[Boston-Area Action 11/06/2026] Show-Going Plans & New Show Announcements
Posted on November 6, 2026 at 4:27 pm | No Comments
Hey, it’s another (yes, delayed) weekly upcoming Boston-area shows post. In which I write a little bit about imminent nearby musical happenings and run down recent local announcements. But first…
I’m still in a state of disbelief about what went down on Tuesday, having not allowed myself to feel even an ounce of optimism given all the previous electoral trauma. My lack of faith in so many of my fellow citizens, and ever-increasing distrust of polling & pundits, is too great to get suckered again, so the course-correction this country has apparently taken is surreal. I think I’m feeling some actual government-centric… hope? For the first time in… years? And if you’re finding yourself at all disappointed by the overall results, well, (and I say this with a smile on my face)… f*ck on outta here. Get offa my page. I do not like you, and I’m glad you’re unhappy. Fix your heart.
Ok then! Got that out of my system. Let’s talk shows. It’s Friday, which means, yes, I’m late with this post, and I’ve got other things I’d much rather be doing, so I’m going to rush it. Sweeping Promises started their two-date stand at Deep Cuts last night (I missed it, had a bad day), so I’ve got another chance to catch them this evening. But Deerhoof are also playing at the Crystal Ballroom. A decision awaits. Multiverse versions of me will be seeing Hovvdy at the Royale, Betty Goo & the Weisstronauts at the Midway, Marc Maron at the Chevalier, the Northern Line’s EP release show at the Square Root, and aPtBS at the Sinclair. Remember what I wrote last week about things slowing down, presenting less conflicts? Scratch that.
Tomorrow night has Fruit Bats back in town at the Royale, Really Great at Deep Cuts, Monterey Mountain at the Square Root, and Jimmy Webb at City Winery. Sunday brings the Kass Richards (full band!) release show with Chris Brokaw, who also played on the new EP, and if you’re up for a little drive, you could hit Joanie’s Birthday Bash up in Lowell or the latest Identical Cousins event down in Providence (a Twin Peaks tribute!). Aces, indeed.
Monday night is all about the Blasting Company doing their “Over the Garden Wall” songs at the Royale, or at least that’s where I’ll be with my kid. Hiss Golden Messenger is also at the Sinclair, and Jessica Lee Mayfield will be at Deep Cuts. Pick your poison for Tuesday: Geese, Journey, or Protomartyr are just a few of the options. On Wednesday I’ll be catching Marshall Crenshaw at City Winery, while Hamilton Leithauser of the Walkmen will be at the Somerville Theatre.
As far as new announcements go, a few jump right out at me: Weird Nightmare & Black Beach down in Hingham in November (presented by Best Brother Records), an afternoon living room show on January 10th with Lisa Walker (of Wussy) & Chris Brokaw has been added after the evening edition sold out superfast, and Cloud Nothings will be at the Sinclair a month later. March sees the unexpected (to me, at least) return of Knapsack and a friend recommends the Worldpeace DMT show a couple days later at the Rockwell. Oh, and late-breaking news: Nick Cave is doing an “in conversation” tour, which will hit the Shubert Theatre on May 4th & 5th.
How about you? Any announcements got you psyched up? Any show-going plans this weekend I missed? Check out the right hand column over there —> for a more extensive list if you’re looking beyond the next week.
On to this week’s rundown…
First, imminent Boston-area shows of (my/your?) interest…
Thursday & Friday
November 5th & 6th
Sweeping Promises
Thu: w/Baby Baby Explores,
KO Queen, & Mae Flux
Fri: w/Landowner, Pew Pew,
& Purse
@ Deep Cuts
Friday, November 6th
Betty Goo
The Weisstronauts
@ the Midway
Friday, November 6th
Hovvdy
Christian Lee Hutson
@ the Royale
Friday, November 6th
The Northern Line
(EP release show!)
with Devil Love
& The Cocteau
@ the Square Root
Friday, November 6th
BEAT performs the music of
King Crimson
featuring Adrian Belew, Steve Vai,
Tony Levin, & Terry Bozzio
@ the Wang
Friday, November 6th
Deerhoof
KO Queen
@ Crystal Ballroom
Friday, November 6th
Marc Maron
@ the Chevalier
Friday, November 6th
A Place To Bury Strangers
Adult.
Lane
@ the Sinclair
Saturday, November 7th
Fruit Bats
Sarah Klang
@ the Royale
Saturday, November 7th
Monterey Mountain
Paul McMahon
Free Agent
@ the Square Root
Saturday, November 7th
Really Great
Miss Bones
Bird Bath
@ Deep Cuts
Saturday, November 7th
Jimmy Webb
@ City Winery Boston
Sunday, November 8th
Kass Richards & band
Chris Brokaw (solo)
@ the Lilypad
Sunday, November 8th
An Evening with
Rhiannon Giddens as part
of B.U.’s Conversations
in the Arts & Ideas
@ Tsai Performance Center
Sunday, November 8th
Joanie’s Birthday Bash
Crow Follow
American Ocelot
Galaxy Cake
4pm @ Worthern Attic
Sunday, November 8th
Identical Cousins presents:
A Twin Peaks Tribute
with Julee Cruise Director,
BLK LDG, Celia Smokinbutts,
& much more
@ Myrtle, Providence
Monday, November 9th
The Blasting Company plays
“Over the Garden Wall”
@ the Royale
Monday, November 9th
Jessica Lee Mayfield
Rachel Bobbitt
@ Deep Cuts
Monday, November 9th
Hiss Golden Messenger
@ the Sinclair
Tuesday, November 10th
Geese
Gwenifer Raymond
@ Roadrunner
Tuesday, November 10th
Journey
@ TD Garden
Tuesday, November 10th
Protomartyr
J.R.C.G.
@ Crystal Ballroom
Tuesday, November 10th
Shady Bug
7-11 Jesus
Night Moth
@ Deep Cuts
Tuesday, November 10th
Pokey LaFarge
Cicada Rhythm
@ the Somerville Armory
Wednesday, November 11th
The Bad Plus
@ the Sinclair
Wednesday, November 11th
P.E.E.
Gapyear
The Ritornello Form
Summers In Autumn
@ Sonia
Wednesday, November 11th
Lee Bains III
@ Faces
Wednesday, November 11th
Brody Price
Tiberius
Clifford (solo)
@ O’Brien’s
Wednesday, November 11th
Marshall Crenshaw
@ City Winery Boston
Wednesday, November 11th
Hamilton Leithauser
Rotsam
@ the Somerville Theatre
Wednesday, November 11th
Brookline Booksmith presents
Rachel Maddow
@ the Orpheum
And now, recently announced Boston-area shows…
Tuesday, November 17th
Which Side Are You On?:
A Protest Music Teach-Out.
this month featuring
Jenna Nicholls, Kevin Connolly,
Nicolas Emden, Lenny Lashley,
Grace Givertz, Kay Hanley,
& the Paid Protesters
@ the Burren Backroom
Wednesday to Saturday
November 18th to 21st
International Pop Overthrow
20 performances over 4 days
@ the Square Root, Roslindale
Sunday, November 22nd
Weird Nightmare
Black Beach
@ Ames Chapel, Hingham
Wednesday, December 9th
Quentin Tolimieri
Forbes Graham
(solo & duo sets)
@ the Goethe-Institut Boston
Friday & Saturday
December 11th & 12th
SNOWGAZE FEST
Friday: Circus Trees,
Lapeche, Endearments,
& Awnthay
Saturday: Astral Bitch,
Dowsing Rod, Pretty Out,
The Endorphins
@ Deep Cuts
Saturday, December 12th
S. Carey (solo + strings)
Hrishikesh Hirway
@ TCA Natick
Saturday, January 9th
The Racketeers
‘Bald Guys
Andy California
@ Deep Cuts
Sunday, January 10th
matinee show added!
(since evening show sold out)
Lisa Walker (Wussy)
Chris Brokaw (Come/Codeine/MVFs)
@ a nearby Allston living room
Wednesday, February 10th
Cloud Nothings
@ the Sinclair
Friday, February 19th
Man/Woman/Chainsaw
@ Warehouse XI
Wednesday, March 10th
Knapsack
@ the Crystal Ballroom
Friday, March 12th
Worldpeace DMT
@ the Rockwell
Saturday, April 17th
Alexisonfire
Poison the Well
Touché Amoré
@ the House of Blues
Tuesday, April 27th
The Chats
Chainwhip
Gymshorts
@ the Paradise
Tuesday & Wednesday
May 4th & 5th
Conversations with
Nick Cave
@ the Shubert Theatre
[Boston-Area Action 10/29/2026] Show-Going Plans & New Show Announcements
Posted on October 29, 2026 at 1:31 pm | No Comments
Yeah, so I’m a day late with this thing again. Blame two consecutive (incredible) nights seeing Built to Spill. Maybe I should just start calling this the “Mid-Week Boston-Area Shows Post” instead of the “Weekly Wednesday…”, though I’d miss the alliteration, if not the self-set deadline. But if I start doing that, I’d probably end up stretching it to Fridays. Anyway, on to business.
The skinny: Every 7-ish days I run down shows of (my/maybe your?) interest that are happening in the following week in the Boston area. An area that can occasionally extend out to Worcester, or down to Providence, depending on how excited I am about a particular band. It happens. But yeah, mostly Boston-ish. Then I mention any interesting local show announcements that have popped up since last time, before sharing longer lists of both at the bottom. An even longer list sits over there in the right-hand column —->
Ok, we’re nearing the end of (R)October, so the overlapping-show-conflict madness will start to slow up as we ease into the holiday season. But there’s still a bunch going on, particularly this weekend with some Halloween-themed events. Those include three options on Friday: An evening of Cure songs at The Burren with Staring At The Sea, Bikini Whale channeling the B-52s at the Lizard Lounge (with guests Hey Blondie & Murdah By Numbers), and four bands at the Loft in Somerville (Today Junior as Nirvana, Queers of the Stone Age, Fleetwood Macabre, & Sinnet doing spooky classics). Saturday brings the annual Deep Cuts Halloween show with My Chemical Chungus, Tiffy as Charlie XCX, and Makeout Palace doing Cake songs. There’s also a Halloween Benefit Show that night for the Grass Roots Cultural and Performing Arts Center in Norwood at the Fallout Shelter with Girl with a Hawk & Crow Follow.
Aside from all that seasonal fun, if you don’t mind driving a bit, Jeff Tweedy & Case Oats are at the Groton Hill Music Center on Saturday, and Sunday has Banda Al9 all the way from Brazil to play upstairs at the Middle East with the Specific Heats. This Is Lorelei headlines the Royale on Monday, and there’s a special taping of the Menopunks Podcast over at the Rockwell in Davis Square that night, too. And finally, Tuesday brings the one ‘n only Imperial Teen to town with a show at Warehouse XI, which was wisely relocated from the Lilypad. As much as I’d have loved to see them in such a tiny space, that was gonna be a tight squeeze.
As far as announcements go, I’m not going to bury the lede here: HUM IS PLAYING IN BOSTON. At Roadrunner on May 23rd to be precise. With Pelican and the Life & Times. Pre-sale started this morning (code: RadioON), and I’ve already got my ticket. I am, to say the very least, ridiculously psyched about this.
On a slightly smaller scale, though no less thrilling to me personally, Lisa Walker (of Wussy/Magic Words) and Chris Brokaw (of Come/Codeine/MVFs/etc) have announced an intimate house show tour, and the Boston date will be happening about 10 feet above where I’m sitting right now. Tickets go on sale this afternoon, and probably not for long after. Also extremely exciting: Eric Bachmann (of the Archers of Loaf) brings his reborn Crooked Fingers to City Winery on February 3rd to play songs from their most recent record (“Swet Deth”) and the soon-to-be-reissued “Dignity & Shame”. Hot dang.
Other announcement highlights? How about a reunion of the Pills in early December? Juliana Hatfield at the Burren near the end of the year? Destroy Boys with Illuminati Hotties at the Royale in March? April has Haywire at Roadrunner, DIIV at the Sinclair, and Roger McGuinn in Lexington. May has two nights of Frank Turner at the House of Blues, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at the Sinclair, and that freakin’ Hum show. Later that month there’s, um
Gotta wrap this up. Buy some tickets. See some bands. Grab some merch. And for the sake of the gods, VOTE! Get out there. Do the thing. Feels good.
First, imminent Boston-area shows of (my/your?) interest…
Thursday, October 29th
Jenny Owens Youngs
@ the Charles Museum
of Industry and Innovation
Thursday, October 29th
Ak’chamel
Sunburned Hand of the Man
@ Deep Cuts
Thursday, October 29th
Dent May
@ the Rockwell
Thursday, October 29th
Shapiro Celebrity Lectures
series presents
Uzo Aduba:
“Owning Your Identity”
@ the MFA’s Remis Auditorium
Friday, October 30th
Bill Baird
Jesse Gallagher
Lane Hartley
@ the Lilypad
Friday, October 30th
Staring At The Sea (playing
the music of the Cure)
@ the Burren
Friday, October 30th
Halloween show!
with
Bikini Whale (B-52s)
Hey Blondie (duh)
Murdah by Numbahs (Police)
@ the Lizard Lounge
Friday, October 30th
Halloween at the Loft!
with
Today Junior (Nirvana)
Queers of the Stone Age
Sinnet (spooky classics)
Fleetwood Macabre
@ the Loft
Friday, October 30th
Paul Anka
@ the Chevalier
Thursday & Friday
October 30th & 31st
moe
@ the Wilbur
Saturday, October 31st
Halloween Cover Show with
My Chemical Chungus (as MCR)
Tiffy (as Charli XCX)
Makeout Palace (as Cake)
@ Deep Cuts
Saturday, October 31st
Halloween Benefit Show for
the Grass Roots Cultural
and Performing Arts Center
with Girl With A Hawk
& Crow Follow
@ the Fallout Shelter, Norwood
Saturday, October 31st
Jeff Tweedy
Case Oats
@ Groton Hill Music Center
Sunday, November 1st
Banda Al9 (from Brazil)
The Specific Heats
@ the Middle East Upstairs
Sunday, November 1st
Vince Staples
@ Roadrunner
Monday, November 2nd
This Is Lorelei
with @ (AT)
@ the Royale
Monday, November 2nd
the Menopunks Podcast
a live taping
with host Alicia J. Rose
& a panel of notable guests
@ the Rockwell
Tuesday, November 3rd
Imperial Teen
@ Warehouse XI
And now, recently announced Boston-area shows…
Friday, December 4th
The Pills (reunited!)
The Extra Virgin
& another band tba
@ Sonia
Friday, December 4th
A Holiday Show with
The Daylilies
Lovina Falls
Girl With A Hawk
American Ocelot
@ Deep Cuts
Monday, December 7th
Alfred Be Loud
Bangwell Putt
Cnt Muscle (debut!)
Daphne Blue Underworld
@ O’Brien’s
Friday, December 11th
Doomriders
Whores.
Waxed
Severed Boy
@ Garage B, Brighton
Tuesday, December 29th
Juliana Hatfield
@ City Winery
Friday, January 8th
Portugal. The Man
Anthony Green
@ the Royale
Sunday, January 10th
Lisa Walker (Wussy)
Chris Brokaw (Come/Codeine/MVFs)
@ a nearby Allston living room
Saturday, January 16th
Robin Lane
@ Club Passim
Thursday, January 21st
Brian Vander Ark (Verve Pipe)
Tony Scalzo (Fastball)
John Hapson (Nine Days)
Luke Esterkyn (Stroke 9)
@ City Winery
Friday, January 29th
Spirit Ghost
Black Beach
Justin Schaefers
@ Deep Cuts
Wednesday, February 3rd
Crooked Fingers
Julia Barfield
@ City Winery
Sunday, February 21st
Styx
@ MGM Music Hall
Friday, February 26th
Fai Laci
@ the Sinclair
Saturday, February 27th
The Grownup Noise
@ Deep Cuts
Saturday, March 6th
Meshuggah
Testament
Black Incantation
@ MGM Music Hall
Monday, March 29th
Destroy Boys
Illuminati Hotties
The Rat Utopia Experiment
@ the Royale
Sunday, April 4th
Haywire
@ Roadrunner
Thursday, April 15th
DIIV
@ the Sinclair
Wednesday, April 21st
Roger McGuinn
@ Cary Hall, Lexington
May 13th & 14th
Frank Turner
& the Sleeping Souls
Skinny Lister
Beans on Toast
@ House of Blues
Friday, May 14th
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
@ the Sinclair
Sunday, May 23rd
Hum
Pelican
The Life & Times
@ Roadrunner
Saturday, Sunday,
Tuesday, & Wednesday
May 29th & 30th,
June 1st & 2nd
Noah Kahan
@ Fenway Park
Monday, July 26th
Donny Osmond
@ the Shubert Theatre