Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, Vanyaland‘s guide to help you sort out your weekend entertainment with curated selections and recommendations across our three pillars of Music, Comedy, and Film/TV. It’s what you should know about, where you need to be, and where you’ll be going, with us riding shotgun along the way.
Music: Morrissey at MGM Music Hall at Fenway
UPDATE 1:01 p.m.: To the surprise of no one, the Morrissey show has been cancelled. Via MGM Music Hall on Instagram: “In recent days, there has been a credible threat on Morrissey’s life. Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of both the artist and band, tomorrow’s engagement at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway has been cancelled.“
From the desk of Senior Writer Michael Christopher: Morrissey fans – like the man himself – just can’t seem to catch a break. The mercurial, mopey, often maddening-to-be-a-fan-of frontman is sitting on not one, but two completed studio albums, yet has been unable to land a label willing to release them. He’s also admitted he’d be up for reuniting the band that made him a household name, The Smiths, although guitarist Johnny Marr shut down talk of a tour that was rumored to take place this year due to the “vibe” not being right. The return of the era-defining jangle-pop icons remains one of music’s most sought-after reunions but lingers only in fans’ wildest dreams. None of that is why we’re here, though.
There’s a show Saturday night set to take place at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, and we’ve all got cramps in our crossed fingers hoping it’ll go off without a hitch. Morrissey’s two-decade or so track record of last-minute cancellations and postponements makes early ‘90s Axl Rose seem like the neighborhood babysitter desperately saving up for her first car in terms of dependability.
According to the sadly departing blog We Heart Music, Mozzer’s 2025 shows are currently at 71 percent going off without a hitch, which, while technically passing, creates some nervousness. Still, he endures as one of music’s most enigmatic figures, and crowds continue to gamble on him turning up. Why? Because Steven Patrick Morrissey has a way of creeping into our thoughts like a bad debt that we cannot pay, so, ultimately, we take the easy way and give in. And when he does appear onstage, the reward is massive, with a career-spanning set that pulls from every chapter of his career. Solo favorites, Smiths classics, deep cuts, even unreleased gems – all get woven into a performance that can easily stand among the year’s best.
Take this tour, for example, where he’s been opening with [spoiler alert!] “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.” Christ. That’s reason enough to venture down to Lansdowne Street on a weekend night.
MORRISSEY :: Saturday, September 20 at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, 2 Lansdowne St. in Boston, MA :: 8:00 p.m., all ages, $53.05 to $177.60 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Music: MARINA at Roadrunner
We’re in desperate need of upbeat music in downtrodden times, and that’s exactly what MARINA has been serving up in a year that’s been anything but celebratory. Our forever homegirl is dedicated to taking us to the alt-pop disco we deserve, and her playlist en route to features ABBA, Erasure, The Waitresses, Blondie, that one Estelle banger, and all the other sonic strands of care-free DNA we hear pulsating through June’s white-hot single “I <3 YOU.” It’s one of many standout tracks on summer all-caps-everything album PRINCESS OF POWER, and followed April’s sexpot anthem and probable Title of the Year-contender “CUNTISSIMO” and February’s dramatic, house-infused, hall-of-mirrors psych-pop romp ‘BUTTERFLY“. All of MARINA’s dance-pop bops will be on kaleidoscopic display Sunday at Roadrunner — can the old-heads get some “Shampain” in the setlist? — and it’s the perfect late-weekend tonic before falling back into Monday’s chaos. It’s also a show of strength. “One of my lessons in the last few years is that love — and showing love — is not a weak thing,” MARINA says of the track. “Of all the superpowers we have as humans, love is our greatest one.”
MARINA :: Sunday, September 21 at Roadrunner, 89 Guest St. in Brighton, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages, $100 to $377 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Film: ‘Bring It On’ at Alamo Drafthouse
The country is on fire, doomscrolling has become the national pastime, and each day delivers a new dose of unimaginable horror. So, hey two tears in a bucket, fuck it — let’s go escape the madness, if only for two hours, and comfort-watch Bring It On in a big ol’ theatre. The enduring Y2k cheerleader flick celebrates its 25th anniversary (oh, cool) this year, and Alamo Drafthouse in the Seaport has a trio of screenings this weekend, capped off with a Q&A livestream with the cast — here’s an Inside Track-flavored shoutout to Watertown homegirl Eliza Dushku! — on Sunday night. Alamo gets us in the mood: “The Toro cheerleading squad from Rancho Carne High School in San Diego has got spirit, spunk, sass, and a killer routine that’s sure to land them the national championship trophy for the sixth year in a row. But for newly elected team captain Torrance (Kirsten Dunst), a typical all-American high school girl whose cheering is not just an activity but a way of life, the Toros’ road to total cheer glory takes a shady turn. Her dream becomes a nightmare when she discovers that their perfectly choreographed routines were in fact stolen from the Clovers, a hip-hop inner-city squad from East Compton, by the Toros’ former captain.”
‘BRING IT ON’ :: Friday, September 19 and Sunday, September 21 at Alamo Drafthouse, 60 Seaport Blvd. in Boston, MA :: Friday at 6:45 p.m., and Sunday at 12:45 and 8 p.m., $13.99 to $17.49 :: Screening info and tickets