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: AFI at House of Blues
We weren’t expecting to vibe so hard with the new AFI album, but October is gonna October and our collective headspace is in a blackened rhythm with the more old-school goth and post-punk leanings the California alternative stalwarts are serving up lately. As Davey Havoc and the lads roll into Boston’s House of Blues tonight, they arrive as their 12th album just dropped via homegrown label Run For Cover. Recent single “Holy Visions,” complete with a V-pink video glow, feels perfect for the dark autumnal playlist of our friendly nightmares; a fresh addition to the worn-out classics that adds a bit of sandpaper to the glossy goth-pop explosion of the mid-’20s. Here’s what Havoc has to say about the record: “Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… is a sonic manifestation of the struggle to reconcile existence in the godless, uncanny dystopia that is modern life.” We think the same thing every time we walk down Lansdowne Street on a Friday night after the Red Sox are eliminated from the postseason.
AFI + TR/ST :: Friday, October 10 at House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., all-ages, $60 to $61 :: Advance tickets and info
Comedy: Erica Rhodes at Laugh Boston
Hey look, we’re not the first to declare that short viral video clips are the best thing to happen to comedians since seated auditoriums, but one that circulated over the summer sure helped Erica Rhodes become a must-see act this fall. The Newton native and Boston University grad, who we first profiled way back in 2018, appeared on WGN Morning News in Chicago, and immediately proceeded to tell the hosts that she went on a date with a guy who told her she looked like JonBenét Ramsey. Hilarity ensued, the hosts lost their cool, and when Rhodes quips “and we had a fun night of role-playing… I think I’ll see him again,” one of the funniest viral clips of 2025 was born. Seriously, we must have watched it a thousand times since it first popped off, and it’ll be in our Explore tab forever. Rhodes has a homecoming this weekend, which is the reason for all these words, as she brings her Call Me Crazy Tour to Laugh Boston for two nights. Rhodes has appeared on ABC’s Modern Family, HBO’s Veep, and Fox’s New Girl, and was a regular panelist on Comedy Central’s midnight — but it’s that viral clip that may launch her into superstardom. “I thought he was charming,” indeed.
ERICA RHODES :: Friday, October 10 and Saturday, October 11 at Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. in Boston, MA :: Friday at 6 p.m., and Saturday at 5:30 p.m., 21-plus, $39.43 :: Advance tickets and info
Film/TV: IFFBoston Fall Focus
The best season on the calendar delivers many autumnal treats, and near the top of the list is the annual IFFBoston Fall Focus. The film showcase returns to The Brattle in Cambridge for the first of two weekends, and Vanyaland film boss Nick Johnston has the official preview, with five flicks highlighted for your movie-going attention. “Our focus this time around is on [this weekend], which is absolutely stacked with new films from the likes of Richard Linklater, Jahar Panahi, Luca Guadagnino, Joachim Trier, Kelly Reichardt, Christian Petzold, and more. We know you’ve got a limited amount of time to spend, otherwise we’d tell you to grab a big-ass blanket and plant your ass like a sapling in one of the Brattle’s balcony seats and never leave (if you’re totally free, you should do so!). So, here are five features to check out at the first weekend of Fall Focus.” Those include Luca Guadagnino’s After The Hunt; Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (what up, Rose Byrne!); and Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind. Hit the preview link and decorate the weekend.
IFFBOSTON FALL FOCUS :: Now through Sunday at The Brattle, 40 Brattle St. in Cambridge, MA :: Check local listings