SUN 9/4: Boats, Music, Theatre, Art, Luau

I was in Davis Square last night, and I can confirm students are back. I felt as they I was upon the banks of a swollen Ganges River except with more beer and Axe body spray.

Weird, but I noticed 2 Fens area items today... Maybe go for a walk before or after?

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SUN 9/4

Various Times
Annual Gloucester Schooner Festival
around Gloucester Harbor
FREE

Gloucester is up there, but I do have a soft spot for the town.

Watching the schooners racing from the Eastern Point with some family is a wonderful memory I hope to keep for a long time. If the weather holds out, you might have a similar memory by the end of the weekend.

SUN 9/4 (and MON 9/5)

Noon
Campfire Festival
at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$10 per day

Sunday schedule:

12pm -- Celtic Ensemble
12:45pm -- Kyle Carey
1:30pm -- Amanda Cavanaugh & Katie McNally
2:15pm -- Dry River Caravan
3pm -- Ethan Robbins & Cold Chocolate
3:45pm -- Reeling Kites

4:30pm -- Oen Kennedy, Bridget Matros, Libby Kirkpatrick, Tara Greenblatt
6pm -- Sarah Walk
6:45pm -- Courtney Hartman
7:30pm -- Ana Mallozzi, Ariel Rubin, Anna Dagmar, Logan Venderlic
9pm -- Robby Hecht, Jenee Halstead, James Keyes, Phil Henry
10:30pm -- Pamela Means,
Dietrich Strause, Joel Ninesling, Joe Kowan

How many campfires did you sit around this year? Most of us are counting on one hand, if not one finger or a faint wiggle.

No need to bring marshmallows or graham crackers, it's a campfire minus the fire yet exceptionally more acoustic instruments than usual.

There is folky/bluesy goodness all day long. This is a pretty good lineup, if I had to pick between today and tomorrow, I lean towards tomorrow due to Lori McKenna and the Sub Rosa gang at the end.

SUN 9/4

1pm to 1am
Support Local Music Fest
at The Midway Cafe, 3496 Washington St, Jamaica Plain
$7 / All Ages / 18+ after 8pm

Schedule:

12:30pm -- Patriot Act
1:15pm -- Flatout Jones
1:55pm -- Force Fed Lies
2:40pm -- Stars Above
3:20pm -- The Pity Whores
4pm -- The Stretchers
4:50pm -- The Spytones
5:35pm -- Preston Wayne 4
6:20pm -- Charlie Keating
7:05pm -- Jonee Earthquake
7:45pm -- 88 Rangers
8:35pm -- The FU's
9:20pm -- Fragments
10:50pm -- The Inhalers
11:30pm -- Dressed for the Occasion
12:10am -- OC45
12:40am -- Satch

There is a whole lotta punk and rock in one day, but you can do it -- even if you go outside for an occasional break.

A Waltham production company seems to have been involved in organizing this and will film all the bands; there will be some footage screened from a previous Midway show.

SUN 9/4

2pm
"Waiting For Godot"
at Zack Box Theatre, Downstairs, 8 The Fenway, Boston (Boston Conservatory)
FREE

This existential play by Samuel Beckett is a sparse, minimalist tale where nothing much happens, so it would work fine in a relatively small basement theater.

It's not the feel-good hit of the summer, but who's expecting that on Labor Day weekend. (It's so small, you might get shut out -- like I did when I thought I could stroll in 5 minutes before curtain.)

SUN 9/4

3pm
Fenwick Smith
at Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St, Boston (New England Conservatory/Fenway)
FREE

Program:

Bach, "Sonata for Flute and Harsichord in B Minor, BWV 1034"
Eugene Goossens, "Three Pictures"
Otar Taktakishvili, "Sonata for Flute and Piano"
Jindrich Feld, "Four Pieces for Flute Alone"

For 35 years, flautist/NEC faculty/longtime BSO member Fenwick Smith has given a semester-opening concert.

This guy obviously knows how to play, so I can't be that bad. I just wonder if one might end up at a snooze-fest. (Can someone do 35 annual concerts and keep it interesting? Maybe.)

Smith said that the Bach sonata is the "greatest work penned for the [flute]", which bodes well for the classical music experience on a Sunday afternoon. He'll be joined by fellow faculty members on piano and harpsichord.

SUN 9/4

7pm to 9:30pm
"Making History: Antiquaries in Britain": Public Opening Reception
at McMullen Museum of Art, Devlin Hall, 140 Comm Ave, Chestnut Hill
FREE

English antiques, paintings, and manuscripts may not qualify as 'thrilling', but this looks like a interesting exhibit since two-thirds of the material have never been seen in America. (The rest are pieces from Yale's collection.) Some date back 800 years like a copy of the Magna Carta.

There might even be refreshments...

SUN 9/4

7pm
Labor Day Luau
at Howl at the Moon, 184 High St, Boston (Financial District)
FREE

I think the hurricane/tropical storm ruined their plans last Sunday. All I can say is that this may be the least irritating dueling piano bar I've patronized. There are drink specials tonight, and cash/prizes can be won during the limbo contest.

SUN 9/4

9pm
Sea Monsters (10pm), Stephie Coplan & The Pedestrians (9pm)
at Precinct, 70 Union Sq, Somerville (Union Sq)
$7-ish / 21+

Like they said when the Sea Monsters ended their weekly Sunday residency, I think they have played every 3-day weekend this year. (They never want to go to the Cape?)

For about 3 years, Christian McNeill and Jesse Dee used to regularly lead a big rootsy/soulful party with horns, various guests and adoring fans. It should be like old times tonight, and there's no problem if it's a new time for you.

If you missed Stephie Coplan & The Pedestrians at Toad the other night, there is one more chance to catch their witty, piano-driven pop.

SUN 9/4

9:30pm
Jeff the Brotherhood, Luau, Skimask, Bugs & Rats
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$10 / 18+

it's going to be an awesome night of crazy rock anchored by Nashville guitar-drums duo Jeff the Brotherhood doing their catchy, noisy best preceded by punk and anarchic, sludgy rock.

You better have tomorrow off.