FRI 1/16: Conchords, Poe, Rock, More Rock

Wow. Things were going good until they weren't. Here's a quick list for today. Cross your fingers for the rest.

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FRI 1/16

7pm to 10pm
Flight Of The Conchords Season 2 Screening Party
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
FREE w/ RSVP / 18+

Happening tomorrow! One of those parties where RSVP doesn't guarantee entry -- the earlier you get there, the better the chance you have... If you're not already a fan of Bret and Jemaine, let others get in.

FRI 1/16

7:30pm
Celebrating the Bicentennial of the Birth of Edgar Allan Poe
at Devlin Hall, 140 Comm Ave, Chestnut Hill
FREE

It's much to late for Edgar Allan Poe to complain about Boston having an early birthday party for him. Hey, he's been dead for 150 years... Although Poe was born here -- and he was a soldier at Fort Independence/Castle Island -- he hated the Hub.

Tonight's program will screen "Last Days of the Raven", a indie film based on you-know-who. Screenwriter/co-director Brent Fidler will participate in a post-film Q&A session.

There's also a Poe exhibit on display until SAT 1/31.

FRI 1/16

8pm
"Back to the Real Garage"
w/ Magic Christian (Midnight), Lyres (11pm), The Prime Movers (10pm), Muck & the Mires (9pm), Watts (8pm)
at Middle East - Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

This lineup contains some of the best garage-rock bands in town. (Definitely three of the best, IMO.) Sadly, I've heard this is the last show for The Prime Movers who reunited a few years ago after their early 80's heyday. They've never disappointed with a great live show and excellent tunes. The headliner Magic Christian is a crazy-good kind of supergroup with the guitarist & songwriter of Flamin' Groovies, bassist of The Plimsouls, and drummer of Blondie.

FRI 1/16

9:30pm
The Diamond Mines, Yoni Gordon & The Goods, Muy Cansado, White Problems
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$9 / 18+

The music is happening up and down at The Middle East tonight! I've been a fan of The Diamond Mines for a couple years, and their new EP is even better! You already know it's a party when you've got the saxophone... More cool songs with a old-school punky vibe when you could include elements of soul, etc. Yoni Gordon & The Goods reminds me of kickass song-rockers like Ted Leo and Elvis Costello; if you don't like them, it's your problem. Muy Cansado rips it in a furious lo-fi post-punk way that incorporates a bunch of great elements from various sources for a sound that is far from derivative. Seriously good stuff.

FRI 1/16 to SUN 1/18

7:30pm*
"Uncle Vanya"
at Black Box Theatre, Boston Center for Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston (South End)
FREE w/ RSVP (Donations gladly accepted)

I wish I had noticed it last week; this is a great play:

Boston Art Theatre, Boston's newest theater company, opens its doors with this world premiere of Uncle Vanya, Anton Chekhov's seminal work of drama, freshly adapted and directed by Robert Kropf. The play, a tale of obsessive love, relentless regret & the stranglehold of class, is economically and savagely illuminated with B.A.T.'s actor driven production, as preposterous as it is profound.

More shows next week, WED 1/21 to SAT 1/24

* 2pm matinees on SAT & SUN