whose condemnations of the opposition’s tantrums ranged from amateurish propaganda to contrarianism stubborn enough to warrant comparisons to the late Christopher Hitchens flanking Dick Cheney’s war doctrine.

Before you naively believe that all or even any of those adversarial voices will be remembered in time over the cheap boosterism of Leung, Olympics fanboys, and Walsh though, consider that as recently as two weeks ago, certain local television outlets were reporting that it was the mayor who was holding feet to the fire. That despite opponents of the bid having released thousands of pages of documents, obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, showing that his administration was in total cahoots with Boston 2024 PR flacks.

In the immediate wake of this tsunami, some positive voices are claiming, as expected, that the aftermath adds up to proof that Bostonians have superhuman resolve, and it can now be multiplied into various unique opportunities to spur development and greenlight sweeping infrastructural overhauls. Writing for CommonWealth Magazine, former Mass transportation secretary James Aloisi opined that “the end of the Boston 2024 Olympic bid says a lot about Boston 2015, and what it says bodes well for our future,” while in the Globe, political consultant Conor Yunits (a former No Boston 2024 operative turned neutralist) proposed, “As we either wallow or rejoice in the collapse of Boston 2024, we also need to think about the future.” Meanwhile, hardcore curmudgeons are now pushing for significant political retribution against Walsh and anybody else responsible for the distraction, while hacktacular Boston Herald humanitarian Howie Carr, no doubt too proudly ignorant and lazy to peruse the damning documents unearthed by activists, crudely suggested that the mayor took bribes from planners of the games to buy his “huge new mansion in Lower Mills.”

What’s as important as future productivity and accountability, however, is making sure the record’s set 4

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

as straight as possible. Walsh may have stood before a gaggle of reporters earlier this week and made it look like he was shielding Boston from potential economic endangerment—certainly a lot of people outside of New England, or even those right here who paid scant attention to the crash course in procession, have already interpreted events that way—but only a work of fiction should find such conclusions. In reality, the mayor saved Bostonians from a Summer Games budget-fuck no more than someone who arranges for a kidnapping and then pays the ransom rescued a missing child. There’s a difference between Walsh not signing a guarantee to save face in light of public opposition and him acting altruistically, and considering how grassroots blowback clearly forced his hand, it’s hard to imagine him caring about any tax burden had residents not hooted and hollered.

In any case, so as to scratch as many scars into the furniture as possible before new fabulist perversions of Olympic history are sketched by candidates in the upcoming mayor’s race, we thought to highlight a select few moments of depravity that came to light in the volatile final week of battle: It turns out that, contrary to repeated claims that private funders would cover the tab, planners actually predicted a $471 million shortfall. Even worse, as if former governor and gambling enthusiast Deval Patrick consulted them from the beginning, the best idea that Boston 2024 could pitch to tackle cash flow issues was to hock Powerball tickets. From their initial proposal: “One potential revenue source Boston 2024 continues to actively investigate is licensing opportunities with state and national lotteries.”

When the bids were originally released with omitted content, the Boston 2024 committee claimed that all of the omissions were proprietary content and that the US Olympic Committee would not allow them to be shared. When pressed, the mouthpieces explained that organizers were simply looking out for number one; if they shared expected acquisition costs up front, then they might lose footing when they finally negotiated for the land.

It’s hardly gone unnoticed, but detractors had a major victory here, especially in light of how Boston 2024 strategists either lied at first in claiming to the USOC that haters were disorganized, or were so out of touch with public sentiment that they misled themselves.

And then there’s all the wasted time; anyone who thinks the state and city didn’t incur millions of dollars in indirect expenses in the past year probably also believes that the Patriots and Red Sox float their own parades.

From councilors who took up hundreds of hours apiece in some cases wrestling the hideous Olympic beast to residents who had to pay for childcare so that they could attend meaningless and patronizing neighborhood meetings, we are all worse off. Think about the ink spilled on this joke; by our count, between Jan 8, when the USOC chose Boston, and this Monday, the Globe ran no less than 364 articles on the topic, with the Herald pushing close to 200 headlines.

As for how this failure will be written into history, there’s little doubt that the current embarrassment will beget bullshit. That’s the way it’s been with Olympic millionaires all the way back to the late 19th century, END GAMES continued on pg. 6

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

5

END GAMES continued from pg. 4

Celebrating 50+ Years!

Escape the Summer heat with a cruise!

Daily 7:00pm-8:30pm Daily 12:00pm-6:00pm Fri & Sat 9:00pm-10:30pm

Sensational Sunset Cruises Historical Harbor Tours Starlit Evening Cruises

Thursdays: HIGH SEAS HUMOR

We cruise the harbor with the All-Star comedians from Improv Asylum they will have you laughing all night long!

(21+)

Sundays: ENDLESS SUMMAH calypso, Paella, frozen drinks!

Mondays: WINDUSTRY NIGHT

For the weekend worker!

Wednesdays:

HARBURLESQUE burlesque show! (21+)

Fridays:

FLOATING BEER HAUL New selections weekly

Mass Bay Lines

60 Rowes Wharf, Boston, MA 02110 Tickets: 617.934.2610 or 888.503.5659

6

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

Toronto CowPunk Legends The Sadies w/ These Wild Plains & Willard Grant Conspiracy 7/31 8PM Doors tix: $15 7/30 Powertrip & Friends 8/1 Your Friends Fest 8/3 The Sools in the Lounge UPCOMING:

8/14 Andrew WK SOLD OUT 8/27 End of Summer BBQ Bash!

10/25 Here We Go Magic The ONCE Lounge is Here!

5-10PM Thurs, Fri & Sat Nights With a new Bar Menu, Games & Pool Locavore Tacos Done Right Every Monday Night 5-10 PM in the Lounge

when the debut games in Athens nearly didn’t happen as a result of planners underestimating expenses and clashing with a government that was initially reluctant to support a lottery to pay for the party. Sound familiar? Back then, an enthusiastic public ultimately moved the ruling prince to give his blessing, but headaches for the wealthy Greeks behind the sporting event weren’t over.

Prone to obscene overruns from day one, those first modern Olympics saw its central venue, the solid marble Panathenaic Stadium, cost nearly double the originally estimated 585,000 drachmas. More than a century later, many of those hiccups have been scrubbed from the official record, as have the names of the men who cut the marble and in some cases probably lost their lives during construction. When people look back at what happened to the Boston Olympics, it’s important to remember how the monsters who attempted to bring 2024 to our shore were not misunderstood heroes who were ahead of their time, but rather egomaniacal stinkards who were put in their place by the public.

BLUNT TRUTH

A MONTH OF MARIJUANA REFORM Get ready to spend lots of time on Beacon Hill

BY MIKE CANN @MIKECANNBOSTON The first week of August is going to be busy for Boston’s marijuana reform community.

On the morning of Tuesday, August 4, Hub medical dispensary applicant Patriot Care goes before the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal for a hearing about their planned Milk Street operation. During a recent webcast of my online radio show, “The Young Jurks,” Dennis Kunian of Patriot Care reported that Mayor Marty Walsh actually requested a deferral at the previous hearing so that he might help broker a deal between the dispensary and anti-marijuana NIMBYs with the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District (BID).

“We’re following the mayor’s advice, meeting with the BID later this week to offer them office space and support,” Kunian said. “We’re pleased that the mayor is involved in the process. I also want to thank you Mike, I’m not sure you know how many people read DigBoston and listen to this program, but we [Patriot Care] know your reporting, it’s made a difference. Our community has made it happen, the phone calls, the emails have been tremendous, as well as the amount of people that came out in support at the first two hearings. We hope to get the word out again for August 4 … it will be the third, and I promise the final zoning hearing—I promise you that we need everybody to come out again to City Hall on the fourth. We’re still expecting some of the same opposition.”

After that, on Wednesday, August 5, the campaigns of the Marijuana Policy Project and Bay State Repeal will score headlines with their dueling marijuana legalization initiatives, which are due to be officially submitted that day to the office of the Commonwealth Attorney General.

As these things go, that will also be the day that most advocates finally get to read the proposed MPP wording. From there, if both initiatives land on the ballot, and then are passed by a majority of voters, the law bends toward that which gathered the most votes. Naturally, if both initiatives go to voters, most supporters of the green will simply vote for the pair.

As if that’s not enough, on Thursday, August 6, a solemn procession of medical marijuana activists will gather in support of H.2065, “An Act to protect patients approved by physicians and certified by the Department of Public Health to access medical marijuana.” Billed as “a funeral for medical marijuana patients who have died waiting for safe access,” the demonstration will involve advocates and family members of passed patients marching from Boston Common to Beacon Hill. Organizers with the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance (MPAA) encourage attendees to dress in black.

MPAA’s bill would ensure the availability of caregiver services, as well as employment, child custody, and other legal protections to medical marijuana patients. At a recent State House hearing for the bill, local network sports legend Bob Lobel testified with medical marijuana moms Lisa Cole and Jill HitchmanOsborn, as well as many other advocates, while no one testified in opposition. If there’s anyone out there with more input, and the more input the better, MPAA encourages concerned parties to contact their elected officials, and to urge them to support the measure.

“We’re following the mayor’s advice, meeting with the BID later this week to offer them office space and support.

We’re pleased that the mayor is involved in the process.”

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

7

MEDIA FARM

POTHOLES IN YOUR BLOG

At the end of the day, someone needs to fill the news hole

BY CHRIS FARAONE @FARA1

I’ll open this week’s Media Farm with a flashback. It’s the late ’90s or the mid-’00s, take your pick, and the world is seemingly becoming overrun with bloggers. These so-called bloggers (or web-loggers, as initial media coverage of said Internet phenomenon often explained) were supposed to take over more than just traditional media. It certainly felt at one point—say, circa 2004, when the rise of DIY reporters was the only story born out of the Democratic National Convention in Boston to get more coverage than a young and mesmerizing Barack Obama— like the sharpest of this freewheeling bunch were poised to rise up and replace enterprises from Siskel and Ebert to The Source, leveling newsrooms from the Associated Press to Alternative Press in the process. It was speculative chaos: Entrepreneurs and journos romanced each other like never before. To the consternation of broadsheet devotees, longtime print hacks deserted their gray ladies to shack up with sexy young start-ups with silly names.

Looking back now, while they may have succeeded in overshadowing The Source, for the most part bloggers have failed to live up to expectations (which, to be fair, were absurd and artificially inflated by network jackasses). That’s fine; depending on what you consider a blog, many independent online writers have become important fixtures in ongoing conversations. In Boston, even political adversaries can agree that the impact of Universal Hub is immense, as the site’s become a go-to destination for various interests. It’s a similar story for Barstool Sports; though trafficking in shit humor and co-ed softcore should earn any news org an asterisk in the comparative analytics column, there’s no denying the ’Stool’s pole position as an indelible influence across significant demographics.

But who else? What else? Where is all the grassroots media? Where’s the massive onslaught of blogs? Did monsters like the Boston Globe destroy the ecosystem by first luring local voices to their network and then banishing community bloggers to the equivalent of a subreddit ghetto? This is not to discount those who do put work in; from Media Nation to Blackstonian and Killer Boombox to Vanyaland, there is select relief from the dominant big players.

Nevertheless, now that lofty blog ideals have been abandoned without early movement cheerleaders being called out—and in the wake of social media and video being tasked with saving the world—who the heck is going to cover the selectmen’s meeting in this town? Or the planning board in that city? How about the State House? Where’s the posse of bloggers on white stallions? They’re few and far between, that’s where they are. Because while lots of people may be willing to tweet regularly or even maintain a timely Medium or Tumblr page, nothing close to the predicted market coup has occurred. At least not in Boston.

Not that I see.

Which is a natural segue into our shoutout to the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, based out of Boston University, and its newly released project about potholes in the Hub. The center does the kind of journalism that a platoon of armchair muckrakers or even ambitious individual citizens could conceivably explore, but that in practice really needs a budget and an expert hand to competently execute.

Though not Watergate or another Catholic Church scandal, “Holes in the System” is the best kind of municipal journalism, in that reporters thought enough to impugn a routine problem hiding in plain sight. As the saying posted in the offices of countless journalists goes, “If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.” In this case, a pothole isn’t necessarily filled just because somebody—or an award-winning application like Citizens Connect, or an expert, or even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle who lives underneath that particular patch of asphalt—says so. With loopholes that allow pols to legally enrich themselves by trading influence for campaign grist and future employment prospects, reporters are more likely to net impact these days by striking with a thousand papercuts than they are by trying to unearth a single smoking gun.

Also, bonus points for how NECIR highlighted the difference between reality and 8

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

PR spin. Sometimes, you only have to wait a couple of hours for the fraudulent facade to fade. From the article: Boston’s Public Works Interim Commissioner Michael Dennehy, his deputy, Michael Brohel, and a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office had just been to the street to show reporters how crews repair potholes. But about an hour and a half after they filled this one, it had caved in. The bottom was only visible with a flashlight.

Let’s hope the city learns a lesson here beyond that Boston needs to do a better job of patching streets. As Massachusetts handcuffs its economic prosperity to advanced innovation at a more prolific clip than almost any other American city besides San Francisco, we can all stand to remember that while there may countless ways to blog and share content, someone still needs to mine primary sources and fill the news hole; and while you can design a million apps that earn the praise of tech reporters and streamline infrastructure improvement, at the end of the work day, you still need somebody to pour the asphalt.

Take 5, at 5,

in the Fenway 5

Thursday, July 30th 5-7pm

PS: DO YOU KNOW OF ANY GOOD LOCAL BLOGS THAT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT? C’MON, THERE HAS TO BE SOME STUFF OUT THERE THAT WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT. TWEET US A LINK @DIGBOSTON AND @MEDIAFARM.

FREE RADICAL

THE RIDICULOUSLY INHUMANE BILLS OF REP. GARRY

BY EMILY HOPKINS @GENDERPIZZA

◊ Lansdowne Pub 9 Lansdowne Street

Last week, state Rep. Colleen Garry of Dracut presented a bill tooled to hit protesters who block roadways with attempted murder charges. The measure, which was filed immediately after allies of the Black Lives Matter movement chained themselves across I-93, would likely result in significant jail time and tens of thousands of dollars in fines for those who commit similar disruptions.

According to her comments to the media, Rep. Garry claims her legislation is “content neutral,” and she recently testified that, even if the protesters over the winter had performed the blockade for her campaign (instead of trying to call attention to the rampant deaths of people of color at the hands of police), she would still believe that they were in the wrong.

In addition to the heat that she has justifiably received on account of her absurd testimony, Garry has drawn ire as a result of an email exchange she had in January (but that only surfaced recently) with someone who identifies as an ally of the Black Lives Matter movement. In response to complaints about the aforementioned bill, Garry labeled the protesters “criminals and terrorists,” and claimed that structural racism is “a fraud.”

On the hunch that where there’s fire, there is probably more fire, I took a look at Garry’s history of sponsoring legislation. In doing so I found that her attempted murder bill is not the only way that she is targeting protesters. In tandem with that proposal, she submitted language aiming to prohibit MassHealth from covering any medical treatment for “self inflicted injuries received by protesters during illegal protests.” Hit by a department scooter while taking the streets against police violence? Garry doesn’t want MassHealth to cover that.

Then there’s the bill that Garry filed to prevent trans or genderqueer folks from accessing activities, facilities, or services based on their gender identity instead of their anatomical sex. From there, the depravity goes on, including a proposal to require voters to present government-issued identification in order to vote. Garry has presumably seen research showing how such voter ID laws disproportionately affect people of color and those with lower incomes. She’s all set though, because you can’t really perpetuate systemic racism if you think it’s a fraud in the first place.

◊ Bleacher Bar 82 A Lansdowne Street ◊ Game On 82 Lansdown Street ◊ Bill’s Bar 5 Lansdowne Street ◊ Loretta’s Last Call 1 Lansdowne Street

#take5

Share how you Take 5 on Insta Tag @harp gram: oonbrewe ry and five of friends in y your our post a nd use the h a shtag.

Fir

st 25 peop le to show their post to th e Bartend er gets a bee r ON US!

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

9®

DIGBOSTON

.COM 7.23.14

GFY USOC

- 7.30.14

FEATURE

PUCKER UP

WITH BERLINER-WEIS SE

BEERS

The very best of DigBoston’s Olympic Trolling

BY DIG STAFF

As the hipster paper of record in this town, we couldn’t be any happier to say, “Uh, yeah, we told you so,” “We were first,” and “We despised that band before they even dropped their shitty debut single.”

At Monday’s press conference (about which the Dig was not notified) addressing his reluctance to sign the US Olympic Committee’s host city agreement, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh credited—or passive-aggressively hip-checked, depending on your view of things—a symbolic 10 detractors on Twitter for their opposition. This spurred some hilarious blastback, but we’re fine with it. As history will show, we’re excited to have helped fuel the now-notorious social media entourage that did almost as much damage to the bid as the assholes behind Boston 2024.

10

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

FEBRUARY 2014

ANOTHER REASON TO KEEP THE OLYMPICS OUT OF BOSTON: A POTENTIAL $20 BILLION PRICE TAG While some other outlets were still preoccupied with boosting, we were giving shine to Boston 2024 opposition …

On a much grander scale, of course, there’s another epidemic that rides tandem with costly and obnoxious sporting events—thinking you should be in the business of hosting future ones. Such ideas tend to come from business owners, elected officials, and others who would benefit from such developments.

While this conversation should be laughed out of any room populated by people with no stake in bringing such quadrennial idiocy to Boston, the rational folks at No Boston Olympics—specifically, local politicos Liam Kerr, Chris Dempsey, and Conor Yunits—have nevertheless provided some formidable math showing just how costly such an extravagance could be … Nobody should be having this conversation. But if they must, use this ammunition to help murder the idea in its crib.

JUNE 2014

WE DON’T WANT NO STINKING OLYMPICS Like we proudly said, we were some of the original haters …

As chemicals and gas pepper the World Cup air in Brazil, and Sochi suffers from the avalanche that hit last winter, Bostonians can rest-assured that politicians and tycoons are angling to bring the 2024 Olympics to the Hub. Though the national committee has yet to decide if America will ultimately put in a bid, news broke last week that Boston made the short list of contenders next to Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

In its role as the paper of record, the Boston Globe has so far done a somewhat admirable job of letting both Olympic fluffers and their adversaries pitch rhetoric.

Still, considering how seismically absurd the whole idea is in the first place, we can’t help but finger a few lines from their coverage that, in or out of context, can only be interpreted as blind naïve boosterism.

FREE RADICAL: WHERE ATHLETICISM MEETS ELITISM Emily Hopkins pounced on organizers more than a few times, nailing the real questions people needed to be asking from the very beginning …

Before we get too engulfed in fuzzy, ultra-nationalist feelings, we should ask ourselves: Who are the Olympics for? Because no matter how many by-the-bootstraps stories about athletes NBC stuffs down your throat, the Olympics are for Visa, MasterCard, McDonald’s, and the international elite. While there may be job and housing opportunities for some lower class Boston residents, any improvements would probably be marginal compared to resources wasted on unrelated infrastructure. Worse, police would be armed to the fangs in case of possible unrest.

JULY 2014

TWISTED MEDAL Weeks before the Globe sent someone to Atlanta to see how great the Summer Games were for that city, we had longtime Jamaica Plain Gazette editor and Georgia transplant John Ruch investigate the truth about white elephants down south …

Bostonians should take a hard look at my current home city, Atlanta, host of the last U.S. Summer Olympics in 1996. Twenty years later, the only clear winners are real estate tycoons. The clear losers are blue-collar neighborhoods of color, as the Games were sold on broken promises to the working class and wound up spurring a war on the poor.

Forget the fuzzy Olympics math and airy musings of newspaper columnists. I’m talking about problems that remain: How the city’s worst ghetto still sits directly across the street from a major stadium. How cops conducted illegal mass roundups of homeless people to hide poverty, and how the city is still losing shelters.

How public transit expanded to rich suburbs but was cut back in working-class minority-majority areas. How the Olympics kicked off the infamous demolition of Atlanta’s whole public housing stock.

NOVEMBER 2014

LET THE GAMES BEGIN: ANTI-OLYMPIC ORGANIZING HEATS UP IN BOSTON In case you forgot what it was like to have the feeling that Olympic planners were attempting to gaslight the entire city …

Protesters addressed the arrogance of Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish, the Boston 2024 ringleader, as well as the ridiculous plan to bring, among other things, horsedancing to Franklin Park. Their beef: people in that area and other places that would be impacted by construction (i.e.: everyone, everywhere) haven’t been consulted.

There don’t appear to be municipal plans to solicit much future input either, at least not before the US Olympic Committee picks their winner in two months.

After a devastating Boston Globe column by Eric Wilbur last week titled, “Behind Closed Doors, Boston Has Nearly Secured a US Olympic Bid Whether You Like It Or Not,” Jim Braude and Margery Eagan grilled Mayor Walsh on their WGBH radio show, only to learn that Bostonians may soon be notified about developments, but not necessarily engaged or consulted.

DECEMBER 2014

A #NOBOSTON2024 PRIMER AND YOUR SOURCE OF OUTRAGE FOR MONDAY’S PROTEST AND GLOBE DISCUSSION Here’s us ripping one of the innumerable entitled jackasses who took to op-ed pages trying to convince Olympic opponents to calm down …

Take David D’Alessandro. Unlike the nonprofits that regularly pitch the Boston Globe editorial board with little luck, or any of the other powerless pedestrians among us, the former John Hancock Financial Services CEO has the ability to publish an op-ed in the paper of record, and last week used that platform to broadcast a view of affairs so shamelessly cosmopolitan, so utterly removed from Boston’s on-ground reality, that one can only assume D’Alessandro recited it to an assistant while flipping off poor people through the rare mahogany window of a Gulfstream. His rant is actually titled “Why we [ed.: he means “YOU”] should relax about Boston’s Olympic bid.”

Can you believe the brass on Montgomery Burns over here? Did D’Alessandro bet the guys in his Saturday foursome that he could write a screed obnoxious enough to incite mass revolts? The public’s tolerance for being screwed in plain sight around here is extraordinary; nevertheless, there’s definitely energy fomenting in the opposite direction as well, and so in preparation for Monday’s Boston Globe discussion at the ICA and the preceding #NOBOSTON2024 protest, here’s an abridged history of things to scream about when expressing outrage toward the elite cadre of megalomaniacs behind Boston 2024, as told through the five points of D’Alessandro’s Friday missive …

BOSTON TROLLING: BONUS OLYMPIC EDITION This is where we broke the news that millions of dollars were already being poured into a hyper-surveillance state that would only be bolstered by the promise of a Summer

Games. Please note: while this should have been the biggest concern about the Olympics coming to Boston, the topic remained virtually untouched by major media outlets.

Olympic planners in Boston have stressed that public funds will not be used if the Hub is selected by the USOC sometime between tomorrow and January (the final IOC decision won’t come until 2017). Development expenses aside though, the cost just to shield previous games has run in the billions. Supporters—including Mayor Marty Walsh, who has given Boston 2024 his blessing and at the time of this writing is en route to present their proposal to the USOC in-person—have stressed that the legacy of an Olympics will be long, with resources built to last. For civil liberties advocates and those concerned about an added blanket of excessive scrutiny, the idea that infrastructure will be left behind may be the biggest threat.

JANUARY 2015

MEET BOSTON’S OLYMPIC CURMUDGEONS Some of our competitors (and as a result, a whole lot of people in Boston) didn’t seem to understand the difference between the various anti-Olympic factions, and so we provided them with a guide …

This is a city prone to demonstrating, and it’s no surprise that there’s a multi-prong approach in motion. On that note, in anticipation of tonight’s organizing meeting at The First Church in Boston, we sent the same five questions to representatives from #NoBoston2024 and #NoBostonOlympics, the idea being that their answers might shine light on their similarities and unique tactics as well. Full disclosure: We support both prongs, and wouldn’t mind seeing a few more groups join the uphill battle to derail this disaster.

DB: What is the difference between No Boston Olympics and No Boston 2024?

NoBostonOlympics: We are separate but allied organizations. We’ve got the same goals, but are independent. Variations on a theme—that many in Boston and across the state are frustrated by the lack of transparency in Boston2024’s process and are concerned about the negative impacts of hosting an Olympic Games.

NoBoston2024: We support NBO and consider them allies. Our skill set is very different from that of No Boston Olympics. We are all skilled and experienced in direct action. Draw your own conclusions here.

BOSTON’S OLYMPIC NIGHTMARE IS ONLY BEGINNING The pressers were especially brutal. Bonus: the New York Times quoted us on this one …

I’ll cut to the chase: At the press conference in South Boston today where Mayor Marty Walsh and his Boston 2024 pals formally announced the selection of their bid by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), I felt like I was sitting at a funeral. Specifically it reminded me of my grandfather’s wake, and how I wanted to throw rocks at the priest for pretending it was a positive moment. I expected this to be a bitter pill to swallow if the day ever came, but in all my years as a reporter I have never felt so damn defeated.

GFY USOC continued on pg. 12

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

11

GFY USOC continued from pg. 11

CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER DEALS GIVEAWAY! DAN ANDRIANO @ BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL PAUL VIRZI @ LAUGH BOSTON PBR POPUP ART SHOW @ GOOD LIFE BAR ENDLESS SUMMAH @ MASS BAY LINES CRUISES CIDERSTOCK @ WOODCHUCK CIDERY

To hell with any bullshit that Olympic planners have said about how their process is “just getting started,” or about how “people have seen some of the plans,” as Walsh suggested this morning. Those are lies and quarter-truths, and should be reported as such for the next decade if need be. The fact is Boston 2024 has been organizing for more than a year; their having conceded this and praised their own hard work repeatedly while also insisting otherwise seems right out of the playbook of comedian Steven Wright, who claims to only drink five cups of coffee a day, but doesn’t start tallying until his third cup.

APRIL 2015

HELP US BUILD A SKYSCRAPER IN BOSTON GLOBE COLUMNIST SHIRLEY LEUNG’S BACKYARD If one positive thing came out of this, it’s that we all now know who the biggest hack in the entire Boston media is. Hint: It’s no longer Howie Carr …

All things considered, we feel that it only makes sense to raise $100 million dollars to construct a state-of-the-art skyscraper in Boston Globe writer Leung’s backyard (final cost estimates are still in the works). It will be called “Olympic Tower,” and it will house college students and artists who will operate the mixed-use development’s 24-7 pot dispensary and heavy metal venue. It won’t be easy, but considering how many executive salads Leung has rhetorically tossed over the years, there may even be a shot of finishing this project without having to use taxpayer money. Please send all donations to the Shirley Leung fan club of your choice.

MAY 2015

SHELL GAMES: THESE OLYMPIC EMAILS SHOW WHO ACTUALLY RUNS BOSTON Here’s when even many of the people who at one point wanted the Olympics likely started to believe that Fish and company were full of fizz …

Earlier this month, Boston attorney Joel Fleming released a trove of emails he obtained from UMass Boston through the Freedom of Information Act. Along with the group No Boston 2024, Fleming trumpeted his discovery of the inside correspondence, which details seemingly insidious discussions between city officials, UMass researchers, Olympic organizers, and The Boston Foundation. The latter is New England’s towering philanthropic behemoth, with board members ranging from partners at the city’s leading law firms, to private equity and banking executives, to nonprofit, media, and university honchos. But even though the foundation is guided by influential business interests, the media barely reacted to the Fleming documents, many of which outlined the nauseatingly sleazy process by which TBF manufactured the production and dissemination of a laughably boosterish Boston 2024 study and press release.

JULY 2015

SIGN UP

NOW

DAILYdig digboston.com/daily

12

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

EYES WIDETT SHUT Oh, and we found out that, despite reports to the contrary running for more than a year in every last media outlet, the Boston Redevelopment Authority actually owns part of the area where planners hoped to put their “temporary” stadium …

Community watchdog Shirley Kressel has been trying to sound an alarm about the land within Widett, a public road encircling more than 15 of the roughly 80 acres that Olympic planners are eyeing in this industrial valley.

An epicenter for seafood and meat wholesalers, the New Boston Food Market located inside of Widett was relatively unknown to outsiders until last year, when the Boston Globe reported that New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft had an interest in a neighboring parcel, and the Dorchester Reporter broke news that Boston 2024 was sweet on the encompassing lotted area. (The City of Boston as well as the Commonwealth, Amtrak, and a private company own the other land comprising what Olympic planners have ambitiously dubbed “Midtown.”)

But even with all of the articles that have dropped on the topic in the time since, one apparently critical point has been left out. To quote Kressel: “People are not understanding the importance of one fact: The Boston Redevelopment Authority owns a piece of Widett Circle land—the piece right in the middle of where the stadium would sit.”

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

13

DEPT. COMMERCE DRINKS

HOW CORDIAL

Crudo Boston wants to prove there’s life outside of hard alcohol

BY DAN MCCARTHY @ACUTALPROOF

WHISK AWAY

Beloved duo behind temporal and semi-permanent supper clubs drop anchor in JP

BY DAN MCCARTHY @ACUTALPROOF Normally when it comes to a new restaurant concept emerging in the greater dining ecosphere, the life cycle tends to be something like concept—location—construction—opening.

However, Jeremy Kean and Philip Kruta, the duo behind Whisk Boston, the popular series of one-night to six-month pop-up supper clubs, tend to do things as they see fit. And so far, nobody has complained.

Which is why the news that Whisk has purchased the Fazenda Cafe across from the Forest Hills MBTA station in Jamaica Plain (right in the shadow of the colossal Casey Overpass project) is not only newsworthy because it’s their first official permanent home, but also because the process of bringing their full concept to life is taking a different route.

“We did these pop-ups for however many years, and it was amazing and fun and we got to travel around and do what we want,” says Kean. “But it was all done out of a van. Then we started doing six-month setups so we wouldn’t have to use the van so much.” Those temporary spots were hit-or-miss for Kean, who calls the stint they did at 351 Hanover in the North End “a dream for us” but says after they moved out, they didn’t feel they had much to show for it. And the stretch they spent in the kitchen at Wink and Nod in the South End turned out to be less than desireable. “We just didn’t feel like it was a place for a tasting menu, it was too dark, [we] weren’t confident in the front of house, and we wanted out,” he says. “After that we said no more partnerships. We wanted our own thing, and had people who wanted to invest in us.”

But the reason JP was the choice for them has a lot to do with the history of Whisk. The duo started their pop-ups in 2011 at Fiore’s Bakery on South Street, and both of the guys wanted to bring it all back home. But Kruta says it hasn’t been a walk in the park. After all, the Fazenda cafe was just that—a cafe.

“We had to put in the infrastructure for restaurant; took a lot behind the walls to bring it up to where it needed to be to become a restaurant,” he says. “I think it’s a great way to evolve. By doing the pop-ups here, we get to learn what the area wants from us, what the neighborhood wants. We’ve been getting a lot of feedback from the customers, and that’s really helping us evolve the whole concept.” [Ed note: Their next pop-up will be Aug 20 and 21 and will focus on ramen, Japanese whiskey, and live blues.]

The story of how they procured the space is noteworthy if only for the ease with which the changeover happened.

After a motorcycle trip the duo took through the South in September of last year, Kean and Kruta weren’t sure what their next move would be for Whisk. They had looked at a couple places in JP, but things just weren’t falling into place—and then one day the two called the Fazenda owners and essentially asked if they wanted to sell the cafe. The next day they talked price, and that was that. Kean and Kruta took over the space in mid-January, and since then have held a few popups right in the cafe as a way to slowly build out the restaurant while also introducing the concepts to locals.

“We’re not in a rush,” says Kean. “We have this space during the day, and we’re turning it around into something we’re real proud of, and while we’re doing that we’re learning what the whole thing will be. It’s taken a while to transform, but we’ve got time.” >> WHISK BOSTON. 3710 WASHINGTON ST., JAMAICA PLAIN. 14

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

>> CRUDO BOSTON. NOW OPEN. 78 SALEM ST., BOSTON. 617-367-6500. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT FACEBOOK.COM/CRUDOBOSTON

PHOTOS BY DAN MCCARTHY

EATS

To many a seasoned drinker, the thought of strolling into a historic neighborhood and seeing a bar stocked only with cordials can be something of a turnoff to the uneducated.

And that fact isn’t lost on Jameson Visconte, beverage director for the just-opened North End newcomer, Crudo Boston.

Visconte, a Boston-area native and previously a Las Vegas mixologist, says after being asked by the owners to create a bar program to go with the unconventional-for-theNorth End sushi and Japanese cuisine, he was informed it would be a cordials-only license.

Facing that, he realized he’d have to get very creative in order to not have the discerning and at times hard-to-please local palates disregard the restaurant and turn their noses up right out of the gate.

“I wanted to embrace being different. At first the owners wanted Peroni on the menu. I was like, ‘We’re a Japanese place in the North End. There are a ton of places to get that. We’re already different, let’s embrace that.’”

Necessity is the mother of invention, and the cocktail list here is a still-evolving affirmation of that. But the fact that it’s a Japanese restaurant means they can go heavier on the inclusion of creative uses of sake in place of other spirits. The Social Mule is an Eastern spin on a classic Moscow Mule with a mix of organic sake, ginger beer, and liqueur.

The Pink Panda is a dangerously smooth sipper that’s loaded with Nigori sake, St. Germain, apple juice, and Luxardo cherries. The Salem Street is a simple apricot brandy and organic sake concoction. And naturally, sake bombs are a regular sight on the tables here (bonus: They swap the Bud Light for some dynamite Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale).

If the presence of sake bombs and the sleek vibe of reclaimed wood walls bouncing ambient house music around the room seem like they set out to attract a young, professional crowd … well, you’re right. Visconte and general manager Tim Panagopoulous say that since opening, the clientele has largely been locals seeking a respite from the pasta- and pizzaheavy normalcy of life in the neighborhood.

“We built [Crudo] for the community [as] something different in the North End,” says Panagopoulous.

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

15

HONEST PINT

I LOVE LAMP

After an exhaustive search, Lamplighter Brewing is coming to Cambridge

BY DAN MCCARTHY @ACUTALPROOF

You’d think after a few years of prolonged development largely centered around archaic zoning laws in Cambridge going back half a century, the fires fueling AC Jones and Cayla Marvil to bring Lamplighter Brewing to the same beerfriendly neighborhood where Lord Hobo and Cambridge Brewing Company reign supreme would have dimmed by now. And you’d be wrong.

The pair moved to Cambridge in 2012, and after being surrounded by a plethora of small craft breweries during their time living in Vermont, Marvil and Jones we were shocked at how few breweries there were actually in their new city.

“We came from a town with about seven thousand people and four breweries,” says Jones. “So we joked about it from the start, saying, ‘Hey, maybe we should build one here,’ and over time it looked like it was a good idea.”

Being avid beer fans (both are graduates of the brewing program from the Siebel Institute, which is the oldest brewing school in the nation and has been in operation since 1872), they began seeking out available real estate in the area to eventually bring Lamplighter into being. Problem was, the pickin’s were rather slim for the kind of operation they had in mind.

“The biggest challenge was working on the location for the brewery,” says Jones. “It’s been incredibly difficult to find a place to open a brewery in Cambridge, so we are incredibly fortunate and excited about the locations we’ve found. That’s been our primary focus now for about a year, nailing down where we’d actually be.”

Ultimately, Jones says that there just weren’t a lot of buildings in this area where they could get their brewhouse going, considering their operation won’t be massive at first (they’ll be a 20-barrel brewhouse with a 40-barrel fermenter), but won’t fall under the nano brewery category, either. “We don’t want to start too small,” says Jones. “We’re going as big as we can afford at first.”

But don’t expect another brewpub or a full service restaurant. Lamplighter will be a 35-seat taproom and facility to test pilot batches, a lively space for people to come in and sample suds from the source (and yes, they will have a growler program). But like all new endeavors, it starts with the first step. And in this case, that first step—finding an actual place to do all this—has been achieved, in spite of the dearth of convenient locales.

“A lot of spaces we were looking at was in Alewife, and that’s just too far out for us.

Didn’t want to be all the way out there,” says Jones. “So it was more about finding the needle in the haystack, and the building we ended up in in Cambridge is a few blocks away from our house which we walk by all the time. Eventually we said, ‘This place is fantastic’ and it went from there.”

Jones says it’s too early to get into the details about the beers they’ll definitely be starting with, but besides being a big IPA head (who isn’t?), he says he’s a huge fan of everything Fort Point’s Trillium Brewing—known for its killer farmhouse style and pale ales—is putting out. Jones and Marvil have already teamed up with a head brewer who cut his brewing teeth at Mass breweries (Wormtown, Mystic, Cape Cod Brewing), and construction on the space (currently an auto body shop) is slated to begin in fall. >> LAMPLIGHTER BREWING. SLATED TO OPEN WINTER/SPRING 2016. 284 BROADWAY, CAMBRIDGE. FOR UPDATES AND MORE INFORMATION, VISIT LAMPLIGHTERBREWING.COM 16

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

17

ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

ROARING 20’S LAWN PARTY? I’M IN. AS LONG AS I DON’T HAVE TO MOW THAT THING. HOLY CRAP!

18

WED 7.29

SAT 8.1

SAT 8.1

SAT 8.1

SAT 8.1

SUN 8.2

Midsummer Night’s Dream at Aeronaut Brewing

Synapse Solo Art Exhibit

WEMF’S Inaugural Stand-Up Comedy Showcase

Space Object Artifact

Beach Ball Flash Mob

Roaring 20’s Lawn Party

Some people prefer their Shakespeare in timehonored settings involving complex stage design, intricately designed costumes, and packed theater houses well stocked with crowds flexing a collective stiff upper lip.

Then there’s you. Which is why you may want to hit Aeronaut on Wednesday as the Shakespeare in the Pub crew performs the timeless Midsummer Night’s Dream comedy right in the middle of the brewery.

If you’re a frequent rider of the MBTA, chances are you’ve seen the stickers by graphic artist Synapse, sketched from the actual faces he sees on the subway, be it Boston or outer Brooklyn. And since turning the MBTA into a rolling art house is just barely harder than getting proper funding to update it, you can just go to Harvard Square for the first Synapse solo art show happening at Kulturez skate shop. Feel flattered if you see your own mug.

Our pals at WEMF Radio are no strangers to the local music scene. And as any casual listener to their shows and colorful personalities will attest, they tend to attract a motley, hilarious bunch.

As such, the gang have decided to gather together their funniest friends and put on the first ever showcase of the stand-up and performing comedy skills of their crew for good or ill at PA’s Lounge. Heckle the talent at your own peril, folks.

Next time you’re in your apartment, stop what you’re doing. Look around. At the shelves, the furniture, all of it. Do you get an overwhelming sense of personal narrative? If you have no idea what we’re talking about, you can hit the opening of the Space Object Artifact show at Nave Gallery on Saturday, which looks at how personal spaces make people feel things. No, the common “I need Febreze” you feel in your place isn’t an emotion.

There are times we learn there’s a free beach ball flash mob gathering at the bandstand on Boston Common due to an organizer finding themselves in possession of about 100 beach balls and gathering anyone who wants to join to play with them in a big mob.

And this is a tale like that, involving meeting up with strangers to play with each others balls. Bonus: aftergathering at jm Curley’s.

Second bonus: You keep the balls.

Sunday is looking like a fine day to get outside.

And if you feel like getting down with a 1920s-themed lawn party on a posh manicured estate in Ipswich, featuring live jazz, Charleston and swing dance lessons, a range of local antique, throwback, and vintage vendors (see: Bobby’s from Boston, Salmagundi, Prohibition Clothing Company), and even local suds and lobster rolls, well, hey. This is that.

Otherwise we wouldn’t be talking about such things.

Aeronaut Brewing.

14 Tyler St., Somerville.

7:30-10:30pm/all ages/no cover/cash bar. For more information, visit facebook. com/aeronautbrewing

Kulturez. 36 JFK St., Cambridge, 8-11pm/ all ages/FREE. For more information, visit facebook. com/kulturez

PA’s Lounge.

345 Somerville Ave., Somerville. 4-7pm/21+/$10.

For tickets, email wemfstandup@gmail.com

Nave Gallery. 155 Powder House Blvd., Somerville.

1-5pm/all ages/FREE. For more information, visit navegallery.org

Parkman Bandstand on the Common. 145 Tremont St., Boston. 3-4pm/all ages/ FREE. For more information, visit darkroomboston.com

Castle Hill on the Crane Estate. 290 Argilla Rd., Ipswich. 3-8pm/all ages/$25. For tickets and more information, visit roaringtwentieslawnparty. blogspot.com

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

19

MUSIC

MUSIC

HOUSE OF THE RISING FUZZ

NEW(PORT) KIDS ON THE BLOCK:

Boston compilation spotlights our best garage rock

The city’s favorite rising musicians from #NFF15

BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN

BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN After a dusty, joyful, hippie-filled three days, we’ve returned from the waterlogged grounds of Newport Folk Festival with five rising acts we’re confidently putting our money on. Wait five years and these folks will be the next Sufjan Stevens and Bela Fleck.

ANDY SHAUF

Shauf creates the type of detailed backstories and remarkable personifications that seem too vivid to not be true. His stories wrap themselves neatly between the lonesome, hypnotic chords of his acoustic guitar, making those tales of death and isolation all the more chillingly cold in his delivery.

THE BALLROOM THIEVES

Fresh off the release of their debut full-length, the Ballroom Thieves took over the Newport stage with impressive gusto and warped acoustic layerings that see cello and kick drum jumping from muffled warmth to spirited percussive jolts. For a mere three people, they sure know how to fill out their sound.

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER

>> HOUSE OF THE RISING FUZZ. STREAM IT NOW AT DIGBOSTON.COM, OR GRAB A HARD COPY ON AUG 6 AT BOSTON FUZZSTIVAL 2015.

JON BATISTE & STAY HUMAN

Louisiana native Jon Batiste is an unbelievable multiinstrumentalist and vocalist certified as the new music director/bandleader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. If you’ve never experienced a party in the streets of New Orleans, Batiste and his tuba-toting crew have got you covered.

MADISEN WARD & THE MAMA BEAR

This mother and son duo are devoted to the raw origins of folk. Come for the charm, stay for the effect. They’ll leave you free of worrisome thoughts and bring you several steps closer to finding true peace of mind.

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER

MUSIC EVENTS THU 7.30

THU 7.30

FRI 7.31

SAT 8.1

SUN 8.2

TUE 8.4

[Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston.

6pm/all ages/$13.50. crossroadspresents.com]

[Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave., Boston. 8pm/18+/$25. crossroadspresents. com]

[Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston. 6pm/18+/$20. crossroadspresents.com]

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave., Allston. 9pm/21+/ $10. greatscottboston.com]

[The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge.

7:30pm/18+/$16. sinclaircambridge.com]

[Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave., Boston. 7pm/18+/$25. crossroadspresents.com]

FOLK PUNK FRIENDS DAN ANDRIANO AND JEFF ROSENSTOCK + PET SYMMETRY

20

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

‘90S ALT ROCK ANGST VERUCA SALT + CHARLY BLISS

DIGBOSTON.COM

THE INDIE ROCK WAILERS CLAY YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH + TEEN MEN

FUNKY ART ROCK ABADABAD + SOFT PYRAMIDS + ETERNALS + FURNITURE

OG SONIC YOUTH THE THURSTON MOORE BAAND + CHAIN & THE GANG

WESTERN EMO DESAPARECIDOS + THE SO SO GLOS + THE BANDDROIDZ

HOTRF ILLUSTRATION BY CLARK JACKSONS | HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER PHOTO BY TIM BUGBEE

A week before Christmas, Ben Semeta of Black Beach was struck by a brilliant idea: Boston needs a garage rock compilation. “I remember turning to Matt [Garlick] from Nice Guys and saying we should highlight what’s happening in Boston right now,” he says, thinking back to that fateful day. “A lot of bands were skeptical at first. They’ve been asked to be on compilations before, but it always falls through—but I knew this would happen. I wanted to make sure it did.”

There’s a weird disconnect between genre-split scenes here, and Semeta is looking to solve that for our psych and garage rock with House of the Rising Fuzz, a 10-track all-star compilation featuring new songs from Creaturos, the Barbazons, the New Highway Hymnal, and more. It’s not just the North End couples or Financial District bros who are clueless. It’s those who actively go out to explore Boston’s local scene, too. “One of the goals for this compilation is to give this scene that we’re involved in some representation,” he says. “It’s neat to go out to a packed venue and be around so many people you know. You look at each other like, ‘Holy shit, we’re doing this.’ This album captures that.”

Live in a basement, these 10 bands sound similar, full of distortion and feedback. On the record, they sound remarkably different. “Not one song on here was produced by the same person,” says Semeta. “That’s huge.”

From the punk edge of the Monsieurs to the acid-tinged reverb of the TeleVibes, it’s an album of back-to-back big sounds from little bands.

“I’m not a label; this is the first time I’ve ever pressed a record,” Semeta says with a shrug. “If nothing comes from it, it’s a cool time capsule. Do you think the DC punk kids in the ’80s knew they would be famous? Do you think Fugazi knew they would be one of the most influential bands of all time? Do you think Minor Threat knew they would be one of the most influential bands of all time? No. They were just doing their thing and they left behind a legacy that’s really independent, underground, and interesting.”

We’re proud to present the album premiere over at our website. Physical releases will be available starting Aug 6 at Boston Fuzzstival 2015. So grab your friends, a six pack, and the best speakers you have. You’ll want to turn this one all the way up so the folks over in Northampton can hear it.

With four albums under his belt, MC Taylor uses harvest as a theme of representation and reinvention. Live, he goes from acoustic meanderings akin to Bob Dylan or the Tallest Man on Earth to jam rock blues spilling over with spirit.

When the day is breaking and you need a reminder of what’s worth pushing on for, give Hiss Golden Messenger a spin.

%RVWRQ·V Best Irish Pub

THURS 7/30 - LEEDZ PRESENTS:

RJD2

SUNDAYS

MONDAYS

DOUBLE TAP

MAKKA MONDAY

Weekly Gaming Night: The same guys who bring you Game Night every week at Good Life bar are now also running a special Sunday night.

OTP

W/ THE_STAMPEDE SOMETHING SNEAKY SAT 8/1

SABED BY THE 90’S W/ DJ VANILLA RICE

SUN 8/2 - CROSSROADS PRESENTS:

HUEY MACK CAM MEEKINS TUES 8/4

MARK BATTLES DEREK LUH WED 7/29

WINDHAND

FORN, WORMWOOD THURS 7/30

STRANGE CHANGES MOTHER TON SAT 8/1

YES ALL WOMEN

BOSTON SUMMER SMASH - 6PM SUN 8/2

OUTLAND CAMP MON 8/3 RYE PINES FANTASTIC LIARS TUES 8/4

SOFT CACTUS ARROWHEAD

14+yrs every Monday night, Bringing Roots, Reggae & Dancehall Tunes 21+, 10PM - 1AM

21+, NO COVER,

6PM - 11:30PM

BLUEPRINT, SUPASTITION FRI 7/31 - WEMF PRESENTS:

512 Mass. Ave. Central Sq. Cambridge, MA 617-576-6260 phoenixlandingbar.com

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS

THIRSTY TUESDAYS

GEEKS WHO DRINK

Live Resident Band The Night Foxes, Playing everything Old, New & Everything Inbetween 21+, NO COVER, 10PM - 1AM Live Stand Up Comedy from 8:30PM - 10PM with no cover!

Free Trivia Pub Quiz from 7:30PM - 9:30PM

RE:SET WEDNESDAYS

Weekly Dance Party, House, Disco, Techno, LoFDO ,QWHUQDWLRQDO '-·V 19+, 10PM - 1AM

THURSDAYS

FRIDAYS

SATURDAYS

ELEMENTS

PRETTY YOUNG THING

BOOM BOOM ROOM

15+ Years of Resident Drum & Bass Bringing some of the worlds ELJJHVW 'Q% '-·V to Cambridge 19+, 10PM - 2AM

·V 2OG 6FKRRO 7RS Dance hits 21+, 10PM - 2AM

·V ·V ·V 2QH +LW Wonders 21+, 10PM - 2AM

THE BEST ENTERTAINMENT IN CAMBRIDGE 7 DAYS A WEEK! 1/2 PRICED APPS DAILY 5 - 7PM RUGBY WORLD CUP SHOWN LIVE, STARTING ON SEPTEMBER 17TH WATCH EVERY SOCCER GAME!

927(' %26721·6 %(67 62&&(5 %$5 ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Saturdays & Sundays Every Game shown live in HD on 12 Massive TVs. We Show All European Soccer including Champions League, Europa League, German, French, Italian & Spanish Leagues. :20(1·6 :25/' &83 Come watch the Womens World Cup at The Phoenix Starting June 6th CHECK OUT ALL PHOENIX LANDING NIGHTLY EVENTS AT:

WWW.PHOENIXLANDINGBAR.COM NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

21

FILM

SILENT KNIGHT Evil, filmed. Again.

BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN

IT’S GOOD TO SEE FLAVOR FLAV KEEPING BUSY A person watches a television. His name is Adi, he’s Indonesian, and he works as an optometrist. On the screen are two men who helped to murder his brother— roughly four decades ago, two years before Adi was even born. The pair are recreating the gruesome act with a playfulness that soon transforms into pride.

We watch the footage, then we cut to Adi, and watch him watching it. But his unmoving features—his face remains as stoic as a statue—ensure that we only see our own reactions, projected back to us via his blank slate.

The footage itself was shot by Joshua Oppenheimer, who released The Act of Killing three years ago. It was a compendium of such interviews, allowing the perpetrators of the state-sponsored genocide—many of whom remain wealthy and in high political standing—to self-mythologize themselves on-screen. They were living proof of the cliché about who it is that writes history. The Look of Silence, which stays with Adi and his loved ones, questions more of the killers. But this film pushes them further, and at once becomes a sequel, a companion piece, and a corrective to Act. Oppenheimer studies the faces of the family members as his moving images drudge up a nation’s suppressed history. Parts of Act functioned as garish conceptual art. But Look is portraiture.

The murders being discussed claimed the lives of over one million “communists”—used in Indonesia, as in America, as a euphemism for “people the government dislikes”—and have since been accepted as national lore.

Oppenheimer’s close-up shots (which hang on faces long after dialogue ceases, as if waiting for explanations that will never arrive) are divided equally among the classes left behind. The killers are unrepentant, claiming to have acted as a result of either American influence or capitalistic pride. The survivors are accepting of the scenario, citing the afterlife as the only place such heinous actions can be addressed. And the descendents, among them Adi’s children, are taught in school that the acts themselves were but a necessary step on the path to democracy.

In questioning the perpetrators and documenting the culture surrounding the history, Oppenheimer (and his co-director, who—like much of the crew— remains anonymous) finds numerous statements as absurd as that last one.

In a line more fit for Dr. Strangelove than a documentary, the son of one killer suggests that “we should all just get along, like the military dictatorship taught us.” But Adi, whose mother considers him a fulfillment of Ramli’s spirit, cannot abide the perpetual distortion of history. In the interviews (conducted while he fits the killers for glasses), he deconstructs false justifications and refutes stock SILENT KNIGHT continued on pg. 24

FILM EVENTS THU 7.30

SUN 8.2

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

POPEYE

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON

[Somerville Theatre. 55 Davis Sq., Somerville.

8pm/R/$10. 35mm. somervilletheatreonline. com/somerville-theatre] FRI 7.31

BERGMAN, PECK, HITCHCOCK, AND DALI SPELLBOUND

[Museum of Fine Arts.

465 Huntington Ave., Boston.

7:30pm/NR/$9-11. mfa.org] 22

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

ROBIN WILLIAMS IN ROBERT ALTMAN’S [Harvard Film Archive.

24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 4pm/PG/$7-9.

35mm. hcl.harvard.edu/hfa] MON 8.3

JAMES STEWART IN ERNST LUBITSCH’S THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER

[Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge.

5pm. Also screens Tue 8/4 @ 3 and 7pm/NR/$9-11.

35mm. brattlefilm.org]

TUE 8.4

COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE PRESENTS A SCREENING ON THE GREENWAY E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL

[The Wharf District Park at the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Dusk/PG/FREE. 35mm.]

WED 8.5

SAM PECKINPAH’S

BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA

[Somerville Theatre.

55 Davis Sq., Somerville.

8pm/R/$10. 35mm. somervilletheatreonline. com/somerville-theatre]

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

23

SILENT KNIGHT continued from pg. 22 explanations, remaining stone-faced even as threats of further violence emerge—unearthed like the blotted history he’s helping to rewrite.

At first Oppenheimer comments only with his edits. One cut connects the aforementioned schoolteacher’s justification with children playing in a ball pit—two instances of formative socialization. But eventually he enters the drama directly. We continue to cut to Adi watching the footage he had shot previously—as a motif, a reminder, and a response to the perspective of the prior film—and it becomes clear that Oppenheimer is burning bridges he had built for the sake of Adi’s inquisition. More than once, the subjects beg off: “Joshua, stop filming.” But he continues, uncompliant, until the stares become something else: uncomfortable laughter, ignorant concessions to reconciliation, or—most often—silence.

Then, like its director, the footage intrudes upon the interviews. While interviewing the widow and children of one murderer, Oppenheimer and Adi play footage of the late patriarch gleefully reminiscing about his violent, state-approved transgressions. It’s the one thing that cannot be denied: cinema. And once it’s introduced to the interview, the film dissolves into the language of nightmares.

Linearity dissipates as Look cycles through increasingly impressionistic scenes of tranquil home fronts and foreboding landscapes. A mirror to the unexamined evil it surveys, The Look of Silence fractures itself into distressing incoherence.

What can one discern from a photograph of a sociopathic cultural ill? The psychology and politics of denial, for one thing. But Oppenheimer’s obsession with the moving image—the way that cinema itself intrudes on the interviews and onto Adi’s ever-still visage—finds nothing less than a justification for an entire art form. It helps to explain our debilitating reliance on surveillance footage, dash cams, and visual evidence of all kinds. Evil cannot always be comprehended. But it can be filmed, and it can be seen. >> THE LOOK OF SILENCE. RATED PG-13. OPENS FRI 7.31. KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA. 355 BINNEY ST., CAMBRIDGE.

FILM

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Samuel Fuller’s takes on the primary contradiction of American life

BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN

A US soldier, under attack by a Sioux tribe, puts out the embers of a burning American flag.

The film is Run of the Arrow, by Samuel Fuller. His aesthetic approach—described by Jean-Luc Godard, immortally, as “cine-fist”—branded politics onto pulp. So forget that the flag gets extinguished. There’s that incendiary image, in a 1957 Western, arriving with the force of a haymaker: the stars-and-stripes aflame alongside the homes of colonialist Americans.

O’Meara (Rod Steiger) fired the last shot of the Civil War, before—resistant to the arms of a “Yankee America”—he set out and joined a Sioux nation. But the Union’s sights soon moved from the South to the West. And O’Meara (not battle-hardened, but battle-shaken) is reticent to reenter combat against men that resemble himself. That hesitation quickly divides him from his adopted tribe—his downfall results from the ludicrous thinking that one can discard their own race as easily as a white nation will discard its natives.

Fuller’s compositions rhyme—O’Meara’s meetings with a Sioux leader are mirrored by his talks with a liberal Union leader—in a way that illustrates his contempt for labeling men by their race or nation. But each character is victimized by the identity that the cosmos granted them. A violent leader among the Sioux finds himself unable to abide by the compromises his tribe makes with the Union, and is made a renegade by the ideology he was born into. A Union lieutenant, with the weight of a nation’s expectations behind him, drives his troops into a doomed last stand. And O’Meara, a white Native American born of the South and entangled with the North, remains forever defined by labels he rejects.

It leads them all, inexorably, to the kind of race-based conflict that’s left a bloodstain on the land below our feet. When that battle begins, we alternate between faraway shots (where we see the warriors, divided by color, marching like ants) and tighter, grounded compositions (where we see the gory results on individual bodies). Fuller frames the macro and the micro— the divided herds, the individuals they foster, and the violence they engender—all as one.

Fuller’s movie recognizes (with astutely visualized clarity) the primary contradiction of American life: Racial identity is a false construct, but one that no individual can ever transcend. The final title card, with typical Fuller aplomb, announces that the end of this film “can only be written by you.” Sorry, Sam—we’re still working on it. >> RUN OF THE ARROW. HARVARD FILM ARCHIVE. 24 QUINCY ST., CAMBRIDGE. SUN 8.2. 7PM/NR/$7-9.

24

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

FILM SHORTS BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN ANT-MAN So far as we can tell, all Marvel superheroes have the same damn ability: They fly into the air and punch people really hard. So bully for AntMan (title role played by Paul Rudd), if only for its scale—the strongest moments of this action-heist-comedy involve toys, insects, and a keychain.

The sequel setups (endless nods to a second insect superhero we never see) and extraneous world-building (Anthony Mackie’s Falcon, from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, arrives for a throwdown) feel as factory-produced as ever. But at least there’s something new on this joint’s dollar menu.

INSIDE OUT It’s a head trip: The new Pixar movie takes place inside a teenage girl’s psyche, where characters like Joy (Amy Poehler) and Anger (Lewis Black) dictate her actions. The stakes are low—her family moves, and some non-humans get lost, just like Toy Story—and the resulting drama is inevitably inert. But who cares? The beauty is in the details, like in the way the emotions’ bodies are rounded off into amorphous blobs of energy rather than structured by hard lines.

Dramatizing chemical imbalances is admirable, but doing it with such aesthetic vigor? That’s beautiful.

IRRATIONAL MAN A sexually frustrated passiveaggressive pseudo-intellectual college professor (Joaquin Phoenix) mopes around while trying to sleep with the sprightliest of his students (Emma Stone) in what appears to be a curiously antiseptic romcom.

Then, with almost no dramatic justification, the professor attempts to commit the perfect murder.

And that transgression produces a creative spark that sex never provided, though the film—unlike the character—has no idea what to do with it. (Slapstick intrudes, but only intermittently.) We end with a reminder that we live in a Godless universe with no order. Irrational Man is a film by Woody Allen.

JURASSIC WORLD If you didn’t know that ’90s nostalgia has hit critical mass, then see the new Jurassic Park film—judging by the box office receipts, you probably have already. Every single sequence in the Chris Pratt-led sequel is centered around callbacks to Steven Spielberg’s original film. Have you been waiting 20 years for another look at the dino that blinded that film’s secondary villain? You’re in luck! Then the film has the nerve to make jokes about the overbranding of stadiums and theme parks. This whole film’s a branded advertisement—reinforcing our reverence for a film we already saw 20 years ago.

MAGIC MIKE XXL A shift to a different stage: The first Mike was an economic parable (Shampoo for the iPhone set), but XXL presents itself as pop-philosophy.

The strippers treat their work as an art form—after all, they’re audience pleasers. See the way cinematographer Steven Soderbergh shoots these dances—camera low to the ground, overhead lights uniting the bodies into one singular color, men grinding incessantly, dollar bills falling from outstretched arms like autumn leaves from the branches— and leave the movie confusing sex and art yourself.

SOUTHPAW A schlocky boxing noir, released in the wrong millennium. Southpaw even indulges the cinematic politics of eras past: The women are saints to be sacrificed or prizes to be won over, while people of color are either murderous villains or stoic symbols of street-tough authenticity. And Jake Gyllenhaal, as the eponymous pugilist, loses himself searching for his place in the boxing-movie tradition: the lanky thrusts of his arms, the Brandoesque mumble, the unrestrained screams peppering each scene—is this a performance, or is it Raging Bull cosplay?

TANGERINE Tangerine has two subjects— Hollywood and genitals—with the subtextual suggestion that movies lie to us about both. The taco stands and pizza shops of Santa Monica Boulevard line the background as Sin-Dee Rella, a transgender prostitute just out of jail, hunts down the “real bitch” that’s been sleeping with her pimpslash-boyfriend. A screwball farce of criss-crossed identity politics ensues, with an emphasis on that which is always left out of screen comedies: the lower classes’ local hangouts and an abiding interest in the politics of having a penis. Tangerine takes Hollywood and fucks it.

TRAINWRECK To complain about a conservative streak in a female-led Hollywood movie that features its heroine monologuing about her strategy for getting guys to go down on her is to miss the forest for the bushes. But here we are talking about it: Amy Schumer’s feature (she writes and stars, Judd Apatow directs) sells out its own filthiness to end on Middle America-approved romantic-comedy cliches. When they happen, they’re so deliriously unreal that they may qualify as half-assed parody. But whatever the intention, it’s conventional narrative and combative content battering up against one another—and if you leave disappointed, it’s because the former won out.

New England’s Largest MMJ & Cannabis Industry Expo Series Returns to Boston Sept. 12th & 13 at The Castle @ Park Plaza

SATURDAY SEPT.NOON-6PM 12TH SUNDAY SEPT: 11AM-5PM 13TH At the Castle @ Park Plaza, Downtown Boston Tickets now on sale at: www.necann.com $25 per day, or save $10 with a $40 2-day pass!

The New England Cannabis Convention will bring together over 60 vendors from every aspect

of the MMJ & Cannabis industries; Doctors, caregivers, counselors, soil, lighting, and growing specialists, consultants, investors, entrepreneurs, and advocates. And of course, a wide assortment of the latest and greatest smoking, vaping, and storage accessories will be available for purchase. Admission includes access to a full line-up of educational speakers, panels, and workshops!

Programming highlights include:

Hardship Cultivation Options | Growsite Construction Analysis & Testing Legislation & Legalization | MMJ Patient Services Cooking with Cannabis | Extract & Concentrates | Glassblowing Investing/Valuation | Packaging/Storage | Security

Presented by:

WWW.NECANN.COM NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

25

THEATER

DIANE PAULUS

Thursday, July 30th 8PM

THE QUINS JOE SAMBO & THE GOONS BRUVS

A.R.T.’s artistic director opens up about Waitress

BY CHRISTOPHER EHLERS @_CHRISEHLERS

American/Roots Friday, July 31st 7:30PM

TED DROZDOWSKI’S SCISSORMEN PETER PARCEK American/Roots Friday, July 31st10PM

THE PARTY BAND BEN KNIGHT Rock/Brass Saturday, August 1st 7:30PM

AFTERFAB: TRIBUTE TO BEATLES SOLO YEARS Tribute Saturday, July 18th 10PM

JERRY GARCIA’S BDAY BASH FT. RUN FOR THE ROSES UNCLE JOHNNY’S BAND

Friday July 31 7:30pm

TED DROZDOWSKI’S SCISSORMEN PLUS

PETER PARCEK (Americana/Roots)

Grateful Dead Tribute - FREE Tuesday, August 4th 7PM

ERIC LINDELL BOSTON RECORD RELEASE Roots/R&B/Soul/Indie - FREE Wednesday, August 5th 7PM

STAN RIDGWAY Of Wall Of Voodoo Thursday, August 6th 7:30PM

LUIZ CARACOL TRIO World Friday, August 7th 7:30PM

GAL HOLIDAY & THE HONKY TONK REVUE Americana/Roots/Country

17 Holland St., Davis Sq. Somerville (617) 776-2004 Directly on T Red Line at Davis

Fri 8/21 7PM

JAREKUS SINGLETON

(Rock/Soul/Blues)

Tuesday Aug 4 7pm

ERIC LINDELL BOSTON RECORD RELEASE (Roots/R&B/Soul/Indie)

17 Holland St., Davis Sq. Somerville (617) 776-2004 Directly on T Red Line at Davis

Starting Aug 2, Boston audiences will once again be the first to enjoy a hotly anticipated new musical, Waitress, courtesy of the American Repertory Theater.

ART artistic director and Waitress director Diane Paulus is one of the most soughtafter directors in theater, and to anyone lucky enough to have seen one of her productions, the reasons are clear.

Her first three outings on Broadway—revivals of Hair, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and Pippin—all took home Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical and all netted Paulus nominations for Best Direction of a Musical, and she took home the award for Pippin.

She is currently represented on Broadway with Finding Neverland, which broke records last summer at the ART prior to its Broadway transfer. Her Pippin is touring the country—returning to Boston next year—and she will be bringing Invisible Thread, which premiered at the ART in 2014 as Witness Uganda, to New York.

I spoke with Diane about how she chooses her projects, collaborating with Sara Bareilles, and the thrill of creating in Cambridge.

What would you say that you gravitate toward in terms of choosing your projects?

The visceral emotional impact of a piece is really important to me, and I will choose the pieces that I want to work on if I feel that there’s something in it that I can bring out. In the case of Waitress, it’s got this remarkable tone, which is quirky and filled with humor and humanity, and it’s got this raw emotion and the deepest soul searching of this character Jenna, that Jessie Mueller plays, of learning to love herself again and considering herself worthy to have a dream. That’s pretty juicy emotional territory.

I think it’s especially poignant because you also see in Jenna that she almost doesn’t dare to dream … it’s not only that she is finding herself, but that she doesn’t think she deserves to find herself.

Yeah, exactly.

Was the idea to musicalize Waitress yours?

The idea of adapting the film was brought to me, and then I started working on who should be part of that task; the first person to become part of the family was Sara Bareilles.

What has it been like creating a new musical with Sara?

Frankly, the reason why I wanted a writer that wasn’t from the traditional musical theatre world was to actually push the form a little. She’s been a dream to work with. She’s so intelligent and she’s so insightful about character and about the book; she’s not just interested in the music, sort of dropping in the do the music moments, she’s really looking and helping to architect and kind of birth the whole production with me, which is great.

What role does Cambridge play in your creative process?

I feel there’s just an interest that’s palpable—people are interested and engaged—our audiences are engaged; the students that hub in this city, not just Cambridge but all of Boston. The young people that are the future of the theatre are buzzing around us, which I love. And then we have Harvard University, which is an extraordinary resource.

>> WAITRESS. OPENS 8.2 AT LOEB DRAMA CENTER, 64 BRATTLE ST., CAMBRIDGE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT AMERICANREPERTORYTHEATER.ORG/WAITRESS THIS IS THE FINAL INSTALLMENT IN A MULTI-PART SERIES ABOUT BRINGING A NEW PRODUCTION TO LIFE IN BOSTON. VISIT DIGBOSTON.COM FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW AND PARTS I + II 26

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

PHOTO BY STEPHANIE BUONOPANE

I think it’s obvious, too, when you go to any of the ART productions, and I think that’s a testament to what you’ve built up over your tenure here. We appreciate it, we love your work!

Good, thank you!

Celebrating 50+ Years!

Daily 7:00pm-8:30pm Daily 12:00pm-6:00pm Fri & Sat 9:00pm-10:30pm

Sensational Sunset Cruises

$22/person*

Historical Harbor Tours

Starlit Evening Cruises

$20/person*

Sundays: ENDLESS SUMMAH

$22/person*

Thursdays: HIGH SEAS HUMOR

calypso, Paella, frozen drinks!

We cruise the harbor with the All-Star comedians from Improv Asylum

Mondays: WINDUSTRY NIGHT

they will have you laughing all night long! (21+)

Perfect for the weekend worker!

Wednesdays:

HARBURLESQUE

Fridays:

FLOATING BEER HAUL New selections weekly

burlesque show! (21+)

Mass Bay Lines

60 Rowes Wharf, Boston, MA 02110 Tickets: 617.934.2610 or 888.503.5659

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

27

ARTS

‘NUFF SAID

Stan “The Man” Lee, Marvel Comics supreme overlord, on Boston, cameos, and being a teacher

BY CLAY FERNO @CLAYNFERNO

Wednesday JULY 29 8:30 PM

OPEN MIC No Cover | 18+

Thursday JULY 30 12:00 AM

A LIL

LOUDER

FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Nu Goteh Genres: Breaks, Hip Hop, R&B, Reggae, Soca, Caribbean, Classic House, Indie Dance No Cover Friday JULY 31 9:30 PM

BOOTIE

BOSTON

DJs: Spencer4Hire, Jabulani, McFly, Amadeezy upstairs Sptting trap and hip-hop all night!

Saturday AUGUST 1 9:30 PM

TRIPLE

PLATINUM

DJs: Frank White & Evaredy Genres: Hip Hop, Reggae, Party Jams, Dirty South, Love Trap, Club $5 before 11 PM, $10 after Tuesday AUGUST 4 6:00 PM

GAME NIGHT

No Cover | 18+ until 10PM Downstairs

92 years young, Stanley Martin Lieber never did get to write the Great American Novel.

He did something far more impactful to generations of people: After changing his name to Stan Lee, he created the Marvel Universe. All praise its name.

Before I could make out the letters, I could understand fantastic cars whizzing through the sky in the comic books he’s been behind since the Marvel Universe big-banged its way into my life and the lives of countless other fans.

The Generalissimo himself continues to reign supreme in Hollywood thanks to the blockbusters emerging from his canon of work, and he still teaches online courses, writes and creates brand new comic characters, maintains his role as chairman and chief creative officer of POW! Entertainment, Inc, and of course remains chairman emeritus of Marvel Comics. On top of that, he is a certified movie star (just don’t call them cameos anymore).

Since the man behind Thor and Spider-Man and all the rest is coming to Boston Comic Con 2015, I had roughly 10 minutes to keep a tidal wave of geek freak out in check and chat with him over the phone.

So, how are you doing?

I guess that depends on how you treat me! I’m feeling fine and looking forward to coming to Boston and meeting my friend Ken. [Ed note: Ken Bold is Guinness World Records title holder of the world’s oldest comic artist, born Aug 1, 1920, and is celebrating a birthday at Comic Con].

What, if any, are some of your memories of Boston?

When were we in Boston last? Two years ago. I have great memories of it; we went to a convention and had a wonderful time. People were terrific.

How did you feel Ant-Man went? Was it great to see it come alive on the screen?

Ant-Man was terrific: The critics loved it, the fans loved it.

You recently taught a Smithsonian Comics course. Was that fun for you? I mean, you’ve been our teacher for many years now.

I’m working on it now, I think that’ll be great! Years ago, I used to travel to a lot of colleges and do lectures, [and] I think I’ve been to every college in America and England. You know what?

I love being with students, I love talking to them and I love their enthusiasm. The Smithsonian thing is very exciting for me.

How did you keep track of all of these stories when you were creating the Marvel Universe?

They are like my own children [and] it’s easy to keep track of your own children. I dreamed them up, and I like to follow their progress and their stories. For me it was easy to keep track of them, [as] I was living with them the whole time, you know?

For sure. Where do you think the next generation of comic book creations is going to come from? I noticed you are working with YouTube on the World of Heroes series.

The next generation of comic book writers come from the fans, just like they always do. So many fans do their own comics now.

So many of the fans put them on YouTube, or they put them wherever they can. People look at them and enjoy them. Once you get something like comic books that people enjoy so much, there are always artists and writers rising up through the ranks.

So that’s where the next generation is going to come from.

It will be. From the fans!

We hear that your cameo in the next X-Men movie might be a little bit different.

I’m not allowed to talk about it, but there will be a real difference which will be noticed the minute anyone sees the cameo.

Do you take over when on the Hollywood sets of your comics?

They must love having you there.

I love Hollywood and I love making those cameos, although I am getting a little tired of calling them “cameos.” I may start referring to them as “starring roles.”

Well-deserved, as you have given so many fans so much joy over the years.

That’s good to hear. Really. I enjoy doing what I do, and if other people enjoyed it, that’s the best.

On a personal note, can I get an “Excelsior”?

“EXCELSIOR!” So long.

>> STAN LEE AT BOSTON COMIC CON 2015. FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION, VISIT BOSTONCOMICCON.COM 28

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

29

NOTHING MATTRESS

BY BRIAN CONNOLLY @NOTHINGMATTRESS

THE STRANGERER

BY PAT FALCO ILLFALCO.COM

WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST

BY PATT KELLEY WHATS4BREAKFAST.COM

OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS

BY TIM CHAMBERLAIN OURVC.NET

SAVAGE LOVE

GIRL PARTY

BY DAN SAVAGE @FAKEDANSAVAGE I’ve been my boyfriend’s girlfriend for two years. We recently graduated high school and are heading off to different colleges in the fall. Is it stupid for us to stay together? We’re in love, he’s my best friend, and he’s my family. But we haven’t had sex yet. We’ve made some progress (oral, hand stuff, etc.), but we’ve never had penis-in-vagina sex. I asked for it once, and he informed me that he had a moral conflict with sex. That hardly seems plausible: We’ve done so much else, and he’s not religious at all. Is he just not attracted to me? Is he gay?

Sometimes I wonder if the difference we have libido-wise is a deal-breaker. I can picture a sexless yet emotionally happy marriage with him, but I’m not sure how to feel about that.

Confused, Unsexed, Naive Teen First things first: Sometimes I create a sign-off that, once abbreviated, spells out something cute or funny or relevant.

This is not one of those times: I did not come up with this letter writer’s sign-off.

30

07.29.15 - 08.5.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

Okay, CUNT, it’s entirely possible that your boyfriend is gay.

Speaking from experience: It’s easier for a closeted gay boy to pretend his girlfriend is his boyfriend during (non-recip) oral and hand stuff than it is during vaginal intercourse. He could be claiming to have a moral conflict with PIV (penis-in-vagina intercourse) when what he actually has is a strong preference for PIG (penis-in-guy intercourse).

It’s also possible that your boyfriend isn’t that into you, or he’s terrified by the thought of impregnating you, or he actually does have some sort of moral qualm about vaginal penetration.

Only your boyfriend knows what’s up with him, but here’s what we know for sure about you: You’re 18 years old, you’re headed to college, and you and your boyfriend don’t click sexually. Break up. You can get back together in a few years if you’re both still single, you’re both still straight, and you’re both still into each other.

But don’t settle for someone whose libido and/or sexual interests don’t come close to matching your own, CUNT, because a sexless marriage is only happy when sexless works for both spouses.

OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE DEFINITELY SLOWER THAN THEY APPEAR.

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

31