UFO Festival offers family fun and history mysteries
By Zachary Lewis zlewis@hippopress.com
Beam up to the Exeter UFO Festival on Saturday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1, for some out-of-this-world fun from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days, with some extra evening events on Saturday. The festival is put on by the Exeter Area Kiwanis.
“The Festival is primarily a fundraiser for the Exeter Area Kiwanis,” said Andrea Hantz, Vice President of the Exeter Area Kiwanis. “This is our biggest fundraiser that we do all year…. Every dollar that you spend at the Festival goes back into the community after expenses.”
The Town Hall Speaker Series is $35 and will run from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The presentations take place on the first floor of Exeter Town Hall.
“Our primary attraction is the UFO speakers we bring in from around the country. They speak on all sorts of topics UFO and alien,” Hantz said.
Two of the speakers are Peter Robbins and Valerie Lofaso. Robbins is an investigative writer, author and lecturer who has focused on the subject of anomalous UFOs and their implications for humanity, according to the event website. Lofaso is an Empathic Medium, a Reiki Master/Teacher, a paranormal investigator, and author of the Tangled Web of Friends young-adult paranormal fiction series, according to the same website.
Between talks, participants can stop by the UFO Festival souvenir shop, which will also be open for the entirety of the festival and will be located right outside Exeter Town Hall. All items are inscribed with the 2024 Festival art. The same merchandise sold at the Festival is also available at Trends Gift Gallery (85 Water St., Exeter).
Coffee will be available near the Gazebo in downtown Exeter from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and then from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. there will be food and drink available, such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs.
In the Town Hall Common there will be kids’ activities like lawn games, face painting and “UFO Crash Site” creations, and free refreshments for the little space explorers.
“The kids’ activities are really very popular,” Hantz said.
The Exeter Incident Site trolleys start near Town Hall Common from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for half-hour rides at $5 per person to the site of the Incident at Exeter in Kensington. Other sites of interest in Exeter will be pointed out, and there will be two trolleys running both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for day-of rides will be sold at the trolley station next to the trolley stop on Front Street. “Tickets get sold out well before noontime on both days,” Hartz said.
Some historic videos regarding the “Incident at Exeter” will be shown on the second floor of the Town Hall for free. The video presentation is shown continuously on the second floor from 9 a.m to 4 p.m with a running time of about 25 minutes.
A handful of events only occur on Saturday, Aug. 31, and one such favorite is the free Alien Costume Contest that starts at noon. The parade will start on the sidewalk adjacent to the Town Hall Common park and will proceed on down to the Town Bandstand. At the same time there will be a free Alien Pet Contest at the Town Hall Common park, the destination of the parade.
Another Saturday-only event will be the free dance party with Johnny B from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Town Hall Common park, and the end of the evening will round off with a concert from jazz pianist Eric Mintel from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Congregational Church (21 Front St.), which is free as well.
Attendees who really love the festival can become a part of the event.
“We’re also interested in signing up enthusiastic new members who want to help and participate,” Hantz said. Whether you are a believer in UFOs or not, “It’s a fun way to do good for the community,” Hantz said. “When I talk about it with people they’re like, ‘Oh that’s really cool, that’s really different.’”
Exeter UFO Festival Saturday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Exeter Town Hall and downtown Exeter exeterufofestival.org
The Exeter Incident Site Trolleys Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m, $5
Town Hall Speaker Series, Exeter Town Hall, first floor, $35
Saturday, Aug. 31: 9–10:15 a.m. Valerie Lofaso, “A Quest for Understanding” 10:30–11:45 a.m. Laird Scranton, “Ancient Symbolic Aspects of UFO Encounters” 12:30–1:45 p.m. Mike Stevens, “Greys in the Granite” 2–3:15 p.m. Eric Mintel, “Eric Mintel Investigates” 3:30–4:45 p.m. Matt Moniz & Peter Robbins 4:45–5 p.m. closing remarks
Sunday, Sept. 1: 9–10:15 a.m. Katherine Brisendine, “How Many UFO Events Have Happened in New Hampshire” 10:30–11:45 a.m. Peter Robbins, “Remembering Paul Eno” 12:30–1:45 p.m. Peter Robbins, “An Unappreciated Resource in the Battle for Disclosure” 2–3:15 p.m. Thomas Carey, “Roswell Today – From Crash to AARO (DOD: All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office)” 3:30–4:45 p.m. panel discussion 4:45– 5 p.m. closing remarks
The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester welcomes new Director and CEO Dr. Jordana Pomeroy on Sept. 1. For the past nine and a half years Pomeroy has been the Director of the Patricia & Phillip Frost Museum at Florida International University in Miami. She has a Ph.D. in Art History from Columbia University and more than three decades of experience in the art world. She moved to Manchester in early July, and in a recent phone interview she spoke of her plans for leading the Currier. Here’s an edited version of the conversation.
How will your experience at Florida International University inform your role at the Currier?
The mission of the Frost is to teach and to expose students … and get the faculty using art in their curricula. Then, secondarily, the public. So here … I am excited that we are connecting with New England College to bring students in; that’s very important to me. I call it ‘educate the next generation.’ I’ve been very impressed with the Currier’s education programs and I’ll do everything to keep encouraging and growing those programs, because I think that the next generation of museumgoers, that investment, is really important for us to make as an institution.
Have you thought about some of the ways to bring in people who may not have experienced the Currier before?
It’s just talking to people. There’s a woman, for example … who is a seamstress from Africa. We had this long conversation about how she ended up in Manchester. She makes these beautiful outfits from Africa, from fabric that she imports…. She’s exactly the kind of person that I would love to bring in as a community voice if we did a show around fashion or design. Sometimes, especially in a city the size of Manchester and a state the size of New Hampshire, you get to know people and communities pretty quickly. That’s what excites me, just talking to people and finding out if they know the Currier or have never heard of it before, and trying to figure out what it is that would get them through the door.
You’ve talked about expanding inclusion and focusing on women artists. What’s your vision in that area for the Currier?
I think we’re doing a good job. Actually, we have a wonderful contemporary art curator, Lorenzo Fusi, who’s been pretty well focused on that since he was hired. I think you’re kind of living in the dark if that isn’t your concern as a curator or museum director, to be honest. Museums move glacially, especially the larger ones, and there’s really been a significant change in programming. That being said, I worked for many years at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. There was always this conversation that as soon as there’s equity in the arts, we’ll close, which I don’t see that happening anytime soon in any way. This is not going to be overnight, but the thinking is there, and the conversations are happening. It’s not just the programming, but also the exhibitions.
What do you see as your biggest challenge as you step into the role of director and CEO at Currier?
I think my biggest challenge is spending time to really understand the history of this state and this region. I can’t pretend to know it. I’m not from here, and I don’t want to come across as knowing what the Currier needs to be for this area of the country. I know certain things, because I’m a museum professional, and I have colleagues who run museums [but] we’re all from elsewhere [and] can’t pretend to know that. But I do think it’s important for me to kind of put down roots and listen a lot. I don’t know if that’s a challenge, but it’s a good challenge to have. There are other challenges in raising money. That’s always the challenge. With time, donors will come forth. They’ll see the difference that the museum makes to the region. There have been some very good, loyal members and donors, and I would like to, of course, increase that pool of interest in the institution. I think that has to do with impact and seeing good things come out of it, whether those are the different kinds of exhibitions or sorts of programs. There’s a lot going on there. I’m really impressed for a museum its size. There’s an Art for Vets program. For contemporary [art], we’ve got just a remarkable collection that I want to draw on more. So I think you will see more of the permanent collection than you’ve seen in recent years.
Featured image: Monsters. Photos by Zachary Lewis.
On the exterior walls of buildings in Concord, Manchester and Nashua, you can find a wealth of murals, some commissioned by organizations or businesses, others semi-spontaneous expressions of artistic passion.
David Hady is one of the people behind some of Manchester’s murals. As Creative Director of the Orbit Group in Manchester he helps up-and-coming artists, including street artists, get a toe-hold in the notoriously difficult art field.
“Part of what Orbit Group wants to do is give back and contribute to the Manchester local arts community,” Hady said. “One of our arms does property development and another one of our arms is centered on the arts. We’re trying to find emerging artists who are looking for stepping stones to cross this bridge so that they can step toward their professional career.”
One of Orbit’s early projects was revitalizing Cat Alley in Manchester.
“Cat Alley was originally painted in 2011,” Hady said. “We did a local [artist] submission and we had around 60 people apply. We chose 18 artists and we cleaned up the alley, primed it all, then prepared the different spaces for each artist to come in and create their own version of cat artwork. We kind of gave them free rein to do whatever they wanted, as long as it was cat-centric. They created a bunch of different styles, colors and aesthetics, which is really nice.”
Another project is an Art Walk Scavenger Hunt Map, to help visitors to Manchester find murals and other outdoor art they might not be familiar with. It is a map of downtown Manchester, with 42 works of public art plotted on it.
Storrs Street mural by James Chase, Concord. Photo by Zachary Lewis.
“We’re trying to create multiple avenues of things for people to do downtown,” Hady said. “This just kind of layers into an afternoon. You have lunch, you go to a Fisher Cats game and then maybe you do this art tour and it’s all kind of centered within a one-and-a-half-mile radius. It’s got a bunch of great locations of sculptures and mural works.”
James Chase is an Associate Professor at New England College, and the founder of Art Builds Community, an organization with a mission to connect and empower the community through the Arts. Chase said that one of the organization’s strengths is its grass-roots nature.
“It’s led by artists and creators and community members through shared art experiences,” he said. “I think the art that is out in the public has been blossoming, especially over the last few years, as residents are comfortable lending their walls for voices to be heard.” Public acceptance of street art has been growing, he said.
“When I first started doing murals, it was a little, ‘Oh, it’s graffiti! I don’t want you to put a mark on our building and degrade it.’ And what I’ve noticed now is a lot more people are coming to the table to bring change and to make areas destinations, to have them be conversation pieces,” Chase said.
Chase sees public art as a form of dialogue that a community has with itself.
“I think it’s really important to have a [clear vision of] where you can bend [and] where you can’t. But everyone has been so accommodating. And even if people don’t get to physically sometimes pick up a paintbrush, they get to see their voice, their mark. And lots of times they’re actually painting too, which is even more amazing,” he said.
“Cooking and Basketball,” by Amanda Hill, painted for the Mural Festival in 2022. Chestnut Street, Manchester. Photo by John Fladd.
He cited two murals under traffic bridges along the Piscataquog Rail Trail on the West Side of Manchester.
“Once again, it was a collective group of people,” Chase said. “What I love about those types of projects is when people come together, something new is going to happen. Just from afar, I had helped, my students were going to do that project and just with the timing it didn’t work out.” Eventually, he said, a group of local artists and community members ended up painting the murals.
Amber Nicole Cannan was one of the organizers responsible for getting the murals completed. She sees them as another example of a community dialogue.
“We wanted to make sure we were including lots of community members,” she said, “[to make sure we included a] wide variety of opinions and perspectives, and we all worked together to get it done. We grabbed anyone who would walk by and asked them to participate, and a lot of people contributed to it.”
Cannan said that conditions were not ideal for painting a mural. “It was a unique challenge,” she said, “because obviously that spot is far from any electrical hookups or water or bathroom.” Eventually, she got permission to park at an apartment on the street above and used her car as a power station for the equipment the artists needed. Cannan said there was another unexpected complication. “We did run into a small snag. We were told the city would prime it for us. But they painted it with anti-graffiti paint.”
Despite technical challenges, and some backlash from some community members, for the most part the murals have been embraced by the community, including an unexpected part of it.
“It became really interesting,” Cannan said, “because while we were there, notes would get left on what we were working on, like the paint pens and Sharpies. It was mostly from the transitory population. And they just talked about how beautifying that space made them feel thought of. They said they saw themselves in it, and they just felt the love from it. And that was really important to us.”
Yazamine Safarzadeh sees a growing and surprising amount of support for street art. She is the Special Projects Coordinator forPositive Street Art, a group based in Nashua dedicated to bringing under-represented voices to public spaces.
“We have a very good relationship with the city of Nashua,” she said. “I’ve never seen such a copacetic relationship between the city and an arts organization which, in turn, benefits the city. We can’t do what we do without the support of the community.”
Safarzadeh said Positive Street Art has spent the past few years building a relationship with people who rarely see themselves in the art around them.
“We’ve had multiple-year relationships with nonprofits who trust us and let us come into this space with the demographics that are highly, highly vulnerable because we too are from those demographics. So that’s a really unique thing about this organization is you’re, you know, we’re serving the community, but we’re also of the community’s working class,” she said.
Local mural artists have seen more and more support in recent years from the business community, as well.
815 Cocktails & Provisions is a plush bar in downtown Manchester. There are comfortable chairs and sofas, the lighting and the music is soft and the drinks innovative, like the Smoked Lemon Drop or the Moxie Mule. And then there are the murals. Roughly two thirds of the bar’s wallspace is covered with floor-to-ceiling murals.
They were painted by Nashua artist Jason McDonald, who goes by the name JayMac and paints under the name @The_Backstah. He has been an artist for 30 years.
Mural at 815 Cocktails & Provisions by Jason McDonald. Photo by John Fladd.
“I started off as a graffiti artist in Boston as a young kid,” McDonald said. “I actually got in a bunch of trouble when I was younger for graffiti, and then as I grew older and got more into artwork, I turned it more, honed it more professionally and positive and turned it into a career.” After years of work, he has developed a following and is becoming a known name in the art world.
“I do everything from custom canvases all the way to big murals to my own clothing as well,” McDonald said. “I have all kinds of projects, anything from cartoon to realism to flowers to lettering. I’ve done custom cars. I’ve done projects for Porsche and Acura. The most recent big wall I did was for UMass Memorial for their mental health building. They have an outside fresh air space, and I redid the basketball area. We did a positive hopscotch and a mural going over the whole side of the building.”
JayMac sees Manny Ramirez from Positive Street Art as a guiding force in local art. “His stuff is fantastic,” he said. “Manny’s probably, as far as this area, the only other artist that I’ve really seen who has an in with the city where he’s been able to get some really prime locations for his murals.”
James Chase summed up the burgeoning local mural scene: “I see all these pieces of the puzzles really fostering connections,” he said, “and then giving more platforms for things that we don’t even know about yet.”
New murals
Arts Builds Community held its second Community Canvas Mural Festival in August, resulting in new public murals in Manchester. At the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester at 555 Union St. you can see the work of Sophy Tuttle (560 Union St.); Jason Naylor (161 Lowell St.); and Alex Ferror (163 Lowell St.), according to ABC.
Sophy Tuttle (560 Union St.)Alex Ferror (163 Lowell St.)
Jason Naylor (161 Lowell St.)
At 77 Amherst St., behind the Palace Theatre, there’s the work of Liz Pieroni, Nick Alexander, Jozimar Matimano and Ambar Ruiz. (All photos below by Zachary Lewis.)
Murals at 77 Amherst St. featuring artists Liz Pieroni, Nick Alexander, Jozimar Matimano and Ambar Ruiz.
Cat Alley, Manchester
Cat Alley is located on the west side of Elm Street in downtown Manchester, next to Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester, 836-6600, bookerymht.com). It was originally painted with cat-themed murals in 2011. The Orbit Group commissioned independent artists to paint new murals in 2022. For more information on this project, visit orbitgroup.com/cat-alley-revival. Photos by John Fladd.
“Electric Cat,” by Liz LaManche
“Superhero Cat,” by Emily Drouin
“Scaredy Cats,” by Dei Xhrist
Arms Park pillars, Manchester
The traffic pillars in Arms Park (10 Arms St., Manchester) that support the Notre Dame Bridge were painted by a collaboration of artists and Art Builds Community. Photos by John Fladd.
Manny Ramirez
Manny Ramirez (@phelany) is the co-founder and Creative Director of Positive Street Art (48 Bridge St., Nashua, positivestreetart.org). He is one of the leading muralists in the business. Photos by Chris Boncoddo.
“Be Like Water,” at Millyard Strength and Conditioning (10 Cotton St., Nashua)
“Young Heroes,” at Police Athletic League Center (52 Ash St., Nashua)
“Nostalgia,” at 174 Main St., Nashua
Jyl Dittbenner
Jyl Dittbenner is a prolific local artist and muralist. She posts her work online at JylDrawsEveryDay.wordpress.com. Here are some of her notable murals. Photos by John Fladd.
Bees on the rear wall of the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester)
“Jazz It Up,” on the rear wall of the Rex Theatre (823 Amherst St., Manchester)
“Hanging the Load,” on the north face of the north pillar in Arms Park (10 Arms St., Manchester)
A Tardigrade, on the back wall of the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester)
Union Street, Manchester
Union Street is a great place to see surprising murals. There is a pair of excellent murals on the rear wall of the Seven Days Market (360 Union St., Manchester, 622-4331). Photos by John Fladd.
Pandas in headphones, artist unknown
“Small City, Big Dreams,” on the corner of Union and Auburn streets, Manchester. Mural by Colby Goon.
“Anthony’s Mural,” east side of Union Street, Manchester, near Fernandez Deli, between Lake Street and Lake Street Setback. By Debbie Curtain and Anthony Williams.
The Christa McAuliffe State House Memorial Commission announced that the unveiling of the Christa McAuliffe statue will be held on Monday, Sept. 2, at 10 a.m. Members of the public are encouraged to attend.
In a statement, Gov. Chris Sununu said, “The unveiling of this statue — the first woman to be memorialized on Statehouse grounds — will be a historic moment for the State of New Hampshire. We hope the whole community will come out for this event!”
Gov. Sununu signed Executive Order 2023-02, which established the Christa McAuliffe State House Memorial Commission, on Feb. 14, 2023, according to the press release. Benjamin Victor was selected by the committee to design the memorial. At the age of 26 Victor became the youngest artist ever to have a sculpture placed in the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol, and he achieved the distinction this year of becoming the only living artist to have four sculptures on display in Statuary Hall, according to the same release.
Updated NHDOT website
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) announced the launch of an electronic permit system for driveway permits, right of way activities (formerly excavation and encroachment permits), special events (formerly parade permits) and Sponsor a Highway permits through the New Hampshire Permit Portal.
This initiative is part of an overarching statewide e-permitting system development effort to enhance customer service for Granite Staters interacting with state departments and agencies, according to the release.
The New Hampshire Permit Portal will replace paper applications for all applicants and started on Wednesday, Aug. 21, although paper applications will continue to be accepted through Monday, Sept. 16, according to the release.
The portal will allow applicants real-time insight on the status of their applications, improved transparency, and improved communication with the department, according to the release.
One feature of the new website is that you can request a business account, versus an individual account, according to the press release. A business account allows multiple users within the business to be connected, allowing all users the ability to view, access and interact with the account’s applications, and business accounts will also allow for self-management of account users through an account administrator; NHDOT is encouraging businesses to sign up for this function on initial registration.
Visit dot.nh.gov/services/permits.
Data Privacy Unit
Attorney General John M. Formella announced the creation of a new Data Privacy Unit (the “Unit”) to be housed within the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, with the Unit primarily responsible with enforcing compliance with RSA 507-H, the “New Hampshire Data Privacy Act.”
In a statement, Attorney General Formella said, “Ensuring accountability, transparency, and consumer choice regarding how companies handle and monetize the personal data of their customers is a priority of my office. For too long companies have earned unfathomable profits by harvesting the personal data of its users without providing a meaningful opportunity for consumers to make informed choices about how their data is or is not used. We thank the Governor and Legislature for providing us with these additional resources and we look forward to putting these new enforcement capabilities to work to protect the personal data of New Hampshire consumers.”
The Unit will be tasked with developing a series of FAQs that will assist consumers and businesses in understanding their rights and responsibilities once the Act becomes effective, according to the press release.
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2025, “the New Hampshire Data Privacy Act will create a substantial new set of consumer rights for Granite Staters whose personal data is controlled and processed by businesses that engage in trade or commerce in New Hampshire,” according to the release.
New Hampshire consumers will have the right to: confirm whether or not a business is controlling or processing their personal data; correct any inaccuracies in their personal data being processed by businesses; demand the deletion of personal data obtained from or about them; obtain a copy of their personal data being controlled or processed by the business in a portable, and readable format; and opt out of the future processing of their personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling, according to the press release.
The New Hampshire Data Privacy Act provides significant penalties for covered businesses that fail to comply with the consumer rights identified above, and the attorney general has the ability to seek civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation of the act. The attorney general can also seek criminal penalties if there is sufficient evidence that a business is purposely failing to comply with the requirements of the Act.
Attorney General Formella is currently accepting applications for an Assistant Attorney General position within the Unit and interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter to Chief of Staff Sean Gill at employment@doj.nh.gov.
The 2xtreme Monster Trucks Live Show happens at the Hopkinton State Fair on Thursday, Aug. 29, and Friday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 31, at 11 a.m. It will include two-time Monster Jam world champion Bounty Hunter, queen of monster trucks Scarlet Bandit, and Shark Bite, and will introduce the Roaring Rex Dinosaur Monster Truck. Tickets are $24. Visit hsfair.org/monster-truck.
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats begin a six-game home series at Manchester’s Delta Dental Stadium (1 Line Drive) against the Portland Sea Dogs on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at 6:35 p.m. Visit milb.com/new-hampshire.
Jazz on the Patio at Nashua’s Spyglass Brewing Co. (306 Innovative Way) features Alex Minasian on piano, Marshall Wood on bass and Les Harris Jr. on drums on Sunday, Sept. 1, from 2 to 5 p.m. Minasian has played at many of the country’s most famous jazz rooms and has shared the stage with the likes of Questlove, Clark Terry and Hugh Masekela.
The canon of classic rock has two songs on its Mount Rushmore. How to fill out all four spots is an endless discussion. “Johnny B. Goode”? “Hotel California”? Every track on Dark Side of the Moon? Forget it, there will never be consensus. However, to question the placement of “Stairway to Heaven” or “Free Bird” would be so lame.
The Lynyrd Skynyrd song’s been shouted out at cover bands and more than a few headliners over the years. Jason Isbell may someday even perform it — he and his band played its wild tradeoff jam outro every night during rehearsals for their Weathervanes tour a few years back.
Fun fact, though: The song that most fans know by heart almost never was. More precisely, it began very differently, and became timeless almost by accident. At least that’s the story Johnny Van Zant told in a recent phone interview. Since he’s the younger brother of the guy who wrote it, Ronnie Van Zant, there’s reason to believe him.
The original demo of “Free Bird” was a four-minute ballad. “It’s one of the few love songs that Skynyrd had,” Van Zant said. “Duane Allman had died during that time, and one night when Ronnie had a sore throat, he said, ‘Hey, man, let’s do the song ‘Free Bird’ and then at the end, y’all play out for Duane Allman.’ That’s how that baby was born.”
During concerts in the mid-’70s, Ronnie would dedicate the song to Allman and Berry Oakley, the Allman Brothers Band bassist who died a year after Duane. Then in October 1977, a tragic plane crash killed Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines, along with the band’s assistant road manager. The plane’s pilot and co-pilot also perished.
Six members survived the crash, and in 1980 four of them reunited — Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Leon Wilkeson and Billy Powell — as the Rossington Collins Band. With a female lead singer, Dale Krantz, it wasn’t a Skynyrd revival. They made two albums before breaking up.
A full-scale tour with five members of the original band –—Rossington, Powell, Wilkeson, Artimus Pyle and Ed King, who’d left two years before the crash — happened in 1987. That’s when Johnny joined, and he’s been carrying Ronnie’s torch ever since. Early on, however, he wouldn’t sing “Free Bird,” letting the band play an instrumental version instead.
The group embarked on what was to be a final run in 2018, but fate had other ideas. The pandemic turned a Farewell Tour into “farewell touring,” and when live music resumed, the mood had changed for Van Zant, Rossington and guitarist Rickey Medlocke, who’d left Skynyrd before their first album to form Blackfoot, rejoining in 1996. Recalled Johnny, “Gary was like, ‘Man, I’ve been off for 15 months, I don’t want to freaking retire. I want the music to continue.”
Sadly, Rossington passed away last year, leaving Van Zant and Medlocke to carry on. “We’re never without him, I believe that in my heart,” Van Zant said, adding a statement also true for his brother and other fallen band members. “I know this is what he would want us to be doing. Every time I get a little tired, I feel a kick in my ass. I know it’s him.”
“Free Bird” helped launch Southern rock, though at the time, Skynyrd was one of many bands playing it. At an upcoming appearance in Gilford, they’ll be joined by two of them, ZZ Top, who brought Texas boogie to the world, and the Outlaws, best-known for their hit “Green Grass and High Tides.”
Asked what distinguishes the genre from regular rock music, Van Zant had a few ideas.
“I think it was the blues country factor, the English influence, and if you listen to a band like Marshall Tucker, hell, it’s got jazz in it,” he said. “The boys were raised on that old blues stuff, and then, of course, The Beatles came along … but it could have been in the water or eating collard greens. I don’t know what the heck it was.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, The Outlaws When: Friday, Aug. 23, 6:30 p.m. Where: BankNH Pavilion, 61 Meadowbrook Lane, Gilford Tickets: $54 and up at livenation.com
Johnny Van Zant and Ricky Medlocke will sign bottles of their Hell House Whiskey from noon to 2 p.m. Aug. 23 at New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet Store No. 56, 18 Weirs Road, Gilford
Featured photo: L-R Ricky Medlocke, Johnny Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd (Courtesy Photo).
A rag-tag group of humans is no match for a ship full of previously dormant aliens in Alien: Romulus.
Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and Andy (David Jonsson), her android “brother” that her father programmed, are desperate to get off their dark and dreary mining colony and head to a sunny new terraformed human outpost elsewhere. But Wyland-Yutani Corporation, the evil company that runs everything, has reset the number of hours required for a trip to a better life and now Rain has to wait five to six more years.
But! A group of Rain’s friends and hostile acquaintances have spotted a derelict ship floating above the planet. They believe the ship has the cryopods and the power to get them to the sunny green outpost, if only they can steal those things. For that, they need Andy, whose androidness will help them use the ship’s computers to find what they need.
Rain is reluctant at first but decides to participate in this one shot at a better life, joining up with friendly guy Tyler (Archie Renaux), jerky guy Bjorn (Spike Fearn), Tyler’s sister Kay (Isabela Merced) and pilot Navarro (Aileen Wu). They travel to the ship in a plucky little space craft only to discover that’s no moon, it’s a space station — the “ship” is a two-part Wyland station with sides named Romulus and Remus. As a landing party starts to go through the ship, they realize it’s not so much “decommissioned” as they thought but abandoned. Because they don’t know they’re in an Alien franchise movie, they go poking around in the dark — first looking for cryopods and then looking for extra power for the crypods, not paying attention to the general creepiness until, in one flooded room, Bjorn thinks he sees Something In The Water.
The movie plays all the hits when it comes to the Alien aliens — we get the big one with the creepy drippy teeth, the whack-a-mole-ish chest popper, the face sucker. And we get some not bad imagery either — people in a small shaft of light surrounded by darkness, the ship rising up off the stormy planet to the sunlight space, red or blue lights for no particular reason other than giving the scene an extra creepiness boost. I also appreciated the general griminess of this movie — this is not a Star Trek-ian sanitized space but a “corporations are jerks who exploit the working class” scuffed up version of a space future.
But these elements are kind of it in terms of what makes this movie any different than your standard college-student (the rough age of everyone here) slasher fare. Replace “empty space station” with “college campus at the start of a holiday weekend” and “cryopods” with “booze in the dean’s office” and you’ve basically got the same movie.
The androidness of Andy gets a subplot — Rain treats him like a sweet kid brother but he turns into a hypercompetent calculating, somewhat malignant presence after an attempt to give him a security codes upgrade also programs him with a whole new prime directive. Their relationship gives Rain something more to care about than just not getting skewered by an Alien tail, but it doesn’t push the movie beyond the horror standard — the Rain/Andy relationship isn’t all that different from the big sister/little sister duo at the center of the recent Scream movies for example.
Alien: Romulus is ultimately not substantial enough to deliver on the promise of its above-average visuals and its remaining franchise cred. C+
Rated R for bloody violent content and language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Fede Alvarez and written by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues, Alien: Romulus is an hour and 59 minutes long and is distributed in theaters by 20th Century Studios.
