MUSIC
Pop & Rock
LIL JON The Atlanta hip-hop artist, a pioneer of the frantic, party-starting style known as crunk, specializes in yelped verses and boisterous ad-libs like the ones that made songs such as the euphoric Usher collab “Yeah!” and the hyperactive DJ Snake cut “Turn Down for What” club-shaking smashes. Feb. 3, 10 p.m. Mémoire, Everett. bignight.com
ANTHRAX AND BLACK LABEL SOCIETY This metal matinee brings together New York’s entrant in thrash’s Big Four, the jokey, yet seriously heavy Anthrax, and longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde’s de facto solo project, the Southern sludge outfit Black Label Society. Bay Area metal lifers Exodus open. Feb. 5, 5:30 p.m. House of Blues Boston. 888-693-2583, houseofblues.com/boston
Advertisement
CLAIRE ROSINKRANZ This California bedroom-pop artist, who broke through in 2020 with the gossamer TikTok hit “Backyard Boy,” specializes in sugary songs that look askance at modern romance. Feb. 8, 7 p.m. Paradise Rock Club. 617-562-8800, crossroadspresents.com
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk, World & Country
PATTY GRIFFIN As she does periodically, veteran singer-songwriter Griffin returns to where she started out in the early 1990s, this time touring in the wake of “Tape,” an album of rediscovered home recordings and demos she released last year. As he does periodically, Raul Malo is making another foray outside of the Mavericks, and will also perform Friday. Feb. 3, 8 p.m. $59-$69. The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
DANNY PAISLEY AND THE SOUTHERN GRASS It’s another edition of the resurrected Bluegrass Tuesdays at Lily P’s Restaurant, but make sure you show up this Saturday, not Tuesday, if you want to see one of the premier purveyors of hardcore traditional bluegrass in Danny Paisley and his band. Feb. 4, 7 p.m. No cover; $25 donation suggested. Lily P’s, 50 Binney St., Cambridge. www.bluegrasstuesdays.com
Advertisement
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
ERIN HARPE COUNTRY BLUES DUO A special matinee performance by the expressive singer and finger-style guitarist’s acoustic twosome, featuring longtime partner Jim Countryman on ukulele bass and backing vocals. Feb. 4, 1-4 p.m. No cover. The Porch Southern Fare & Juke Joint, 175 Rivers Edge Drive, Medford. 781-874-9357, www.theporchsouthern.com
A TRIBUTE TO FRANK KIMBROUGH The late lamented pianist and composer, known for his advocacy of the works of forbears Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols, left behind a rich trove of his own compositions, which will be celebrated at this memorial concert featuring trumpeter Ron Horton, saxophonists Allan Chase and Andy Zimmerman, pianist Elan Mehler, bassist Tony Scherr, and drummer Francisco Mela. Feb. 4, 3:30 p.m. $15-$20. The Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge. www.lilypadinman.com
DAVID THORNE SCOTT BAND: A JAZZ/AMERICANA ROMANCE The Mosesian Center’s Berklee faculty concert series continues with bassist, singer, and composer Scott’s genre-blending ensemble, featuring pianist Mark Shilansky, guitarist Eric Byers, and Grammy-nominated violinist Sara Caswell. Feb. 8, 7:30 p.m. $27. Black Box Theater, Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown. 617-923-0100, www.mosesianarts.org
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Bayreuth comes to Boston this weekend at Symphony Hall, as BSO music director Andris Nelsons leads the orchestra in a concert performance of the overture, Venusberg music, and the complete Act III from Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” starring Amber Wagner (no relation) as Elisabeth and Klaus Florian Vogt as the title character. Next week, Nelsons and the orchestra deliver the world premiere of Carlos Simon’s “Four Black American Dances” and British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason makes his BSO debut in Bloch’s “Schelomo: Rhapsody Hébraïque.” (Feb. 9-11) Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, www.bso.org
Advertisement
GUERILLA OPERA Who says there are no laughs left in opera? Guerilla Opera presents the first staging of “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage,” a new opera by composer Elena Ruehr and librettist Royce Vavrek based on Sydney Padua’s graphic novel of the same name. In the opera’s alternate dimension, 19th-century inventors Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage don’t only complete their lives’ work, they use the Difference Engine to become steampunk superheroes. Feb. 3-5, W97 Black Box Theater, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. www.guerillaopera.com
CELTIC + CLASSICAL Boston Baroque’s X-tet and the Rasa String Quartet join forces in this program exploring traditional Celtic tunes and the classical pieces that drew inspiration from them. GBH Music general manager Anthony Rudel moderates. Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m. Fraser Performance Studio, GBH Brighton Studios. Livestream also available. www.wgbh.org/events
A.Z. MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
SEVEN GUITARS August Wilson’s drama, set in 1948, tells the story of the life and death of blues guitarist Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton (Anthony T Goss). Floyd returns to Pittsburgh with a hit record to his credit and tries to persuade his former lover, Vera (Maya Carter), to come with him to Chicago, where he hopes to achieve greater stardom by recording an album. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Feb. 8-March 5. Actors’ Shakespeare Project. At Hibernian Hall. 617-241-2200, www.ActorsShakespeareProject.org
Advertisement
HAMILTON Better sung than acted, with a certain depth of characterization lacking in key roles, this touring production nonetheless delivers when it comes to creating the kind of surging dynamism so vital to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about Alexander Hamilton and the tumultuous origins of the United States. Directed by Thomas Kail, with invaluable contributions from choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler. Through March 12. Broadway In Boston. At Citizens Bank Opera House. www.BroadwayInBoston.com
MADE IN CHINA 2.0 World premiere of a solo piece written, performed, and directed by Wang Chong, a renowned director of experimental theater. Described as “a journey deep inside his personal experiences of creating theatre around the globe, unpacking stereotypes of the global expectations of what China brings to the world” and a “portrait of family, pop culture, and the role of the artist and provocateur in uncertain times.” Through Feb. 12. Commissioned and developed by Malthouse Theatre. Presented by ArtsEmerson. At Emerson Paramount Center, Jackie Liebergott Black Box. 617-824-8400, www.ArtsEmerson.org
DON AUCOIN
Dance
BALLETX Over the past decade and a half, the Philadelphia-based contemporary ballet company has emerged as one of the country’s top repertory troupes, pairing skilled expressive dancers with new works by a range of outstanding choreographers. For this Global Arts Live engagement, the company brings the Boston premieres of “Credo” by Matthew Neenan, “Become a Mountain” by Justin Peck, and “Exalt” by Jennifer Archibald. Feb. 4. $48-$69. Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. www.globalartslive.org
DETRITUS DANCE Collaborators Claire Lane and Caroline Bradbury explore their personal religious upbringings in a new work titled “In the Ether.” The multimedia contemporary dance duet draws heavily from Roman Catholic iconography to highlight the limiting and empowering mythologies around womanhood. The post-performance participatory artist talk-back could be especially provocative. Feb. 4. $10-$50. Dance Complex, Cambridge. www.dancecomplex.org
Advertisement
CIRCA For its Celebrity Series of Boston visit, the internationally-renowned Australian contemporary circus troupe presents “Sacre.” Artistic director Yaron Lifschitz’s production reimagines Stravinsky’s landmark “The Rite of Spring” for the circus stage, with 10 of the company’s acrobats pulling out the work’s themes with virtuosic physicality, tense drama, and dark humor. Feb. 9-11. $49-$65. Boch Center Shubert Theatre. www.celebrityseries.org/productions/circa
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual art
HISTORICAL IMAGINARY Emanuel Leutze’s incomplete study of his iconic 1851 painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” is the impetus for this exhibition, which assembles both contemporary and historical works to help illustrate how selective and subjective most official accounts of American history have been. Through Nov. 12. Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, 6 East Wheelock St., Hanover, N.H. 603-646-2808, hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu
WOMEN AND ABSTRACTION: 1741–NOW This survey, built almost entirely from the Addison’s formidable collection, examines the mostly Modern convention of abstraction with a broad lens, suggesting the idea, while claimed by a certain cohort of mid-century American men, has a much longer, less-masculine lifespan. Through July 30. Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, 180 Main St., Andover. 978-749-4015, www.addisongallery.org
SYMBIONTS: CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND THE BIOSPHERE “Symbionts” is the scientific term for species that thrive on interdependence — a honeybee and an apple blossom, or the beneficial bacteria in your belly that you try to keep happy with probiotics. This exhibition offers a collision of art and science where some of the 14 artists included will not only examine those relationships but nurture them right there in the gallery as their work lives and grows before your eyes. Through Feb. 26. MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames St., Cambridge. 617-253-4680, listart.mit.edu
MURRAY WHYTE
ARNOLD TRACHTMAN: ON THE TOWN The social realist painter, who died at 89 in 2019, was known for pointed works protesting antisemitism and the Vietnam War. But he also made soaring, jazzy cityscapes of Greater Boston, where he lived most of his life: Bustling city streets, parades, factories, billboards, and parks show up in these fond, exuberant paintings. Trachtman’s sense of line, saturated color, and twisting perspective evoke the restlessness and vitality of city life. Through March 11. Childs Gallery, 168 Newbury St. 617-266-1108, www.childsgallery.com
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
LOCAL 593 COMEDY Union Comedy showcases its house improv teams, two shows a night, two new teams each show. On Friday, it’s Carmelo and Neighbors early and Big Allowance and Milkshake late, and on Saturday, Medusa and Marblehaus early and Raw Meat and Neighbors late. Feb. 3-4, 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. $15. Union Comedy, 593 Somerville Ave., Somerville. www.unioncomedy.com
IMPRACTICAL JOKERS: THE DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE TOUR A few days before their Season 10 premiere on truTV Feb. 9, Impractical Jokers creators Q, Murr, and Sal hit Boston with an all-new show of video clips and live stand-up and storytelling. Feb. 4, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. $58.50-$354. Boch Center Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St. www.bochcenter.org
BROWN SUGAR SUNDAYS Talent hosts this showcase for BIPOC comedians, headlined by veteran stand-up Kenny Williams (BET’s “ComicView”) and featuring Craig “Fig” Figueredo and Marlen Baker. Feb. 5, 7 p.m. $25. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. www.laughboston.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
HONOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH: TAKE APARTS In honor of Black History Month, this program will teach your child about Black Americans “who have made important contributions to the fields of science, math, and art,” according to the website. Children will learn about what makes up software like computers and important scientists like software engineer and computer scientist Justin Amevor, who also promotes social justice. Feb. 3, 10 a.m.-noon — drop in. Free with admission. Discovery Museums, 117 Main St., Acton. discoveryaction.org
TUSCAN PIZZA CLASS Learn how to make pizza with one of Tuscan Market’s chefs. A ticket covers one child and one parent, so it’s the perfect opportunity to bond over tasty food and cooking together. Feb. 4, noon-2 p.m. $35. Tuscan Market, 9 Via Toscana, Salem. tuscanbrands.com
POLKA DOG BAKERY: PUPPY BOWL 2023 Come hang out with adorable, and adoptable, puppies from Schultz’s Guest House and watch them compete in Polka Dot Bakery’s Puppy Bowl. Attendees can purchase raffle tickets for prizes from Bond Vet, Open Farm, and more, and all donations will go to Schultz’s Guest House. People can bring their own dog or adopt one that day. Feb. 5, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free; suggested $5 donation. Westford Regency Inn and Conference Center, 219 Littleton Road, Westford. bostonseaport.xyz
MADDIE BROWNING