MUSIC
Pop & Rock
STEF CHURA “Midnight,” the second full-length from this guitar-slinging troubadour, is a scruffy, scrappy triumph, highlighted by next-generation indie anthems like the muck-submerged “Method Man” and the punchy “They’ll Never.” July 9, 9:15 p.m. $14, $12 advance. Great Scott, Allston. 617-566-0914, www.greatscottboston.com
VAN HUNT Earlier this year, this soul explorer released “TRIM (The Reimagined Van Hunt),” a bare-bones reworking of his dreamy, yet sharply realized 2004 debut; its hissing-tape vibe highlights just how strong his songwriting, particularly on tracks like the crystalline “Seconds of Pleasure,” has been since his initial emergence. July 8, doors at 6 p.m. $20 and up. City Winery. 617-933-8047, www.citywinery.com/boston
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BELLE & SEBASTIAN The heroes of twee return to House of Blues to showcase “How to Solve Our Human Problems,” their latest collection of feelings-forward, precisely crafted pop. With Ex Hex, whose second album, “It’s Real,” is full of cutoff-denim bluster and space-riding riffs. July 13, 7 p.m. $39.50 and up. House of Blues. 888-693-2583, www.houseofblues.com/boston
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk & World
AMYTHYST KIAH Kiah will soon be in the area as part of the all-woman, all-banjo project Our Native Daughters, but you can also see the multi-instrumentalist singer in solo guise, playing her rootsy blend of blues, folk, country and old-time, and rhythm and blues. July 10, 7:30 p.m. $30. Museum of Fine Arts. 800-440-6975, www.mfa.org
VIVA EAST ROCKABILLY WEEKENDER This annual affair rocks and bops inside the 495 beltway this year. As usual, there’ll be custom car shows, dance lessons, and other accouterments alongside local, national, and international purveyors of a musical style that just refuses to die. July 11-14, various start times. From $60-$99. Regency Hotel, Boxborough. www.viva-east.net
THE DELOREAN SISTERS The DeLorean Sisters started out in the neighborhood of schtick, transforming popular hits — “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “Centerfold” — into twangy alternatives. But with this year’s “Somethin’ in the Water,” the Brooklyn country band has moved on to original fare. New England Americana outfit the Revenants also perform. July 12, 7 p.m. $14. The Burren, Somerville. 617-776-6896, www.burren.com
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STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
ALEX MINASIAN The versatile pianist has studied his instrument with such jazz piano masters as Hank Jones and James Williams and has regularly accompanied such seminal jazz vocalists as Little Jimmy Scott and Mark Murphy. His lyrical, swinging trio includes up-and-comers Brandi Disterheft on bass and Francisco Mela on drums. July 11, 7:30 p.m. $15-$20. Regattabar, Cambridge. 617-395-7757, www.regattabarjazz.com
THE MAKANDA PROJECT Pianist John Kordalewski’s repertory band, featuring a baker’s dozen of local all-stars, kicks off its summer season of free concerts, focused as always on presenting under-exposed compositions by the late, Boston-born multi-instrumentalist and composer Makanda Ken McIntyre, a key player in innovative 1960s jazz circles. July 13, 1 p.m. Free. First Church in Roxbury, 10 Putnam St., Roxbury. www.makandaproject.com
SUGAR BLOOD JINX Eric Waxwood sings lead and plays finger-picked and slide style National Steel guitar, accompanied by acoustic bassist Matt Murphy and old-school trap drummer Scott Pittman, both of whom sing backup. Their hardcore boogie incorporates elements of country blues, jazz, rockabilly, and American roots music. July 13, 10 p.m. No cover. Toad, 1912 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. www.toadcambridge.com
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
TANGLEWOOD Boston Symphony Orchestra music director Andris Nelsons conducts the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in a concert including the world premiere of Detlev Glanert’s Trumpet Concerto, a BSO/TMC co-commission featuring Thomas Rolfs (July 8). Cabaret star Meow Meow kicks off a three-year Tanglewood Learning Institute residency (July 9). Hilary Hahn does an all-Bach solo recital at Ozawa Hall (July 10). The Venice Baroque Orchestra and mandolinist Avi Avital stop through Ozawa (July 11). Then it’s BSO time on the weekend: Copland and Grieg with the thoughtful young pianist Jan Lisiecki (July 12), Verdi’s monumental Requiem for the Tanglewood Gala (July 13), and Beethoven, Strauss, and HK Gruber for your Sunday afternoon picnic special (July 14). How does one begin to choose when to go? Lenox. 888-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org
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ASTON MAGNA Grammy-nominated guitarist and lutenist Richard Savino directs this week’s concert, which takes audiences inside the multivaried musical world surrounding Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. The artist’s paintings will be projected behind performances of music from Holland, Italy, Spain, and England. July 11, Slosberg Music Center, Brandeis University, Waltham. Repeats July 12 in Amenia, N.Y., and July 13 in Great Barrington. 413-528-3595, www.astonmagna.org
ROCKPORT MUSIC The Rockport Chamber Music Festival concludes with an evening of flamenco and flamenco-inspired classical music (July 11), the Venice Baroque Orchestra followed by a tango cabaret (July 12), a solo piano recital by Mozart and Beethoven authority Richard Goode (July 13), and a closing concert by Boston’s conductorless string orchestra A Far Cry, with soloists Chee-Yun Kim (violin) and Rockport Music artistic director Barry Shiffman (viola). A Far Cry also presents a free family concert on the morning of July 13. Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport. 978-546-7391, www.rockportmusic.org
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ARTS
Theater
DEAR EVAN HANSEN This social-media-age musical about an act of deception by a lonely teenager that spirals out of control won half a dozen Tony Awards in 2017, including Best Musical. Directed by Michael Greif, “Dear Evan Hansen’’ features a book by Steven Levenson and a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. July 10-Aug. 4. Broadway In Boston. At Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston. 800-982-2787, www.broadwayinboston.com
DISNEY’S FREAKY FRIDAY It’s fitting that a musical was fashioned from this tale of a mother and daughter who switch bodies and come to a deeper understanding of each other, given that the story originated with a children’s novel by Mary Rodgers — who was a composer as well as the daughter of the legendary Richard Rodgers — before forming the basis of several Disney movies. The collaborators on “Disney’s Freaky Friday’’ were Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (lyrics), best-known for “Next to Normal,’’ along with book writer Bridget Carpenter. Directed by Gabriel Barre and choreographed by Jennifer Paulson Lee, the North Shore Music Theatre production will star Laurie Wells as the mom and Lindsay Joan as the daughter. July 9-21. North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly. 978-232-7200, www.nsmt.org
THE 39 STEPS Amanda Collins, newly minted winner of an Elliot Norton Award from the Boston Theater Critics Association, teams up with Lewis D. Wheeler, Gabriel Kuttner, and Paul Melendy in Patrick Barlow’s spoofy, pell-mell adaptation of John Buchan’s 1915 espionage novel and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1935 film. Directed by Robert Walsh. Through July 28. Gloucester Stage Company, Gloucester. 978-281-4433, www.gloucesterstage.com DON AUCOIN
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Dance
JACOB’S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL The African-American experience is highlighted this week as Dance Theatre of Harlem, celebrating its 50th anniversary, commemorates the vision of trailblazing cofounder Arthur Mitchell with Darrell Grand Moultrie’s “Harlem on My Mind,” as well as works by Balanchine, Wheeldon, and Ochoa. Also, Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group imagine how Black Shaker worship might have developed in the world premiere of “POWER.” July 10-14. $35-$78. Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org
KIMBERLY BARTOSIK/DAELA Bartosik calls her company’s evening-length “I hunger for you” at The Yard an examination of “faith, violence, life force, and compassion.” It examines the existential impulses that cause us to lose ourselves in ritual, ecstasy, and desire, and how those elements are manifest in the body. July 11-13. $5-$25. The Yard, Patricia N. Nanon Theater, Chilmark. 508-645-9662, www.dancetheyard.org
BATES DANCE FESTIVAL This year’s festival opens with a deep dive into hip-hop. The weekend’s activities include a free outdoor community dance on the college’s quad and two main-stage performances featuring hip-hop/soul duo The Reminders, DJ Man-O-Wax, and dance duo MaMa2 (Amirah Sackett and Mary Mar). July 11-14. $12-$25. Bates College’s Schaeffer Theatre, Lewiston, Maine. 207-786-6381, www.batesdancefestival.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
Galleries
MAP THIS: SUSTAINABLE FASHION Urbano Project’s artist-in-residence, Colombian-born designer Nathalia JMag, blends Colombian and American styles and strives to create clothing that treads lightly on the earth. She uses natural dyes, handcrafts her pieces in a solar-powered studio, and recycles used garments in a practice that generates little waste. Through Aug. 30. Urbano Project, 29 Germania St., Jamaica Plain. 617-983-1007, www.urbanoproject.org
UNFOLDINGOBJECT In 1912, cubists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque started pasting ephemera into their art, inventing collage — a medium that invites viewers to take leaps. Artist and teacher Todd Bartel gathers 50 artists who consider collage’s ruptures an opportunity for a long, contemplative look. Through Aug. 20. Concord Center for the Visual Arts, 37 Lexington Road, Concord. 978-369-2578, www.concordart.org
PICNIC Five painters — Mishael Coggeshall-Burr, Wilhelm Neusser, Anna Schuleit Haber, Amanda Wachob and Natalia Wróbel — travel to spaces real and abstract. Mysterious hooded figures trudge through cranberry bogs, a Berlin airport is abstractly mapped, and a woozy Paris blurs into gem tones and shadows. Through Aug. 18. Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, 460 Harrison Ave. 617-820-5173, www.abigailogilvy.com
CATE McQUAID
Museums
BIG PLANS: PICTURING SOCIAL REFORM A buffet of photographs, urban planning documents, video, and maps, this exhibit looks to show how the Boston of today was formed by the vocal advocacy of socially progressive design of more than a century ago. Did it work? That’s a question that’s still being answered, to no one’s satisfaction. Through Sept. 15. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way. 617-566-1401, www.isgm.org
MURAL: JACKSON POLLOCK | KATHARINA GROSSE “Mural” (1943) is Jackson Pollock’s largest work, at 8 feet by 20 feet, and a departure point for an artist emerging from Surrealist representation and into pure abstraction. Alongside him, contemporary German artist Grosse boldly matches his scale in a piece commissioned for just this moment, challenging hierarchy, hegemony, and what we think we know about the canon of abstraction all at once. Through Feb. 23. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org
BE SEEN: PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY SINCE STONEWALL The 1969 Stonewall riots in New York’s West Village served as the genesis of LGBTQ rights in the public sphere. This show examines 50 years of “after” — how LGBTQ identity, no longer hidden, evolved to be performed in public and for the camera. Through Sept. 15. Wadsworth Atheneum, 600 Main St., Hartford. 860-278-2670, www.thewadsworth.org
EVENTS
Comedy
THE COMEDY STUDIO A good mix of veterans and younger comics at the Studio, with Chance Langton, Brett Johnson, Phoebe Angle, Peter Martin, Katlin McFee, and others on Thursday, and a mix of Dana Jay Bein, Brian Higginbottom, Joe Kozlowski, Nick Ortolani, Ellen Sugarman, James Huessy, Janet McNamara, and Anthony Scibelli on Friday and Saturday. July 11 at 8 p.m. July 12 at 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. and July 13 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $12-$15. The Comedy Studio, 1 Bow Market Way #23, Somerville. 617-661-6507, www.thecomedystudio.com
JOHN BAGLIO AND SAM IKE Nick’s Comedy Stop, one of the oldest clubs in town, seems to be mixing up its formula a bit, giving some of the best locals one-nighters instead of booking one act for the weekend. This week, the charmingly blunt John Baglio on Friday and the impish Sam Ike on Satuday. July 12-13, 8 p.m. $20. Nick’s Comedy Stop, 100 Warrenton St. 617-963-6261, www.nickscomedystop.com
ROB SCHNEIDER The former “Saturday Night Live” star and cohost of the new “See What Happens” conversational podcast with his wife, Patricia Maya, will be shooting a new film near Boston in July, and stopping by the Wilbur to do stand-up on Saturday. July 13, 7 p.m. $32. Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. 617-248-9700, www.thewilbur.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
FREE FUN FRIDAY ON THE CHARLES RIVER Join the Charles River Watershed Association for a Free Fun Friday on the river. Paddle Boston will offer free canoeing and kayaking lessons to families, and kids can take part in hands-on demonstrations led by the association’s aquatic scientists to learn about pollution, plants, and watersheds. For those who’d like to stay on land, there will also be storytime, singalongs, dancing, and music. Plus: free ice cream and food trucks. July 12, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Christian Herter Park, 1175 Soldier's Field Road. crwa.org
FREE OUTDOOR MOVIE NIGHT: WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Enter a world of pure imagination with a free showing of the original “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” beside Boston Harbor. Seating will be available, but everyone is welcome to bring blankets and chairs. July 12, 8 p.m-11 p.m. Free. Residence Inn by Marriott Boston Harbor on Tudor Wharf, 34-44 Charles River Ave. eventbrite.com
BOSTON PIZZA FESTIVAL New England’s largest consumer pizza event returns this weekend to City Hall, welcoming 30 pizzerias from across the region (and a few from Italy). The two-day festival begins next Saturday and will feature live music, a children’s pizza tossing station, and pizza acrobats. July 13, noon-8 p.m. $15 general admission, free for children 5 and under. City Hall Plaza, eventbrite.com
MARTHA MERROW
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
July 16 Carly Rae Jepsen at House of Blues livenation.com July 18 Taj Mahal at the Cabot thecabot.org July 25 Robert Randolph and the Family Band at City Winery ticketsnow.com Aug. 3 Ben Folds & Violent Femmes at Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion livenation.com Aug. 3 Chris Isaak at the Wilbur ticketmaster.com Aug. 10 Khalid at TD Garden ticketmaster.com Aug. 12 David Cook at City Winery ticketmaster.com Aug. 17 George Strait at Gillette Stadium ticketmaster.com
MARTHA MERROW