Music this week – 22/01/13

Thursday, Jan. 13

Bedford

Copper Door: Justin Jordan, 7 p.m.

Brookline

Alamo: open mic, 4:30 p.m.

Hermanos: Chris Peters, 6:30 p.m.

Concord

Area 23: karaoke with DJ Dicey, 8 p.m.

Hermanos: Chris Peters, 6:30 p.m.

Derry

Fody’s: music bingo, 8 p.m.

Epping

Telly’s: Tim Theriault, 7 p.m.

Exeter

Sawbelly: Artty Francouer, 5 p.m.

Goffstown

Village Trestle: Paul Lussier, 6 p.m.

Hampton

CR’s: Barry Brearly, 6 p.m.

Wally’s: Chris Toler, 6 p.m.

Whym: music bingo, 6 p.m.

Hudson

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

Kingston

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

Laconia

Fratello’s: live piano, 5:30 p.m.

Londonderry

Stumble Inn: D-Comp, 7 p.m.

Manchester

Angel City: open mic, 8 p.m.

Currier: Paul Nelson, 5 p.m.

Fratello’s: Jodee Frawlee, 5:30 p.m.

KC’s: Jordan Quinn, 6 p.m.

Strange Brew: Peter Higgins, 8 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Clint Lapointe, 5:30 p.m.

Milford

Stonecutters Pub: Blues Therapy, 8 p.m.

Nashua

Fody’s: DJ Rich Karaoke, 9:30 p.m.

Fratello’s: Jeff Mrozek, 5:30 p.m.

Stella Blu: Par 3, 7 p.m.

Salem

Copper Door: Jon-Paul Royer, 7 p.m.

Seabrook

Red’s: Fred Elsworth, 7 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 14

Auburn

Auburn Pitts: Tina J & Nuff Said Band, 7 p.m.

Brookline

Alamo: Joey Clark, 4:30 p.m.

Concord

Area 23: Claire Bridgewater, 6 p.m.; Drum Shark & the Guppies, 8 p.m.

Penuche’s: Lamont Smooth, 8 p.m.

Deerfield

Lazy Lion: live music, 7 p.m.

Derry

Fody’s: Evan Jamieson, 8 p.m.

Epping

Telly’s: Lisa & Nate, 8 p.m.

Goffstown

Village Trestle: Dan Carter, 6 p.m.

Hampton

CR’s: Rico Barr Duo, 6 p.m.

The Goat: Alex Anthony, 8 p.m.

Wally’s: Nonpoint, 8 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: Bite the Bullet, 8 p.m.

Laconia

Fratello’s: live piano, 5:30 p.m.

Tower Hill Tavern: DJ Kadence karaoke, 8 p.m.

Londonderry

Coach Shop: Jeff Mrozek, 6 p.m.

Stumble Inn: Small Town Stranded, 8 p.m.

Manchester

Angel City: musical bingo, 6:30 p.m.

Bonfire: Isaiah Bennett, 9 p.m.

Derryfield: Off the Record, 9 p.m.

The Foundry: Justin Cohn, 6 p.m.

Fratello’s: Paul Lussier, 6 p.m.

Murphy’s: Mike & John, 9:30 p.m.

South Side Tavern: Cox Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Strange Brew: Mica’s Groove Train, 9 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Joanie Cicatelli, 6 p.m.

Milford

Pasta Loft: The Slakas, 9 p.m.

Stonecutters Pub: DJ Dave O with karaoke, 9 p.m.

Nashua

Fody’s: Joe Macdonald, 7 p.m.

Fratello’s: Clint Lapointe, 6 p.m.

Newmarket

Stone Church: EJ Ouellette & Crazy Maggy, 8 p.m.

Northfield

Boonedoxz Pub: karaoke night, 7 p.m.

Portsmouth

Gas Light: Ralph Allen, 9:30 p.m.

Goat: Chris Toler, 9 p.m.

Rochester

Mitchell Hill: Mica Peterson Duo, 6 p.m.

Seabrook

Chop Shop: Whiskey Tango, 8 p.m.

Red’s: Pete Massa, 7 p.m.

Stratham

Tailgate Tavern: Chad Verbeck, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 15

Alton Bay

Dock Side: Matt & Steve & Wooden Nickels, 8 p.m.

Auburn

Auburn Pitts: Tapedeck Heroez, 7 p.m.

Bow

Chen Yang Li: Andrew Geano, 7 p.m.

Brookline

Alamo: April Cushman, 5 p.m.

Concord

Area 23: Bluegrass Jam with Ross Arnold, 2 p.m.; Stoned Wasp, 8 p.m.

Craft Brewing: Mikey G, 3 p.m.

Hermanos: John Franzosa, 6:30 p.m.

Deerfield

Lazy Lion: live music, 7 p.m.

Epping

Telly’s: Jonny Friday Duo, 8 p.m.

Exeter

Sawbelly: Douglas James, 1 p.m.; Rich Amorim, 5 p.m.

Goffstown

Village Trestle: Chris Powers, 6 p.m.

Hampton

The Goat: Brooks Hubbard, 9 p.m.

Wally’s: Alex Anthony, 9 p.m.

Whym: Lyz Ridgely, 6:30 p.m.

Hudson

Lynnn’s 102 Tavern: Under Cover, 8 p.m.

Kingston

Saddle Up Saloon: Cry Uncle, 8 p.m.

Laconia

Fratello’s: live piano, 5:30 p.m.

Londonderry

Coach Shop: Jodee Frawlee, 6 p.m.

Stumble Inn: live music, 8 p.m.

Manchester

Backyard Brewery: Ken Budka, 6 p.m.

Derryfield: Alex Roy, 8 p.m.

Fratello’s: Clint Lapointe, 6 p.m.

The Foundry: Eric Marcs, 6 p.m.

The Goat: InsideOut, 9 p.m.

Great North Aleworks: Max Sullivan, 3 p.m.

McIntyre Ski: Joanie Cicatelli, 5 p.m.

Murphy’s: Swipe Right, 9:30 p.m.

Strange Brew: Jake Pardee & Friends, 9 p.m.

Meredith

Giuseppe’s: André Balazs, 5:30 p.m.

Twin Barns: Josh Foster, 5 p.m.

Merrimack

Homestead: Jessica Olson, 6 p.m.

Milford

Pasta Loft: Off the Record, 9 p.m.

Nashua

Fratello’s: Justin Jordan, 6 p.m.

Liquid Therapy: McKinley’s Mood, 6 p.m.

Millyard Brewery: Ryan Williamson, 4 p.m.

New Boston

Molly’s: Joe Birch, 7 p.m.

Newmarket

Stone Church: Beau Sasser Trio, 9 p.m.

Portsmouth

Gas Light: Rebecca Turmel, 9:30 p.m.

The Goat: Mike Forgette, 9 p.m.

The Press Room: Band of Killers, 9 p.m.

Thirsty Moose: Tenderheds, 9 p.m.

Seabrook

Chop Shop: MoneyKat’s, 8:30 p.m.

Red’s: Francoix Simard, 7 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 16

Alton Bay

Dockside: Bill Noland, 4 p.m.

Bedford

Copper Door: Nate Comp, 11 a.m.

Brookline

Alamo: Rebecca Turmel, 4:30 p.m.

Exeter

Sawbelly: Alan Roux, 11 a.m.

Hampton

CR’s: Joy of Sax, 6 p.m.

Whym: Ryan Williamson, 1 p.m.

Hudson

Lynn’s 102 Tavern: Basstastic Duo, 5 p.m.

Laconia

Fratello’s: live piano, 5:30 p.m.

Manchester

Strange Brew: jam, 7 p.m.

Nashua

Stella Blu: The Incidentals, 4 p.m.

Northfield

Boonedoxz Pub: open mic, 4 p.m.

Salem

Copper Door: Phil Jakes, 11 a.m.

Seabrook

Red’s: Birchwood Blaze, 8 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

Concord

Area 23: Irish music, 6 p.m.

Hudson

The Bar: karaoke with Phil

Gilford

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

Laconia

Fratello’s: live piano, 5:30 p.m.

Londonderry

Stumble Inn: Lisa Guyer, 7 p.m.

Manchester

Fratello’s: Phil Jacques, 5:30 p.m.

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

Merrimack

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

Nashua

Fody’s: karaoke night, 9:30 p.m.

Fratello’s: Chris Powers, 5:30 p.m.

Portsmouth

The Goat: musical bingo, 7 p.m.; Alex Anthony, 9 p.m.

Press Room: open mic, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

Concord

Hermanos: Kid Pinky, 6:30 p.m.

Tandy’s: open mic night, 8 p.m.

Hampton

Shane’s: music bingo, 7 p.m.

Kingston

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

Laconia

Fratello’s: live piano, 5:30 p.m.

Manchester

Fratello’s: Justin Jordan, 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.

Merrimack

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

Nashua

Fody’s: musical bingo, 8 p.m.

Fratello’s: Doug Mitchell, 5:30 p.m.

Seabrook

Red’s: Seabrook Idol, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 13

Concord

Area 23: open mic, 6 p.m.

Hermanos: Kid Pinky, 6:30 p.m.

Tandy’s: karaoke, 8 p.m.

Hampton

Bogie’s: open mic, 7 p.m.

Wally’s: Chris Toler, 7 p.m.

Hudson

Lynn’s 102: Carter on Guitar, 7 p.m.

Kingston

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

Laconia

Fratello’s: live piano, 5:30 p.m.

Manchester

Angel City: Extinction AD & Rhythm of Fear, 8 p.m.

Fratello’s: John Chouinard, 5:30 p.m.

Goat: line dancing, 7 p.m.

Stark: Cox Karaoke, 8 p.m.

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

Merrimack

Homestead: Ralph Allen, 5:30 p.m.

Milford

Stonecutters Pub: open mic, 8 p.m.

Nashua

Fratello’s: Justin Cohn, 5:30 p.m.

Newmarket

Stone Church: Tyler Allgood, 7 p.m.

Portsmouth

The Goat: Alex Anthony, 9 p.m.

Rochester

Porter’s: karaoke night, 6:30 p.m.

Seabrook

Red’s: Adam Matthew, 7 p.m.

Somersworth

Speakeasy: open mic night, 7 p.m.

Shows

Karrin Allyson Friday, Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club

EJ Oulette and Crazy Maggie/Carol Coronis Friday, Jan. 14, 8 p.m., Stone Church

Blood, Sweat & Tears Saturday, Jan. 15, 2 & 7:30 p.m., Palace Theatre

Recycled Percussion Saturday, Jan. 15, 4:30 & 7:30 p.m., Music Hall

Enox/The War Within/Tactiles/Okami Saturday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m., Jewel Music Venue

Vanessa Collier Saturday, Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club

Dueling Pianos Saturday, Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m., Franklin Opera House

Morgan James Saturday, Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m., Rex Theatre

Beau Sasser Trio/Slack Tide Saturday, Jan. 15, 9 p.m., Stone Church

Beatlejuice Saturday, Jan. 15, 8 p.m., Tupelo

Tom Chapin Wednesday, Jan. 19, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club

Dave Gererd and Tim Theriault Thursday, Jan. 20, 7 p.m., Stone Church

Anthony Geraci & the Boston Blues All-Stars Thursday, Jan. 20, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Venue

An Evening with Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals Friday, Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m, Palace Theatre

Red Hot Chili Pipers Friday, Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m., Flying Monkey

Ambrose Akinmusire Friday, Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club

The Dave Matthews Tribute Band Friday, Jan. 21, 8 p.m., Tupelo

Fred Hersch Trio Saturday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club

Funtcase & SweetTooth Saturday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m., Jewel

Amulus/The Chops Saturday, Jan. 21, 9 p.m., Stone Church

Who’s Bad (tribute to Michael Jackson) Saturday, Jan. 22, 2 and 7:30 p.m., Palace Theatre

Beechwood & Boomsoss Saturday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m., Bank of NH Stage in Concord

The Gilmour Project Saturday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m., Tupelo

The Skunk Sessions Saturday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m., Stone Church

Portland Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series Sunday, Jan. 23, 5:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club

Citizen Cope Tuesday, Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m., Music Hall

Eddie 9V Wednesday, Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club

Nicholas Payton Thursday, Jan. 27, 7 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club

Juggalo Jump-Off (Insane Clown Posse tribute) Thursday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m., Jewel Music Venue

Bearly Dead Thursday, Jan. 27, 9 p.m., Stone Church

Alicia Olatuja Quintet Friday, January 28, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives Friday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m., Flying Monkey

Keb’Mo’ Friday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m., Music Hall

Brandon “Taz” Niederauer Saturday, Jan. 29, 7:30, Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues

The Bulkheads/Adrienne Mack-Davis/Villains Row Saturday, Jan. 29, 8 p.m., Stone Church

Rachel & Vilray Saturday, Jan. 29, 8 p.m., The Historic Theatre/Music Hall

Blitzkid The Reunion Kickoff Tour Wednesday, Feb. 2, 7 p.m., Jewel

Joel Ross Quintet Wednesday, Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club

Shmeika Copeland Thursday, Feb. 3, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club

Foreigners Journey (tribute to Foreigner and Journey) Thursday, Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m., Palace Theatre

King Solomon Hicks Friday, Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m., Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club

Enter the Haggis Friday, Feb. 4, 8 p.m., Bank of NH Stage in Concord

Phil Vassar Friday, Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m., Flying Monkey

Cowboy Junkies Friday, Feb. 4, 8 p.m., The Historic Theatre/Music Hall

Raised that way

Corey Rodrigues headlines Tupelo Night of Comedy

The world is full of comedians who entered the craft after being inspired by another standup, but Corey Rodrigues came to it through the crucible of a barbershop owned by his family. Making the customers laugh came naturally, and the more he did it, the clearer it became that he was destined for bigger crowds.

However, Rodrigues was the last one to know about his career in the making.

“I never thought I would be a comedian,” he said in a recent phone interview. “People used to say I should, but I was like, that’s stupid. I don’t know how to make people laugh [who] I don’t know, and I don’t want to … I’m not a clown. I didn’t even know how that could be possible.”

So Rodrigues became a comic by acclamation, as classmates, coworkers and others urged him to give it a shot.

“It’s just in me, I’ve always been this person,” he finally realized. “There’s a funny angle at which you look at things … someone else may have thought it, but they just don’t know what to do with it. That’s not their mindset. … The blessing and curse of a comedian is you’re constantly finding something funny.”

After suffering through a few tough shows early on, he did begin to study other comics.

“I was like, I could eventually get to that … it looks easy enough,” he said. He eventually became aware of another critical standup survival skill. “If you’re delusional, you’ll stay in this business. … You have to have a level of delusion.”

Rodrigues was raised in Milton, Mass., after his troubled mother sent him and his brother to live with their grandparents — he described it as an act of mercy in an Epix Unprotected Sets episode filmed last year.

Early on, he sharpened his edge at Boston’s Improv Asylum, later winning several competitions. A key break came in 2018, when his Dry Bar Comedy Club special garnered over 40 million views, leading to a Late Night With Conan O’Brien appearance the following year.

The Dry Bar special required Rodrigues adhere to PG content, which wasn’t a difficult pivot for him, as he already had a long resume working on cruise ships.

“I do churches, colleges, corporate gigs, everything,” he said. “If you have enough material, you could talk about your balls and something very vanilla at the same time and still make it funny. It was probably one of the best experiences I ever had. … I killed that set.”

He’s done some other unconventional things, like appearing on Mike Huckabee’s show in Nashville a few months back.

“I want to make it [out to] be worse than it was, but it was actually pretty cool,” he said of the experience. “I don’t agree at all with what he said after, when we talked, but he knew my jokes [and] everybody’s gotta laugh.”

Further evidence of Rodrigues’s inclusive comedy was found in Corey’s Stories, a family-friendly livestream he did with his son in the early days of the pandemic. The two read books together, told jokes and invited their audience to call in to answer trivia questions for prizes.

“I had a lot of friends complaining about being stuck at home, kids getting on their nerves and everything, so I created something to kind of give people a break,” he said.

Does Rodrigues have plans for his son to follow in his footsteps?

“I’m not really grooming him for that, but he already knows how to hold his own,” he said. “He showed me that in the show, which was pretty awesome.”

Corey Rodrigues, Kyle Crawford and Alex Giampapa

When: Friday, Jan. 14, 8 p.m.
Where: Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry
Tickets: $22 at tupelohall.com

Featured photo: Corey Rodrigues. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 22/01/13

Local music news & events

Comedy tonight: A solid lineup of local standup is led by snarkmeister supreme Jay Chanoine, with support from Mike Gray, Ronnie Partridge and Claremont comic Chad Blodgett. Mona Forgione of event presenter Gone Rogue Productions hosts the gathering, and there’s no better remedy for the Omicron Blues than an evening of jokes, as giggling past the graveyard is easier than whistling. Thursday, Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m., Backyard Brewery, 1211 S. Mammoth Road, Manchester, $15 at eventbrite.com.

Twisting tunes: Adding music to a made-in-heaven blend of artisan pretzels and craft beer, Jessye DeSilva is among the regional performers slated to appear through March in downtown Manchester. Upcoming in the weekly series are Ramez Mataz (Jan. 21), Paul Nelson (Jan. 28), Jim Dozet (Feb. 4) and Kevin Horan (Feb. 11). Local treasure Alli Beaudry stops by for a solo appearance on Feb. 25 and is joined by Nick Phaneuf on March 11. Friday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m., The Hop Knot, 1000 Elm St., Manchester, thehopknot.com.

Holiday redux: Keep the seasonal spirit alive with Morgan James: A Very Magnetic Post Christmas, rescheduled from early December. The singer draws from her album, containing skillfully curated nuggets like William Bell’s “Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday” and “Backdoor Santa,” the latter from the 1968 Atco Records holiday compilation Soul Christmas, along with standards and a few winning originals. Saturday, Jan. 15, 8 p.m., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $25 to $65 at palacetheatre.org.

Remembrance: Though the show happens just below the borderline, Rock In Peace – A Tribute To Chucky Tester is very much a New Hampshire happening, as four of the state’s bands gather to honor a beloved member of its music community, who passed too soon. Prospect Hill, A Simple Complex, Mindset X and Blindspot all perform, which proceeds going to the late drummer and band leader’s family. Sunday, Jan. 16, noon, A-Brews Tap & Grill, 1794 Bridge St., Unit 1A, Dracut, Mass., $20 at ticketleap.com

Jam together: Led by the woman who put the Mama in Mama Kicks back when, Monday’s Muse is back, an open session topped by a local artist every week, with a house band including Lisa Guyer, John Mederios, Geoff Bates, Nate Comp and Steve Baker. This week’s featured guest is Devin Cordeiro; with Bob Vose on Jan. 24 and bona fide rock star Charlie Farren closing out the month on Jan. 31. Monday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m., Stumble Inn Bar & Grill, 20 Rockingham Road, Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com.

The 355 (PG-13)

The 355 (PG-13)

A group of bad-ass international spy-type ladies kick some international bad-guy butt in the big bucket of movie theater popcorn that is The 355 — or, at least, that’s the movie I wanted to see.

In actuality, while that description basically holds, The 355 is something less than that. These are all awesome actresses, all in their 40s no less, who all get a chance to kick and punch and throw elbows, taking down countless henchmen. They get to be tough, walk tough, dress tough — and dress fancy during one part of their mission. And yet the movie never revs up. Every time the movie is about to get going, it feels like the energy just dissipates.

CIA agent Mace (Jessica Chastain) and fellow agent (and longtime friend) Nick (Sebastian Stan) are tasked with going to Paris to meet with a rogue Colombian intelligence agent, Luis (Edgar Ramirez), who is looking to sell a tech gizmo that allows anyone (or any government or any terrorist organization) that possesses it unfettered access to any closed system in the world. The drive can down planes, black out cities, unleash nukes, yada yada — you’ve seen variations of this McGuffin before.

Naturally, the CIA isn’t the only interested party. While Mace and Nick pose as a honeymooning couple at a cafe, German intelligence officer Marie (Diane Kruger) is making espressos and waiting for her chance to grab the bag that has the drive. When she does, chaos ensues. Mace chases Marie but doesn’t get her before she’s able to get away — not, Marie is disappointed to learn, with the drive. Nick meets up with a group of baddies seeking the drive and soon Mace finds herself alone and under suspicion. Needing help to track down Luis, she turns to MI6 agent Khadijah (Lupita Nyong’o). When they catch up with Luis, they find that not only is Marie still on his trail, but he’s been joined by Graciela (Penelope Cruz), a psychiatrist who works with Colombian intelligence who has been sent to bring Luis back in.

Eventually Graciela, Khadijah, Marie and Mace decide to work together to fight off the bad guys and get the potentially civilization-toppling drive into safe hands. That goal, they learn, is shared by Chinese intelligence agent Lin Mi Sheng (Fan Bingbing).

As I said, all of these actresses are in their 40s (which I mention because it’s just cool to see) and all are credible as strong women with special evil-defeating skills. This should work; I should have run home from the theater having had so much fun that I immediately attempted to pre-order the movie for regular comfort food watching. But this movie lacks the kind of energy, the crackle of fun, that you expect from something with this much potential. Its runtime is just over two hours which feels like too long for what it’s doing, made even draggier by some pokey pacing and some real “who cares” backstories. (There is also something odd about many of Fan Bingbing’s scenes; I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether she had been green-screened in after the fact. If nothing else, it probably goes to how pasted together the story felt when it comes to putting all the lady spies together.)

That you could guess every single twist and turn is not fatal — I was expecting The 355 to be kinda dumb. Heck, I was looking forward to enjoying a kinda dumb action movie with ladies Jason-Bourne-ing it up. But this movie doesn’t let its formidable cast loose and doesn’t have the internal cleverness to be as smart or as goofy as it needed to be. C+

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, brief strong language and suggestive material, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Simon Kinberg with a screenplay by Theresa Rebeck and Simon Kinberg, The 355 is two hours and two minutes long and is distributed by Universal Studios in theaters.

Licorice Pizza (R)

A 15-year-old living in the San Fernando Valley in the early 1970s has big dreams — one of which is marrying the 25-year-old photographer’s assistant he meets on school picture day — in Licorice Pizza, which is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, son of frequent Anderson actor the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) has some movie and TV credits on his resume and, despite not yet driving, runs a PR firm with his mother (Mary Elizabeth Ellis). I’m not telling you this to brag, he says to Alana (Alana Haim, of the band Haim), when he first meets her as she’s offering combs and a mirror to high schoolers lining up to get their photos taken. He explains he’s just telling her how he can afford dinner at Tail o’ the Cock, the steakhouse that is his usual Thursday night hangout spot (he does PR for the owner). He invites her to stop by — and Alana both laughs at his chutzpah and is intrigued.

She does stop by, they hang out and she gives him her number — but reminds him that they aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, that such a relationship would be illegal, that he’s just a kid. And yet, she continues to hang out with him. When Gary’s chance encounter with a discount waterbed has him suddenly enter the waterbed business, Alana joins him as his business partner, helping him sell them over the phone and even driving the truck to install one. Later, as she tries to break free of his strange teenage friend group by volunteering for a political campaign, she nevertheless calls on Gary to shoot an ad for the candidate. And that shoot is where he gets the idea to start a pinball parlor — Gary is always on the make, always looking for his next thing. And, he seems perfectly content to look for new girlfriends, even while never letting go of the idea that Alana is the girl he’s going to marry.

Presumably, when he graduates from high school.

Throughout this strange, rambling hang in Encino, we meet real and fictionalized versions of L.A. personalities and showbiz people, from fellow younger actors (played by Skyler Gisondo) and to older stars (played by Christine Ebersole, Sean Penn) to more general Hollywood types (played by Bradley Cooper, Maya Rudolph).

In a movie full of great, fun performances, Cooper Hoffman (18 in real life) and Alana Haim stand out for turning in the loose, natural performances you come to an artier movie hoping for. Even before I realized who Hoffman’s father was, I found myself thinking “this kid has some real Michael Gandolfini energy” — something about him makes you think both of the discipline of the father as well as the rawness of a young actor’s performance.

Haim is equally precisely cast. It feels like a cop-out to just describe her as natural — her sisters here are played by her real-life sisters, her parents are played by her actual parents. But she gives such a round and real performance. Perhaps the highest compliment I could pay is that she feels like a girl in a Sofia Coppola movie, one who feels like a whole complete person, still figuring herself out but living a whole life from the first frame.

I could never completely forget that this movie was asking me to be all “aw, youth” about a (thankfully, fairly chaste) relationship between a 25 (at least) -year-old and a 15-year-old, no matter how precocious he is. You don’t have to think about it (or the gender politics of the situation) too hard for it to all feel icky.

So there’s that.

But then there was the other part of this movie, the one about rotary phones and newspapers the size of tablecloths and Pontiacs and those steakhouse-as-Tudor-pub restaurants (that vaguely call to mind the old style of Pizza Hut) and 1970s-era radio and aging Golden Age of Hollywood stars and a land where everybody is sort of an actor and the look of the warm sun of inland Los Angeles. My feelings about that aspect of the movie aren’t nostalgia, exactly; this all predates me. But Licorice Pizza puts you in a very specific space, and weaves its groovy-man fairy tale in such a way that I felt not just pulled in but charmed by the spirit of it. It made me think about all the times I’ve seen 1950s suburbia or 1950s Brooklyn presented with that same comforting glow of consequence-free misadventures and coming-of-age bravado. Fairy tale feels like the right way to describe all of this, a fairy tale of 1970s southern California.

With a really great soundtrack. A-

Rated R for language, sexual material and some drug use, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza is two hours and 13 minutes long and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures 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

Licorice Pizza (R, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres in Concord on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 3:30 & 7 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 14, through Sunday, Jan. 16, at 12:30, 3:45 & 7 p.m.; Thursday, Jan. 20, at 3:45 & 7 p.m.

The Tragedy of Macbeth (R, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres in Concord on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 4 & 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 14, through Sunday, Jan. 16, at noon & 5 p.m.; Thursday, Jan. 20, at 5 p.m.

C’mon C’mon (R, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres in Concord Friday, Jan. 14, through Sunday, Jan. 16, at 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Jan. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

Nanook of the North (1922), a silent documentary with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, on Sunday, Jan. 23, at 2 p.m. at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre. Suggested donation of $10.

For Heaven’s Sake (1926), a silent film starring Harold Lloyd with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. at the Flying Monkey. Suggested donation of $10.

Dark Mountain (2021) on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. at the Flying Monkey. Tickets cost $12.

Blood and Sand (1922), on Sunday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m. at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre. Suggested donation of $10.

Featured photo: The 355..

Sweat, A History of Exercise, by Bill Hayes

Sweat, A History of Exercise, by Bill Hayes (Bloomsbury, 221 pages)

Every time a new study comes out about the benefit of exercise, there’s a sort of breathlessness about it, as if the authors have come across some undiscovered bit of wisdom that will change hearts and minds — and bodies.

Exercise does that, of course, but this is not a new development. Joe De Sena built a fitness empire on the concept of “Spartan Fit” and Sparta was last a player in ancient Greece. Most of us know at least a vague history of the Olympic games, and that physical fitness was a key component in the education of young men in ancient societies. “To achieve excellence, we first must sweat,” the Greek poet Hesiod wrote in 700 B.C.

It’s surprising, then, that when New York writer Bill Hayes set out to learn more about how exercise became a human compulsion, he found few contemporary histories on the subject, but found a comprehensive one written in 1573. Called De arte gymnastica (in English, the Art of Gymnastics), the work was compiled by an Italian physician, Girolamo Mercuriale, and written in medieval Latin. It was, Hayes would later be told, the sort of book that medieval intellectuals kept on their bookshelves but never read, “like the Bible or Infinite Jest.”

Mercuriale himself had set out to do precisely what Hayes does here: to comb through centuries of accounts of how people exercised and why they exercised, going back to the fifth century BC. There was, of course, exercise as a form of preparation for war. The Spartans, in particular, organized their society around principles of building not just men but warriors. But in other Greek societies, there was a culture of exercise more similar to the luxurious athletic clubs of today: While men went to athletic facilities known as “palestras” to strenuously train and challenge their bodies, there were also physical pleasures to be found there, such as saunas, bathing rooms and “oiling” rooms, where athletes would be rubbed with scented olive oil.

The goal, however, according to Mercuriale, should not be to become more physically attractive but to live a long and healthy life — in contemporary lingo, to have not just a long lifespan but a long healthspan. “Those who exercise moderately and appropriately can lead a healthy life that does not depend on any drugs, but those who do so without proper care are racked by perpetual ill health, and require constant medication.”

What’s amazing about Mercuriale’s conclusions, and similar ones by Plato, Hippocrates and the second-century physician Galen, is that they came in a time in which people got a lot of things wrong about health. They believed, for example, that illness was caused by imbalance in the four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and bile), and that people could be healed with practices such as letting leeches suck their blood. But on exercise generally, these guys got it right, even if they did some weird things along the way, like collecting the sweat of athletes to use as a healing balm for hemorrhoids and genital warts.

Hayes is the the author of six other books, including Sleep Demons, a memoir about insomnia, and Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood. He is also known as the partner of the legendary late physician Oliver Sacks, and has written about other aspects of medical history before, including a nonfiction book that examines how the medical classic Gray’s Anatomy came to be. So it’s a little disappointing that Sweat sometimes devolves into more of a personal blog rather than an erudite history. This happens when Hayes drops in his own workouts, from mastering the crow pose in yoga to taking a boxing class. He may be an accomplished author, but he never convinces me to care deeply about his sports injuries, even when he slammed into a rock once while he was swimming. Not that I’m not sympathetic to head injuries, but it wasn’t what I came for.

That said, it was interesting to learn about the exercise habits of diverse, interesting people, from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who famously did 20 military-style push-ups each day, even in her 80s, to an Italian publisher and translator of Mercuriale who rings 600-pound church bells for exercise. Fun fact on the topic of unusual forms of exercise: Mercuriale counted laughing, crying and holding one’s breath as exercise, another reason to like him. And again Mercuriale was prescient: a belly laugh has been likened to “jogging for the innards.”

Hayes received funding from two foundations that enabled him to travel around the world to research this book, in part by inspecting old and rare books, aided by friendly librarians. (This in itself offered a glimpse into a strange world, as when he wrote that the librarian “placed a clean white pillow on the table top — a soft bed for these often fragile volumes — and provided a fresh package of handwipes” in order that he could clean his hands thoroughly in between books.) He also took an eight-week class that certifies people to become personal trainers, not to become one (although he did become certified), but just to learn about the process and more about the human body.

As with any book that runs the gamut from Pliny the Elder to Jane Fonda, Sweat attempts to cover a marathon in the space of a 5K. It’s a perfectly serviceable book, but not one that’s particularly memorable, since for so much of it the reader is subjected to watching the author travel and exercise. At least he had fun, so there’s that. As for advice, it’s hard to top this from Galen’s The Art of Medicine, dating from 180 A.D.: “Exercise should cease as soon as the body begins to suffer.” If, for you, that’s the moment you step out the door, best move on to another title. B-


Book Notes

If you haven’t heard, birds aren’t real. They’re drones sent by the federal government to spy on us, according to a tongue-in-cheek movement. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t feed them and enjoy looking at them when we’re trapped inside by miserable weather.

There is no “birds aren’t real” book — not yet, anyway — but there’s been an equally cheeky book leading the “bird field guides” genre on Amazon recently. The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of the Whole Stupid World (Chronicle, 176 pages) is Matt Kracht’s followup to his The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America, published in 2019 (Chronicle, 176 pages). Kracht, who lives in the Pacific Northwest, is gaming the system by showing up here. While the books are in the field-guide format, and technically about birds, they’re pure humor, and crude humor at that.

What’s really fascinating, though, is that Kracht’s take is not especially original. The same year Kracht’s first book came out, Aaron Reynolds gave the world the Effin’ Birds: A Field Guide to Identification (Ten Speed Press, 208 pages), which has even more profanity and absurdity than Kracht’s books offer. (Who knew there was such animosity toward birds?)

Effin’ Birds is cultural commentary wrapped in bird bodies, with Reynolds inventing creatures such as the “spotted do-nothing” and the “peevish ringneck.” It too is kind of juvenile in its humor, but also kind of funny, as we all have a spotted do-nothing in our life.

If you prefer to take your birding more seriously, Princeton University Press recently published How Birds Evolve, What Science Reveals About Their Origin, Lives and Diversity by New York evolutionary biologist Douglas Futuyma (320 pages).

And last year, Deckle Edge published a new version of The Bedside Book of Birds, an Avian Miscellany, by the late Canadian novelist Graeme Gibson, with a foreword by Margaret Atwood (392 pages).

But you’ll have to wait a few months for the book you really need: an actual field guide, snark-free: Birds of New Hampshire. It’s by Marc Parnell and is part of the Birding Pro series. (Naturalist and Traveler Press, 272 pages, coming March 22).


Book Events

Author events

TIMOTHY BOUDREAU Author presents on the craft of writing short stories. Sat., Jan. 15, 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. Peterborough Town Library, 2 Concord St., Peterborough. Visit monadnockwriters.org.

TOM RAFFIO Author presents Prepare for Crisis, Plan to Thrive. The Bookery, 844 Elm St., Manchester. Thurs., Jan. 27, 5:30 p.m. Visit bookerymht.com.

CHAD ORZEL Author presents A Brief History of Timekeeping. Virtual event hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Thurs., Jan. 27, 7 p.m. Via Zoom. Registration required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

ISABEL ALLENDE Author presents Violeta. Virtual event hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Sat., Jan. 29, 7 p.m. Via Zoom. Registration and tickets required, to include the purchase of the book. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

JOHN NICHOLS Author presents Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiters. Virtual event hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Tues., Feb. 1, 7 p.m. Via Zoom. Registration required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

GARY SAMPSON AND INEZ MCDERMOTT Photographer Sampson and art historian McDermott discuss New Hampshire Now: A Photographic Diary of Life in the Granite State. Sat., Feb. 19, 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. Peterborough Town Library, 2 Concord St., Peterborough. Visit monadnockwriters.org.

Book Sales

USED BOOK SALE Used books for $1, $3 and $5. GoodLife Programs & Activities, 254 N. State St., Unit L, Concord. Jan. 10 through Jan. 21 (closed Jan. 17). Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit goodlifenh.org.

Poetry

CAROL WESTBURG AND SUE BURTON Virtual poetry reading hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Thurs., Jan. 20, 7 p.m. Via Zoom. Registration required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

Album Reviews 22/01/13

Pussy Riot, Rage Remixes (self-released)

These Russian protest-punk girls should be no strangers to your cultural head space, given that they’ve caused all sorts of trouble with the powers-that-be in their homeland, which has led to their arrests and such. As a band, they have a sound that’s always evolving; they started out as a live-only performance-art act (there are now three albums in the books) that sounded like a bad version of Courtney Love, then became more like The Kills, and they’re now more of an edgy bubble-pop group. The Britney/Kesha sound has really served them well of late, and this collection finds their tuneage being remixed by such players as Berlin, Germany-based producer Boyz Noise (a decidedly industrial-stomping version of “Rage”), weird “elven songstress” Hana (a trance reimagining of “Toxic”) and Dutch artist Young & Sick (a fairly rote snap-dance take of the aforementioned “Toxic”). “Not A Friend” tables the obligato dubstep version of “Rage,” completing the package one would expect for a pretty darn spazzy anger-management record. A

Spoon, Lucifer On The Sofa (Matador Records)

This Austin, Texas-based indie band still stands as one of the very few things that made Aughts music tolerable. Do you even remember how bad it all was? But these guys, whose fetish for listenable hooks was a slap in the face of the entire Bowery Ballroom unintelligentsia, have dug even deeper with this one, which one band member described to Spin magazine as “the sound of classic rock as written by a guy who never did get Eric Clapton.” There cool stuff here, if a bit contrived: lead single “The Hardest Cut” rips off Stone Temple Pilots’ grunge standard “The Big Empty”at the verse, but there’s some muddy-as-heck guitar riffing in between the rest of it, which is basically, well, Bo Diddley by way of Stray Cats. What does that mean? It means it’s raw and awesome, like Black Lips trying to write a car commercial jungle and hitting paydirt, and hey, they’ve still got a knack for awkward rock ballads, as indicated by “My Babe,” which gives off a whiff of — gasp — Led Zeppelin in a way. They’re going to be able to get away with being an Aughts-indie band forever at this rate, folks. A-

PLAYLIST

• In case your Siri didn’t tell you, it’s the second week of the new year, folks, put me back on the chain gang until Memorial Day, when I will go back to my summer schedule of four days off and four days on, which, at this writing, is only 20 weeks away, or 100 workdays, but who’s counting. OK, I totally am, but let’s forget all that and focus on the pile of new releases due out on Jan. 14, which will hopefully consist of lots and lots of them, so I can just write this column quickly and eat my Funyuns and make jokes about my choice of a million albums without having to dig up some obscure metal album or any of that desperate hassle. Ah, here we are, the list is actually promising, so let’s kick off the “festivities” with The Boy Named If, from Elvis Costello & the Imposters! I don’t know if the Queen has made Costello a knight yet in his native Britain, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time, like at this point she probably just makes singers into knights if they get a good review in New Music Express, just so she has an excuse to get away from her gigantic staff of Downton Abbey chambermaids and vape her truffle-and-apricot-flavored CBD oil in peace. Whatever, let’s get this out of the way quickly, I never cared about Elvis Costello or his jack-o’-lantern teeth or his stupid crook-leg-dancing, although “Pump It Up” is OK. Maybe the single from this album, “Magnificent Hurt,” is almost as weirdly danceable as “Pump It Up,” let’s do this. Ha ha, wow, it’s basically “Pump It Up” wearing a fake beard, I’m not kidding, I didn’t even listen to it until just now! I mean, it doesn’t have that roller-rink organ, but he’s clearly trying to revive the glory of those days when his entire trip was doing nothing but trying to weird out the normie parents of Gen Xers, as if the safety pins and Mohawk haircuts didn’t make for enough dinner table awkwardness. Wait, there’s the dumb organ, and it sounds more like a song Sting would write except a little more interesting, like that’s difficult. We done here, guys? Cool beans, let’s investigate the next monstrosity.

• Wait, can we just go back to Elvis Costello and not even discuss this new album from Canadian wine-parent-indie-rock bores Broken Social Scene? I mean it’s obvious that with the title Old Dead Young: B-sides & Rarities this is just a collection of songs that weren’t even considered good by these guys, so there has to be some seriously not-good music going on here. But wait, we’re talking about Broken Social Scene, so maybe it means they didn’t push these songs because they actually are good, like maybe they accidentally wrote some songs that didn’t put people to sleep within five seconds. Don’t know about you, but I’m officially intrigued, so let’s have a listen to “This House Is On Fire,” the only song I could find from this stupid thing. There’s a trigger warning for the video because there are supposed to be pictures of burnt-down houses. No, I’m serious. The song is a gentle and sad twee thing, sort of like Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”… yeah, that’s the song it rips off. OK!

Brightside is the new LP from Denver folk rockers Lumineers. The title track is draggy and slow, with raunchy Rolling Stones-style 1960s guitars. The singer is trying to sound more like Conor Oberst than he ever has, and there’s no discernible hook, only polite broke-down-truck vibe. Go for it if you must.

• We’ll wrap up the week with Hop Up, the new album from Orlando Weeks, the singer from London indie band The Maccabees. Test-drive single “Look Who’s Talking Now” is actually kind of pretty, basically yacht rock for people who can’t afford yachts.

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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