DigBoston 9.14.17

DIGBOSTON.COM 09.14.17 - 09.21.17

WELCOME BACK

1ST IN 10

SOMERVILLE MAYORAL RACE

NOW TAKE A HIKE PLUS BOSTON TIPS FROM MUSIC FAVES

THE LABOR CANDIDATE INTERNATIONAL

DEMOCRACIES IN CRISIS HAITIANS FLEE FOR CANADA

COVER: COMICS

LADIESCON SUPERBLOGGERS RETURN IRL

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BOWERY BOSTON WWW.BOWERYBOSTON.COM VOL 19 + ISSUE37

SEPT 14, 2017 - SEPT 21, 2017 BUSINESS PUBLISHER Marc Sneider ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Chris Faraone John Loftus Jason Pramas SALES MANAGER Marc Sneider FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION sales@digboston.com BUSINESS MANAGER John Loftus

EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Chris Faraone EXECUTIVE EDITOR Jason Pramas MANAGING EDITOR Mitchell Dewar ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR Nina Corcoran ASSOCIATE FILM EDITOR Jake Mulligan ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Christopher Ehlers STAFF WRITER Haley Hamilton CONTRIBUTORS G. Valentino Ball, Sarah Betancourt, Tim Bugbee, Mike Crawford, Kori Feener, Marc Hurwitz, Marcus Johnson-Smith, Micaela Kimball, Derek Kouyoumjian, Andrew Quemere, Jonathan Riley, Peter Roberge, Adam Sennott, Maya Shaffer, Miriam Wasser, Dave Wedge, Baynard Woods INTERNS Katie Martin, M.J. Tidwell

DESIGN DESIGNER Don Kuss COMICS Tim Chamberlain Pat Falco Patt Kelley DigBoston, PO Box 51960 Boston, MA 02205 Phone 617.426.8942 digboston.com

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ROYALE

THE WELCOME BACK COLUMN

W/ THE SHEILA DIVINE

Dear Reader, Having worked in newspapers and magazines for 18 rollicking years, roughly half the time I’ve been alive, I have penned enough “welcome back to school and Boston” articles and columns to fill one of those advice books that you buy at Urban Outfitters knowing damn well that it will rot on your coffee table and only occasionally get used to roll weed on. I’m half-kidding, of course, since many of the service pieces written by reporters on such fronts are infinitely useful; take, for example, the time I wrote a tip sheet titled “How To Grow Pot In Your Dorm Room” for my former employer, effectively compromising campus distribution opportunities for years to come. Nevertheless, you get my point. This isn’t my first welcome wagon rodeo.

You won’t find red carpet pandering in this week’s DigBoston. We do have some critical guides and compendiums—kudos to Associate Music Editor Nina Corcoran for tapping local heroes to help guide both new and old Bostonians alike through the music gauntlet, and to our ace food writer Marc Hurwitz for channeling his other passion, hiking, for awesome recommendations on places to roam and unwind.

Overall, though, our approach was just to make an even bigger attempt than usual to inform across issues—from local politics, to cannabis, to business and development, and on through nightlife, film, and the arts. For all those latter topics, we are proud to be one of the last shows left in town for the 85-and-under set.

In closing, while I am sure that I have said this many times before, I’d be a fool to miss an opportunity to at least try passing some positive vibes to those who really are showing up here for the first time. Please take seriously that this is an amazing city because of the eclectic and kaleidoscopic mix of people who contribute to their neighborhoods and assist their communities.

As the great Boston MC Exposition (RIP) once rhymed, this place is home to everyone from “businessmen, skate kids, and punk rockers,” to “construction workers, politicians, and doctors,” to “bums on the corner shaking cans looking for dollars.” We’re an ecosystem, and the actions we all take have consequences. Certain individuals or factions may not always get along, and there’s a lot more love needed across the board, but what I know for sure is that the Hub needs people who are aware of and care about others. If you’re simply here to treat people like shit and take as much as you can without giving back, then I’m pretty sure you’re going to have little use for this newspaper, and the feeling is mutual.

CHRIS FARAONE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF P.S. While you’re feeling civic-minded, come check out the Allston-Brighton District 9 Candidate Forum at 404 Washington St. in Brighton this Thursday, Sept 14, at 7 pm. I will be moderating, and it’s an excellent opportunity to meet your candidates for City Council if you live in the area.

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NEWS US

ASSEMBLY REQUIRED NEWS TO US

Mayoral candidate Corbett calls for development without displacement Standing beside Gio the Lego giraffe just a few hours after the eclipse had passed overhead, Payton Corbett looks around, and mostly up, at the development of Assembly Row. “This was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he says. “This is why I decided to run for mayor.”

Quiet, new-tree-lined streets are dotted with shops, including Brooks Brothers, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, and Ann Taylor Loft. They spread out from a central square where the yellow Lego herbivore stands sentry, but Gio won’t win any height contests around here. Above the stores, luxury condos and an Autograph Collection

by Marriott boutique hotel are on the way, with some residents already moved in.

But it wasn’t always supposed to be quite like this, Corbett says.

Long a source of debate in Somerville, development of this area originally incited community resistance around the question of a proposed Ikea (that never came), including among other issues the potential traffic that big box stores would inevitably bring. When the Ikea pitch was quashed, major developer Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT) stepped in to turn the area into a mixed-use retail and residential buildout.

Since coined Assembly Row, this area sees a number of Corbett’s key campaign issues come to a head as he faces off against Mayor Joseph Curtatone, a popular 14year incumbent (Corbett and Curtatone face candidate Kenneth Van Buskirk III in a primary on Tuesday, Sept

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19, with two top vote-getters advancing to the general election on Nov 7).

Originally, Corbett says the plan for Assembly Square was to include mixed layers of affordable housing, including the then-required 12.5 percent low-income affordable housing on big developments. Then in 2016, the Somerville board of Aldermen voted to increase the city’s amount of required affordable housing to 20 percent.

As Matt McLaughlin, the Alderman of Ward 1, where Assembly Square is located, has been reminding voters in his own campaign against an ally of the mayor’s, that increase was reached with a majority vote and with the understanding that it would apply to the Assembly Row development—even though development was underway.

But in early 2017, FRIC requested a waiver on the new requirements, arguing that plans were already in motion.

The company pushed to keep the original 12.5 percent requirement and, according to Corbett and McLaughlin, were met with resistance from the community and aldermen, leading to several meetings being held to address the issue.

In May, the city reached a compromise with FRIC: 16 percent of the development would be required affordable housing, with 6 percent onsite at Assembly Row and another 10 percent elsewhere in Somerville, at an undetermined time and location.

“The law in the city was 20 percent, and the majority of people who were active and showed up to the meetings wanted 20 percent, and the vast majority of

elected officials wanted 20 percent,” Corbett says. “The compromise was basically a $10 million payment to the city to purchase property in the future.”

Corbett says this compromise was not in the best interest of the city for a few reasons. One, he says it leaves Somerville responsible for locating, purchasing, and building the remaining affordable housing units.

The smaller percentage of affordable units on site also allowed too many of the new units to be marketed as a higher luxury, which Corbett says is squarely out of the price range of too many residents.

According to Zillow, the average rental price in Somerville—for units of all sizes—is now $2,800/month, which is an 8 percent increase from 2016 and up from $1,800 in 2011. A studio in the Avalon apartments at Assembly Row, meanwhile, will run you $2,500.

Then there’s the matter of how the compromise was reached. While the waiver was approved by the city’s planning board, Corbett mainly takes issue with Curtatone. In Somerville’s strong-mayor system, he says many position appointments like those on the planning board are “largely ceremonial.” Thus, he says, the planning board represents the mayor on issues like this. *** Though preliminaries still primarily attract legacy voters, the results of next week’s vote should provide insight into which way residents of Somerville are leaning

PHOTOS BY M.J. TIDWELL

BY M.J. TIDWELL @MJTIDWELL781

in the shadow of Assembly. In Curtatone, they get the city’s longest-serving chief executive in history and a friend of several big developers. Corbett, on the other hand, is a truck driver and warehouseman for Anheuser-Busch who is an elected leader of his Teamsters local and who refers to himself as the “working class” choice in the race.

If elected as mayor, Corbett says he’d open up a discussion about the current strong-mayor system and its inadequacies. He also wants to take a hard look at relinquishing some executive powers and possibly shifting certain responsibilities—like making appointments to the planning board, for example—over to the Board of Aldermen, thereby making the system more democratic.

Curtatone, who has been mayor since 2004, disagrees. In an emailed statement to the Dig through his campaign manager, Curtatone said that after those appointments are made, he removes himself from the process to remain independent and neutral.

“The Mayor and Board of Aldermen can propose changes to ordinances (for instance, we desperately need a citywide zoning overhaul), but a mayor playing politics with permitting creates liability for the city,” Mayor Curtatone wrote.

“Once board and commission members are appointed, they act independently. I don’t call members of any board or commission to influence their votes. I never have and I never will.” *** For Corbett, there is also the issue of non-union labor being used in the construction of Assembly Row. As a shop floor union leader at the nearby Medford Budweiser distribution facility, that doesn’t sit well with him.

“Workers’ rights are human rights,” he says. “We need to take care of our working people.”

Corbett also says that he would seek to avoid tough compromise situations like the one at Assembly Row with something he calls “Payton’s Pledge,” a promise to refuse campaign donations from anyone associated with development in Somerville. Such a focus on the freedom from corporate influence hearkens back to the presidential campaign of US Sen. Bernie Sanders, and indeed, the Sanders-aligned Our Revolution Somerville backs the labor candidate.

On a lot of issues not relating to Assembly Square, Corbett and Curtatone are in close agreement; for starters, both support Somerville being a sanctuary city and welcoming immigrants, and both are protective of LGBTQ rights.

Still, for Corbett, the Assembly Row compromise galvanized him into taking action to protect worker’s rights and affordable housing. On the other side, Curtatone says he’s proud of how the ongoing development has come together.

“When we look at successful projects like that, sometimes people forget the hard work it took to get there,” the mayor wrote. “When we bring people in Somerville together we can accomplish great things.”

“It’s pretty ambitious for just a regular working guy to run, but I’ve been getting a lot of support,” says Corbett, citing endorsements by the Greater Boston Labor Council, Teamsters Local 122, and the Somerville Neighborhood Coalition.

“It’s hard to judge because we haven’t had a mayor’s race in 10 years.”

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5

BORDER DASH DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

Fearing deportation, Haitians flee the US for Canada

BY KAREN HOUPPERT

REFUGEES MINGLE WITH DINERS IN THE CONFERENCE CENTER RESTAURANT.

Francois LeFranc, 45, lingers over breakfast in the dining room of the NAV Centre, an Ontario hotel and conference center on the banks of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he displays only one sign that he had been detained by the Canadian immigration authorities five days earlier: a plastic, hospital-style turquoise bracelet he wears with his ID number on it.

LeFranc slipped across the border in upstate New York and into Quebec on Aug. 15 with his wife and four kids, leaving his oldest daughter, 20, behind.

Although it has not gotten as much attention as the repeal of DACA, the promised repeal of another protection to immigrants—the Temporary Protected Status, offered by Barack Obama to Haitian immigrants following the 2010 earthquake—has sent LeFranc and more than 5,000 others to seek asylum in Canada since Aug. 1.

More than 50,000 Haitian immigrants qualified to live legally in the US after the earthquake, which killed more than 220,000, injured more than 300,000, displaced 1.5 million, and damaged 4,992 schools—23 percent of the total, according to the Haitian government.

It took LeFranc until 2012 to finally reach the US. “We are looking for a better life,” he says. “I was looking for a better education for my children.”

Now, fearful of being deported back to Haiti, he is one of 294 Haitian immigrants wandering the halls and grounds of this conference center in the sleepy city of Cornwall, population 50,000. He is part of a mass exodus of Haitian asylum seekers who are fleeing the US on the heels of a

The Trump administration has declared Haiti’s earthquake recovery complete; its refugees must go back.

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letter that the US Department of Homeland Security sent to the approximately 58,000 Haitian refugees resettled in the US since the 2010 earthquake. The letter informs them that their TPS will likely be revoked in January, and warns them to arrange their departure from the US. The Trump administration has declared Haiti’s earthquake recovery complete; its refugees must go back.

The announcement was made the same day that the US government updated its travel warning for those considering a trip to Haiti. “The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of traveling to Haiti due to its current security environment and lack of adequate medical facilities and response,” the State Department website warns. It goes on to state that “[m]edical care infrastructure, ambulances, and other emergency services are limited throughout Haiti.”

The Miami Herald reports that panic raced through Florida’s large Haitian community when people learned they would be sent back to their still-troubled homeland—and many of them have turned to Canada for help. The migrants are pouring over the border near the small Quebec town of Hemmingford, and then turning themselves in for arrest by Canadian border officials who bring them to a series of temporary holding centers as they begin processing the paperwork, pleading their asylum cases.

The French-speaking Haitians are attracted to Quebec, which also has a sizeable Haitian community. But with immigration processing centers there bursting at the seams, the federal government moved this group of nearly 300 to the neighboring province of Ontario over the course of two days in August; within a week they had a tent city prepared to accommodate 800 refugees here.

It’s a curious scene.

On one section of the conference center’s vast green lawn, musicians are making their way to a massive white event tent where hundreds of locals will soon pour in for the annual MusicFest, “The Barley and Hops Tour,” $40 tickets at the door.

Within sight of concert-goers are 50 black army tents,

erected by the Royal Canadian Dragoons (soldiers) to house the anticipated influx of 500 more Haitian migrants, according to Lt. Karyn Mazurek, an army public affairs officer.

A heavy metal band warm-up is punctuated by the sounds of rapid-fire nail guns, as five carpenters build tent platforms for the migrants in a garage bay nestled between the refugees’ tent city and the music tent. Inside the upscale NAV Centre (overnight golf packages run $170), patrons get wedding-planning tours, a Christian group coalesces in the lobby, soldiers in fatigues stride the halls, and a cluster of migrants use the glass-encased miniature model of the hotel to both get their geographical bearings and pepper an official with questions about the worn documents they pull from purses and pockets to press on the glass for inspection.

Soldiers share a smoke with a few refugees near an exit; a migrant asks directions to the local pharmacy; the asylum seekers are free to roam.

It’s a far cry from US detention centers.

Still, the efficiency and kindness Canadians are displaying should not be misconstrued as welcoming the asylum seekers with open arms. Over dinner tables, at border crossings, and in the press, Canadians are having many of the same debates over immigration that Americans have been having.

Back in January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the anti-immigrant sentiment in the US by tweeting, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith.

Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”

But by Aug. 5, with Montreal’s Olympic Stadium temporarily housing hundreds of the arriving Haitians, Trudeau cautioned, “We remain an open and compassionate country, but part of remaining that way is reassuring Canadians that we are processing properly all of these new arrivals,” he said. At the same time, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, in an interview with the CBC, warned against what Canadians politely refer to as “irregular” border crossings.

Back in the NAV Center’s Propeller Dining Room, LeFranc finishes his breakfast. Since arriving in the US, he says, he has worked construction jobs to support his family. His kids have spent their formative years in America with his oldest daughter attending college until recently when her immigration status rendered her unable to qualify for student loans.

“I am waiting to see if I can find a way for the children to go to school and to find work to help my family,” LeFranc says. “The children does not know nothing about Haiti.”

He doesn’t know how things will turn out for his family in Canada. “I’m just taking a chance,” he says.

“We live a life of struggle,” he adds with a shrug. “If your eyes are open, you will see struggle all around you. That’s the way life is.”

SOME OF THE HAITIAN REFUGEES GET ORIENTED WITH CANADIAN OFFICIALS IN THE LOBBY OF THE CONFERENCE CENTER.

APPARENT HORIZON

STOP THE AMAZON BOSTON DEAL Locals have until Oct 19 to say ‘No Public Bribes to Corporate Scofflaws’

BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Fresh off of throwing tens of millions of dollars at General Electric, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker are now planning to enter the international horse race to convince Amazon to let the city and the commonwealth shovel vast amounts of public money at it in exchange for building a new second headquarters (“HQ2” for short) here.

But this HQ2 won’t be just any corporate headquarters. No no no. None of this GE business—with maybe kinda sorta up to a piddling 800 jobs at a new Boston HQ at some point. Amazon plans to put 50,000 workers in its new digs. Fast.

Thing is, the bulk of those jobs are apparently slated for software developers.

Which, true, our colleges produce in some numbers. But most of the students who train for high-tech jobs are from “outta town.” So the new jobs are not going to benefit our shell-shocked Boston-area working class. If the Seattle experience is any guide, the gigs they’re going to get from the deal will be the same unstable jobs as subcontractors—ranging from cafeteria workers to security guards—that they’re already struggling to survive on now. And those jobs do not “raise” any “boats” in anyone’s fantasy scheme of how capitalist economics works.

For both the city and the state, there’s another big red flag: Amazon proposes to spend $5 billion building a campus of around 8 million square feet. Leaving aside the lack of the necessary 100-acre plot in or near downtown Boston, that kind of build-out is going to place a huge burden on both our metro housing and transportation infrastructures. Yet Amazon is coming on to cities like Boston with hand outstretched. Looking for the tax breaks and direct aid (read: bribes) that all big companies expect when they move to a new location these days. And after starving even more social programs to pay for this latest boondoggle, what are working families going to get back from the huge multinational?

Probably not much. According to the New York Times, Amazon only paid an average local, state, federal, and foreign tax rate of 13 percent between 2007 and 2015—far less than the official federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent alone, and less than even the 15 percent corporate tax rate that the Trump administration is trying to pass. Given that Boston real estate developers have been allowed to build primarily “luxury” condo complexes in the last many years, vacant units will be quickly snatched up by Amazon employees, and then the remaining downmarket properties will be upgraded by landlords looking to cash in. The result will be even more Bostonians without decent housing, legions more homeless people, and little new tax revenue to pay for the mounting social crisis thus created—or for making the desperately needed repairs and upgrades to our crumbling and utterly underfunded public transportation infrastructure.

Back on the labor tip, Amazon has gone out of its way to crush even the most insignificant union drives at its facilities worldwide since its inception. As when a small group of maintenance and repair technicians at its Middletown, Delaware, facility voted 21-6 against joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers after an intense management campaign against the workers.

Meanwhile, in Germany, where better labor policies and worker militance have forced Amazon to accept some unionization, management was recently shown to be “using peer pressure” to convince workers to not use their government-guaranteed sick days. No surprise, for a company which has made some of its warehouse workers walk 15 miles a day on a typical shift.

So is this the kind of company we should let state and local government bigs lavish public money on?

Hell no. And there’s one big reason, aside from the above, why we shouldn’t.

Allowing a company as large as Amazon to suddenly parachute a huge operation into our midst means it will immediately command an inordinate amount of political and economic power in Boston and Massachusetts. Particularly, the ability to threaten a capital strike in the form of leaving the area if any future demands for public lucre aren’t met.

Once Amazon arrives, it is going to distort the metro political economy so severely that we’ll be stuck with it. The ultimate white elephant.

Which is why any potential Amazon Boston deal must be stopped—with even more finality than the Olympics deal was torpedoed. Fortunately, unlike the GE Boston Deal—that got sprung on Boston and Massachusetts residents after months of secret negotiations—there’s still time to organize a very strong “NO” campaign.

The deadline for Boston to get a proposal to Amazon is Oct 19.

Readers have a bit over a month to force Walsh, Baker, and other local pols to stand down on this one. I recommend hitting the ground running.

Looking for the tax breaks and direct aid (read: bribes) that all big companies expect when they move to a new location these days.

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TOKIN’ TRUTH

LESS CASH FOR THE STASH Is cheaper pot coming to a dealer near you?

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For years, Massachusetts weed consumers have been hearing reports of cheaper weed out West, and wondering if prices will ever drop in our part of the world.

This fall, they just might.

A significant price drop would complicate life for the dealers we still depend on, as well as for the stores we hope will open soon. It would also reduce eventual revenues to the Commonwealth, since the taxes they’ll collect are based on percent of price, instead of weight or THC content. But of course it would be great for the average stoner.

Will it happen? Longtime activist Bill Downing is sure of it. As the MassCann organizer tells it, so many people are growing, or know someone who is growing, that come December or January, dealers will find themselves with too few customers and too much marijuana, and will be selling off cheap.

Not everyone agrees. Harvard researcher Jeffrey Miron, who has tracked the economic and social impact of marijuana in various states, is more skeptical: “I think most of these ‘new’ growers are not new,” he says, instead suggesting they are “just coming out of the shadows.” Miron continues: “Evidence from other states does not, so far, show big drops.”

Peter Bernard of the Massachusetts Growers Advocacy Council, meanwhile, agrees with Downing that prices will fall: “They already have, slowly, over the last year and a half or so,” he says.

“It is almost harvest time. Come end of October, beginning of November, the imports will come. By January, I see prices dropping, if not sooner.”

And are the new growers really new?

Says Bernard, “The number of people legally growing their own now has gone up considerably in the last year. I’m not talking about people coming out of the shadows, I am talking about scores of brand new growers.”

Downing has been wrong before on this subject; he predicted a substantial price drop when medical marijuana passed in 2012. At the same time, he thought the law would actually be implemented, and not stalled in its tracks.

This time, a lot of us are hoping Downing is right. Shine on, harvest moon.

“Evidence from other states does not, so far, show big drops.”

Andy Gaus is a Massachusetts-based cannabis advocate and a member of MassCann-NORML. Be sure to check out the MassCann-NORML Freedom Rally this Friday through Sunday.

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KEEP CALM AND LADIESCON FEATURE

Women of Comicazi return with second Somerville summit

BY STEPHANIE YANG

About five or six years ago, four friends came together for a summer mini-golf tournament. Later on they got to playing around in close proximity to busts of various comic book characters on a shelf, imagining ridiculous melodramas with statues of Batman and company.

Somehow, out of that came the idea that perhaps other people might find their brand of collaborative fun interesting, and so they started a blog: Ladies of Comicazi.

The store Comicazi has been part of Somerville for almost 17 years now, first opening its doors in 2000 in the original Highland Avenue location before moving up the street to the current spot in 2006. Now just off Davis Square in a recently expanded space, the shop is crammed with the usual paraphernalia that accompanies a comic destination—tall racks, long cardboard boxes stuffed with older issues, toys and figurines still in their original packaging, packs of collectible cards, and obscure board games piled to the ceilings. For the past couple of months, there’s also been a little stack of fliers by the register advertising “the return of” a small convention: “LadiesCon 2017!”

A spinoff of the aforementioned Comicazi blog, LadiesCon began in 2016 as a small, independent comics convention by ladies, for ladies. The four women from that mini-golf tournament—Sara Franks-Allen, sisters Valerie and Elise Sacchetti, and Erin McGrath—pulled together vendors, artists, and panelists and crammed them into a donated venue on Elm Street, in a small office that had just been used for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and was now, for obvious reasons, empty.

Last year’s LadiesCon was an incredible success

LadiesCon is part of an effort to balance the scales and create a place where men are not the default.

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for a tiny independent con run by a group of friends.

Approximately 500 people filed through that tiny office space and swelled for panels down the street at Comicazi.

The tickets were free, as they are again this year; the con itself is financed mostly by fundraising and donations, with a little bit tossed in out of pocket from the organizers.

Comicazi holds events year-round, from trivia and viewing parties to crafting lessons, and charges a small fee, as well as running raffles. The money from those events goes toward the con.

“This year is kind of amazing,” says Valerie Sacchetti.

“We just put up the fliers and we told the vendors from last year that we were doing it again, and we have now twice as many vendors as last year.” There is, in fact, a waiting list for vendors now, all hoping to get into an even bigger space, as LadiesCon will be held at the Armory on Highland Avenue in Somerville this year.

Handling the increased responsibilities are the same friends who make up goofy Batman stories together.

McGrath is married to one of the owners of Comicazi, and all of the women have been longtime customers of the store. This time around, Franks-Allen is handling the panels, while Valerie Sacchetti is in charge of guest relations and vendors, Elise Sacchetti is doing promotions, and McGrath deals with the venue and volunteers.

“I think that part of why Comicazi is so successful also is this idea of community,” says McGrath. The ladies don’t seem particularly fazed that their con has doubled in size from one year to the next; from attending those Comicazi events, they understand the lure of a shared interest and “of people getting together because they like the same thing and getting to talk about it and enjoy it.”

According to the team behind LadiesCon, part of the enthusiastic response has been because theirs is a con led by women who want to promote and invite other women.

There are plenty of stories of women feeling unwelcome at cons and in comic shops, where the focus is often exclusively on men, both as subject and as consumer.

Elise Sacchetti recounts not wanting to return to some

shops where she said she didn’t feel wanted, while FranksAllen pointed out that many women and girls turn to the internet for comics to avoid having to go to shops. And it’s not just comics; there’s currently a very real push-pull in the arena of geeky interests, as more and more nonstraight, non-white, non-male-identified people try to join the conversation, either as fans, critics, or content creators.

(For an example, just look at the abuse that women like Anita Sarkeesian have faced for attempting to discuss feminist issues in video games.)

People like to see themselves reflected in how their culture expresses itself creatively, and the hunger for diverse stories has been growing for as long as stories about straight white men have dominated shelves. And movie screens. And airwaves. LadiesCon is part of an effort to balance the scales and create a place where men are not the default. “Choosing to focus on women is not about excluding other people,” Valerie Sacchetti says. “As individuals that have been on that sort of end of things, feeling excluded, we don’t want to do that to other people … It’s just about we’re changing the focus over to women.”

“Some people are really hungry for that sort of safe space environment or something that’s more focused on women and pop culture and comics,” says Franks-Allen.

“And some people just want to go and have a good time regardless of what the specific focus is.”

To that end, LadiesCon has done its best to try and pull in a diverse range of vendors and panelists, allowing attendees to see more than a majority of straight white men reflecting back at them.

“Let’s make sure that we’re balancing who we bring in, in that we’re not just grabbing all the first people who said yes, because those might be all the white males because they’re comfortable in a con sphere,” Elise Sacchetti says.

“It was about patience … and taking care to use welcoming and inclusive language when answering questions and soliciting vendors. “ Those at LadiesCon this year include local artists Ming Doyle and Joe Quinones. Doyle has drawn for Constantine and Batgirl, as well as titles like The Kitchen and Mara.

Quinones has drawn for Captain Marvel and the current run of America, among others. Elise Sacchetti said she’s most excited for a panel featuring female voice artists from the podcast Hadron Gospel Hour, while McGrath says she is looking forward to seeing Gwenda Bond, who writes a Lois Lane novel series, conduct a romance comics panel. There’s a panel on women in gaming and, of course, a panel to discuss Wonder Woman, especially relevant in light of the recent release and success of the feature film. Among the expanded vendor list are all kinds of comics—from horror to romance to all ages—as well as crafters who work in mediums from yarn to pipe cleaner, and a tabletop gaming session for women and girls.

“I think a lot of people have this idea that women are sort of new to the scene with comics,” Valerie Sacchetti says. “But nothing could be farther from the truth. Women have been reading comics: romance comics, Archie comics, just maybe not [the comics people think of when] people think of Marvel and DC. They’ve been reading comics just as long as men have.”

“I think coming to Comicazi and feeling way more welcomed and free to explore has really formed the way that I was able to stay with something I was interested in and also broaden my horizons a lot,” Elise Sacchetti says.

“I hope that as comic shops become more welcoming to women, people have that comfort to explore.”

Meet the Ladies of Comicazi at LadiesCon 2017 on Sat 9.16 from noon to 5pm at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Visit ladiesofcomicazi.com/ladiescon-2017 for more info.

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COSTUMES! ALLSTON: 180 Harvard Ave. (Green Line @ Harvard) SOMERVILLE: 238 Elm St. (Red Line @ Davis Square) BUFFALOEXCHANGE.COM •

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

11

MORE THAN SPRAY PAINT ART NEWS

Streets Art Talking gets political about street art in Boston

BY ARIELLE GRAY @BONITAFROBUM If you’ve ever taken a quick walk around Boston, you’ve seen the amazing splashes of color brightening up the sides of old-school bodegas and newly developed highrises alike. Street art and graffiti have always been a part of the cultural landscape. As artist Moses Mitchell put it during the Streets Art Talking panel this past Thursday: Since humanity’s emergence, “we’ve always written on walls to communicate our stories.” Only recently have major artistic institutions recognized the heavy cultural significance of the art that graces our cityscapes.

Patronicity, Street Theory, and the Underground Mural Project teamed up to bring this political conversation about street art and graffiti to the South End last week as part of a larger initiative to “transform over 100,000 sq. ft. of walls at the Underground Ink park from a previously underutilized space between Boston’s South End and South Boston neighborhoods into a unique urban park and visual playground.”

“We thought it was very important to reflect the diversity of the city in form of graffiti art and street art,” Liza Quinonez, one of the organizers of the event, told the Dig. With a panel of renowned creatives, Streets Art Talking delved deeper than the spray paint and wall murals.

“In the ’70s there really was no name for street art,” New York art legend Cey Adams told the audience. “Now it seems that street art is a way of identifying murals… graffiti, on the other hand, has been overseen as an art form.”

Other artists on the panel included Boston-based legends Rob “Problak” Gibbs and Victor “Marka27” Quinonez, LA-based Moses Mitchell and Vyal, Nepali artist Imagine, and Karin Goodfellow from the City of Boston .

Since humanity’s emergence, “we’ve always written on walls to communicate our stories.”

PHOTO VIA ATS PHOTOGRAPHY - UNDERGROUND INK BLOCK 12

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PHOTO OF VYAL ONE AND YOUNG PROTEGE

All of the artists gave us their unique takes on graf.

Imagine, who fuses her native Nepali alphabet with American graffiti in her work, told us her story of moving from Nepal to Boston and learning about graffiti and hiphop under the tutelage of fellow panel member Problak.

For Problak, graffiti has always been a part of the city of Boston, and he cites Boston’s city walls as some of his first exposures to art.

“The art that I do is for our people, it’s our voice. I use it through the lens of hip-hop—I’m speaking a language that’s in our barbershops, in our community centers.”

The inevitable issue of gentrification was raised by an audience member. Boston is one of the most rapidly gentrifying cities in the USA, but that hasn’t seemed to dampen the revival of street art. Panel member Moses Mitchell gave a somewhat controversial opinion on the topic.

“I don’t see anything wrong with people moving in. Renters should make it a priority to buy in their

neighborhoods.” This drew criticism from some audience members and panelists, but despite the back-and-forth, Cey Adams pointed out one concrete fact: “The reality is developers are getting smarter… they’re creating the model of gentrification in every city… we are the ones who create culture, and they want to participate.”

Street and graffiti artists are the tastemakers, and now, with more canvases available in the form of new developments and high-rises, these artists have a chance to capitalize and dictate where they want the culture to go.

Despite the controversy surrounding street art and graffiti—gentrification and lack of institutional recognition included—all of the participants concluded that the future, especially around the murals going up in this city and others, is bright.

“Keeping an open mind is one of the most progressive things Boston can do as far as cultivating an arts culture…

We’re just getting started,” Marka27 said. “We’ve been doing this for over 20 years and we’re not stopping.”

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

13

HIKE SPECIAL

GOT AN EVENT? LIST IT.

10 WELCOME BACK WALKS That will help you get to know Boston better

BY MARC HURWITZ Early fall is a time when Boston always sees a lot of new faces, and if you’re new to the city, it can seem a little overwhelming (in part because we may have the most confusing system of roads in America). And sure, it’s easy to get an initial feel for the area by checking out the shops in Faneuil Hall, getting some cheap eats in Allston, or seeing how the other half lives with a leisurely stroll down Newbury Street. There’s much more to Boston than this, however, and one of the best ways to see some of the most interesting parts of the city is to go a bit off the beaten path and start walking. There are countless options to do this, but the walks below should give you a little taste of what Boston has to offer.

Use our self-serve listings page to get your event online TODAY!

digboston.com/listings We offer a free basic listing as well as enhanced and premium listings to really get you noticed.

Castle Island, South Boston Back in the day, this is where Whitey Bulger apparently used to go to talk about… stuff, knowing that he would be safe in doing so. Today, this gorgeous harborside recreation area is where both locals and those in the know go to catch views of the Boston Harbor Islands and the city skyline while wolfing down hot dogs from Sullivan’s. Perhaps the best route to take is to start at the parking lot by Sully’s (or before if you’re taking the bus), walk on the causeway around the “Sugar Bowl,” loop back to Sullivan’s, grab some more hot dogs, then stroll around the fort area, taking in more views of the water.

[Directions: Red Line to Broadway, then City Point buses #9 or #11 will get you close to the loop.]

Beacon Hill While this charming neighborhood is basically in the heart of Boston, it is often overlooked, perhaps because it doesn’t have a ton of nightlife or food options. But if you like peace and quiet with a little bit of history mixed in, Beacon Hill is tough to beat. A good route might include some of the alleyways on the hill (Cedar Lane Way, Ridgeway Lane, and the secret path at the end of Smith Court, for example), along with stops at the uber-wealthy Louisburg Square and the hidden Phillips Street Park before dropping down to Charles Street where a handful of dining spots and stores await.

[Directions: Red Line to Charles or Park Street.]

Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain Two hundred and seventy-five acres of open space might not sound like much, but when it’s in Boston—and when it’s full of hills, greenery, and water—it seems like a lot more, and this beautiful space near the end of the Orange Line has so much going for it that you could easily spend the better part of the day there. Rare trees and plants, three hills (including the very hidden Hemlock Hill), a moving stream, and a conifer forest that feels like something in the Pacific Northwest all make for a pleasant trip, and while you aren’t allowed to picnic there, it is a great place to kick back with a good book or set up a chair to get some sun if the weather is nice.

[Directions: Orange Line southbound to Forest Hills, then walk up South Street or the Arborway to any of the entrances.]

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Plini, David Maxim Micic, Nick Johnston Progressive math rock 9/15

Wild Belle, Fred Thomas Psychedelic pop duo 9/16

Your Friends Fest

Feat Awaaz Do, Powerslut, Lazertuth, Baluchitherium & more 9/17 2-6PM

Strike Up the Bands!

Somerstreets 2017

Feat Flight of Fire, Hambone Skinny, Weather Weapon & more 9/17

Hayes Carll, Curtis McMurty

Country singer-songwriter

156 Highland Ave • Somerville, MA 617-285-0167 oncesomerville.com   @oncesomerville /ONCEsomerville

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Charlestown Waterfront Everyone seems to flock to the waterfront in downtown Boston or the Seaport District, but Charlestown, which sits on a peninsula just north of downtown, remains a bit under the radar even though the views there are every bit as good—and some of Boston’s most interesting history can be found here. By taking the Harborwalk (or the Freedom Trail) from downtown Boston over the Charlestown Bridge or the well-hidden walkway between North Station/TD Garden and the Charlestown Bridge, you can walk along the water for a mile or two, seeing such sites as the USS Constitution, the Navy Yard, and various piers that go far out into the water.

[Directions: Walk from North Station or Community College (on the Orange Line), or take bus #82 or #83 to City Square.]

Marlborough Street, Back Bay Newbury Street can be fun—especially if you like to do a lot of people-watching and looking at things that you can never afford to buy—but paralleling it two blocks to the north is one of the great streets not just in Boston, but in all of New England if not America.

Stretching from the Arlington Street and the Public Garden all the way to Charlesgate and the eastern edge of Kenmore Square, this tree-shaded mile-long road includes warm and comforting gas lamps, historic row houses, brick sidewalks, and an overall feeling of peace and quiet that makes it a good extension of the Beacon Hill walk mentioned above.

[Directions: From Boston Common, head west through the Public Garden to where Arlington Street and Marlborough Street meet.]

Neponset River Greenway, Dorchester The southern border of Boston happens to be one of the city’s most scenic places, following the Neponset River from around Tenean Beach and the gas tank just off the Southeast Expressway all the way to Mattapan Square and beyond toward the Blue Hills in Milton. The part that is focused on here is the little section that leads west from Pope John Paul Park II and goes past grasslands that look like something out of the Midwest as it makes its way to Milton Landing, a cozy, hidden spot on the Milton/Dorchester line with park benches and great views of a harbor-like section of the river. From there, you can bike (or walk) for many miles, but the section mentioned above is particularly beautiful—and easy to do if you’re short of time. Oh, and don’t forget to wander around Lower Mills, a fascinating industrial area just north of Milton Landing that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

[Directions: From Ashmont station, take the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line to Milton. (Note: This takes you to the end point of the above walk, at which point you walk east toward Pope John Paul Park II; if you have a car, start at Pope John Paul Park II, which is by the Neponset exit off the Expressway, and walk west.)]

Check digboston.com for the complete list and much more from Marc Hurwitz.

NEWS TO US

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DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

15

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK MUSIC

Local musicians share their favorite spots around the city to get work done

BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN Welcome back to school. Whether you’re new to the college scene, from another country, or grew up in Back Bay, there’s always something new to discover in the city. It takes years to figure out the map, especially when it keeps changing.

That’s the best part.

To help, we gathered some of Boston’s best musicians, most of whom once went to school here themselves, to share insider tips on hidden spots. Where do they go when they need to write, study, or get thoughts down? What’s the best spot to decompress? Where can you find an affordable meal that doesn’t taste like wood? And where do they meet up with friends to chill?

Thanks to xthem, now you’ll know where you should be going and what musicians should be on your radar. Just promise you won’t share all of their secrets.

PILE Post-hardcore rock STUDY UP: The Brookline Library on Washington Street is my favorite zone for getting work done. It’s huge and has all sorts of quiet nooks and crannies that can be helpful for zooming in on whatever I’m trying to do. It’s got a pretty decent selection too, so browsing with even just a loose aim often leads to something pretty interesting.

DECOMPRESS: Whenever I’m freaking out about whatever I freak out about, I go to Float in Somerville.

Laying in a bath of water in complete darkness and silence helps me out a lot.

DISH IT OUT: Garlic ’n Lemons is great and fairly close

BAT HOUSE Psychedelic math rock STUDY UP: Most of us still frequent Pavement for a place to get work done.

DECOMPRESS: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is one of the best places in the city to wander to. The garden in the center of the museum is a great space for meditating.

DISH IT OUT: La Befana in Allston makes tasty and cheap pizza.

HANG LOOSE: Places like Refuge or Lone Star (Hell yeah, late night menu!) are our typical Allston spots.

CAMINO 84 Funky disco-tinged dance STUDY UP: I always tried to adjust my eating schedule so that I could eat at odd times and be in empty food spots for all of that. Either that or I’d hide in the music library at Northeastern’s WRBB with all the records—nobody else ever went in there.

DECOMPRESS: Boston Symphony Orchestra performances! The College Card is like $25 and then you’ve got the basic equivalent of a season ticket. Nothing beats overwhelm like being taken completely out of your element for a few hours and hearing truly incredible music with all the rich old people. Bonus points if you regular-lize your BSO attendance schedule and befriend one of said old people over several weeks.

DISH IT OUT: Saus, out by Haymarket, just ’cause a Belgian quick-serve spot is pretty unique. You come off as really cool and hip if you introduce friends to it, plus the fries are perfect for sharing.

HANG LOOSE: There’s so many good restaurants, and I spend all my money on them. Just download Foursquare and search “dinner.” I became a “Foursquare Insider.” Your friends will think you are so cool when you always have a half-dozen restaurant recommendations for them offhand.

favorite spot to get work done—a classic, majestic space with dozens of green reading lanterns adorning rows of antique desks. It’s great because you can hang there all day without anyone rushing you along, and if you feel blocked you can literally go leaf through almost any book in the world for inspiration.

DECOMPRESS: If the weather is nice, I’ll go for a run around Jamaica Pond, which is just down the street from where I live (a fitness instructor once told me “when in doubt, work out”—a phrase that weirdly rings in my mind when I’m stressed). If it is the middle of winter, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is like a snow globe of spring with its Venetian walls and indoor garden.

DISH IT OUT: Chilacates is a little taco spot in JP—super affordable and totally delish. Also Otto in Coolidge Corner is an excellent spot for premovie pizza.

HANG LOOSE: I love the vibe at State Park.

Pinball machines, clever cocktails, and a menu that honors my home state of Virginia is what keeps me suggesting it as a meeting point.

ELDER Proggy doom metal

to where I live, but I don’t think that’s much of a secret anymore. That place is pretty packed on the regular.

HANG LOOSE: I usually just go to shows when I want to catch up with friends. The Boston Hassle, Illegally Blind, and Allston Pudding are all very good resources for said shows.

HAASAN BARCLAY R&B beats from the underground STUDY UP: When I need motivation, I have to be immersed in nature. I’ve spent a lot of time taking in the Arnold Arboretum.

DECOMPRESS: When I’m in over my head and need to take the edge off, I bike through the esplanade into Allston and usually end up with something from Buffalo Exchange.

DISH IT OUT: If I’m not cooking myself, I go to P&R for sure. Every dish is fire, and the ice cream is legendary.

HANG LOOSE: It’s funny; Boston is such a small city that I’ll bump into half of everyone I know on Newbury Street and the rest at the docks on the Charles 15 minutes later on the same day.

AUDREY HARRER Dreamy neoclassical harp STUDY UP: Bates Hall at the Boston Public Library is my

STUDY UP: Whenever I need a quiet place to study, I always go to the Boston Public Library. With nothing but a library card, you are granted access into a historically beautiful workspace where quietness is encouraged and there always seems to be a place to sit.

DECOMPRESS: If I ever felt overwhelmed and needed to decompress, I would always walk up Mount Auburn Street (I worked at Darwin’s at the time) to the Mount Auburn Cemetery. It’s spectacular, and something about the graves and trees would always calm me down.

DISH IT OUT: The best spot in the city for an affordable meal is Super 88 at Packard’s Corner. Not only is it cheap, but there is a wide selection of restaurants and cuisines to choose from. On top of that, the supermarket there has the best deals in town.

HANG LOOSE: If I am bringing friends anywhere in town, it will depend on where we are. If we are closer to Harvard Square, I love Shays Pub right near JFK Park. The outdoor patio is great for people-watching, plus you can smoke. If I was closer to Allston, it would have to be my old standby, the Silhouette.

HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE Slowcore with amp stacks STUDY UP: The JP branch of the Boston Public Library is a newly renovated big glass cube. It is streaming with natural light during the day, which helps with the cabin fever. The floors aren’t carpeted, so they’re not filled with library dust. They also can’t throw you out for not buying anything.

DECOMPRESS: When I’m stressed or overwhelmed or

MUSIC EVENTS SAT 9.16

SUN 9.17

[Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, 290 Northern Ave., Boston. 8pm/18+/$40. bostonpavilion.net]

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm.

Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$12. greatscottboston.com]

INSTA-GRAMMY COUNTRY STURGILL SIMPSON

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DISTORTED DANCE NOISE FOR COULD’VE-BEEN PUNKS BLANCK MASS

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SUN 9.17

A SLICE OF HUMBLE ROCK PIE TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS + THALIA ZEDEK [Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston. 7pm/18+/$20. crossroadspresents.com]

SUN 9.17

OUTKAST A SOLO SPELL BIG BOI

[Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm. Ave., Allston. 7pm/18+/$28. crossroadspresents.com]

MON 9.18

FEMME INDIE ROCK WITH SWEET GUITAR LICKS JAY SOM + STEF CHURA + SOCCER MOMMY

[The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge. 8pm/18+/$13. sinclaircambridge.com]

TUE 9.19

40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR X + SKATING POLLY

[Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston. 7:30pm/18+/$33. crossroadspresents.com]

sad, I like to put my headphones in and walk out the door and then head to City Feed for a coffee and then shop at Boomerangs for some used CDs or books about nature, or go for a nice bike ride to the Arboretum! You could ask a friend to play catch or shoot some hoops—there are so many open spaces and basketball courts in Boston where you can do that. Being active is a great way to decompress!

DISH IT OUT: Ganko Ittetsu Ramen in Brookline is so good. I get the tan tan ramen.

Check out Blue Nile, a small Ethiopian restaurant in JP, and get the vegetarian platter for two to sample multiple things on the menu. And try Santarpio’s in East Boston for some pizza and a meat skewer!

HANG LOOSE: Plenty of museums in Boston will let you in for free with your student ID. Check out the Harvard Museum of Natural History with a pal and check out a huge whale skeleton.

OOMPA Slam poetry heat STUDY UP: Dudley Cafe is the kinda place that you can’t nap in, but where the couches are comfortable enough to tempt you. It’s like doing work at home.

DECOMPRESS: Styllistik! I know it’s strange, but as soon as I walk in in the Salon I feel like royalty, and Rebeka knows how to massage that scalp and put you at ease!

DISH IT OUT: Slades and Alex’s Chimis definitely. There’s nothing better than walking in and getting soul food or Dominican food for the low!

HANG LOOSE: Haley House is home. Go take your shoes off and watch the House Slam poetry slam and some great people with community initiatives.

MINT GREEN Paramore-fueled pop punk STUDY UP: Any parks with a lot of green space is great for writing or studying, such as Boston Common/the Public Garden or the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain. Frank likes to go to the dentist.

DECOMPRESS: We like to get FoMu ice cream in Jamaica Plain to decompress or rosemary fries from Clover in Cambridge. However, Brandon also likes to take a warm bath with candles and aromatherapy oils with a glass of scotch and listen to ambient post-rock when he’s feeling overwhelmed.

DISH IT OUT: You can get an affordable meal at Twin Donuts in Allston, My Thai Vegan in Chinatown, or, for drinks, Charlie’s Kitchen in Cambridge.

HANG LOOSE: When we want to catch up with friends, Veggie Galaxy in Cambridge is a top contender. Also Russell House in Cambridge or Charlie’s Kitchen for Tuesday night karaoke.

SIDNEY GISH Idiosyncratic indie pop STUDY UP: Whenever I need to write or work on something, I go to a cafe usually.

Most of the time I end up at Pavement, a chain with locations all around Boston.

DECOMPRESS: A really great relaxing space is the esplanade by the Charles, specifically the dock that’s off Mass Ave. It has a pretty view of the water during the day, and at night you can see Cambridge all lit up.

DISH IT OUT: My favorite place to eat around Northeastern is Amelia’s Taqueria, which has really good burritos. There’s one in Allston as well.

HANG LOOSE: To catch up with friends, it’s always fun to go to any of the restaurants around campus or just wander around inside the Prudential Center if the weather is bad. Also, it’s fun to go to craft events like Boston Hassle’s Black Market or SoWa’s weekly fair.

AVENUE Mass Ave hip-hop STUDY UP: I get the majority of my writing done in my car during my travels, but any urban setting in the city brings the best material out.

DECOMPRESS: Down the way is the best place for me to catch myself sometimes.

It’s a different type of energy in the South End, or maybe it’s just what I know best and where I feel most comfortable.

DISH IT OUT: P&R on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan. If you’re from the town and haven’t had a patty with coco bread and cheese from here, you aren’t living your life to its fullest potential.

HANG LOOSE: Darryl’s or Slades—they’re walking distance from each other. Get the same thing from both places, though, always good music and good food.

KAL MARKS Pessimistic noise rock STUDY UP: I can’t write in public. It feels uncomfortable, so I usually just write in my bedroom.

DECOMPRESS: Sometimes I’ll go for a walk.

DISH IT OUT: Eating out is expensive. Make your own food, even if you stink at it.

HANG LOOSE: I stay home. Or I go over to my friend’s house. A club is too loud.

Coffee shops are too quiet. Bars tend to smell like urine.

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SAT 9/16 - 10:30PM SAUCE BOSTON FT. HABSTRAKT

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THU 9/14 - 8PM PROTOMARTYR, JOHN MAUS , BLAU BLAU FRI 9/15 - 6PM DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN SAT 9/16 - 8PM THE CHAMELEONS VOX SUN 9/17 - 7PM PASSAFIRE, THE WERKS, YESAI WED 9/20 - 8PM THE CRIBS, THE PAWS, DIRTY BANGS

MAX WEINBERG’S JUKEBOX INCOGNITO ANDERS OSBORNE & JACKIE GREENE (TWO SHOWS) 10.20 RUSTED ROOT 10.20 DORI FREEMAN IN THE HAYMARKET LOUNGE 10.21 AN INTIMATE EVENING W/ RICKIE LEE JONES 10.22 ALBERT CUMMINGS 10.24 QUINN SULLIVAN 10.25 LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III W/ LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE 10.26–27 ART GARFUNKEL IN CLOSE-UP 10.28–29 KRISTIN HERSH & TANYA DONELLY 10.30 CRAIG FINN & THE UPTOWN CONTROLLERS PLUS JOHN K. SAMSON 11.1 RENAISSANCE A SYMPHONIC JOURNEY 11.2 COWBOY JUNKIES 11.2 BLUE WATER HIGHWAY BAND IN THE HAYMARKET LOUNGE 11.3-4 SHAWN COLVIN & HER BAND W/ LARRY CAMPBELL AND TERESA WILLIAMS 11.5 HOLLY NEAR W/ TAMMY HALL & JAN MARTINELLI (EARLY SHOW) 11.5 THE WEEPIES COMPLETELY ACOUSTIC & ALONE (TWO SHOW) 11.7 TALIB KWELI 11.8 LOS LONELY BOYS W/ LISA MORALES 11.9 LEFTOVER SALMON EARLY & LATE SHOWS 11.10-12 MARIZA 11.11 ERIN HARPE AND THE DELTA SWINGERS IN THE HAYMARKET LOUNGE 11.12 ANTHONY GERACI & THE HIPNOTICS IN THE HAYMARKET LOUNGE 11.13 DAVID CROSBY & FRIENDS SKY TRAILS TOUR 2017 11.14 PAUL THORN HAMMER & NAIL 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR 11.15 LLOYD COLE 11.16–17 MARC BROUSSARD 11.18 IAN HUNTER & THE RANT BAND 11.19 ROBERT PINSKY’S POEMJAZZ (EARLY SHOW) 11.19 POSITIVELY BOB | WILLIE NILE SINGS BOB DYLAN 11.21 DOYLE BRAMHALL II 11.24 AZTEC TWO-STEP 11.25 AN EVENING W/ MELISSA FERRICK 11.26 KINDRED THE FAMILY SOUL 11.28-29 RUFUS WAINWRIGHT W/ MELISSA FERRICK 12.1 SUSAN WERNER 12.2 LOS GOUTOS GOOD TIME AMERICANA MUSIC IN THE HAYMARKET LOUNGE 9.15 9.19 9.20 9.21 9.24 9.28

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UPSTAIRS

9.29 9.29

city winery Presents

PARACHUTE W/ OPENER JOHNNY BALIK AT LAUGH BOSTON MASON JENNINGS W/ FRANKIE LEE AT HARD ROCK CAFE BEN OTTEWELL AT RED ROOM @ CAFE 939 DAVID WAX MUSEUM W/ CIARAN LAVERY AT LIZARD LOUNGE CHRIS HILLMAN & HERB PEDERSEN W/ JOHN JORGENSON AT HARD ROCK CAFE JOHN POPPER W/ KATRINA WOOLVERTON AT LAUGH BOSTON DAN WILSON AT THE RED ROOM @ CAFE 939 THE CHURCH W/ THE HELIO SEQUENCE AT THE CENTER FOR ARTS NATICK

&

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THU 9/14 - 7PM

food Drink

HOODIES FOR THE HOMELESS:

ALEXZ JOHNSON, PUSHMETHOD FRI 9/15 - 8:30PM LESS ART, VATTNET, ACTOR|OBSERVER, THE NOMAD STONES SAT 9/16 - 6:30PM

10.21 11.8 11.10 11.11 12.2

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TEEN DAZE, PHOTOCOMFORT, BAD DREAMS

SAT 9/16 - 11PM SOULELUJAH SUN 9/17 - 8PM FRENSHIP, WILLIAM BOLTON MON 9/18 - 8PM

email eventsboston@citywinery.com for more info

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BUY TICKETS @ TICKETWEB.COM

w w w . c i t y w i n e r y. c o m / b o s t o n

SOCIAL MEDIA:

@MIDEASTCLUB @ZUZUBAR @SONIAMIDEAST NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

17

FILM

PREVIEW: CAMDEN IFF First look at an exclusively nonfiction lineup

BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN This will be my first year attending the Camden International Film Festival—a four-day event (Sept 14-17) exclusively featuring nonfiction films—so my ability to preview that festival is rather limited. On its schedule are numerous panels, a number of art installations, a program of VR artworks, and many other elements that can only be seen or experienced on-site in Maine. But what I can report on beforehand, reliably, are the movies themselves. CIFF will feature close to 80 films, including both features and shorts. And a handful of them have already screened in the Boston area—such as the two capsuled below.

ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL [2017], directed by Steve James In May of 2012, the state of New York indicted the Abacus Federal Savings Bank on numerous charges of fraud, in what’s often referred to as the one criminal case that resulted from the 2008 mortgage crisis. The punchline to those lone criminal charges—as it’s told in this film by Hoop Dreams [1994] director Steve James—is that Abacus didn’t even contribute to the crisis (the default rate on their clients, even then, was reported to be astronomically low). However, crimes were indeed being committed at its branches, by employees and by clients: The former were often bilking whatever they could get out of credit applicants, while the latter were often listing incomes much larger than what they claimed for tax purposes.

Among those charged in the indictments were members of the Sung family—patriarch Thomas Sung originally founded the bank, and two of his four daughters, Vera and Jill, now work there in executive positions. Utilizing direct-to-camera interviews with journalists, prosecutors, and jurors on the case, James’ film works to prove one fact indisputably: that the Sungs had no personal involvement in the crimes, and that the state essentially chose them as scapegoats for the whole crisis (a choice many suspect was motivated by institutional racism—a suspicion not helped by the fact that the NYPD chained the whole family together, in a truly inhumane display, for their perp walk).

One of the journalists present for those interviews is Matt Taibbi, who sums up the film’s thesis aptly: “If you were going to pick a bank to pick on, a family-owned company wedged between a couple of noodle shops in Chinatown is about as easy a target as you could possibly pick.”

Another journalist interviewed for the film is Jiayang Fan, a staff writer for the New Yorker who reported on the Abacus trial for that publication. The resulting article, “The

Accused” (originally published in October 2015), covers much of the same ground as James’ film—even following some of the same digressions (in one such case, both the article and the film set aside time to investigate the vague line between a “loan” and a “gift” among Chinese family members). The film does capture some things that printed journalism cannot: primarily, the charisma of the Sung family. James includes a scene of the Sungs arguing over a boardroom table following a day in court; after a minute or two, they’re all ranting over one another, to the extent that you can’t discern a single word; the sound design of it is borderline Altmanesque. It’s a great scene, and it’s very indicative of the way that the Sungs’ “performances” provide the film with its momentum. But this is a complicated, mixed-up story—one where nobody’s following the law to the letter and each side’s ethics have been rigorously defined by different cultures. And in exploring the full complexity of it, Fan’s writing is the far superior work. She captures what this film does not: the community around the bank itself, independent of the Sungs. “The Accused” includes a number of perspectives that James’ film declines to investigate, such as immigrants who were defrauded by the bank and former employees who no longer work there. One person in that latter category offers a complaint that, if rewritten a slight bit, could be applied to this film just as well: “I thought the D.A.’s office might address the bigger, systemic problem of tax evasion in Chinatown … but they chose to draw this stupid parallel between Abacus and the financial crisis.” Abacus does end with a montage of medium shots profiling unidentified members of the Chinatown community, but it only reveals the film’s own confusion— they’re not the people who the movie actually hears. This is a film about a family.

MAINELAND [2017], directed by Miao Wang Everyone in Maineland seems aware that there’s a role they’re meant to play. Director Miao Wang’s exceptionally knotty feature documents two unrelated Chinese teenagers, Stella and Harry, as they go abroad to Maine’s private Fryeburg Academy to attend high school.

In China, with their families, both teens play the dutiful student: They agree with their parents that their US studies are essentially a professional endeavor—promising that their high school graduations will be followed by business degrees and then by work in an international sector. One of the fathers puts it bluntly: “I want Stella to integrate with Americans.” But these comments, from all involved, are various lengths away from the truth—in one early scene, we see the would-be international students getting coached before prospective interviews with Fryeburg representatives, as if only to confirm that everything happening before the camera is being performed with an eye toward what audiences might be impressed by. The students express themselves more truthfully in voice-over narration (the editor is Elizabeth Rao, the sound design is

by Brendon Anderegg), as well as in conversations at the school (Stella reveals that she would prefer to pursue a career in education). Wang’s film doesn’t impose much of a

narrative on the few years it spends checking in with these kids, but instead just lets all these relationship dynamics, generational chasms, and cultural gaps develop via dialogue (in conversations seen or staged for the camera) and the narration (performed mostly by Stella and Harry themselves). What’s fascinating is the way that you can chart the changes in everybody’s presentation, depending on where they are or who they’re talking to. Stella and Harry seem willing to reveal their private thoughts and dreams on film—they’re willing to play themselves, just so long as they’re not in front of their families while doing so.

In the very first scene, Stella discusses another performance entirely: the ones in the High School Musical [2006] series, which have given her a romantic image of what America might be. That’s an image far removed from the school she’ll be attending in rural Maine—which means that the US is just another player failing to live up to their perceived role. The American students and teachers at Fryeburg, though seemingly well intentioned, only manage to confirm that. While accommodating on a technical level, they meet the foreign students with typical condescension: signs for “English-only common spaces,” classes that begin with “so where are you from” conversations, that whole routine. In a key moment, some of the international students—who admit that they mostly keep to themselves and feel separated from the larger student population—make a short documentary about how they’re perceived by the native Mainers. That student film is shown, in part, within Maineland, and it’s about what you’d expect: moderately articulate teenagers stumbling through the subject without saying much

at all—certainly without investigating whether or not they, themselves, are part of the reason that the Chinese students feel so secluded. But even if they understood that, they probably wouldn’t say it. Like everybody else in this keen-eyed movie, they’ve got appearances to keep up.

THE CAMDEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OCCURS IN MAINE 9.14–17. FOR INFORMATION REGARDING FULL PASSES ($95-195), INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ($10), AND THE FESTIVAL SCHEDULE, SEE POINTSNORTHINSTITUTE.ORG/CIFF ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL SCREENS AT CIFF ON SAT 9.16 AT THE CAMDEN OPERA HOUSE. 4PM. FILMMAKER STEVE JAMES IN ATTENDANCE. THE FILM IS ALSO CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON DVD. MAINELAND SCREENS AT CIFF ON SUN 9.17 AT THE CAMDEN OPERA HOUSE. 3PM. FILMMAKER MIAO WANG IN ATTENDANCE. SCREENED EARLIER THIS YEAR AS PART OF IFFBOSTON (HAS NOT YET BEEN ANNOUNCED FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION).

FILM EVENTS FRI 9.15

FRI 9.15

[Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/NR/$7-9. hcl.harvard.edu/hfa]

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

5:30 and 7:30pm/NR/$11. brattlefilm.org]

THE HFA’S CHANTAL AKERMAN RETROSPECTIVE CONTINUES NEWS FROM HOME [1976]

18

09.14.17 - 09.21.17

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‘TILDA SWINTON: WORLD’S GREATEST ACTRESS’ CONTINUES AT THE BRATTLE THE LAST OF ENGLAND [1987]

DIGBOSTON.COM

FRI 9.15

SAT 9.16

[Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline.

Midnight/R/$12.25. 35mm. coolidge.org]

[Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline.

Midnight/R/$12.25. 35mm. coolidge.org]

COOLIDGE AFTER MIDNIGHT PRESENTS GORDON PARKS’ SHAFT [1971]

COOLIDGE AFTER MIDNIGHT PRESENTS PAM GRIER IN FOXY BROWN [1974]

SUN 9.17

BY THE DIRECTOR, ABOUT THE DIRECTOR CHANTAL AKERMAN PAR CHANTAL AKERMAN [1996]

[Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 5pm/NR/$7-9. hcl.harvard.edu/hfa]

MON 9.18

JEAN-LUC GODARD’S’ BAND OF OUTSIDERS [1964]

[Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline.

7pm/NR/$12.25. coolidge. org]

A NEW PLAY adapted FROM THE d r a e h e r o f e b r e v ne conversations between these . two American icons

of From the Words y Warhol d n A d n a e t o p a Truman C ROTH ADAPTED BY ROB EL MAYER A H C I M Y B D E T C DIRE NOW PLAYING — TICKETS FROM $25 — STUDENT DISCOUNTS WITH ID

@americanrep #WarholCapoteART

AmericanRepertoryTheater.org NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

19

BOOKS

Q&A WITH SKYLAR KERGIL AKA SKYLARKELEVEN From sports-loving tomboy, to Boston pride parades, to finding his community online

BY M.J. TIDWELL @MJTIDWELL78

“Hey, hi, how are you?” the scruffy-bearded guy says into the camera. He gives a friendly wave and a smile, and upbeat music begins to play as the name skylarkeleven appears against a background of a sun and birds.

This is the YouTube channel of Skylar Kergil: musician, artist, local Boston resident, goer-of-hip-coffee-shops, and transgender activist. Skylar, or Sky, has been making YouTube videos documenting his transition from female to male since 2009. Through the intimate ups and downs of being a trans youth, he’s grown a community of over 115,000 followers who comment and like as he explores his path to understanding his gender identity.

Now, he’s opening up in a new way: with his memoir Before I Had the Words released Sept 5. The memoir drops readers into Sky’s mind from being a sports-loving tomboy to sneaking away to rainy Boston pride parades to finding his community online. He’ll talk about Before I Had the Words at the Brookline Booksmith on Sept 19 at 7 pm.

Beforehand, he sat down with DigBoston to talk petting cats and coming out as a meat eater. Well, among a few other things.

It might be simpler for you to go through your transition without telling your story to the whole world through YouTube and now your book. Why put yourself out there?

I’ve gone back and forth with how open I’ve been, based on how comfortable I am both with myself and with this world. When I first started making YouTube videos in 2009, it was because it had taken me 15 years to meet somebody who was transgender, to hear that word. The life that word gave to me, and realizing that I wasn’t alone, meant so much to me. I don’t know what I would have done had I not met another transgender person who was open about it.

I realized I had the option of keeping it all to myself,

As a YouTuber and generally as a millennial, it seems the internet has been a big influence on your life and your transition.

If you think about 1 in 30,000 people being trans, we’re pretty few and far between. So the internet has been a pretty essential part of finding community and resources … I think the internet has brought a lot of us closer together, and in the transgender community, the internet is such a life-saving force. There’s so much out there: forums and blogs and Facebook groups for people with all different types of identities where you can have conversations that maybe you can’t have with your friends or maybe you can find information that you can’t get from your community locally.

There’s way more out there now than when I was coming out. Back then, there were maybe three pages I’d go to and two YouTubers.

Which was a big part of why I wanted to put my story on YouTube.

On the flipside, people on the internet can be incredibly cruel.

Do you read your YouTube comments?

How do you cope after you’ve read them?

Hmm… Negative YouTube comments are few and far between now, only because I have a following that will litter me with happy and excited comments. I hardly ever see negative comments.

But when I do, it’s hard. I do read them. I think it’s important to see what other people might be seeing.

I don’t want to grow thick skin and say that things don’t bother me and just get over it. But I try to read them and move on. Sometimes I take a break from the internet. Most noticeably, sometimes if I’m feeling really vulnerable, I take a break from publishing YouTube

videos and then I get back on there. It’s a helpful thing [the internet], but sometimes I need a break. And everyone is super supportive when I come back and I’m like, “No, it’s okay, I’ve just been petting cats, it’s all good.”

Have you felt differently about coming out with your memoir when so many things affecting trans rights have happened since the election?

I have definitely noticed a change, I think, both with observing others and with my own self. A decrease in hope.

Knowing trans youth who out of high school were planning on joining the military … It was the only way they were going to be able to get away from their parents who were unsupportive and be able to do that for some years—transition, go to college, live their lives, and feel supported, and now that’s off the table. Thinking about those thousands of youths who were going to start their lives that way, seeing that it might not be possible, those are tangible degrees of hope and optimism being removed.

But simultaneously, I guess we got complacent before.

There has been a lot of solidarity now. There are many minority groups being attacked, so I think it’s bringing us together in some ways.

Your memoir is even more intimate than your YouTube videos. What’s it like to put this out there, not just to to the world, but also to the people who are in the book?

There are some people in my book who are not portrayed as kind people.

Because they were not kind people. They all have pseudonyms. I can’t paint everybody as a good person, but I can’t always paint myself as a good person. It was really hard to balance.

It’s also very nervewracking to share thoughts and feelings in written form. Books changed my life. To create something like this and navigate the emotional roller coaster of what to put in … like, do I even talk about why I started eating meat again?

It’s like it’s harder to come out as a meat eater than to come out as trans.

It’s a relief, but at the same time it’s scary because my story is out there and it’s not going anywhere now, because it’s in book form. I just hope it informs and inspires others to be their true selves or to write and share their own stories.

>> SKYLAR KERGIL: BEFORE I HAD THE WORDS. TUES 9.19. 7PM/FREE/ALL AGES. BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH, 279 HARVARD ST., BROOKLINE. BROOKLINEBOOKSMITH.COM

ARTS EVENTS

THE 7 FINGERS RETURN REVERSIBLE

[ArtsEmerson at Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont St., Boston.

Through 9.24. artsemerson.org]

20

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DIGBOSTON.COM

SCOTT EDMISTON DIRECTS CONSTELLATIONS

[Underground Railway Theater at Central Square Theater, 450 Mass.

Ave., Cambridge. Through 10.8. centralsquaretheater.org]

GREATEST AMERICAN MUSICAL GYPSY

[Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon St., Boston. Through 10.8. lyricstage.org]

LEGENDARY SONDHEIM MUSICAL MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

[Huntington Theatre Company, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston. Through 10.15. huntingtontheatre.org]

NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT SHOTS

transitioning to the man that I am now. But I just found it was very necessary for me to be open because if everyone were to do that, and some people do and that’s totally fine, but if everyone were “stealth,” I don’t know that I would have met another transgender person. I don’t know where I would have ended up. It’s kind of giving back to my younger self.

GALLERY REVIEWS VISUAL ART

Three current SOWA shows

BY FRANKLIN EINSPRUCH @FRANKLIN_E

Sean Downey: Wholly Idle—Steven Zevitas Gallery Sean Downey’s work at Steven Zevitas is dealing with an old problem, that of painting in an age in which painting is an obsolete medium, at least in the respect that there have been easier ways to make images for a century and a half.

Downey is digging into it in an original way, using paint to simulate photo collages, multiple-exposure photographs, digital glitching, and commercial prints.

Scenes of movie-making recur in this series, men operating film cameras on interior sets. Simulation reverberates upon simulation as Downey applies oils with a photographic coolness reminiscent of Philip Pearlstein to the depiction of these views. In Wholly Idle (2017), a synecdotal leg aims a camera at seated woman, coiffed à la Farrah Fawcett and sepia toned but typing at a laptop. Some sort of electronic disturbance—a faulty video signal?—encroaches upon the picture.

Downey doesn’t solve the aforementioned problem for us. Instead he conveys the discombobulation it produces, intriguingly.

horizontal grandeur. Early attempts included multiple exposures of 4x5 negatives, which must have been maddening to produce. Digital processes make it easier to stitch together numerous shots into panoramas, which he prints 2 or 3 feet high and 8, 10, and 20 feet across.

My initial reaction to this work was that it was a gimmick and I shouldn’t let myself like it so easily. It didn’t stick. Sometimes an obvious strategy is the right one.

Koninginnebrug Road and De Hef Rail Bridges, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2015) is especially strong, 240 inches wide and pieced together from sequential views of the bridge’s draw and drop. It looks like the backbone of a

whale being rolled. Another image breaks up the bridge over Buzzard’s Bay into rising and falling pieces, as if musical notes scaling a stanza.

Show runs until 10.15. Gallery Kayafas, 450 Harrison Ave. #37, Boston. gallerykayafas.com These shorts are being simultaneously published at Delicious Line, deliciousline.org. Franklin Einspruch is the editor-in-chief of Delicious Line.

Show runs until 9.28. Steven Zevitas Gallery, 450 Harrison Ave. #47, Boston. stevenzevitasgallery.com Angela A’Court: Thisness—Gallery BOM Soft pastel is as close as an artist can get to working with pigment itself, the powder that gives paint its color. It is also regarded unfairly as an amateur’s medium, though the impression is correct in that not many people use it with as much urgency and personal vision as Angela A’Court.

Starting with the notion that a still life is a conversation between objects, sometimes standing in for the people connected to them, A’Court renders glassware, flowers, teacups, and the like with a drawing style that flattens them into outlines and scumbled textures.

A’Court wields both subdued colors, such as the cool grays and earthy browns of Monday Morning (2017), and ringing ones, such as the lemony tabletop of Blue Jug, with aplomb. The latter is dated 2012-17, indicating the monkish reflection behind these simplified compositions.

Japan, where the artist has lived and whose objects she has studied, has a saying: “Unformed people delight in the gaudy and in novelty. Cooked people delight in the ordinary.” It is high praise.

Show runs until 10.15. Gallery BOM, 460 Harrison Ave., Suite B7, Boston. gallerybom. com Robert Richfield: Abridged—Gallery Kayafas Instilled with a love of mighty bridges as a child in Cincinnati, where five of them cross the Ohio River, Robert Richfield set out to photograph them in all of their NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

21

SAVAGE LOVE

GIRLS, WOMEN, SEX

WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST

BY PATT KELLEY PATTKELLEY.COM

BY DAN SAVAGE @FAKEDANSAVAGE | MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET

My husband and I are currently separated on a trial basis. He took all our condoms when he moved out, and I want to ask him if he plans on having sex with other women. I don’t have any intention of sleeping with other people while separated, but I think he may be interested in doing so, in part since we have been sexually active only with each other. If either of us were to have extramarital sex without the consent of the other, I would consider that cheating. We’ve also been having sex with each other throughout our separation. But my husband refuses to discuss this aspect of our separation.

Wondering If Fidelity Enforceable Taking the condoms + refusing to discuss the sexual terms of your separation = your husband is almost certainly fucking other women. He probably figures it’ll be easier to get your forgiveness after the fact than to get your permission in advance—and if you don’t get back together, WIFE, he won’t even have to ask for forgiveness.

I’m a 32-year-old straight male. Back in April, I met this girl. She seemed interested, but before we went out, she told me that she is a demisexual. (I had to google it.) After a few dates, she had me over to her place, we watched a movie and started making out. But when I started to put my hand between her legs, she calmly said, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” No problem, I told her, I wasn’t trying to rush her.

Fast-forward a couple months. We’re still going on dates, we hug and kiss, we hold hands, we cuddle on the couch and watch movies—but still no sex. Is demisexuality real?

Should I keep pursuing her?

Is She Interested Totally Or Not? Demisexuals are real people who “do not experience sexual attraction unless they form a strong emotional bond,” according to the definition at Asexuality.org. We used to call people who needed to feel a strong emotional bond before wanting to fuck someone people who, you know, needed to feel a strong emotional bond before wanting to fuck someone. But a seven-syllable, clinicalsounding term that prospective partners need to google— demisexuality—is obviously far superior to a short, explanatory sentence that doesn’t require internet access to understand.

You’ve shown respect for this woman’s sexual orientation, ISITON, now it’s her turn to show some respect for yours.

On the Lovecast, comedian Amy Miller. Listen up at savagelovecast.com.

THE STRANGERER

BY PAT FALCO ILLFALCO.COM

22

09.14.17 - 09.21.17

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DIGBOSTON.COM

OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS

BY TIM CHAMBERLAIN OURVC.NET

YOUR DOLLARS ARE

HARD AT WORK

Even a small donation can make a big difference

HurricaneHarveyAid.org

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

23

W/ B A D M A R R I AG E

WITH PALAYE ROYALE, THE WHITE NOISE, CHASE ATLANTIC

THIS FRIDAY! SEPTEMBER 15

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25

THU & FRI OCTOBER 26 & 27

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5

JUST ANNOUNCED! ON SALE FRIDAY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1

SEETHER

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3

ACTION BRONSON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18

ARCHITECTS

AND DON’T MISS: 9/16 Dark Tranquility | 9/27 Soil | 10/5 Fozzy | 11/11 Zach Deputy | 11/19 Fit for a King | 11/24 Hatebreed | 11/25 Children of Bodom | 12/2 Hyperglow | 12/27 Snails Tickets available at the Palladium Box Office (12-4:30 Tuesday-Friday), FYE Music and Video Stores, online at Ticketfly.com or by calling 877-987-6487. massconcerts.com • thepalladium.net