Music this week – 21/12/02

Thursday, Dec. 2

Auburn

Auburn Pitts: open mic jam, 6:30 p.m.

Bedford

Copper Door: Clint Lapointe, 7 p.m.

Brookline

Alamo: live music, 4:30 p.m.

Concord

Area 23: drum circle, 7 p.m.

Hermanos: live music, 6:30 p.m.

Derry

Fody’s: music bingo, 8 p.m.

Epping

Telly’s: Pete Peterson, 7 p.m.

Exeter

Sawbelly: Chad Verbeck, 5 p.m.

Sea Dog: Douglas James, 5 p.m.

Goffstown

Village Trestle: April Cushman, 6 p.m.

Hampton

CR’s: Steve Sibulkin, 6 p.m.

Whym: music bingo, 6 p.m.

Hudson

Lynn’s 102: karaoke with George Bisson, 8 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: karaoke with DJ Jason, 7 p.m.

Londonderry

Stumble Inn: Alex Roy Duo, 7 p.m.

Manchester

Angel City: D-Comp, 9 p.m.

Currier: River Sister, 5 p.m.

Fratello’s: Austin McCarthy, 5:30 p.m.

KC’s: Jodee Frawlee,6 p.m.

Strange Brew: Chris O’Neill, 7 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Justin Jordan, 5:30 p.m.

Milford

Stonecutters Pub: Blues Therapy, 8 p.m.

Nashua

Fody’s: DJ Rich Karaoke, 9:30 p.m.

Fratello’s: Malcolm Salls, 5:30 p.m.

Stone’s Social: Charlie Chronopoulos, 6 p.m.

Newmarket

Riverworks: Max Sullivan, 5 p.m.

Stone Church: Bus Stop Hill, 8 p.m.

Northfield

Boonedoxz Pub: music bingo, 6:30 p.m.

Portsmouth

The Goat: Isaiah Bennett, 9 p.m.

Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues: The Blind Boys of Alabama, 7:30 p.m.

Press Room: Ballroom Thieves, 8 p.m.

Salem

Copper Door: Lou Antonucci, 7 p.m.

Seabrook

Red’s: live music, 7 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 3

Auburn

Auburn Pitts: Stuck in Time, 7 p.m.

Brookline

Alamo: live music, 4:30 p.m.

Concord

Area 23: Brian Munger & Side Peace, 7 p.m.

Penuche’s: live music, 7 p.m.

Dover

Sunrise: Chris O’Neill/Zeb Cruikshank Duo, 5 p.m.

Epping

Telly’s: Almost Famous, 8 p.m.

Exeter

Sawbelly: Chris Voss, 5 p.m.

Goffstown

Village Trestle: Rose Kula, 6 p.m.

Hampton

CR’s: Steve Sibulkin, 6 p.m.

The Goat: Adam Mendonca, 8 p.m.

Wally’s: Riff Raff, 8 p.m.

Whym: Jessica Olson, 6:30 p.m.

Hudson

Luk’s: Island Fridays with Brett Wilson of Roots of Creation, 6:30 p.m.

Lynn’s 102: karaoke with George Bisson, 8 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: Jonny Friday, 8 p.m.

Laconia

Tower Hill: Deja Voodoo, 9 p.m.

Londonderry

Coach Stop: Joe McDonald, 6 p.m.

Game Changer: Carter on Guitar, 7 p.m.

Stumble Inn: Jordan & Clint, 8 p.m.

Manchester

Angel City: musical bingo, 6:30 p.m.; Bite the Bullet, 9 p.m.

Backyard Brewery: Tim Kierstead, 6 p.m.

Bonfire: Isaiah Bennett, 7 p.m.

Derryfield: Off the Record, 8 p.m.

Fratello’s: Jeff Mrozek, 6 p.m.

Strange Brew: Jay Pardee & Friends, 8 p.m.

Meredith

Twin Barns: Organized Chaos, 5 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Marc Apostolides, 6 p.m.

Nashua

Boston Billiards: Max Sullivan, 5 p.m.

Fratello’s: Chris Cavanaugh, 6 p.m.

Peddler’s Daughter: Joe Peck, 9 p.m.

New Boston

Molly’s: Joe Birch, 7 p.m.

Newmarket

Stone Church: Ms. Vee and A Bad Ass Band, 8 p.m.

Northfield

Boonedoxz Pub: karaoke night, 7 p.m.

Portsmouth

Gas Light: Zac Young, 9:30 p.m.

Gibb’s Garage: Chad Verbeck, 7 p.m.

The Goat: Chris Toler, 9 p.m.

Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues: The Blind Boys of Alabama, 7:30 p.m.

Press Room: Ballroom Thieves, 9 p.m.

Statey: Max Sullivan, 8 p.m.

Thirsty Moose: Vere Hill & Mattson, 9 p.m.

Seabrook

Chop Shop: Tapedeck Heroez, 9 p.m.

Red’s: live music, 7 p.m.

Stratham

Tailgate Tavern: Elijah Clark, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 4

Alton Bay

Dockside: live music, 8 p.m.

Auburn

Auburn Pitts: NKMsings4u, 7 p.m.

Bow

Chen Yang Li: Brian Booth, 7 p.m.

Brookline

Alamo: live music, 4:30 p.m.

Concord

Area 23: Bosey Joe & Dank Sinatra, 7 p.m.

Concord Craft Brewing: live music, 3 p.m.

Hermanos: live music, 7 p.m.

Penuche’s: live music, 7 p.m.

Contoocook

Contoocook Cider Co.: Amanda Adams, 1 p.m.

Deerfield

Lazy Lion: Chris O’Neill, 5 p.m.

Derry

Fody’s: Brian Sutherland, 8 p.m.

Epping

Telly’s: 21st 7 1st 7 & Justin Jordan, 8 p.m.

Exeter

Sawbelly: The Duo, 1 p.m.; Todd Hearon, 5 p.m.

Goffstown

Village Trestle: Tom Boisse, 6 p.m.

Hampton

North Beach Bar & Grill: Groove Cats, 8 p.m.

Smuttynose: live music, 6 p.m.

Wally’s: Tyler Booth, 9 p.m.

Whym: Lewis Goodwin, 6:30 p.m.

Hudson

Lynn’s 102: Acoustically Speaking, 8 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: Ryan Palma, 8 p.m.

Laconia

Granite State Music Hall: Leaving Eden & Tantric, 8 p.m.

Tower Hill Tavern: karaoke w/ DJ Tim, 8 p.m.

Londonderry

Coach Stop: Joanie Cicatelli, 6 p.m.

Stumble Inn: Almost Famous, 8 p.m.

Manchester

Angel City: Left In the Dark, 8 p.m.

Backyard Brewery: Kimayo, 6 p.m.

Bonfire: Nick Drouin, 7 p.m.

Derryfield: Chad LaMarsh, 8 p.m.

The Foundry: Mikey G, 6 p.m.

Fratello’s: Dave Zangri,6 p.m.

Great North Aleworks: Kevin Horan, 4 p.m.

The Goat: Adam Lufkin Band, 7 p.m.

Strange Brew: Aj Coletti, 5 p.m.; Soup du Jour, 9 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Marc Apostolides, 6 p.m.

Nashua

Fody’s: Vinyl Legion, 9:30 p.m.

Fratello’s: Austin McCarthy, 6 p.m.

Liquid Therapy: Quincy Lord, 6 p.m.

Millyard Brewery: live music, 5 p.m.

The Peddler’s Daughter: GoodFoot, 9:30 p.m.

Scoreboard: Woodland Protocol, 8 p.m.

Newmarket

Stone Church: Toubab Krewe, 9 p.m.

Northfield

Boonedoxz Pub: live music, 7 p.m.

Portsmouth

Gas Light: Alex Roy, 9:30 p.m.

The Goat: Mike Forgette, 9 p.m.

Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues: Maurice Brown Quintet, 7:30 p.m.

Thirsty Moose: Fighting Friday & David Hoffman, 9 p.m.

Rochester

Porter’s Pub: Max Sullivan, 6 p.m.

Salem

Jocelyn’s: Brian Walker, 7 p.m.

Seabrook

Chop Shop: Casual Gravity, 7 p.m.

Red’s: live music, 8 p.m.

Somersworth

Speakeasy: karaoke, 7 p.m.

Stratham

Tailgate Tavern: Heard Immunity, 7 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 5

Alton Bay

Dockside: live music, 4 p.m.

Auburn

Auburn Pitts: live music, 2 p.m.

Bedford

Copper Door: Marc Apostolides, 11 a.m.

Derry

LaBelle: NH Philharmonic Holiday Pops, 2:30 p.m.

Exeter

Sawbelly: John Irish, 11 a.m.; Elijah Clark, 3 p.m.

Goffstown

Village Trestle: Leadfoot Sam, 3:30 p.m.

Hampton

Charlie’s Tap House: Max Sullivan, 6 p.m.

CR’s: Joy of Sax, 4 p.m.

Whym: Max Sullivan, 12 p.m.

Hudson

Lynn’s 102: Mystical Magic, 5 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: video music bingo, 5 p.m.

Londonderry

Stumble Inn: 21st & 1 & Justin Jordan, 2 p.m.

Manchester

The Goat: Mike Forgette, 10 a.m.

Strange Brew: jam, 7 p.m.

Meredith

Twin Barns: bluegrass, 11 a.m.

Milford

Stonecutters Pub: Vere Hill, 4 p.m.

Northfield

Boonedoxz Pub: open mic, 4 p.m.

Portsmouth

The Goat: Rob Pagnano, 9 p.m.Salem

Copper Door: Phil Jakes, 11 a.m.

Seabrook

Red’s: live music, 8 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 6

Hudson

The Bar: karaoke with Phil

Gilford

Patrick’s Pub: open mic with Paul Luff, 6 p.m.

Manchester

Fratello’s: Phil Jakes, 5:30 p.m.

The Goat: live band karaoke, 8 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Chris Lester, 5:30 p.m.

Nashua

Fody’s: karaoke night, 9:30 p.m.

Fratello’s: Ryan Williamson, 5:30 p.m.

Portsmouth

The Goat: Musical Bingo Nation, 7 p.m.; Alex Anthony, 9 p.m.

Press Room: open mic, 6 p.m.

Seabrook

Red’s: live music, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 7

Concord

Hermanos: live music, 6:30 p.m.

Tandy’s: open mic night, 8 p.m.

Hampton

Shane’s: music bingo, 7 p.m.

Wally’s: Musical Bingo Nation, 7 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: line dancing, 7 p.m.

Manchester

Fratello’s: John Chouinard, 5:30 p.m.

The Goat: Rob Pagnano, 9 p.m.

KC’s Rib Shack: Paul & Nate open mic, 7 p.m.

Strange Brew: David Rousseau, 7 p.m.

Stark Brewing: David Rousseau, 8 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Austin McCarthy, 5:30 p.m.

Nashua

Fratello’s: Josh Foster, 5:30 p.m.

Portsmouth

The Goat: Isaiah Bennett, 9 p.m.

Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues: Kat Edmonson, 7:30 p.m.

Stratham

Tailgate Tavern: Musical Bingo Nation, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 8

Brookline

Alamo: live music, 4:30 p.m.

Concord

Area 23: open mic night, 7 p.m.

Hermanos: live music, 6:30 p.m.

Tandy’s: karaoke, 8 p.m.

Hampton

Bogie’s: open mic, 7 p.m.

North Beach Bar & Grill: Mikey J, 6:30 p.m.

Wally’s: Chris Toler, 7 p.m.

Hudson

Lynn’s 102: Carter on Guitar, 8 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: Musical Bingo Nation, 7 p.m.

Manchester

Fratello’s: Ryan Williamson, 5:30 p.m.

The Goat: country line dancing, 7 p.m.

Stark Brewing: Cox Karaoke, 8 p.m.

Strange Brew: Howard & Mike’s Acoustic Jam, 8 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Joanie Cicatelli, 5:30 p.m.

Milford

Stonecutters Pub: open mic, 8 p.m.

Nashua

Fratello’s: Phil Jakes, 5:30 p.m.

Newmarket

Stone Church: Phileep, 7 p.m.; Kendall Street Company, 7 p.m.

Portsmouth

The Goat: Alex Anthony, 9 p.m.

Rochester

Porter’s: karaoke night, 6:30 p.m.

Somersworth

Speakeasy: open mic night, 7 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 9

Auburn

Auburn Pitts: open mic jam, 6:30 p.m.

Bedford

Copper Door: Chad LaMarsh, 7 p.m.

Brookline

Alamo: live music, 4:30 p.m.

Concord

Area 23: DJ Dicey, 8 p.m.

Hermanos: live music, 6:30 p.m.

Penuche’s: live music, 8 p.m.

Derry

Fody’s: music bingo, 8 p.m.

Epping

Telly’s: Tim Theraiult, 7 p.m.

Exeter

Sawbelly: Max Sullivan, 5p.m.

Sea Dog: Chad Verbeck, 5 p.m.

Goffstown

Village Trestle: John and Roxanne Man, 6 p.m.

Hampton

CR’s: Ross McGinnes, 6 p.m.

Whym: music bingo, 6 p.m.

Hudson

Lynn’s 102: karaoke with George Bisson, 8 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: karaoke with DJ Jason, 7 p.m.

Londonderry

Stumble Inn: 21st &1st & Justin Jordan, 7 p.m.

Manchester

Currier: Ian & Abbi Sleeper & Kent, 5 p.m.

Fratello’s: Ted Solovicos, 5:30 p.m.

KC’s: Paul Lussier, 6 p.m.

Strange Brew: Becca Myari, 8 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Jeff Mrozek, 5:30 p.m.

Milford

Stonecutters Pub: Blues Therapy, 8 p.m.

Nashua

Fody’s: DJ Rich Karaoke, 9:30 p.m.

Fratello’s: Clint Lapointe, 5:30 p.m.

Newmarket

Stone Church: Akrobatik, 9 p.m.

Northfield

Boonedoxz Pub: music bingo, 6:30 p.m.

Portsmouth

The Goat: Isaiah Bennett, 9 p.m.

Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues: Scott Sharrard & Friends, 7:30 p.m.

Salem

Copper Door: Dave Zangri, 7 p.m.

Seabrook

Red’s: live music, 7 p.m.

Holiday magnetism

Christmas at The Rex with Morgan James

From her debut album, a live tribute to Nina Simone, to recreating Joni Mitchell’s iconic Blue track by track a few years back, Morgan James relishes a challenge. Her guiding lights are interpreters like Simone and Aretha Franklin, who “get a hold of a song, and the original goes out the window,” she said in a recent phone interview.

In 2019 James set out to make a throwback soul record with vintage equipment, backing from a rhythm section used by Al Green, and a bevy of veteran session players. Named for the studio where it was recorded, Memphis Magnetic is an R&B celebration. Alas, it came out weeks before the pandemic hit, so a planned supporting tour had to be scrapped.

She responded by returning to Memphis to make the live-in-the-studio A Very Magnetic Christmas. Incredibly, it’s even more soulful than its predecessor, with skillfully curated nuggets like William Bell’s “Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday” and “Backdoor Santa,” the latter unearthed from the 1968 Atco Records holiday compilation Soul Christmas, along with some seasonal standards and a few winning originals.

The Clarence Carter track about a Santa with more on his mind than gift-giving — “I make all the little girls happy while the boys are out to play” goes the chorus — was memorably sampled in 1987 by Run-DMC for its “Christmas in Hollis” and is a standout track on an album already packed with them.

“I do straight-up classics like ‘White Christmas’ and ‘O Holy Night,’ of course,” James said, “but I wanted to do a couple that people might not expect me to sing. I think that song turned out so great. It’s so fun to sing, and it’s so funky; we had the best time making that.”

James and husband guitarist-producer Doug Wamble co-wrote “Long As I Got You,” which she called “a little love song about winter,” adding, “when people are complaining about the weather, we’re not … we love being cozy.” Another delight from the couple is the bouncy “I Wanna Know,” which echoes Natalie Cole’s hit “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).”

Idaho-born and California-raised, James set her sights on New York City after high school. She applied to Juilliard and was initially declined, but kept at it, eventually persuading the prestigious school to open up an extra vocalist slot for her.

“It tells you all you need to know about my personality,” James said with a laugh. “I’m very stubborn, and if I have a vision for something I don’t really take no for an answer.”

Later she performed on Broadway, notably playing Teena Marie in The Motown Show, where she caught the attention of Berry Gordy Jr. He became her mentor and helped guide her to a major-label deal with Epic Records.

“He really encouraged me to write and have a stake in my own music,” James said. “The best advice he ever gave was he reminded me to always do my best work and always go with my vision, whether or not I’m reaping benefits from it. One day he said to me, ‘You know, Morgan, a star is a star even when it’s light out. When the sun goes down, we can see the stars, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there in the daytime. You are a star all the time, so act like a star.’”

James’s Magnetic Christmas tour stops in Manchester on Dec. 4 for a show at the Rex Theatre. How does she feel about being back on the road after a two-year break?

“We are getting all our ducks in a row, and there’s a lot to think about,” James said. “We’re going to have to get used to the lifestyle again [but] we’re so excited to see everybody, and play music, and be in a different city every day. We start the day after Thanksgiving, and go all the way up until Christmas. It’s going to be so joyful and celebratory; that’s what we want from the shows.”

Morgan James – A Very Magnetic Christmas

When: Saturday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester
Tickets: $25 and up at palacetheatre.org

Featured photo: Morgan James. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 21/12/02

Local music news & events

Santa surfing: Sidelined by the pandemic last year, Gary Hoey is back on the road with his Ho-Ho-Hoey! Christmas tour. It stops in Derry, on the way to a California finish. The Dick Dale acolyte first donned his Kringle hat over 25 years ago; the franchise now includes Hallmark greeting cards with his holiday favorites, and Hoey was also featured in the 2006 Danny DeVito film Deck The Halls. Friday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, tickets $35 and $40 at tupelohall.com.

Healing sounds: On her 2021 coming out song Becoming Untamed, singer-guitarist Kimayo chronicled her journey of “re-wilding … shedding expectations and old belief systems to awaken intuition, curiosity, and self-love.” The poetic songstress looks to music as her “confidante, dance partner, comforter … mood lifter.” A UNH alum, she shares a set of her originals at a Manchester brew pub. Saturday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m., Backyard Brewery & Kitchen, 1211 S. Mammoth Road, Manchester. See kimayomusic.com.

Christmas croon: Great American Songbook authority Michael Feinstein brings his Home for the Holidays show to the Granite State, drawing from his enduring 2014 release A Michael Feinstein Christmas, with selections from Irving Berlin, Meredith Wilson and Sammy Cahn. Get in the spirit with “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays,” “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” “Winter Wonderland” and more Saturday, Dec. 4, 2 p.m., The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, $55 to $65 at themusichall.org.

Getting together: An evening of traditional and contemporary acoustic music, Flynn Cohen & Guests includes the guitarist and mandolin player known for his work with wife Liz Simmons in Low Lily, and multi-instrumentalist Matt Heaton, who also performs music for families, a genre he playfully calls toddlerbilly. History suggests the show will likely include contributions from the pair’s many collaborators over the years. Sunday, Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m., Spotlight Room, 96 Hanover St., Manchester, $19 at palacetheatre.org.

Strong bonds: Since forming nearly a decade ago, The Ghost of Paul Revere has grown from its Maine origins into a national act on the strength of two long players, 2014’s Believe and 2017’s Monarch, and a pair of EPs, Field Notes, Vol. 1 & 2. The trio now curates its own summer festival, Ghostland, and have appeared with luminaries like Jason Isbell and Bela Fleck, as well as performing at the venerable Newport Folk Festival. Friday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m., Bank of NH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord, $22 and $32 at ccanh.com.

House of Gucci (R)

House of Gucci (R)

The family behind the Gucci fashion company faces scandal and murder in the 1980s and 1990s in House of Gucci, a movie that doesn’t live up to the promise of its trailer.

The trailer is great, buzzy, maybe just this side of camp, and gives you many of the best lines and displays the “all in” performance by Lady Gaga. The movie — really gave me an appreciation of whoever cut the trailer.

The movie starts in the 1970s, I think, with Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) meeting Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), a law student whose father, Rudolfo (Jeremy Irons), owns half of Gucci along with his brother Aldo (Al Pacino). Maurizio has grown up wealthy but otherwise doesn’t seem involved in Gucci. When Patrizia fails to make a good impression with Rudolfo, Maurizio breaks away from his father (and his money). He goes to live with Patrizia’s family, working for her father’s trucking company, and the two get married.

When Aldo calls Maurizio to congratulate him on his wedding, Patrizia sees an opening to get Maurizio back into the family fold — and possibly to connect with some of that Gucci wealth. Maurizio isn’t entirely comfortable with how Patrizia advises him to play Aldo and his son, Paolo (Jared Leto under so very much makeup), against each other but he seems OK taking advantage of the outcomes, which are more wealth and power in the family business. But the more Patrizia pushes, the more Maurizio seems to grow disenchanted with her.

This movie has some real “but why?” casting (Leto, definitely, but also Irons and Pacino) and some Joey Tribbiani School of Italian Accents accent-work. But Lady Gaga is giving 110 percent all the time, swinging at every pitch, throwing lots of stuff against the wall to see what sticks — all the cliches for just absolutely diving into this thing whether it’s any good or not. I don’t know that the result is a great performance but she’s great to watch. The movie is significantly less interesting when she’s not on screen. I don’t think the story does a particularly great job of making Patrizia into a fleshed out human and not just a cartoon but I think Gaga’s performance does paint a more complex — or at least just compelling — character.

House of Gucci had me thinking about two TV shows. One is Succession, for the way I didn’t actually root for any of the characters. They all seem unlikable, dangerously selfish and the kind of people you’d just generally steer clear of (as portrayed in this movie, I know basically nothing about the real life Guccis). But that’s fine — the way this movie is built, I didn’t find myself needing a hero and got some good soap opera entertainment watching these screw-ups betray each other. If anything, this movie needed to lean in to the jerkishness of these characters more.

The other TV property is the Ryan Murphy-verse of American Crime Story — a series with reenactments of big public crimes and scandals (or Feud, with its focus on golden age of Hollywood gossip). I’ll admit, I’ve probably read more recaps of these shows than I have actually watched them but I found myself wondering why this project didn’t go that route. It would seem to have all the sudsy elements — business machinations, family betrayals, a rocky marriage — to sustain some six to eight episodes. Here, storylines feel like they are being truncated — Paolo and Aldo spend the last hour or more separated from the Patrizia/Maurizio action — even though the movie is more than two and a half hours long (and feels it).

I’m not sorry I watched House of Gucci, particularly for everything to do with Lady Gaga (her character’s so-of-the-times hair, her wonderful glamorous-tacky wardrobe). I kept waiting for the movie to really take off, really go for the moon with its general craziness, but it frequently felt bogged down. Lady Gaga and the trailer are a solid B+, everything is maybe generously a B-.

Rated R for language, some sexual content, and brief nudity and violence, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Ridley Scott with a screenplay by Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna (based on a book by Sara Gay Forden), House of Gucci is two hours and 38 minutes long and distributed in theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

Belfast (PG-13)

Belfast of 1969 is seen through the eyes of a young boy in Belfast, a semi-autobiographical story written and directed by Kenneth Branagh.

The opening scene is an encapsulation of Buddy’s (Jude Hill) life in 1969: he’s a young boy — young enough to be learning multiplication tables, old enough to have a crush on the girl who is often the head of the class — whom we meet playing knights with a homemade sword and a trash can lid as a shield. He’s called home by his mother (Caitríona Balfe), a call that is repeated down the street by neighbors and cousins and a slew of people that have known the family as long as any of them can remember. Heading home in the middle of this busy street full of friendly hellos, Buddy suddenly finds himself stuck between two quickly approaching gangs about to battle and riot. His mother rushes out to grab him, using his shield to protect them both from thrown rocks, and then pushes Buddy and his older brother Will (Lewis McAskie) under the table in their home as she crouches by the window watching the chaos outside. This neighborhood, as we learn, is a mix of Catholics and Protestants, and has lived peacefully, but now there are barricades, soldiers and a local gang that is pressuring Catholics to move out and Protestants (like Buddy’s family) to become active in their cause.

Buddy’s dad (Jamie Dornan) is eager to keep himself and his boys, particularly teen Will, out of all this and to try to exist in peace. But this task is harder because he is only home every other weekend, spending most of his time in England, where he works in construction. He sees no good future for the family in Belfast and wants them to move to England. Buddy’s mother, meanwhile, doesn’t want to leave everyone and everything she’s ever known and the community that she feels cares for and supports her boys.

We see all of this from a kid’s perspective, both figuratively (the attempts to talk to the girl he has a crush on are at least as important to Buddy as the social unrest) and literally, as many scenes show us the world (predominately in black and white) from Buddy’s height or peering-around-a-corner location. It works as a way to tell this story and helps to put us in Buddy’s situation — terrifying things are happening but this is also a rosy memory about childhood.

This also allows us to see Buddy’s story without always putting all the weight of a scene on child actor Jude Hill. The movie gives us a nice balance of Hill’s genuinely strong performance with the performances of the grownups around him, including his grandparents, played by Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds. We get to see a slice of the prickly relationship between his parents, Dornan and Balfe, but we don’t know their whole story, in the way we seldom really know the story of our own parents’ relationship, particularly during our childhood.

I suppose I could quibble with some of the choices the movie makes with its use of black and white and occasional color (which appear when the family is watching a movie or live theater — a hint maybe that we’re seeing young Kenneth Branagh experience the world of acting), or its occasionally overwhelming, Van Morrison-heavy soundtrack. But these elements weren’t really flaws. This movie is fairly immaculately crafted, with the kind of compelling specificity that comes with someone telling their story. A

Rated PG-13 for some violence and strong language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, Belfast is an hour and 38 minutes long and distributed by Focus Features in theaters.

FILM

Venues

AMC Londonderry
16 Orchard View Dr., Londonderry
amctheatres.com

Bank of NH Stage in Concord
16 S. Main St., Concord
225-1111, banknhstage.com

Capitol Center for the Arts
44 S. Main St., Concord
225-1111, ccanh.com

Cinemark Rockingham Park 12
15 Mall Road, Salem

Chunky’s Cinema Pub
707 Huse Road, Manchester; 151 Coliseum Ave., Nashua; 150 Bridge St., Pelham, chunkys.com

Dana Center
Saint Anselm College
100 Saint Anselm Dr., Manchester, anselm.edu

Fathom Events
Fathomevents.com

The Flying Monkey
39 Main St., Plymouth
536-2551, flyingmonkeynh.com

LaBelle Winery
345 Route 101, Amherst
672-9898, labellewinery.com

The Music Hall
28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth
436-2400, themusichall.org

O’neil Cinemas
24 Calef Hwy., Epping
679-3529, oneilcinemas.com

Red River Theatres
11 S. Main St., Concord
224-4600, redrivertheatres.org

Regal Fox Run Stadium 15
45 Gosling Road, Newington
regmovies.com

Rex Theatre
23 Amherst St., Manchester
668-5588, palacetheatre.org

The Strand
20 Third St., Dover
343-1899, thestranddover.com

Wilton Town Hall Theatre
40 Main St., Wilton
wiltontownhalltheatre.com, 654-3456

Shows

House of Gucci (R, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres in Concord on Thursday, Dec. 2, and Thursday, Dec. 9, at 3:30 & 7 p.m. (vaccinated guests) as well as Friday, Dec. 3, through Sunday, Dec. 4, at noon, 3:30 and 7 p.m.

Belfast (PG-13, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres in Concord on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 3:30 & 7 p.m. (vaccinated guests) as well as Friday, Dec. 3, through Sunday, Dec. 5, at 1, 4 & 7 p.m.

21+ “Christmas Vacation Ugly Sweater Party” will be held on Thursday, Dec. 2, at all Chunky’s locations. The event will start at 7 p.m. in Manchester and Pelham and 8 p.m. in Nashua. The PG-13 1989 movie will screen during the event, where people who wear ugly Christmas sweaters get extra prizes. Tickets cost $5.99. (Take notes — there will be a 21+ Christmas Vacation trivia night on Thursday, Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Manchester.)

The Metropolitan Opera Live — Eurydice Saturday, Dec. 4, 12:55 p.m. at the Bank of NH Stage in Concord. Tickets cost $26.

Gremlins (PG, 1984) will screen at Regal Fox Run on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 1 p.m. Tickets cost $5.

National Theatre Live The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time A broadcast of a play from London’s National Theatre, screening at the Bank of NH Stage in Concord on Sunday, Dec. 5, at 12:30 p.m. Tickets cost $15 ($12 for students).

Elf (PG, 2003) A family-friendly screening will happen Wednesday, Dec. 8, at all three Chunky’s locations — 6 p.m. in Manchester and 7 p.m. in Pelham and Nashua. On Thursday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. at all three locations there will be a 21+ Elf screening.

Featured photo: House of Gucci. Courtesy photo.

You Can’t Be Serious, by Kal Penn

You Can’t Be Serious, by Kal Penn (Gallery, 367 pages)

You may know Kal Penn as a resident on the TV series House M.D. Or the stoner from the Harold & Kumar movie franchise. Or the Hollywood actor who took a break from all that to work in the Obama White House.

Or, like me, you know nothing about Kal Penn at all. In that case, you may have zero interest in the actor’s memoir You Can’t Be Serious, and I’m here to change your mind about that. As Hollywood memoirs go, this one is surprisingly engrossing, in part because of Penn’s intelligence and his willingness to be vulnerable and open up about discrimination he encountered as the son of Indian immigrants.

Penn, whose real name is Kaplen Modi, does his best writing in the first chapter, in which he describes assorted indignities of growing up in New Jersey, where he wore clothes from Sears (that descriptive says so much) and was called a racial slur by a “devil child [who] resembled a splintered toothpick — skinny with tiny arms.”

Early on, Penn realized that his brain worked better than those of some of his classmates, and that it preferred imagination to analytics. By middle school he had aligned with other misfits in the drama club, and he had a breakout performance as the Tin Man in the school’s performance of “The Wiz.”

By high school, however, his parents, who saw theater as impractical, intervened, insisting that he decline when offered a role in the ensemble of Godspell. It says a lot about his character, all good, that he writes, “I was more heartbroken than angry.” Penn had great respect for his family, even though, early on, they were not thrilled about his career path. (In one of his recurring jokes, his family members say, “We don’t do that. We’re Indian.”) He lovingly recounts the history of his father, who arrived in the U.S. with $8 and little else but ambition, and his grandfathers, who told him moving stories about marching with Gandhi.

In writing about his early life, Penn reveals the challenges and even violence confronting immigrants from India. Unfortunately, even when he moved to California to study acting at UCLA, and then began to audition for work, the discriminatory insults continued. He was only considered for parts that were cartoonish portrayals of Asian American, always with a thick, cheesy accent. And while Penn could do a wide range of accents, he had none naturally, leading to many instances when people expressed surprise that he was so “articulate.”

At one point he considered quitting acting altogether, but he came to accept, “I’m brown, period, and this is a white boys’ game. If the best characters that writers, producers, directors and casting teams can come up with are tired, unfunny stereotypes that we’ve seen a million times, it’s a reliable sign that the individuals I’m dealing with are seriously short on talent themselves. This reflects badly on them, not me.’

When he got work, he began to push back, suggesting script changes to writers and trying to dodge directors’ requests to make an accent more pronounced. All the while, he was being told how good an actor he was, and Penn explains how some of his early, unsatisfying work led to bigger opportunities later. In addition to House and Harold & Kumar, some of his other notable credits are the film The Namesake and the recent CBS series Clarice.

In the middle of all this, however, Penn diverts into a sort of shadow career as a White House aide to Barack Obama. This wasn’t a shocking development; in high school, he’d taken a test that was supposed to help him narrow down a career, and the results said, “Inconclusive. This student’s interests are too varied for us to provide tangible recommendations.” His guidance counselor said she’d never had a student get that result.

But Penn had seen Obama speak when he was still a senator and had been impressed enough to volunteer. And he was such an effective volunteer that Obama himself asked him to take a paid job with the campaign, and then to work in the White House. (All of which explains why Penn’s character on House was written out of the show.)

At this point, the memoir stumbles slightly, revealing its central weakness: This is a book that doesn’t know exactly what it’s about. Memoirs, of course, are recollections, but often they have a theme, a sort of overarching wisdom under which the anecdotes collect. Penn’s memories don’t stand still long enough for that; they dart about like squirrels. They are funny squirrels, so there’s that. As skillful as Penn is as an actor, he’s also a first-rate comedian, and the one-liners come fast and furious. That said, after a spate of extraordinarily thoughtful writing in the first few chapters, the book does tend to devolve into a more typical recounting of stories. By the time he wraps things up by introducing his now-fiance, a Southern man with a penchant for NASCAR, the book is feeling a bit long, like you know 100 pages more than you needed to know about this particular actor.

Whatever its blemishes, being overly partisan is not one of them. Yes, more than a third of the book contains anecdotes about his work with President Obama, and obviously he’s a fan and a Democrat (he even spoke at the party’s 2012 convention), but there’s little here that would be offensive to Republicans. At heart, You Can’t Be Serious is a quintessential story along the lines of local-boy-makes-good, with the local boy being of Indian descent, smart and funny. There may be better memoirs about Hollywood or politics, or even growing up Indian in New Jersey, but it’s safe to say this is the best one about all three. B


Book Notes

Every year I look forward to a new Christmas book, one that can join my collection of perennial holiday reads. Most years I am disappointed.

The last book to qualify for a lasting place on the holiday bookshelf was the late Stuart McLean’s Christmas at the Vinyl Cafe (Viking, 272 pages), which came out in 2017. In fact, there just don’t seem to be that many Christmas-themed books other than cookbooks. This year I could only find a collection of remembrances by Fox News personalities — All American Christmas (Broadside, 272 pages) — and a historical novel that I missed in 2017, Samantha Silva’s Mr. Dickens and His Carol (Flatiron, 288 pages).

But then I realized I’d been looking in the wrong genre.

There are plenty of Christmas books available to readers if they’re interested in romance novels, with the occasional dog book thrown into the mix. They’re not my cup of holiday tea, but apparently are quite popular, given their prevalence (and also the popularity of Hallmark Christmas movies).

A sampling: Sleigh Bells Ring (HQN, 336 pages) by RaeAnne Thayne, billed as a “sparkling and heartwarming holiday romance,” released in both hardback and paperback on Halloween, and Christmas in the Scottish Highlands (Bookouture, 294 pages) by Donna Ashcroft, which looks to be a fairly predictable romance novel embellished with holly, mulled wine and mince pies.

Other new holiday romances this year include The Holiday Swap (Viking, 352 pages) by Maggie Knox, in which two young women who are identical twins trade places at Christmas, and Dear Santa (Ballantine, 272 pages) by Debbie Macomber, in which a recently jilted young woman returns home for Christmas and writes a letter to Santa that changes her life. (In a bit of brilliant marketing, the illustration on this one shows a Santa-hat-wearing golden retriever holding a letter in its mouth.)

There’s also A Season for Second Chances (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 448 pages) by Jenny Bayliss, the author of last year’sThe Twelve Dates of Christmas (also Putnam, 368 pages), and Santa’s Sweetheart (Kensington Publishing, 233 pages) by Janet Dailey. I could go on, but you get the picture, and my keyboard is getting gritty with all the sugar.

But I did promise dogs, so check out Best in Snow (Minotaur, 320 pages) by David Rosenfelt if only to get a rush of serotonin from the cover, and It’s a Wonderful Woof (Forge, 272 pages) by Spencer Quinn.

Book Events

Author events

BRENE BROWN Author presents Atlas of the Heart. Virtual event hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Thurs., Dec. 2, 8 p.m. Via Zoom. Tickets cost $30. Ticket sales end Dec. 2, at noon. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

ERNESTO BURDEN Author presents Slate. The Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester). Thurs., Dec. 2, 5:30 p.m. Visit bookerymht.com or call 836-6600.

JACK DALTON Kid conservationist presents his book, Kawan the Orangutan: Lost in the Rainforest. Toadstool Bookshop, 375 Amherst St., Nashua. Sat., Dec. 4, noon. Visit toadbooks.com.

DAMIEN KANE RIDGEN Author presents Bell’s Codex and My Magnum Opus. Toadstool Bookshop, 375 Amherst St., Nashua. Sun., Dec. 5, noon. Visit toadbooks.com.

MICHAEL J. FOX Author presents No Time Like the Future. Virtual event hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Tues., Dec. 7, 7 p.m. Via Zoom. Registration required. Tickets cost $17.99, and include a copy of the book. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

Album Reviews 21/12/02

Naked Raygun, Over The Overlords (Wax Trax Records)

This Chicago post-punk band never struck me as “post” anything, just punk, but whatever; half the time, reviewers and music pundits just make stuff up when they want to sound smart. If you’re young and confused, this is a legendary band; two of the guys were in Steve Albini’s seminal no-wave band Big Black (drop everything you’re doing and go listen to one of their records), and their cult following includes Dave Grohl and Blink-182’s Matt Skiba. If you’re not young and confused, you may know these guys from their decently produced tuneage of old, so, this being their first album in over 30 years, you’d be expecting better production along the lines of Ramones when they worked with Phil Spector and all that, and you’d be right: this is still basic punk stuff but it sounds better. I love all of it, starting with “Go The Spoils,” a typical three-chord complaint into the hopeless abyss. Can you possibly put away the emo albums already and get a little fed up, kids? A

Josh Caterer, The Space Sessions (Pravda Records)

Oh, hooray, more from the frontman of Smoking Popes, the glorified fedora band that was basically like Barenaked Ladies but without the money. You can take it from right there, to be honest; either you like bovine American pub-rock or you don’t, and, as you should know if you’ve ever once read this column in your life, I sure as shootin’ don’t. I mean don’t get me wrong, Smoking Popes could be a little edgy, almost ska-like at times, but Caterer’s fetish for writing melodies that were completely “I know I’ve heard this before but I’m way too busy hate-reading my Facebook to Google it” was their Achilles heel. That’s heard here as well; the songs are solid, Caterer’s uninspiring tenor is more hearty and robust than usual (think Frank Black with a couple of voice lessons), but man, this has been done and more compellingly. There’s a retread version of the classic bum-out song “I Started A Joke” on here for some reason, and no, I don’t know why. B+

PLAYLIST

• As we move into the home stretch of 2021’s retail sweepstakes, our thoughts turn to the Christmas elves, who must load all the new albums into Santa’s sleigh, for delivery to all the Whos down in Whoville. Maybe you are a Who who plans to buy an album or three for your loved ones, and now’s a great time to do it, because a bunch of new albums will come out on Dec. 3, and you should probably buy some of them before the Impractical Jokers manage to get another gigantic cargo ship trapped in the Suez Canal and nobody gets anything for the holidays at all, except for maybe pine cones or old used tires. Echo is one of those new releases, a new album from Costa Mesa, California-based Of Mice & Men, a band that started out as a “metalcore/post-hardcore” troupe, and then, after getting the news from their parents that they wouldn’t be paying for their Vans slip-ons anymore, decided to make more melodic (but equally unlistenable) music, specifically nu-metal! The first single was “Fighting Gravity,” which evidenced that they’re going a little bit emo in the hope that some wrestler will pick one of their songs as an entrance theme, but this tune is all disjointed, running around like a drunk squirrel, a little Good Charlotte, then some screamo, then some Coheed & Cambria, and so on and so forth. If you’re going to give this to your monstrous high-schooler for the holidays, just tell them that it’s really horrible and in response they’ll probably listen to it at least once.

• Shrinkwrapped, inordinately famous country-pop star Blake Shelton will release album number who-cares this week, titled BodyLanguage! Shelton is now on three, count ’em, three different Hunger Games-style singing talent shows that are only watched by boomers and the billions and billions of record company-paid Twitter bots out there in fake-fandom land; all the shows are of course focused on finding singers who can do the the closest possible imitations of Adele or Adam Lambert, and if they fail to sound exactly like them they end up being sent back home to work on their karaoke skills for the entertainment of local drunks. Now that Shelton has found a new future-ex blonde missus in Gwen Stefani, he is gracing us, the little people, with the totally hot new single, the album’s title track, an OK song that sounds suspiciously like an amalgam of stolen pop songs from actual artists that were released over the last 30 years, but I can’t quite put my finger on what songs are being ripped off — wait, the hook is definitely from an old Human League song, that’s it. Let’s go, get this nonsense out of my sight this instant.

• If you like symphonic euro-metal and have been wondering where Angra’s singer Simone Simons has been, she’s the frontperson for Dutch band Epica these days, when she’s not busy working as a style influencer on her SwoonStyle blog. What all this adds up to is another band that would be Trans Siberian Orchestra right now if they’d only invented heavy metal and Christmas before those guys did, so let’s go look and listen to “Kingdom of Heaven Part 3” from the band’s new live album, Omega Alive! Ah, it’s Cannibal Corpse except with Simons’ opera-lady vocals, and there are flames and Flying V guitars and there’s a chandelier of contortionist hotties hanging from the ceiling. You know who’d like this is basically everyone, because it’s both super-classy and completely idiotic at the same time.

• Last but not least, it’s Chrome Sparks & Reo Cragun, with an EP called Void. Sparks is from Pittsburgh, Cragun is from Vancouver, Washington, and their collaboration mixes neo-soul with underground noise, as heard in the single “Blood,” which switches back and forth between Drake-ish chillout and floor-shaking cacophony. It’s interesting.

If you’re in a local band, now’s a great time to let me know about your EP, your single, whatever’s on your mind. Let me know how you’re holding yourself together without being able to play shows or jam with your homies. Send a recipe for keema matar. Message me on Twitter (@esaeger) or Facebook (eric.saeger.9).

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