Boston music festival means less options, but there are still great shows. Find out where
Boston Calling dominates weekend's local music scene
It seems like a bit of a light weekend, possibly because of the massive Boston Calling music festival happening on the Harvard Athletic Grounds. The multiact lineups for all three days of the Friday-Saturday-Sunday fest, with set times, can be found online. But the highlights are Friday: pop giant Ed Sheeran; Saturday: Tyler Childers, and Scituate's Ward Hayden & the Outliers; Sunday: The Killers, and blues guitarist Christone "Kingfish" Ingram. Â
Local shows to watch for
Scituate's one-man music industry, Jay Psaros, is just back from opening shows in Detroit and Marietta, Ohio, for his pals in Three Dog Night, and then last week made a quick trip north to open for Little River Band. But Psaros has a lifelong ambition about to come true, when he opens a pair of shows for the Americana songwriting icon John Hiatt, on June 2 at the Colonial Theater in Laconia, New Hampshire, and then on June 7 at the Nashua Center for the Arts. ... Squantum's favorite rock singer, Jesse Ahern, sends word from his European tour that he'll be performing a free show at The Ruth Gordon Ampitheater in Quincy on Aug. 23. ... Pembroke songwriter Matt York will be opening for Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller on the latter's solo tour, on June 13 at Alchemy in Providence. ... If you miss Ward Hayden & the Outliers at Boston Calling, catch them at Askew in Providence (across the street from Alchemy) on June 7.    Â
THURSDAY, May 23:Â April Cushman performs at the Spire Center in Plymouth
Songwriter April Cushman performs at the Spire Center in Plymouth. The Plymouth rock quintet Total Strangers celebrates their new album at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke. Folk singer Willi Carlisle, with his "Critterland" album turning heads nationally, is at Cafe 939 in Boston. The female group Della Mae harmonizes at Club Passim in Cambridge. Whitman music chameleon Munk Duane plays at The Olde Hitching Post in Hanson. Norwegian dark metal band Abbath thunders into The Sinclair in Cambridge. Electronic tunesmith Kairon jams at Big Night Live in Boston.
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FRIDAY, May 24:Â Sonny Landreth brings New Orleans to the Narrows Center in Fall River
The talented and ever unpredictable rock guitarist Buckethead is at Met Cafe in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (and The Wilbur Theater in Boston on Saturday). A taste of Louisiana when Sonny Landreth and his band, with New Orleans staples The Iguanas opening, at the Narrows Center in Fall River. Pop songsmith Rufus Wainwright at City Winery in Boston. Australian post-hardcore band The Amity Affliction hits the House of Blues in Boston. Club Passim is hosting its annual Campfire Fest all weekend, where every day and night has multiple acts celebrating folk and Americana music. Chase Stebbins rocks The C-Note in Hull. It's Real Deal Comedy at The District Center for the Arts in Taunton – and with tickets just $10, that is a deal. Afro-pop star Talib Kweli at The Sinclair in Cambridge. Japanese alt-metal with SiM at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Punk-rockers Drain, on their Beach Party tour, at Royale in Boston. British prog-metal band Sleep Token – who all play in masks – invade MGM Music Hall in Boston. Psychic medium Patricia Griffin comes to the Spire Center in Plymouth.Â
SATURDAY, May 25: Rolling Stones tribute act takes over The District Center for the Arts in Taunton
Louisiana-style roost music with Eric Lindell at the Spire Center in Plymouth. Booty Vortex has sold out their show at The C-Note in Hull. City Winery in Boston has peerless songwriter John Hiatt in the main room, and Boston blues combo Bees Deluxe in the Haymarket Lounge. If you couldn't get Rolling Stones tickets for their May 30 Gillette Stadium show, catch the best Stones tribute act when The Blushing Brides take over The District Center for the Arts in Taunton. Brazilian songsmith/DJ Alok gets Big Night Live going. Double duty for Quincy's Suzanne McNeil: 3 p.m. at The Cabby Shack in Plymouth, and then 8 p.m. at The Red Rose in Weymouth. Long Island hardcore punk act Crime in Stereo blasts off at Brighton Music Hall. The Peacheaters – an Allman Brothers Band tribute and more – at The Music Room in Yarmouth.
SUNDAY, May 26: Munk Duane performs at Local 02045 in Hull
Sundays start early with the 2 p.m. Shady Roosters strut at the Spire Center in Plymouth; and then the 4-8 p.m. blues jam hosted by the Michele Rockwell Band at Players in Rockland. Sunday night look for pop star Sophie B. Hawkins at City Winery in Boston; while All the Feels rock the House of Blues in Boston; and Munk Duane performs at Local 02045 in Hull.
Coming attractions
MONDAY: Leonid & Friends is the name of a big band that reprises the best of the band Chicago, at City Winery in Boston.
TUESDAY: Brazilian artist Anitta gets down at MGM Music Hall in Boston; while the alt-rock frivolity of Shannon & the Clams shake up The Sinclair in Cambridge.Â
WEDNESDAY: It doesn't strike you as a punk-rock venue, but Big Night Live in Boston hosts The Damned and The Dictators; while prog-metal Symphony X hits the Paradise Rock Club in Boston; rock/ska Madness takes over MGM Music Hall in Boston; and local South Shore cowboys Dalton & The Sheriffs do a show devoted to the music of the Zac Brown Band at City Winery in Boston.
MAY 30: The Rolling Stones and their octogenarian bones look for Satisfaction at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro; while songsmith Cara Brindisi debuts her weekly residency – music and a podcast – at the Spire Center in Plymouth; blues-rocker Joss Stone headlines Memorial Hall in Plymouth; and country outlaw Cole Swindell takes the stage at Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston.
MAY 31: Indian musician Prateek Kuhad heats up Royale in Boston; Norwell singer-songwriter Les Sampou headlines The Burren in Somerville to celebrate her latest music; Saxophonist Walter Beasley opens a weekend at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston.
JUNE 1:Â Stonehill College alumni The Ballroom Thieves are at The Sinclair in Cambridge; and Boston jazz composer/bassist Bruno Raberg debuts his latest work (and new CD) with his Tentet at the RegattaBar in Harvard Square.