Music
Dead Rock West
A rare appearance by LA duo Frank Drennen and Cindy Wasserman, who don’t get to this side of the continent very often. They’re showcasing “It’s Everly Time!,” a collection that tweaks the brothers’ material via marvelous male-female harmonizing. The pair open for X (with Jesse Dayton subbing for the ailing Billy Zoom; part of the tour proceeds go to help defray his medical costs). July 30, 9 p.m. Tickets: $35. The Sinclair, Cambridge. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
Pop & Rock
STEELY DAN & ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS Odd couple or dynamic duo? You decide when these two powerhouse bands share the stage for this two-night stand. Steely Dan hasn’t released a new album since 2003, but will draw on its 40-plus-year catalog. Likewise, Costello has a deep discography from which he’ll cull with his longtime backing band, the Imposters, in tow. July 30-31, 7 p.m. Tickets: $50-$125. Blue Hills Bank Pavilion. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH It’s hard to believe these indie rockers are touring to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their self-titled debut, an instant classic that has held up exceedingly well a decade later. The album was recently remastered and packaged in a deluxe reissue that includes bonus tracks and acoustic versions of the songs. July 31, 7 p.m. Tickets: $20. Brighton Music Hall. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
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CULTURE CLUB From “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” to “Karma Chameleon,” the 1980s soundtrack will be in full force for this reunion of Boy George and his original bandmates, their first such tour together in more than a decade. A new album is supposedly in the works, but in the meantime, there will be plenty of hits to excavate. Based on recent photos, it appears George is still in Technicolor regalia. Aug. 2, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25-$120. Blue Hills Bank Pavilion. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com
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DESAPARECIDOS One of Conor Oberst’s first projects, Desaparecidos formed in Nebraska in 2001, disbanded a year later, and reunited a few years ago. Now it’s on the road behind “Payola,” its hard-charging second album (and first in 13 years), which represents some of Oberst’s most visceral songwriting in recent years. Aug. 4, 8 p.m. Tickets: $25. Paradise Rock Club. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
Folk & World
HAL KETCHUM Ketchum enjoyed some commercial success during that brief moment in the early ’90s when country radio was amenable to the sort of soulful country-folk that he was making. Those days are long over, but Ketchum has persisted, with last year’s engaging release, “I’m the Troubadour,” marking a welcome return after six years away. July 31, 8 p.m. Tickets: $32. Bull Run Restaurant, Shirley. 877-536-7190, www.bullrunrestaurant.com
THE SADIES Another band that doesn’t get to Boston nearly enough, Canada’s Sadies are the Swiss army knife of alternative country. Whether they’re doing it on their own or in collaborations making up a list that stretches from Gord Downie to Andre Williams, they can seemingly play it all, from swamp to soul to surf to twang. July 31, 9 p.m. Tickets: $15. Cuisine en Locale, Somerville. 617-285-0167, www.cuisineenlocale.com
Jazz & Blues
MR. HO’S ORCHESTROTICA The evocative exotica of vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer Brian O’Neill’s chamber-jazz quintet takes the listener on a whirlwind world tour of Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, Latin America, and elsewhere. Featuring Geni Skendo (flute, bass flute, and shakuhachi), Tev Stevig (oud, tanbur, and resonator guitar), bassist Brad Barrett, and percussionist Jeremy Smith. July 30, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $16. Regattabar. 617-395-7757, www.regattabarjazz.com
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THE BILL PIERCE COLLECTIVE Berklee College of Music’s annual “Jazz at the Fort” concert presents celebrated saxophonist Pierce, a Berklee alumnus and chair of the school’s woodwind department, fronting a band of fellow alums and faculty: organist Rollins Ross, guitarist Jeffrey Lockhart, and drummer Ralph Peterson. Aug. 2, 5 p.m. Free. Highland Park, 20 Fort Ave. or 58 Beech Glen St., Roxbury. www.berklee.edu/events/summer
PAUL RISHELL & ANNIE RAINES Fingerstyle-guitar master Rishell and hot harmonica player Raines, who are both fine singers as well, reanimate the country blues with their wide-ranging repertoire of original, classic, and lesser-known tunes. Aug. 2, 8 p.m. Tickets: $20. Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Rd., Route 2A, Shirley. 877-536-7190, www.bullrunrestaurant.com
NICK RUSSO & THE HOT JAZZ JUMPERS The versatile guitarist-banjoist and his group play everything from 1920s and ’30s jazz to ragtime, delta blues, Tin Pan Alley, swing, and New Orleans music. With guitarist-vocalist Bettina Hershey; drummer, harmonica player, and vocalist David Pleasant; plus vocalist Miles Griffith. Aug. 3-5, 9 p.m. Tickets: $20. Quicks Hole Tavern, 29 Railroad Ave., Woods Hole. www.quicksholemusic.com
Classical
TANGLEWOOD Andris Nelsons makes his first Tanglewood appearances of the summer season, leading on Saturday Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 as well as Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with an all-French lineup of soloists: pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, violinist Renaud Capuçon, and his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon. On Sunday afternoon, he conducts works by Brett Dean and Haydn along with Strauss’s “Don Quixote,” with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violist Steven Ansell. Friday, Ken-David Masur leads works by Weber, Schubert, and Beethoven (“Emperor” Concerto) with Garrick Ohlsson as soloist. Lenox. 617-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org
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BANG ON A CAN PLAYS ART The new music collective caps its summer residence at Mass MoCA with an ambitious eight-day festival, full of music linked to visual art from across the galleries, featuring works by Alvin Lucier, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Terry Riley, Kate Moore and many others, and culminating in a six-hour marathon concert. Through Aug. 1, Mass MoCA, www.massmoca.org/bang
CHAMBER MUSIC The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival opens on Friday in Wellfleet with a violin recital by Yevgeny Kutik (www.capecodchambermusic.org ), and the young yet accomplished British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor stops by the Rockport Chamber Music Festival for a solo recital on Saturday (www.rockportmusic.org ).
Ola Fresca
Head honcho Jose Conde has brought this Brooklyn Latin group out of hiatus in a revised configuration, as a “trombone-driven, power salsa octet.” They’re still looking to make you think as well as dance with their music, though. The concert is part of this summer’s Tito Puente Latin Music Series. July 30, 7 p.m. Tickets: free. O’Day Park. www.berklee.edu/events/summer/tito-puente STUART MUNRO
Theater
THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM Robert Walsh directs a compelling production of Enda Walsh’s knotty, fascinating play about the imprisoning power of memory, featuring strong performances by Marya Lowry, Nancy E. Carroll, and Adrianne Krstansky as a trio of Irish sisters endlessly reliving an encounter with a pop singer that took place decades before. Through Aug. 15. Gloucester Stage Company, at Gorton Theatre, Gloucester. 978-281-4433, www.gloucesterstage.com
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PARADISE BLUE Set in Detroit in 1949, this intriguing new drama by Dominique Morisseau revolves around a decision faced by the owner of a jazz club, portrayed by Blair Underwood: Should he accept a lucrative offer for his establishment, dangled as part of the city’s urban renewal policy? Selling the club might help him outrun personal demons but would represent a tear in the fabric of the African-American neighborhood where the club is located. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Through Aug. 2. Williamstown Theatre Festival, at Main Stage, Williamstown. 413-597-3400, www.wtfestival.org
I SAW MY NEIGHBOR ON THE TRAIN AND I DIDN’T EVEN SMILE A razor-sharp world premiere of Suzanne Heathcote’s dark comedy about a family that is a multigenerational mess — and strangely invigorating company. Featuring a host of excellent performances, especially Ariana Venturi as a 15-year-old trying to stay afloat amid the chaos. Directed by Jackson Gay. Through Aug. 15. Berkshire Theatre Group and New Neighborhood, at Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge. 413-997-4444, www.berkshiretheatregroup.org
COLOSSAL A highly entertaining production that features artificial turf, goalposts and a video scoreboard, plus a drum corps at halftime. Andrew Hinderaker’s play is about a college football star coping with a devastating injury, but it’s fueled by the beauty of movement and the violence of the game. Through Aug. 15. Company One Theatre, at Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 617-933-8600, www.companyone.org
NORTHSIDE HOLLOW This world premiere by Harbor Stage Company founding members Jonathan Fielding and Brenda Withers about a trapped miner (a solid performance from Harbor Stage artistic director Robert Kropf) is both mordantly funny and sorrowful, with a late plot twist that would not be out of place on a “Twilight Zone” episode. Through Aug. 8. Harbor Stage Company, Wellfleet. 508-514-1763, www.harborstage.org
Dance
DANIEL ULBRICHT & STARS OF AMERICAN BALLET Following last summer’s popular engagement, the New York City Ballet principal dancer returns to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival with a new program featuring live music and an impressive cast of fellow company members, as well as former Boston Ballet star Jeffrey Cirio. Choreography includes works by Jerome Robbins, Christopher Wheeldon, Johan Kobborg, and Justin Peck. Through Aug. 2, $45-$75. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org
JESSICA LANG DANCE The prolific choreographer and her New York-based company settle in for two weeks at Jacob’s Pillow with last year’s sweepingly romantic “The Wanderer.” Lang’s first full-length ballet, it is set to Franz Schubert’s lyrical song cycle “Die schöne Müllerin,” which will be performed live. Thrrough Aug. 9, $35-$45. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org
BITTERSWEET For this Boston Center for the Arts residency showcase, choreographer Carey McKinley and sculptor Carolyn Lewenberg use movement, visual art, and bittersweet vines to create and gradually dismantle an environment, the process suggesting the ever-shifting perceptions and emotions of life. July 31-Aug. 1, $12-$15. Boston Center for the Arts. 617-933-8600, www.bostontheatrescene.com
CABINFEVER This unusual company led by Brookline native Elana Jacobs presents a short live performance and the screening of a new documentary, “Salutations. A tour through your departure & arrival.” The hourlong film follows the troupe members’ tour as they spend several days at family homes and historic mansions, distilling experiences into intimate on-site works of original movement and music. Aug. 2, 6:15 p.m., $12. West Newton Cinema, West Newton. 617-512-1039, www.brownpapertickets.com
Galleries
SUSIE GANCH: LAND & SEA Ganch, who started out as a jeweler, now makes large-scale 3-D works that investigate consumption: Feathery, overlapping networks built systematically from trash such as plastic bags and coffee lids and supported by steel armatures. Through Aug. 16.Sienna Patti,880 Main St., Lenox. 413-637-8386, www.siennapatti.com
TRIO OF FRIENDS:PAUL RESIKA, SIDNEY SIMON, VARUJAN BOGHOSIAN Resika has a painting retrospective up at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Boghosian crafts surreal and enchanting collages and assemblages. Simon, who sculpted playful works attuned to movement, died in 1997. Through Aug. 9. Berta Walker Gallery, 208 Bradford St., Provincetown. 508-487-6411, www.bertawalkergallery.com
BOSTON YOUNG CONTEMPORARIES 2015 This annual juried show of work by nearly 50 Master of Fine Arts students from around New England is a great place to see the newest, freshest work in the region. Through Aug. 21. 808 Gallery, Boston University, 808 Commonwealth Ave., www.bostonyoungcontemporaries.net
Museums
VAN GOGH AND NATURE The great Dutch artist’s passionate investigations into the natural world are the subject of this ambitious show, featuring 40 paintings and 10 drawings. Through Sept. 13. Clark Art Institute. 413-458-2303, www.clarkart.edu
HOKUSAI A survey of the legendary Japanese artist’s seven-decade career, including woodblock prints, paintings, and illustrated printed books, drawn from the MFA, which has the finest collection of Hokusai’s work outside of Japan. Through Aug. 9. Museum of Fine Arts. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org
FROM BIRDS TO BEASTS: AUDUBON’S LAST GREAT ADVENTURE An exhibition focusing on Audubon’s rarely exhibited illustrations of mammals, accompanied by his better known images of birds. A collaboration between New Hampshire Audubon and the Currier. Through Aug. 30. Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, N.H. 603-669-6144, www.currier.org
ARLENE SHECHET: ALL AT ONCE The first museum survey of the celebrated sculptor, who works primarily in clay and was recently an artist in residence at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory. Through Sept. 7. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3100, www.icaboston.org
Snow Yunxue Fu: Still
Video installation and more exploring abstraction, virtual reality, notions of the sublime, and how all three play with our physical perceptions. There will be a large-scale, outdoor video projection at the Aug. 1 opening (6-9 p.m.).
Aug. 1-Sept. 6.
Yellow Peril Gallery, 60 Valley St., Providence. 401-861-1535,
www.yellowperilgallery.com
Clubs
D STREET DANCE PARTY If you haven’t checked out the summer dance parties at Lawn on D, what are you waiting for? This week the focus is Latin and Top 40 with DJ Roy Barboza, MetaMovements Dancers, line dances, and free dance lessons. July 31, 6-9 p.m. Free. Lawn on D, 420 D St., Boston. www.lawnond.com
TOOLROOM LIVE British DJ and producer Mark Knight started Toolroom Records in 2004 to promote 21st-century dance music. He visits Bijou Fridays with Weiss, another Toolroom artist. July 31, 10 p.m. $25-$30. Bijou, 51 Stuart St., Boston. 617-357-4565, www.bijouboston.com
BAMBOORA The Turkish-born DJ is now a Boston artist, rocking dance floors with versatility, depth, and non-stop grooves. July 31, 10 p.m. $10. Whisky Saigon, 116 Boylston St., Boston. 617-482-7799, www.whiskysaigon.com
BEACH HOUSE Spend the first Saturday in August at a party featuring four floors, three bars, DJ Breeazy, and summer giveaways (shades and booty shorts, anyone?). Aug. 1, 9 p.m. The Greatest Bar, 262 Friend St., Boston. www.thegreatestbar.com
Comedy
JUDAH FRIEDLANDER He is an eccentric comic — the World Champion, a sometime presidential candidate, and co-star of the upcoming “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” on Netflix, and he has a book of drawings and cartoons coming out in October. July 30 at 8 p.m., July 31 and Aug. 1 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. $20-$30. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St., Boston. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com
SUMMER OF SCREENS This show, which features audience members selecting summer-themed video clips for the ImprovBoston players to riff on, finishes its three-week run with the theme “Summer’s Greatest Hits,” turning to some of the bigger movies, TV shows, and music of the past several decades as inspiration. July 31, 10 p.m. $14-$18. ImprovBoston, 40 Prospect St., Cambridge. 617-576-1253, www.improvboston.com
GOOD GOD WOMEN: WATCH YA MOUTH Improv troupe Good God Women hosts this mixed-genre night with guest troupe Mud Hut and stand-up comedian Ethan Marsh. July 31, 10 p.m. $10. The Riot Theater, 146A South St., Jamaica Plain. 617-650-7995, www.theriottheater.com
LEWIS BLACK
He gives voice to “Anger” in Pixar’s “Inside Out,” and the social and political commentator should have plenty to yell about Sunday, with a brutal news cycle and the presidential campaign as fodder. Aug. 2, 7 p.m. $44.50-$68.50. Cape Cod Melody Tent, 21 West Main St., Hyannis. 508-775-5630, www.melodytent.org.
NICK A. ZAINO III
Kids
Rosalita’s Puppets Children and their families can experience enchanting tales told by master puppeteer Charlotte Anne Dore at this charming story time. Aug. 1, 10 -10:45 a.m. Free. South Market St. www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/eventscalendar
Cultural Survival Bazaar Artists and vendors from around the world will highlight the fair trade international market experience at this free festival of native arts and culture. Aug. 1 and 2, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Harvard University, The Plaza, 1 Oxford St., Cambridge. bazaar.culturalsurvival.org/the-plaza
The Coolidge at the Greenway: E.T: The Extra Terrestrial This is a chance to view Steven Spielberg’s family film classic under the stars. The free screening will begin at sunset. Aug. 4, Atlantic Ave., Wharf District Park, between Milk and India streets, Boston. www.coolidge.org/content/et-extra-terrestrial
Common Cod Fiber Guild Creates at The Lounge Learn from members of the guild as they get creative with fiber, yarn, and spinners. Aug. 5, 6-8 p.m. Free. South Market Street. www.commoncod.com/2015/07/13/common-cod-at-faneuil-hall/
Events
Beach Ball Flash Mob Be a part of a crazy flash mob in downtown Boston as 100 beach balls are used to create a unified beach ball extravaganza. Aug. 1, 3-4 p.m. Free, Parkman Bandstand, 145 Tremont St. www.eventbrite.com/e/the-beach-ball-flash-mob-tickets-17699335188?aff=eac2
WIPEOUTRUN Boston From the producers of the hit show “Wipeout” comes the first ever WIPEOUTRUN. The event benefits the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Aug. 1, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. $65-$85. Gillette Stadium. Foxborough. wipeoutrun.com/boston
Ordinary Days A unique musical focusing on four New Yorkers trying to find their way to happiness. The production is handled by The Opposite of People, a new theater company in the Greater Boston area. Aug. 1 and 2, 2-4 p.m. $15. Blackbox Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St. , Watertown. www.theoppositeofpeople.org
Game Night at Good Life Bar Play some classic board games with your friends, or battle it out on video game consoles. Aug. 4, 6-11:30 p.m. 28 Kingston St.. www.goodlifebar.com/nightlife/game-night-2013-10-15
Aug. 6 James Taylor and Bon nie Raitt at Fenway Park boston.redsox.mlb.com
Aug. 6 Meghan Trainor (above) at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion www.bluehillsbankpavilion.net
Aug. 6-8 Boston Fuzzstival 2015 at The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge www.mideastoffers.com/me
Aug. 7-9 Zac Brown Band at Fenway Park boston.redsox.mlb.com
Aug. 15 Wharf Festival at Long Wharf