Event notes, Friday, June 18, 2010

Green Apple Ghost

Friday, there’s a big show at Ralph’s that includes a one-time reunion with the Rectangle Club, People with Teeth (which is from Brooklyn), Green Apple Ghost and Finnegan 10-in-1 sideshow; The Tone Deffs open for the farewell show for the Charles River Music Whores at The Lucky Dog Music Hall; Chyldz Play returns to JJ’s; Mindrift rocks the Cannery in Southbridge; the Rugged Road Band kicks off its summer tour at the Blue Plate in Holden; Hey Now Morris Fader headlines the Vernon; Jason James returns to Beatnik’s; Lisa and Brett Brumby, otherwise known as Brumby, are back at Brian’s in Northboro; and Sax Gordon and the Little House Rockers open up the Jazz at Sunset Series at the EcoTarium.

Saturday, Insufficient Evidence and Challenge the Throne join the benefit for American Foundation for Suicide Prevention from noon to 6 p.m. at Tammany Hall; Niki Luparelli and The Gold Diggers head to Cigar Masters; The Stompers resurface at The Lucky Dog Music Hall; Roger Salloom is with Charles Neville at the Hanover Theatre.

Next Thursday, Hat On, Drinking Wine opens for Sunlea at Tammany Hall.Also, Worcester Center for Crafts holds its first ever open house. They're calling it the "first annual open house," but you cannot call it that if it hasn't happened yet. It might be, and will be, annual, once they hold it again next year.

Other events:

From Friday through Sunday at the DCU Center it’s the New England Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, which features more than 1,000 wines, particularly from California – this year’s theme. It’s also got a Chef’s Stage with education and sampling by local and celebrity chefs. The Cheese Corner’s got the finest cheeses. And the entertainment area features French-style performances.

Saturday brings African American Festival & Juneteenth Celebration to Institute Park.

Event notes, June 11, 2010

Friday, Brett and Lisa sing at Point Breeze Restaurant in Webster; Whalebone Farmhouse returns to Beatnik’s; Keeping Riley plays an early show, at 6 p.m., at Tammany Hall; and Sam James is singing on the patio of the Emerald Isle.
Saturday, Brett and Lisa are out at Oxford’s in Oxford; Scarlitt releases a new CD, supported by acts Before The Rise, Civil Disturbance, Till We Die, New Ditty and Speaker For The Dead at Tammany Hall for an 18-plus show; there’s a Sick Punk event at Hotel Vernon; Hat On, Drinking Wine heads to Beatnik’s; The Wandas will perform with Hard No 9 and Matt Benoit in a concert that will be videotaped for a live recording at 9:30 p.m. at Ralph’s; country singer Suzy Boggus headlines the Bull Run in Shirley.

Other events:

On Saturday, there’s a buffet to benefit VegWorcester at LovingHut on Chander Street from noon to 7 p.m.

And from 6-11 p.m. on Saturday at the Auburn American Legion, it’s a fundraiser for Tyler Beede. A budding pitcher originally from Auburn, this Lawrence Academy student and player is slated to play in quite a few prestigious baseball events this summer. To cushion the travel costs, Tyler’s family is hosting this benefit – it costs $10 at the door, and there’s a huge raffle going on with lots of great prizes.
Beede will head to Florida for the Perfect Game National Showcase on June 17 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Then it’s on to tryouts for Baseball USA’s Tournament of Stars. If Beede doesn’t make the USA squad, he’ll return to pitch for the Virginia Canes, a team he helped to a national title last summer. Beede also has plenty of showcase games lined up, which will have him playing at Petco Park (Aflac All-American Game), Wrigley Field (Under Armour All-American Game) and Yankee Stadium (Rawlings All-American Game).

For more info, search Tyler Beede Summer Baseball Fund Raiser on Facebook.

Also Saturday, Join Alternatives in celebrating 25 years of the Valley Friendship Tour, a wonderful community event at Alternatives' Whitin Mill, 50 Douglas Road in Whitinsville. And the Worcester Animal Rescue League will be hosting our first ever “Hot Rods for Hounds” classic car show From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., classic cars will be lined up across our acre sized field for all to see.

On Sunday, funny poet Joe Fusco Jr. performs at the Poetry Asylum at Jumpin’ Juice and Java.

New Hip-Hop Workout Sessions for the Summer begin on Monday at the Faucher School of Dance.

Socks for Sibera this Saturday, June 12, at Hyland Orchards

Socks for Siberia is coming to Hyland Orchards and Brewery on Saturday, June 12, from noon to 6 p.m. The fourth annual,
this "Caring for Orphaned Children" fundraiser features live music, raffles, food and beverages.

The lineup includes Dick Chase and the Millboys, Philip Newland and Chuck Davis, The Peter J. Newland Duo and The Otters.
There are also children's games, face painting and more.

Raffles include Red Sox tickets, New England Patriots tickets and sports memorabilia.

It's free admission, and Hyland Orchards is located at 199 Arnold Road, Sturbridge. Visit www.socksforsiberia.org.

Event notes, Friday, June 4

Friday, it’s Naughty School Girl Night 2010 featuring Whiskey Chapel, Scarecrow Hill, Affliction, Fuel of War, Bulletbreed, Apocalypse Highway, Massacre of the Majestic at London Billiards; John Polce sings at the Mill Church Café in Millbury; it’s Jediah with sax player Brian Kearsley at the Cigar Masters at 1 Exchange Place; Demon Valley, Pillowman, Bitch Brothers & Maar split the bill at Hotel Vernon; Chyldz Play rocks Irish Times; Tool tribute Schism headlines with Stone Temple Pilots tribute Tiny Music, and openers no Room To Breathe and Lost in the Paradox at the Lucky Dog; Homebrew’s at Jillian’s; The Rails go off at JJ’s; it’s a punkathon with The Pity Whores, Meat Depressed, For What It’s Worth, Flatout Jones and The Egos at Ralph’s; Hat On, Drinking Wine returns to Nick’s; The Flock does night one of a two-night stint at Sakura Tokyo; and Fear Factory performs with Prong, Silent Civilian and Thy Will Be Done splits the bill at The Palladium.

Saturday, the Walking Tour brings Mark Mandeville, Rainne Richards and Christopher Bell to the front room of WCUW; Jeffree Star headlines the Palladium; the Gibson Brothers are out at the Bull Run; Jon Bowser sings at Cigar Masters; Dusty Cobb sings at Hotel Vernon; Miles Orgasmic is at Three G’s Sports Bar; Mass Octane returns to Jillian’s; Sons of Hiram return to Gilrein’s; Trendkill joins Fear of None at Ralph’s; and Jubilee Gardens hits Sahara Restaurant.
Sunday, The Tom Yates Trio performs for Blues Worcester show with Jon Short, the Racky Thomas Band and Chris Fitz Band with Ken Short at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 6, at Mechanics Hall.

Other Events:

Funny man Jimmy Tingle performs at the Bull Run Restaurant on Friday. Also Friday, Death Trap opens at Worcester County Light Opera House and continues with shows throughout the weekend.

Sunday, the McInerny School of Irish Dance puts on a recital at DCU Center. Also on Sunday, Jumpin Juice and Java is home to the Poets Asylum, which welcomes Brave New Voices youth poetry slam team Kendel Joseph, Alice Beecher, Anna Meehan, Devin Samuels, Taylor Liljegren and Eric Devenney — at a fundraiser and warmup performance. Celebrate the return of Central Massachusetts' summer birds with the Birds and Brewery with a stop at Burncoat Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, the Quaboag River and Hyland Orchard with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, starting at 10 a.m.

BoyBand is playing at Showcase North throughout the weekend – go and see it. It’s locally filmed, and lots of fun.

Locally Produced Film “BoyBand” Opens in Theaters

Artigo/Ajemian Films latest feature length film “BoyBand: Breakin’ Through in ‘82” will open to the public on Friday, June 4th at Showcase Cinema North in Worcester, where it will run for a week. Stars Michael Copon (One Tree Hill, Scorpion King II, Bring it On: In It To Win It), and E-Knock and Lorenzo Hooker III from Boston’s dance crew Status Quo (MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew) will be in Worcester for the opening. The 3 stars will take part in a Q&A after the 7pm screening on Friday the 4th. (Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.nationalamusements.com or at the theater) The film opens at Showcase Cinema in Revere on Friday, June 11th where it will run for a week. There will be a Q&A with the filmmakers, and actors E-Knock, and Lorenzo Hooker III from Status Quo following the evening shows on the 11th.

Writer/Director Jon Artigo is flying in from Los Angeles for the opening, and will join Producer Andrea Ajemian and Music Producer Kaz Gamble at the Q&As after Friday and Saturday night’s screenings. There will be an after party open to the public on Friday the 4th at Gilrein’s, located at 802 Main Street in Worcester. Doors open at 9pm with a $7 cover. DJ Kaz Gamble will be spinning 80’s music, as well as music from the film’s soundtrack, which includes over 20 original songs written by Gamble. Members of the cast and crew will be there to mingle, and enjoy live performances from the film’s stars, including local singer/songwriter Sam James.



BoyBand was shot entirely in Worcester County, and is set at the fictional Worcester High. The film was originally called We Got the Beat, when it filmed for 5 weeks during the summer of 2008. Starring a number of Hollywood actors including Robert Hoffman (Step Up 2, She’s the Man), Ryan Hansen (Party Down, Veronica Mars), and Ming Na (ER, The Joy Luck Club), over 30 local actors had speaking roles in the film, with over 20 non-union actors becoming eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild after being cast. Jon and Andrea’s fourth feature film in 9 years, (previous work includes the award winning films Rutland, USA, Freedom Park, and Still Green), BoyBand is a commercial teen comedy set in 1982 about a high school quarterback who quits the team to turn his heavy metal band into the first ever boyband. The film is being self-distributed in select theaters in Massachusetts, and hopes to create a national buzz. BoyBand differs from typical art house indie films, as it’s a wacky teen comedy with commercial appeal. The film isn’t yet rated, but filmmakers anticipate a PG-13 rating for language and sexual references.

For more information, visit www.boybandmovie.com and click on the official blog, which has details for all the events surrounding the film’s opening, or follow the film on Facebook (Boyband: The Movie).