Category: Nightlife

Things to do before and after the shows

The first time Phish appeared in downtown Manchester, in October 2010, it was a big deal, but nothing like the Vermont band’s upcoming run through the city. To begin, it’s the first time that any act has performed for three consecutive nights at SNHU Arena, though holiday season regulars Trans-Siberian Orchestra have done four shows in two days before.

It’s a moment that spawned a slew of activities around the shows, including an event where Phish Phans can purchase a wide array of gear devoted to the band. PhanArt founder Pete Mason, a special education teacher from upstate New York, was inspired by Coventry, a run of shows in 2004 that, at the time, were promised to be Phish’s last.

Mason’s first effort was a book of concert posters done by fans during the band’s early years, which took several years to complete. It was fortuitously published just as Phish launched a reunion tour in 2010.

“I became interested in preserving the art aspect,” Mason said by phone recently. “Because it was more than a fan base; it was a community.”

He launched his first PhanArt show in 2015. Merchandise follows an understood set of rules, Mason explained. “Don’t use the logo or their name and, unless you’re doing some really artistic creation, don’t use band member names or likenesses,” he said. “The unspoken thing was, you’re clear on the rest.”

One example is a shirt based on “Glide,” a song from the album A Picture of Nectar. “It’s the Tide logo, but it says Glide,” he said. “It’s good, easy, fun art. If you’re out bowling or at the mall or at your kid’s recital and you see somebody wearing that shirt, you’re like, cool. It’s that little bit of connectedness, knowing there’s a Phish fan everywhere.”

Among the artists participating in the PhanArt show at Manchester’s DoubleTree hotel will be Ryan Kerrigan, a native of Manchester who now lives in Portland, Oregon and was featured in Mason’s book, PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish. Kerrigan makes a Happy Fish poster for every Phish show on a given tour. His 603 print, a limited edition of 55, will be sold at the show.

The Phish pop-up industry has also produced a packed calendar of supporting music events. Jewel Music Venue, for example, has after party music all three nights, with jam supergroup Deep Banana Blackbelt on June 20. The all-star vibe continues the next two nights with J. Wail leading an electro-funk band that includes members of Cool Cool Cool, STS9, Giant Country Horns, The Motet and Hive Mind. DJ Airwolf also performs.

“When the main event ends, the real adventure begins,” promoter Jonah Lipsky, who also plays in J. Wail’s band, said of the afterparty. Tickets for the shows are available at manchesterafterparties.com, starting at $29.50 for a single night, with a three-day pass costing $75.

Up the street, The Goat hosts a free UnoPHISHal Post-Party with Strange Machines beginning at 10:30 p.m. The Boston-based quartet offers a “melting pot of musical fusion” according to their Bandcamp page, and recently performed at the Northlands Music Festival. Nearby, Republic Brewing has Pay the Piper performing post-Phish.

Many more venues have pre-concert plans. Andrew North & the Rangers are a great choice at Stark Brewing Co. (500 Commercial St., Manchester), as North cites Phish as a primary influence for many of his band’s songs. It’s a nice bonus that he’s a former Vermonter. The show happens Sunday, June 22, at 3 p.m.

Other pre-parties include Rabbit’s Foot on June 20 and psychedelic funk rockers Jabbawaukee with support from DJ SP1 June 21 at the Shaskeen (909 Elm St., Manchester), both at 4 p.m. Shopper’s World (18 Lake Ave., Manchester) has two nights of the Unofficial Official Phish Pre-Party on June 20 and June 21, 4 p.m., with KR3WL, Serious Black, and Rome.

To Share Brewing (720 Union St., Manchester) welcomes the Kevin Madden Band on June 20 at 4 p.m. Diz’s Food & Drinks (860 Elm St., Manchester) welcomes Phishheads from 11 a.m. to minutes before showtime all three days, though no entertainment, and Murphy’s Taproom (494 Elm St., Manchester) has Birch Swart Trio on June 21 at 4 p.m.

PhanArt Manchester
When: Saturday, June 21, 1-6 p.m.
Where: DoubleTree Hotel, 700 Elm St., Manchester
More: phanart.net

Featured photo: Limited Edition Art done by Ryan Kerrigan, available at Phan Art Show, June 21 at DoubleTree Hotel in Manchester. Courtesy photo.

Pop icon appearing in Concord

Last year, Dionne Warwick was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It may seem an odd choice for a singer best-known for pop hits. However, her music guided more than a few rockers. The Beach Boys released a version of her “Walk on By” and Brian Wilson pointed to “Are You There (With Another Girl)” as one of the influences for Pet Sounds.

Beyond that, she was a trailblazer in other areas. Warwick was the first Black woman to win a Grammy for a pop song, and the first artist to garner Pop and R&B Grammys in the same year. In 1985, the recording she did with Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight of “That’s What Friends are For” raised awareness and millions of dollars for AIDS research.

Warwick spoke with the Hippo ahead of her Saturday, June 21, 7:30 p.m. show at the Chubb Theatre in Concord (edited for space). See ccanh.com for ticket information.

So many great American pop stories began at the Brill Building. Yours and Burt Bacharach’s did too. What are your memories of the two of you getting to know each other in those early days?

Well, I met Burt first on a recording session that my background group was doing with the Drifters…. He approached me after the session and asked if I’d be able to do more backgrounds and demonstration records with his new songwriting partner … Hal David. That was my good fortune meeting those two men. They became my producers, my songwriters, and became basically family.

You have gospel roots. I’ve heard that there was often a tension with gospel performers moving into pop music. Did you experience that?

Yes, I did, as a matter of fact. But fortunately, my biggest fan was my grandfather, who kind of set the record straight for me. He said, ‘My baby has a vocal ability that God gave her as a gift. She apparently is using it correctly, otherwise he would have taken it away from her. And I think most of you should not just let her be, let her know that she’s doing an honest living and it’s something that everybody can enjoy.’

One barrier I think you didn’t really expect to break happened when you first toured France. Apparently the album was issued in France using a cover with a picture of a white woman. How did you react?

The record company in France had not one idea of what I looked like. They had no photographs of me, all they heard was my voice. I don’t know why they thought I was a white girl, but they did. The president of Vogue Records was waiting for me to take me to lunch. I tapped him on his shoulder, and I said, ‘Aren’t you waiting for me?’ He said, ‘Oh no, no, no, I’m waiting for Dionne Warwick.’ I said, ‘Well that’s who I am.’ I thought he was going to choke on his own breath. That night when I opened at the Olympia, when I walked out on stage, there was an audible gasp from everybody…. Until I opened my mouth, they didn’t realize that that’s who I am. Then they said … ‘Yes, that’s definitely her.’ From that moment to this, I have become the sweetheart of Paris and of France, which I’m thrilled about.

You pivoted when you were no longer working with Bacharach and David in the 1970s. With Thom Bell, you made one of the best songs of the ’70s, ‘Then Came You.’ How did that working relationship begin?

I was on a summer tour with the Spinners, and I asked if they would like to come to Vegas for the first time and be a part of the show…. Thom happened to be not only a friend for many years prior to us recording, but [was] sitting in the audience on our closing night. He said, ‘I’ve got a gift for you guys.’ We said, ‘Oh, really? What is the gift?’ He said, ‘I’ve got a song for you.’ And that song was ‘Then Came You.’… That was my very first No. 1 recording nationally.

When did you begin collaborating with Stevie Wonder?

Gene Wilder called me [and] said, I’d love for you to be a part of this film that I’m doing [The Woman In Red] … I feel you have the ability to become the music coordinator for this [and] I want you to choose who you feel would be the person to do the writing of the music for it.’ The first choice I had was Lionel Richie. Unfortunately, Lionel let me know he was much too busy, [so] I called my baby, Stevie…. One thing led to another, and as we all know, not only did he write the songs and produce the recording, but he also won the Oscar that year for that song.

I saw in an interview that you discovered ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ while watching the movie Night Shift. Is that how you found that song?

It absolutely was. I was doing a collaboration with Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager Bacharach. I’d just left their home. They had been playing songs for me before. I was watching the film Night Shift, and I said, ‘Oh, I like that song by Rod Stewart, who’s singing it?’ The roll appeared where they give you credits from people, and I said, ‘Oh, Carole wrote this song. Why didn’t they just save that for me?’ The next day I told them, I heard this song and I want to record it. Carol, who was a complete hoot, said ‘Now four people know that song. I said, ‘four people?’ She said, ‘Yeah. Rod Stewart, me, Burt, and now you.’ I said, ‘Well, now we have to let everybody hear that song.’

Was using the song to raise money for AIDS research part of the motivation to do it in the first place?

No. Elizabeth Taylor, being a friend of Burt and Carol’s, was at the session. She pulled me aside [asking], ‘How would you feel about giving me this song to be the anthem for the AIDS issue?’ … Unfortunately, we all had lost people or felt the sting of this AIDS issue before we even knew what it was. … giving it to Elizabeth Taylor, we thought if our voices could make a difference, why not?

You really made a difference. President Ronald Reagan wouldn’t even utter the word AIDS until you prompted him. Did you know you were going to do that when it happened? That’s so incredible.

You know, I did. I remember at a press conference where he announced that he had made me the ambassador of health in the United States, and I’m still the only ambassador of health in the United States. And while he was giving me the honor, I was thanking people and letting them know how grateful I was for him to think I was someone that deserved something like that. I said, ‘Would you let them know, President Reagan, what it is I’m working on?’ He looked at me, and if his eyes could kill me, I would not be talking to you today. But he finally got up, and he was breathing very, very hard. He said, ‘OK; AIDS.’ I said, ‘See, you can say it — and if you say it, that means that we can follow this.’

We could use an ambassador of health right about now. AIDS research is really under threat. Care to comment?

Yeah. We’ve made major strides, I must say, within the scientific area as well as research and medications. We have a long way to go. We’re going to make this happen, I’m sure. Eventually, we’re going to get to that elusive word called cure … then I can get off [the] train ride that I promised people I would be on until we found the cure. It’s something that we all have to be very cognizant about. Health issues, such as AIDS, can be conquered.

Featured photo: Dionne Warwick. Courtesy photo.

Country singer Annie Brobst stays positive

By Michael Witthaus
mwitthaus@hippopress.com

There’s a timeless adage both revered and reviled among songwriters. Essentially, it says that any misery is mitigated if it produces a song. Shawn Colvin once responded to this sentiment with terse words. “I’d rather do anything,” she sang back in 1992, “than write this song for you.”

Annie Brobst can look at it from both sides.

For more than a decade, Brobst has been a big part of the region’s country music scene. The single “Red Wine On Mind,” from 2021’s Where We Holler, netted her latest in a string of New England Music Awards. The album is packed with gems like the popgrass rocker “Little Girl Dreams” and the blues-inflected “On the Record.”

Brobst didn’t set out to be a singer. She found her talents belting out her favorite hits in Boston karaoke bars, and followed her muse after meeting songwriter Roger Hagopian. He encouraged her to channel the elements of her life that resembled a country song into her own music.

Her first song came after a breakup. Brobst had followed her boyfriend from Ohio to Boston, where the romance faded. In response, she wrote “Ghost,” and won her first NEMA. On the other hand, she’d be content with skipping the experience that produced her second drawn-from-life composition, “After the Rain.”

Eighteen months ago, Brobst and her husband and creative partner Ryan Dupont returned from an out-of-town trip to find a burst pipe in their third-floor bathroom. “The place was ruined,” Brobst recalled in a recent phone interview. “We were displaced from our home for about a year.”

Initially, she didn’t feel inspired to write something like When We Holler’s charming “Make Lemonade,” however fitting that might have felt.

“I was just in this mind space,” she said. “I didn’t feel super creative in the time. Once we started to get on the other end of that, I did write a song about that. And then we have a couple more that we wrote and recorded.”

She’ll perform those and others from her debut EP and two albums — the other is My First Rodeo, released in 2018 — when she appears at Lost Cowboy Brewing Co. in Nashua on June 13. It’s one of a few shows Brobst has coming up in New Hampshire, a state she’s played infrequently, though she and Dupont were married in the White Mountains.

On June 28 she’ll headline an early evening show at Stone Church in Newmarket, backed by singer/songwriter Keith Crocker and special guest band Punktry Bumpkins. On July 12 she opens for country rapper Big Murph at The Flying Monkey in Plymouth, and she returns to The Range, a buzzy outdoor venue in Mason, on July 17.

Though the new song was inspired by Brobst’s own tragedy, its message is universal.

“It’s for anyone in that moment of limbo,” she explained. “There’s sun that comes out after the rain; you just can’t quite see it yet. That’s definitely what the song’s about. I think it can apply to so many people and so many situations that they’re just pushing through.”

“After The Rain” and a few others that have been polished in the studio will make their way into a future album.

“Yeah, we’re going to release some singles, and definitely keep writing now that we’re in a better space,” Brobst said. “I definitely always like to have my singles live on an album at some point. That’s kind of always been my M.O. “

Brobst, who’s spent close to 15 years in New England, is resisting the pull of Nashville as her next career move.

“I’m happy here,” she said. “My husband and my stepdaughters are here, so I do have our life rooted…. We’re going to be ourselves, write our music, play our awesome shows out this way, and see if at some point we can’t gain some traction or attention. I don’t see moving in our future anytime soon — not to say we wouldn’t if the opportunity was a great one.”

Annie Brobst

When: Friday, June 13, 7 p.m.
Where: Lost Cowboy Brewing Co., 546 Amherst St., Nashua
More: anniebrobstmusic.com

Also Saturday, June 28, 5:30 p.m. at Stone Church, 5 Granite St., Newmarket ($15 at stonechurchrocks.com)

Featured photo. Annie Brobst. Photo by Liza Czech.

Crowned28 tribute show honors icons

In 2023, when Jordan Quinn did her tribute to generations of great female singers, called “Queens,” it was a one-woman show. She had backing vocalists, but the artists she chose were solo icons: Aretha, Whitney, Cher, Dolly, Gaga and the like. For her latest take on the format, the Manchester performer decided to open up the playing field a bit.

The result is Crowned28, a night of music that includes the aforementioned solo stars but also songs from groups, like the Pointer Sisters, and LaBelle, with its ’70s smash, “Lady Marmalade,” and a version of “I Say a Little Prayer” that, although an Aretha Franklin hit, hints at what Diana Ross & the Supremes might have done with it.

The show is also more theatrical this time around, Quinn explained in a recent phone interview.

“It allows me to blossom and transform into other people, which I really enjoy doing,” she said. “We try to take advantage of that, bring out a side that maybe you wouldn’t see in a typical tribute show with some of these artists.”

The costumes and choreography reflect this, and the milieu also has changed from the last production, which was done for a seated audience at Manchester’s Rex Theatre. This show is cabaret style and will be held in the Angel City Event Space of Rock ‘n Roll Meatballs on Elm Street.

“We are selling more tickets than there are seats, so there will be more standing around,” Quinn said. This will allow the singers to mingle and dance with the crowd, creating a nightclub vibe. Along with Quinn, there are two featured singers, each of whom will have their own spotlight during the show.

Mariah Delage won the Best Voice In Keene competition last year and appeared as a featured dancer in the Actorsingers’ recent production of Legally Blonde. Aysa Carnucci has worked with Palace Youth Theatre, Exeter’s Pine Street Players and the Amato Center’s dance company.

For Quinn, singing together with Delage and Carnucci is Quinn’s is a highlight of Crowned28.

“I really like the ensemble pieces; I love sharing the stage with them,” she said. “‘Lady Marmalade’ is one of my favorites, and the Pointer Sisters’ ‘I’m So Excited’ and then, of course, listening to the other girls sing Cher and Christina Aguilera is just a gift.”

For her solo turns, Quinn enjoys doing Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best,” and her take on Celine Dion covering “All By Myself” while decked out in an all-white suit was a showstopper in “Queens.” The three singers also do a solid version of Linda Ronstadt’s “You’re No Good” and give Heart’s “Barracuda” a terrific three-part harmony that it never had before.

While she continues to perform in the area’s restaurants and bars as a solo artist, Quinn is carving a niche with shows like Crowned28. It’s a pursuit that’s less about enjoying tributes, though watching her convincingly cover Donna Summer or Pat Benatar makes it clear she likes it.

“It’s the fact that it’s mine,” she said. “I grew up in the theater industry, and the whole idea behind creating my own show is because when you go into an audition for a musical theater piece, all you have is 36 bars to sing in front of the director. Then the director and their team decide if you’re right for the part or not. Thirty-six bars is like a minute of singing. In my mind, it’s like I am so much more capable than just 36 bars.”

Shaping a mood and casting an ensemble, which includes a band with drummer Stephen Baberadt, Greg Kieffer on guitar, bass player Jack Lianos and Derek Tanch on keyboards, is more satisfying than just taking part in a show, she continued.

“I feel like I’m able to show all of my capabilities, I think that’s what’s really exciting, because I have found a way to not limit myself,” she said. “There is no one category that everyone belongs in [and] I wanted to create a theatrical piece that everyone can enjoy, but also to showcase that we don’t belong in one category.”

Crowned28 – A Celebration of Iconic Women in Music
When: Thursday, June 5, 8 p.m.
Where: Angel City Event Space/Rock N Roll Meatballs, 179 Elm St., Unit B, Manchester
Tickets: $20 at eventbrite.com

Featured photo. From left to right: Mariah Delage, Jordan Quinn and Aysa Carnucci Courtesy photo.

Faith Ann Band refines sound, adds guitarist

By Michael Witthaus
mwitthaus@hippopress.com

In January, with some new songs done, but not enough for a studio album, the Faith Ann Band chose to put out their first live EP instead. Recorded at the Stone Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, it’s a blistering collection, a solid document of a hard-charging quartet hitting its stride, driven by feral frontwoman Faith Ann Mandravelis’s raw energy.

It kicks off with “Route 2,” its lead-in strum giving way to bashing and growling. With provocative lines like, “your breath on my neck is a whole kinda mood” — a studio version released in March ends with heavy metal vocal jousting — it captures the many vibes convincingly struck by the band on the live record.

There’s a proto-metal cover on Live at VT Stone Church: “The Wizard,” from Black Sabbath’s 1970 debut. The show was on Good Friday 2024, and while the song’s selection wasn’t intentional, one audience member noticed. Faith Ann said in a recent phone interview that included bassist Nate Sanel and drummer Nick Johnson, “This guy rushed right up to us right after we played it. He was like, ‘Black Sabbath on a Good Friday in a church — that’s so metal!’”

A show at Manchester’s Shaskeen Pub on Friday, May 30, will give New Hampshire fans a chance to hear where the band is landing these days — a more collaborative creative process that will be displayed on Say Less, the upcoming follow-up to 2022’s In Bloom.

“It’s definitely a different sound … a bit more poppy, more driving, maybe a little more funky,” Nate Sanel said. “With a different band and a different lineup. Faith is still writing the lyrics and the songs, but now there are three different people contributing overall — and we have a different producer on this album, too.”

Faith Ann said her songwriting these days was removed from the take-no-prisoners stance on In Bloom. Lyrically, that LP was an immediate, often visceral response to leaving corporate life and other complications. At the time, she called it a healing journey and talked about stepping out of the shadows from a toxic relationship.

That’s changed.

“I’m trying to be more whimsical,” she said, adding that the group’s new dynamic is a contributing factor. “Although I’m still bringing songs that I’ve thought of, the band is taking up space now; that’s a cool thing. [Also], we’re concentrating more on the performance, getting people dancing and invested into the set.”

The Shaskeen show will feature the newest member of the group, Eric Shea on lead guitar. While not exactly the same as Spinal Tap’s drum chair, the Faith Ann Band has had its fair share of guitarists over the years. “We’ve talked about that a lot,” Faith Ann agreed. Lately, they’ve carried on as a trio, and are looking forward to the extra power Shea will add.

Sharing the stage in Manchester is Andrew North & the Rangers. Faith Ann admired the Concord band’s efforts to support its local scene, like the monthly open mic it hosts at BNH Stage. “You’re getting the passion and the talent … they’re trying to push it,” she said. “When I think about who’s going to put the effort in to bring a crowd, it’s a good choice; and it’s been a while since we’ve played with them.”

Between their leader’s frequent solo gigs and other shows that are set for the coming months, the group is keeping busy. At the end of June they’ll be on the main stage for this year’s Concord Market Days. They’re also booked for Troutstock 2025 in Montague, Mass., July 25-27, and the Barefoot Festival in Greenfield on Aug. 2.

On June 22 they’re leading an all-day Summer Kick-Off at Auburn Pitts, a show Faith Ann organized.

“Some people just want a day of it, and they don’t want to be committing their whole weekend,” she said of the event, which also has Glitter Tooth, The Whole Loaf, Tumbletoads and Jesse Rutstein. “I’m trying to bring more of the day-fest vibes to the Manchester area, because it’s a bumping city.”

Faith Ann Band w/ Andrew North & the Rangers

When: Friday, May 30, 8 p.m.
Where: Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St., Manchester
Tickets: $20 at eventbrite.com

Featured photo. Courtesy photo.

Comedy Coop comes to Kettlehead

Like the classic rock song, Joe Fenti has learned to roll with the changes. In 2019 he got his bachelor’s degree and started a consulting job that had him at client sites when he wasn’t in airports. Six months later he was living in Zoom world, as the world shut down, and, he said recently, “we were just trying to figure out what does our workday even look like?”

So he made it funny on social media, creating a fictitious company called Fenti Fried Chicken to skewer corporate life, its Patagonia-vested bros, and guys like Brandon the Intern who responds to demands for Excel reports with, “Sure thing, is Excel the green one?”

It was a pivot from Fenti’s college days, when he thought memes were the best path to comedy success.

“I noticed that the joke wasn’t about something, the joke just became what the joke is. It would be a reference to something that no one had ever heard of but if you got it you knew what it was,” he said. “Humor evolves.”

Fenti’s quick-hit reels built his profile, as did his takes on other topics. His pitch-perfect “Yes, Chef!” impression of The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White got 12 million hits. As the world opened back up, though, he moved from content creation to stand-up comedy. Three years later he’s doing it full time and preparing his first national tour.

His online disposition is still on display, but he’s not trying to translate his TikTok and Instagram humor for a crowd.

“The jokes you can make on stage can be a little more fleshed out, you can build … a story; on the internet you have to be very relatable very fast,” he said. “To work it has to be, ‘Who would I send this to?’ or ‘Who is someone I think of when I see this video?’ With stand-up, I can … bring you into my life rather than trying to make stuff for everyone.”

He’ll still touch on life in the business world.

“Return to office or hybrid work culture, there’s always something for me to riff on because I did experience that,” he said. “But now it’s more like, ‘Here are things that have happened to me … things I’m noticing about being a 28-year-old guy now living with my girlfriend for the first time.”

With hundreds of clips, his online life does pop up. He’ll talk about being recognized as a web celebrity, noting that men often can’t say why his face is familiar. “I’m a stand-up comic,” he’ll explain, only to hear in reply that’s not it, nor is his content. So he’ll say something like, maybe you know me from my job as an actor — in court-ordered training videos.

Building on his stand-up success, Fenti began booking shows under the name Comedy Coop, chosen to reflect his Fenti Fried Chicken social media handle. He’ll be at Kettlehead Brewing in Nashua on May 22, celebrating the opening of Za Dude Pizza there, along with Boston Comedy Fest winner Liam McGurk, Troy Burditt, Ryan Ellington and El Kennedy.

Fenti promises a well-balanced showcase.

“I try to book a lot of different comedians so you’re not getting five Joe Fentis,” he said. “You’re getting someone who does one-liners, someone who does storytelling, someone who likes joking about parenthood or teaching or whatever. I’m trying to give a whole show.”

Fenti’s own comedy is inspired by absurdists like Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg. He has a recurring series of videos with him in sunglasses delivering his own jokes in Hedberg’s style that are hilarious. “If I’m ever in a room, and I don’t want people to talk to me, I pretend to be an elephant,” he says with the late comic’s deadpan delivery.

“I just love comics who do things that are a little weird and a little different,” Fenti continued, citing Demitri Martin and Bo Burnham as other guiding lights.

“People who can tell a story so smoothly and bring weird life moments to the stage,” he said. “I look to Mitch in so many ways. How he perceived the world, like an escalator is never broken, they just become stairs, that’s such a funny way to look at it [and] I try to bring that to a lot of the jokes I write now, and put them into my style. Which is still evolving; I’ve only been doing comedy almost three years. There’s always room to try new things and see what works.”

Joe Fenti w/ Liam McGurk, Troy Burditt, Ryan Ellington and El Kennedy
When: Thursday, May 22, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Kettlehead Brewing Co., 97 Main St., Nashua
Tickets: $20 at eventbrite.com

Featured photo. Joe Fenti. Courtesy photo.