[Boston-Area Action 8/12/2026] Show-Going Plans & New Show Announcements
Posted on August 12, 2026 at 5:11 pm | No Comments
Hey, so, it’s Wednesday, when I try to share a couple of Boston-centric lists: One with area (mostly indie-ish, rock-ish?) shows happening in the next seven days, and another with new show announcements. So I guess I’ll do that. But first, I ramble a little about personal highlights from each…
The biggie this weekend is Friday night’s free anniversary party for Fenway Recordings at Brighton Music Hall, where all three Mission of Burma members will be playing with their respective projects: Clint with a reconstituted Consonant (!), Peter with his mighty Minibeast, and Roger doing a solo set. Will their long-retired mutual rock band make an appearance? Magic 8-ball says All Signs Point to Yes. BigTime, John Herguth, & Lessa will be playing as well, and a certain DJ Carbo will be spinning tunes, too. I mean, it would be weird if he didn’t.
Before you head there on Friday, the free weekly series over at Notch Brewing (Brighton) has Thalia Zedek joining hosts Hilken Mancini & Melissa Gibbs, and it starts early enough to do both. The night before brings Bobby Bare Jr. to Somerville for a solo show, and it looks like tickets are running low, so head to his page for details.
I whine about conflicts every week on this thing, and this time it’s because Honey Radar plays the same night as that Fenway show. Sigh. Love that band, bummed to miss out. :-/
Saturday has Brendan Boogie’s birthday bash at the Lizard Lounge Cambridge with The Grownup Noise, The Best Intentions, Scamper, & more, and Sunday you can catch Yard Act with the Armed at The Sinclair. I’m extremely psyched that Swervedriver are playing that same room on Tuesday night with Slow Fiction, celebrating the 35th anniversary of their ace “Raise” LP. Oh yes. Though that means I’ll be missing the monthly Which Side?: A Protest Music Teach-Out event at The Burren, which includes Damon & Naomi this time around. Sure to be great.
As far as announcements go, a total highlight is the return of The Specific Heats, who will have their record release party at the Lilypad Inman on September 5th with Adult Learners. Earfull Series returns to The Regattabar on Sept. 16th with a lineup that includes Peter Wolf in his author guise, Joe Pernice will be opening for The Jayhawks at The Shubert Theater in October, and the Del Fuegos will play two holiday shows at City Winery Boston in December.
A few days ago I made sure to remind you to grab tickets to see Ted Leo in Beverly on October 9th… then I realized it’s the same night as Kyle MacLachlan appearing at WBUR CitySpace. And then immediately discovered that Christopher Slusarenko’s great podcast Revolutions Per Movie will screen “URGH! A MUSIC WAR” at MassArt with co-host Chaki & guest Hugo Burnham at the very same time. The gods of scheduling are just messing with me at this point. I badly want to be at all three of those events. Urgh, indeed.
Oh, and remember how surprised I was that Imperial Teen was playing a space as small at the Lilypad is? Well, that November show has been moved to the more spacious Warehouse XI. Much more suited for what they’re bringin’.
Peruse the lists below, make the tough choices, get yourself out there & support the audible arts. Don’t take it for granted. Sometimes it’s all we got. Check the full list over in the right-hand column. Leave any suggestions, corrections, criticism, or compliments in the comments… all are welcome. Well, maybe not the third thing.
Off we go…
First, imminent Boston-area shows of (my/your?) interest…
Wednesday, August 12th
Triptides
Dyr Faser
@ Deep Cuts
Thursday, August 13th
Bobby Bare Jr.
live solo in Somerville
(search eventbrite for info)
Thursday, August 13th
Save Ferris
@ Taffeta Music Hall
Thursday, August 13th
Deep Purple
Kansas
Jefferson Starship
@ the Xfinity Center
Thursday, August 13th
Family Trip Podcast Show
with Seth Meyers
@ City Winery Boston
Friday, August 14th
Celebrating 25 Years
of Fenway Recordings
Consonant (reunion!)
Roger Clark Miller
Minibeast
BigTime
(and perhaps a ‘surprise’)
@ Brighton Music Hall
Friday, August 14th
Best Brother Records presents
Emily Robb
Honey Radar
Heathen Shame
@ Deep Cuts
Friday, August 14th
The Hilken Mancini &
Melissa Gibbs Residency
Week 2 with guests
Thalia Zedek
free @ Notch Brewing Brighton
Friday, August 14th
Blues Traveler
Gin Blossoms
Spin Doctors
@ the Pavilion
Saturday, August 15th
North West
Molly Santana
@ House of Blues
Saturday, August 15th
Brendan Boogie’s Bday Bash!
featuring
The Best Intentions,
The Broken Gates,
Fooled By April,
The Grownup Noise,
Harris, & Scamper
@ the Lizard Lounge
Saturday, August 15th
BoDeans
@ the Cabot
Sunday, August 16th
Dogstar
@ House of Blues
Sunday, August 16th
Yard Act
@ the Sinclair
Sunday, August 16th
Ben Nichols (Lucero) & friends
Cory Branan
@ Deep Cuts
Tuesday, August 18th
Swervedriver
Slow Fiction
@ the Sinclair
Tuesday, August 18th
Which Side?:
A Protest Music Teach-Out.
this month featuring
the Croaks, Damon & Naomi,
Dom the Composer, Hazel Project,
Eric Martin, Emily Marvosh,
& the Paid Protesters
@ the Burren
And now, recently announced Boston-area shows…
Friday, September 4th
Zola Simone
Shallow Pools
TWAM
@ Deep Cuts
Saturday, September 5th
The Specific Heats (record release!)
Adult Learners
@ the Lilypad
Wednesday, September 16th
In The Pines
Feep
Daughter of the Vine
@ Deep Cuts
Wednesday, September 16th
The EARFULL series
writers reading,
songwriters performing.
with authors
Jennifer Belle & Peter Wolf
and musicians
Eric & Hazel Royer
and Kenny White
@ the Regattabar
Saturday, October 3rd
Sera Cahoone
@ Deep Cuts
Friday, October 9th
Kyle MacLachlan
presents his new book
@ WBUR Cityspace
Friday, October 9th
Revolutions Per Movie
and Culture Saves presents
URGH! A MUSIC WAR
with Chaki, Chris Slusarenko,
and guest Hugo Burnham
@ Tower Auditorium, MassArt
Tuesday, October 13th
Steve Lacy
@ MGM Music Hall
Saturday, October 17th
Sidewalk Driver (record release!)
Louder Joy
Lipsmear
Blindspot
@ the Middle East Down
Sunday, October 18th
Laura Cortese
@ the Rockwell
Sunday, October 18th
Allison Russell
Autumn Nicholas
@ the Royale
Saturday, October 24th
The Jayhawks
Joe Pernice
@ the Shubert Theatre
Saturday, December 19th
The Del Fuegos
“Home For The Holidays 2026”
two shows @ City Winery
[Boston-Area Action 8/5/2026] Show-Going Plans & New Show Announcements
Posted on August 5, 2026 at 2:41 pm | No Comments
Oh, right, it’s Wednesday again. Time for the weekly “Boston area shows” post. Imminent gigs and recent announcements. Yeah.
But I’m just sitting over here bumming out about the apparent death of long-running, highly-esteemed music blog BrooklynVegan. One of the few remaining outlets for quality independent music coverage. I was naively unaware of the site’s ownership switcheroos over the past few years, and maybe this wouldn’t have been such a surprise if I knew that LiveNation & the Madden bros. had their hands on the controls. But I didn’t, and so it was. Dammit. Shall I remain naive and hope the site can somehow be wrested back from those chodes’ clutches? Or at least that the crew can find funding to start something new of their own? Sure.
Ok, so, yeah, Boston-area shows happening over the next seven days, and announcements made over the seven previous.
Tonight I was really looking forward to seeing Smirk at Deep Cuts, but it was suddenly canceled a couple days ago, as was the rest of their tour, apparently. So I’ll be hoping for a make-up date. Tomorrow night I’ll be heading down to Providence for the New England premiere of the Jason Molina documentary YFFIO (“You Fuckers Figure It Out”) as part of the Rhode Island International Film Festival. Very psyched. If I was around, I’d be at the Somergloom Festival’s kick-off show at Deep Cuts. Be sure to check out that fest’s full lineup over the whole weekend.
I’ll be outta town on Friday, too, this time for Lou’s 60th birthday show. In my absence, I highly suggest you head down to Hingham for Rick Maguire (of Pile) and Hallelujah The Hills at Ames Chapel, presented by Best Brother Records. If Hingham is too much of a haul, Hilken & Melissa’s free Friday residencies at Notch Brewing (Brighton) kick off with guests Beth Kaplan, Chris Brokaw, & Evan Shore. Hurts to miss that one, but I’ll get a bunch more chances. See the full lineups in last week’s post, or over on the right.
Rick from Pile is playing at the new Allston Abbey space (a long-standing church that has started hosting shows) on Saturday night, and I’ve really been wanting to check that place out… but it’s the same night as the mighty Oneida at Deep Cuts with KINSKI (!) & Tyler and the Names. Oof. Not only that, but Lupo città & Puke Pisstols are playing the Middle East with Cheater Slicks. Double oof. I’m just glad that Arto Vaun’s set at the Watertown Arts Market is at 3pm, so no conflict there.
As far as new announcements go, the first one I’ll mention is a reschedule: The aforementioned Arto had a show with Elizabeth Steen scheduled for August 15th at the Project Save Photograph Archive, but that’s now happening on September 26th instead. Mark it down. Glad that one starts at 6pm, because Smug Brothers have announced what I think is their first-ever area appearance that same night, playing over at O’Brien’s. So that’ll be another two-show evening.
Also rescheduled? The previously-aborted Comedy Bang! Bang! show, which will try again at the Chevalier in Medford on October 7th. Here’s hoping for no surprise exploding manholes that night. Just tell Scott to stay away from the tainted lettuce. HEY-O.
I really need to wrap this up. Ted Leo will be playing at Off Cabot in Beverly on October 9th, same night that Basic (Forsyth/Avery/McCombs) is at Deep Cuts. Rhett Miller hits City Winery Boston on 10/27, two days before Dent May is at the Rockwell. November 6th brings BEAT to the Wang, with Belew, Vai, Levin, & Bozzio doing their King Crimson thing, and the Daniel Lanois Trio hits City Winery the day before that. There’s more listed, but I’m outta gas. Read on.
As always, if there’s anything I missed that you’re excited about, please say so. And if any of the info I shared is messed up/changed, pipe up. You can check out a more extensive list of upcoming shows over in the right-hand column over there…
The lists…
First, imminent Boston-area shows of (my/your?) interest…
Wednesday, August 5th
Buddy Guy
Taj Farrant
@ Lynn Auditorium
Wednesday, August 5th
Franz Ferdinand
Sunday Mourners
@ House of Blues
Thursday, August 6th
“You Fuckers Figure It Out:
A Jason Molina Story”
New England Premiere
@ Rhode Island Intl Film Fest
@ the Uptown Theatre
in Providence
Thursday to Sunday
August 6th, 7th, 8th, & 9th
SOMERGLOOM
@ Deep Cuts
Thursday, August 6th
SOMERGLOOM kickoff show
The Outlourdes
Through A Glass, Darkly
Magnatar
Swamphead
@ Deep Cuts
Friday, August 7th
Junction 18
The Appreciation Post
Man V Ghost
Space Casino
@ the Middle East Downstairs
Friday, August 7th
The Hilken Mancini &
Melissa Gibbs Residency
Week 1 with guests
Beth Kaplan and Chris Brokaw
& Evan Shore (Muck & the Mires)
free @ Notch Brewing Brighton
Friday, August 7th
Best Brother Records presents
Rick McGuire of Pile
Hallelujah the Hills
@ Ames Chapel, Hingham
Friday, August 7th
Holy Wave
@ Deep Cuts
Friday, August 7th
Iron & Wine
@ Boarding House Park, Lowell
Saturday, August 8th
Rick Maguire (from Pile)
@ Allston Abbey
Saturday, August 8th
Arto Vaun
@ Watertown Arts Market
@ Arsenal Park
Saturday, August 8th
Elvis Costello
Will Dailey
@ Old Whaling Church, Edgartown
Saturday, August 8th
King Yellowman
@ the Cut
Saturday, August 8th
Kingsley Flood
@ Jason Russell House, Arlington
Saturday, August 8th
Cheater Slicks
Lupo Città
Puke Pisstols
@ The Middle East Up
Saturday, August 8th
Oneida
Kinski
Tyler & the Names
@ Deep Cuts
Saturday, August 8th
Bruce Hornsby
& the Noisemakers
@ the Cabot
Saturday, August 8th
Hilary Duff
@ Xfinity Center
Sunday, August 9th
Pile
@ John Ives House, Salem
And now, recently announced Boston-area shows…
Wednesday, September 2nd
Joseph Parsons
Amy Fairchild
Thomas Juliano
@ Q Division Studios
Wednesday, September 16th
Ear
Oral
@ the Somerville Armory
Saturday, September 26th
(moved from August 15th)
“Archive After Hours”
with Elizabeth Steen
& Arto Vaun
Free @ the Project Save
Photo Archive in Watertown
Saturday, September 26th
Smug Brothers
@ O’Brien’s
Wednesday, October 7th
Comedy Bang! Bang!
(rescheduled from 6/27)
@ the Chevalier Theatre
Friday, October 9th
Ted Leo
@ Off Cabot, Beverly
Friday, October 9th
Basic
@ Deep Cuts
Tuesday, October 27th
Rhett Miller
@ City Winery
Thursday, October 29th
Dent May
@ the Rockwell
Friday, November 6th
BEAT performs the music of
King Crimson
featuring Adrian Belew, Steve Vai,
Tony Levin, & Terry Bozzio
@ the Wang
Thursday, November 5th
Daniel Lanois Trio
@ City Winery
Saturday, November 7th
Birdbath
@ Deep Cuts
Monday, November 9th
The Blasting Company plays
“Over the Garden Wall”
moved from the Armory
to the Royale
Wednesday, November 18th
Why?
@ the Somerville Armory
Saturday, November 14th
Buffalo Tom
3rd Annual Charity Show
for Marblehead SEPAC
with
Sarah Swain & the Oh Boys
@ Abbot Hall, Marblehead
Sunday, December 13th
Lord Huron
@ MGM Music Hall