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: Couch at Roadrunner
As we put it so eloquently back in the spring, Couch are getting asses off sofas this fall. And now that autumn has arrived, so has the homecoming gig for the rising Boston band, holding court at Roadrunner in Brighton on Saturday after rising through the Bowery pipeline by selling out shows at The Sinclair and Royale. This weekend’s gig also closes out the funk n’ soul-pop sextet’s Big Talk Tour, named for last month’s new album. “Big talk is the opposite of small talk. It’s about digging deep, making intimate connections, and being bolder, more confident versions of ourselves,” says lead singer Tema Siegel, with guitarist Zach Blankstein elaborating on the album: “Big Talk is the fullest expression of who we are right now. It’s the most collaborative we’ve ever been, with every member’s voice and sensibilities woven into the music. Mixing genres has always been part of what we do, but this record takes that even further — and with more intention — than ever before.” We seriously need a dose of fun in our lives, and this feels like the safest bet to experience it.
COUCH + STEPHEN DAY :: Saturday, November 22 at Roadrunner, 89 Guest St. in Brighton, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages $42 to $57 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Music: The Bends at The Sinclair
While Couch have successfully risen through the Bowery venue pipeline, The Bends begin their journey this weekend. The Baton Rouge band hit The Sinclair on Sunday, with New Bedford brother trio Morrissey Blvd. on board for opening duties, and the gig is the last stop on their Leeward Drive Tour, named for the group’s debut EP that hit over the summer. The Bends have followed that up with a vibrant, ’90s-kissed cruiser of a new single called “Lips” that takes us right back to 1997, when alternative and pop came together to soundtrack some of the best of times. “The chorus of ‘Lips’ was actually the first piece of music I ever shared with the band,” says frontman Hayden Field. “Since then, we’ve reworked the song several times until it finally landed where it needed to be. We love its rhythm and the way it naturally gets people moving. There’s always a little shoulder groove happening when we play it live.” The Bends has always been our favorite Radiohead album; and now The Bends just might be our new favorite band.
THE BENDS + MORRISSEY BLVD. :: Sunday, November 23 at The Sinclair, 52 Church St. in Cambridge, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages $23.87 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: ‘Black Friday’ at Cinema Salem
You know Halloween has come and gone when we spend back-to-back weekends up in Salem. But after revisiting Enter The Void last weekend, we’re back in the mall for a Cinema Salem screening of Casey Tebo’s 2021 horror comedy film Black Friday, starring Bruce Campbell and Devon Sawa. Presented by Salem Scare Society, Tebo will be on-hand for an in-person Q&A, and this feels like the perfect lead-up to next weekend’s extended holiday. Here’s the word: “On Thanksgiving night, disgruntled toy store employees begrudgingly arrive for work to open the store at midnight for the busiest shopping day of the year. Meanwhile, an alien parasite crashes to Earth in a meteor. This group of misfits, led by store manager Jonathan and longtime employee Ken, soon find themselves battling hordes of holiday shoppers who have been turned into monstrous creatures hellbent on a murderous rampage on Black Friday.”
‘BLACK FRIDAY’ :: Friday, November 21 at Cinema Salem, One East India Square in Salem, MA :: 8 p.m., $12 :: Event info and tickets