TUES 8/11: Music In & Out, Shakespeare Out, Comedy In

These aren't the "three tenors" at Christopher Columbus Park, but they are appearing at the Aquarium down the street. D'oh! Glad I'm not trying to be funny tonight...

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TUES 8/11

5pm to 7pm
Lake Street Dive
at Bremen Street Park, about 250 Bremen St, East Boston (behind Airport T)
FREE

Most of Lake Street Dive played last Tuesday under a different moniker. Whether doing their own delightfully skewed love songs like "Sometimes When I'm Drunk and You're Wearing My Favorite Shirt" or doing a Hall and Oates cover [YouTube], it's a kind of jazzy country-soul-folk-pop that would be perfect for a sunny evening in the park. (As this photo from their website demonstrates, the band is no stranger to Eastie park performances.)

Rachael Price's voice is jazzy/soulful vocals are like the cream and sugar in your coffee. The band is rather refreshing, so make it an iced coffee. They've got an easygoing quirkiness, so pretend there's a shot of kahlua in there too.

So you've got jazzy country-soul-folk-pop iced coffee with cream, sugar, and kahlua...

There's more music at the park every Tuesday for the rest of August. I'm always rushing to catch the shuttle, but there appears to be a walkway to the park from the T.

TUES 8/11

6pm to 8pm
Three Tenors From Opera Boston
at Christopher Columbus Park, Boston (North End/Waterfront)
FREE

It's not quite Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and the other guy -- but could you really tell the difference if you closed your eyes? Zach Borichevsky, John W. Gomez, Matthew DiBattista and pianist Linda Osborn-Blaschke will cover some of the big, recognizable opera numbers as well as Broadway classics.

Part of the Waterfront Performing Arts Series.

TUES 8/11

7:30pm
"City Music Blowout"
at Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston (Back Bay)
$5 / $1 with a student ID

Berklee runs a summer music program for young people, and this is the concert where the 72 City Music students perform in all sorts of genres. You can support their efforts and hear some good music. It's interesting to hear that 26 of the participants will also find out who among them have received full-tuition Berklee scholarships...

TUES 8/11

8pm
"The Comedy Of Errors"
at Parkman Bandstand, about 165 Tremont St, Boston (Boston Common)
FREE

"Shakespeare in the Common" only lasts until Sunday!

The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company have taken one of the Bard's early farces about two pairs of identical twins separated at birth and set it in Miami South Beach of the '30s. It's still the original text, but they inject Latin flavor all over the place.

Have a few laughs with a culture and sabor caliente...

Shows run through SUN 8/16 from Tuesdays to Sundays -- 8pm on most nights, 7pm on Sundays. Additional performance on WED 8/12 (12:30pm).

TUES 8/11

9:30pm
The Rob Crean Show
w/ Josh Gondelman, Heather Fink, Chris Braiotta, MC Mr. Napkins, Hey Tommy
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
$7 / 21+

It's a comedy show in the format of variety/talk show with various segments, interviews, and performances. Rob Crean acts as the host -- without going on a limb, this guy is way better than Jimmy Fallon.

Tonight's show seems a bit more packed with performers than I usually notice. Thankfully MC Mr. Napkins should be here, and he really may be too big to play O'Briens soon; his raps are hilarious, and Napkins is getting attention like supposedly killing at the "Just For Laughs Fest" in Montreal. There will likely be routines from Josh Gondelman, Heather Fink, and Chris Braiotta (Union Square Round Table).

The musical guest is Hey Tommy. I swear I found a MySpace link for this guy at some point, but no luck this time; it was a pretty good sound, but there may be some performance-art angle to his act. I also read that Dastardly Dan, punk busker, may open the show. Along with the live segments, Jenny Z will show a video that may or may not be this one.