MUSIC
Pop & Rock
EPMD The influential hip-hop duo of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith is back in business again, celebrating its 30th anniversary with a road trip focused on its classic 1988 debut LP, “Strictly Business.” Aug. 13, 8 p.m. $25, advance $22. Middle East, Cambridge. 617-864-3278, www.mideastclub.com
GOLDEN GATE WINGMEN A special treat suited to the lazy, hazy days of deep summer, this all-star quartet reunites former Furthur bandmates John Kadlecik, Jeff Chimenti, and Jay Lane with bassist Reed Mathis (Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Tea Leaf Green). Aug. 13, 8 p.m. $30, advance $25. Brighton Music Hall. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
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L7 Ferocious, snotty, and confrontational, this LA quartet arose during the grunge explosion, hit the charts, and made its mark on the burgeoning riot grrrl movement. The present reunion coincides with a Kickstarter campaign for a documentary about the band, “Pretend We’re Dead.” Aug. 11, 7 p.m. $28, advance $24.50. Paradise Rock Club. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
Folk & World
WHITNEY ROSE Honky-tonk rejuvenator Rose left her Canadian homeland last year for the Big Time: in her case, Austin, Texas, where’s she’s quickly settled in to that town’s fabled music scene for dancehall dates and a Continental Club residency with a band of Austinites that she’s now taking on the road. Aug. 13, 8 p.m. $15. Club Passim, Cambridge. 617-492-7679, passim.org
ELKHORN The duo of Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner combines the fingerpicking folk of Sheppard’s 12-string acoustic with the psych-rock guitar flights of Gardner’s electric to marvelous effect. The pair release their latest, self-titled album next week. Aug. 13, 8 p.m. No cover. Mobius, Cambridge. 617-945-9481, www.mobius.org
ROANOKE A rising band with a just-released debut who despite its name isn’t from where you might think, but from Nashville. Roanoke evokes comparisons to the likes of the Lumineers and the Civil Wars, and plays an engaging, harmony-forward version of folky Americana. With Nico Rivers and the Wolff Sisters. Aug. 16, 9 p.m. $5. Lizard Lounge, Cambridge. 800-838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com
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Jazz & Blues
BEES DELUXE The Boston-based “acid blues & jazz collective” is known for its unique originals and creative reworkings of numbers by everyone from Charles Mingus to B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix to Amy Winehouse. Aug. 11, 8:30 p.m. $7. Ryles, Cambridge. 617-876-9330, www.rylesjazz.com
THE MAKANDA PROJECT A free, outdoor performance presented by Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry on the grounds of the historic First Church in Roxbury, featuring pianist John Kordalewski’s marvelous big band of eminent local players who revivify the music of the late Bostonian composer/multi-instrumentalist Makanda Ken McIntyre. As well as youth performances, the event will include arts and crafts and food vendors. Aug. 13, 1 p.m. Free. First Church in Roxbury. www.makandaproject.com
THE SHERYL BAILEY ORGAN TRIO The guitarist has long specialized in organ trios, refreshing the venerable format with her lyricism, swing, bell-like tone, and compelling compositional sense. With organist Pat Bianchi and drummer Ian Froman. Aug. 16, 7:30 p.m. $10. Jocko’s Jazz at the Sahara Club, Methuen. 603-898-1591, www.jockosjazz.com
Classical
NORFOLK CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL The Claremont Trio stops by on Friday with works by Dvorak, Schubert, and Gabriela Lena Frank. On Saturday, Norfolk presents “Unlikely Muse,” described as a “biographical drama” based on Brahms’s late years, written by Harry Clark, with participating musical forces to include clarinetist David Shrifin and the Argus String Quartet. Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, Routes 44 and 272, Norfolk. 860-542-3000, www.norfolkmusic.org
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TANGLEWOOD Charles Dutoit will be back on the podium Friday leading the BSO in works by Debussy and Ravel, along with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 with Emanuel Ax as soloist. Saturday is the annual Film Night With the Pops under the baton of John Williams and Richard Kaufman. And on Sunday, pianist Igor Levit makes his Tanglewood debut as soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 under the baton of David Afkham, who will also lead Schumann’s Symphony No. 4. In Ozawa Hall, look out for the Australian Chamber Orchestra performing “Barry Humphries’ Weimar Cabaret” on Aug. 14. Lenox. 617-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org
BORROMEO QUARTET The eloquent Boston-based ensemble boots up its signature laptops on Sunday for the final program of its midsummer series at the Gardner. On the agenda: arrangements of Bach, Beethoven’s dazzling Quartet Op. 59, No. 3, and Thomas Adès’s “Arcadiana.” Aug. 14, 1:30 p.m. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-278-5156, www.gardnermuseum.org
ARTS
Theater
CRY ‘HAVOC!’ A raw and riveting solo show by former US Army infantry officer Stephan Wolfert about the psychological devastation of war, both on the battlefield and long after the soldier has left that battlefield. Wolfert forces us to think about our responsibility to and for the countless vets who were “wired for war’’ but are now back home, struggling before the eyes of a society that claims to honor their service. Directed by Eric Tucker. Through Aug. 13. Shakespeare & Company, Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox. 413-637-3353, www.shakespeare.org
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THE T PARTY A bracingly original take on gender identity by playwright-director Natsu Onoda Power, told in a whirling theatrical language that is all her own: playful, idiosyncratic, self-indulgent at times, often bursting with energy and ideas. Through Aug. 13. Company One Theatre at Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-933-8600, www.bostontheatrescene.com
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE As the Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan’s still-piquant operetta, Will Swenson delivers a performance that rivals Kevin Kline’s storied turn in the role 35 years ago. The rest of the cast is topnotch, too, especially Scarlett Strallen as fair Mabel. There’s not a better time to be had in the theater this summer than at this joyous and inspired production, directed by John Rando, with choreography by Joshua Bergasse. To borrow from W.S. Gilbert: It is, it is a glorious thing. Through Aug. 13. Barrington Stage Company at Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, Pittsfield. 413-236-8888, www.barringtonstageco.org
Dance
BOSTON CONTEMPORARY DANCE FESTIVAL Urbanity Dance’s summer celebration returns with a wide variety of artists for two showcases. The afternoon show features Boston-area troupes as well as Urbanity Dance’s Summer Intensive students, while the evening show brings together local and internationally known performers, including Ayako Takahashi (Japan), Michael James (New York), and Renay Aumiller (North Carolina). Aug. 13, 2 and 7:30 p.m. $30-$50. 617-572-3727, www.bostoncontemporarydance.org
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MONUMENT Contemporary dance artist and former Jacob’s Pillow research fellow Adam H. Weinert brings his scholarship and unique vision to the re-creation of classic solos from the 1920s and ’30s by Doris Humphrey, José Limón, and Ted Shawn. His company’s program complements these solos with his original choreography. Through Aug. 14. $25-$45. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org
RIOULT DANCE NY The annual Chatham Dance Festival, presented by PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century in Columbia County, N.Y., opens with this 22-year-old modern dance troupe. The company’s intriguing program includes an interpretation of Ravel’s classic “Bolero” and a work based on Helen of Troy with a score by Aaron Jay Kernis. Aug. 12-13. $18-$35. PS21, Chatham, N.Y. 518-392-6121, www.ps21chatham.org
Galleries
COBI MOULES: NEW KID — BACK TO THE BEGINNING The painter, who calls himself “a late-blooming transguy,” inserts himself into publicity shots of Boston boy band New Kids on the Block, unpacking his childhood fantasies of romance and friendship. Pictured: “Drug Free School Zone.’’ Through Aug. 20. Carroll and Sons, 450 Harrison Ave. 617-482-2477, ww.carrollandsons.net
JEAN-MARIE STRAUB AND DANIÈLE HUILLET: THREE WORKS The French filmmakers teased out riddles and layers of the Western canon until Huillet died in 2006. Three installations expand upon their process through stills, text, and drawings. Through Sept. 24. Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-496-5387, www.ccva.fas.harvard.edu
ALICIA EGGERT: PARTIAL VISIBILITY
Eggert uses video, signage, projection, and neon sculpture, giving time and language concrete forms in order, ultimately, to unveil their numinous, fleeting, and contradictory qualities. To wit: eternity and mortality. Time’s linear crawl and its great cyclic sweep. Through Sept. 24. T+H Gallery, 460 Harrison Ave. 401-390-1033, www.tandhgallery.com
Museums
DRAWINGS FROM THE AGE OF BRUEGEL, RUBENS, AND REMBRANDT Forty Netherlandish, Dutch, and Flemish drawings from the 15th to the 18th centuries, all from Harvard’s collection, one of the most comprehensive in the United States. Through Aug. 14. Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-495-9400, www.harvardartmuseums.org
AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST: CHILDE HASSAM AND THE ISLES OF SHOALS The great American Impressionist painted the rocky shoals of Appledore Island off the coast of Portsmouth, N.H., over three decades. This exhibition presents 40 oil paintings and related watercolors all made between the late 1880s and 1912. Through Nov. 6. Peabody Essex Museum, East India Square, Salem. 978-745-9500. www.pem.org
SPLENDOR, MYTH, AND VISION: NUDES FROM THE PRADO Twenty-eight Old Master paintings, all representing the nude, on loan from Spain’s great museum. Includes work by Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens, Velazquez, Ribera, and Poussin. All but four have never previously been seen in the United States. The Clark is the show’s only venue. Through Oct. 10. Clark Art Institute, 225 South St., Williamstown. 413-458-2303. www.clarkart.edu
EVENTS
Comedy
TRACY MORGAN The former “Saturday Night Live” cast member might join the Emmy club in September, having been nominated for returning to the show to host last year. Aug. 12, 8 p.m. $46.50-$68.50. Cape Cod Melody Tent, 21 W. Main St., Hyannis. 508-775-5630, www.melodytent.org. Aug. 13, 8 p.m. $46.50-$68.50. South Shore Music Circus, 130 Sohier St., Cohasset. 781-383-9850, www.themusiccircus.org
DON GAVIN One of the stalwarts of the Boston comedy boom in the 1980s, Gavin crafts jokes that are funny the first time you hear them, and still funny the second (or third or fourth) time around. Some of the most durable material in the business. Aug. 12-13, 8:30 p.m. $27.50. Giggles Comedy Club, 517 Broadway (Route 1), Saugus. 781-233-9950, www.gigglescomedy.com
MIKE LAWRENCE The 2016 champion of “Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle” competition and cohost of the “Nerd of Mouth” podcast brings his stand-up comedy to Boston. Aug. 12-13, 7:30 p.m. $29-$39. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com
Family
Bolton State Fair Just a good old-fashioned state fair! Come one, come all to marvel at the demolition derby, fiddler contest, craft fair, and monster truck show. Step right up folks, and make sure you don’t miss the hot dog race with real cuddly pups. Aug. 12, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Free. The Lancaster Fairgrounds, 318 Seven Bridge Road, Lancaster. 978-365-7206. www.boltonfair.org
Swing Dance with Compaq Big Band Get ready to cut a rug with the coolest cats in town. Rock step a little unsteady? Just Lindy hop on over for an introductory lesson before the floor opens up at 9. Aug. 13, 8 p.m.-midnight. $18. Swing City, 680 Huron Ave, Cambridge. 617-513-9841. www.swingcityboston.com
Wilson Farm Corn Fest This festival looks a-maizeing! Aw shucks, was that too corny? Come see for yourself at the sweetest harvest celebration in town. New England’s favorite corn festival wouldn’t be complete without a shucking contest, petting zoo, and plenty of free samples. Aug. 14, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Wilson Farm, 10 Pleasant Street, Lexington. 781-862-3900. www.wilsonfarm.com
Carly Sitrin
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Aug. 19 Aretha Franklin at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion concerts.livenation.com
Sept. 3 Kanye West at TD Garden www.ticketmaster.com
Sept. 4 Steven Tyler at Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre www.ticketmaster.com
Sept. 5 The Heavy at Sinclair www.ticketmaster.com
Sept. 7 Corinne Bailey Rae at Royale Boston www.ticketmaster.com
Sept. 7 The Lumineers and BORNS at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion concerts.livenation.com
Sept. 9 “Sunday in the Park With George” at BU Theatre www.huntingtontheatre.org
Sept. 12 Willie Nelson at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion concerts.livenation.com
Sept. 14 Adele at TD Garden www.ticketmaster.com
Sonia Rao