MUSIC
Pop & Rock
INGRID MICHAELSON “Stranger Songs,” the latest album from this New York-based singer-songwriter, is a love letter to the Netflix smash “Stranger Things” — but even if you don’t know your Eleven from your Upside Down, it’s a lovely synthpop record filled with headphone-worthy touches like the soaring guitars buried in the spectral “Hey Kid.” Oct. 22, 7 p.m. $35 and up. House of Blues. 888-693-2583, www.houseofblues.com/boston
AGAINST ME! The Florida punk pioneers come to Boston for a pair of concerts showcasing highlights of their anthem-packed catalog, with “Searching for a Former Clarity” and “New Wave” getting the full-album-show treatment at the first outing and “White Crosses” and “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” being featured on night two. Oct. 22-23, 7 p.m. $35, $29 advance. Royale. 617-338-7699, www.royaleboston.com
JAY SOM Melina Duterte’s second album as Jay Som, “Anak Ko,” is curious and hooky, with Duterte placing her starkly poetic lyrics amid refracted Laurel Canyon pop (“Nighttime Drive”), gnarly distorto-rock (“Peace Out”), and loops of guitar that give off dizzying sparks (“Devotion”). Oct. 26, 7 p.m. $20, $17 advance. The Sinclair, Cambridge. 617-547-5200, www.sinclaircambridge.com
Folk & World
DANNY SCHMIDT According to Sam Baker, himself a gifted practitioner who knows whereof he speaks, Danny Schmidt is a “songwriter’s songwriter.” He’s acquired that status with a career that has reached 20 years, building a substantial catalog represented by 10 albums, including his latest, “Standard Deviation.” Oct. 24, 8 p.m. $20. Charles River Museum, Waltham. 781-893-5410, www.charlesrivermuseum.org
COYOTE MOTEL You can bid farewell and say hello Friday, when one-time Boston resident Ted Drozdowski returns to his old stamping grounds with a two-fold purpose. He’ll retire his long-running hill-country blues outfit Scissormen, and introduce the self-described “cosmic roots music” of his new band, Coyote Motel. Oct. 25, 7 p.m. $12. The Burren, Somerville. 617-776-6896, www.burren.com
PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND In 2015, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band went to Cuba to explore the musical links between New Orleans and that Caribbean island. They made a movie about it, and a record, too, both titled “A Tuba to Cuba,” and are now on tour playing the music that resulted, which band member Ben Jaffe calls “a beautiful conversation.” They play with Cuban singer-songwriter Yusa and other special guests. Oct. 25, 8 p.m. $29.50 and up. Berklee Performance Center. 617-747-2261, www.berklee.edu/BPC
Jazz & Blues
JASON YEAGER The acclaimed pianist and composer celebrates his latest CD, “New Songs of Resistance,” a musical reflection of troubled times and the search for affirmation nevertheless. Joining Yeager will be vocalists Aubrey Johnson and Farayi Malek, trumpeter Cosimo Boni, flugelhornist Milena Casado, clarinetist Matthew Stubbs, cellist Catherine Bent, electric bassist Fernando Huergo, and drummer Mark Walker. Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m. $20-$25. Regattabar, Cambridge. 617-395-7757, www.regattabarjazz.com
JEFF PITCHELL & TEXAS FLOOD The searing guitarist, soulful singer, and seasoned bandleader has played with everyone from Buddy Guy to the Monkees’ Peter Tork, reliably rocking the house whenever he appears. Oct. 25, 8 p.m. $20-$25. Chan’s Fine Oriental Dining, Woonsocket, R.I. 401-765-1900, www.chanseggrollsandjazz.com
THE BAD PLUS The bad boys of the acoustic jazz piano trio — who gained fame by covering the likes of Nirvana and Blondie as well as introducing their own intriguing originals — soldier on with pianist Orrin Evans assuming departed keyboardist Ethan Iverson’s role, with rhythmic support by founding members Reid Anderson (bass) and Dave King (drums). Oct. 25-26, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. $35-$50. Scullers. 866-777-8932, www.scullersjazz.com
Classical
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Boston Symphony Chamber Players start the week at Jordan Hall with a 20th-century program featuring guest harpsichordist Paolo Bordignon; at the same time, a quartet of BSO string players performs a free concert at Dorchester’s Codman Square Health Center (Oct. 20). Later in the week, Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki visits the BSO podium for a program of Fauré, Messiaen, and Debussy plus a bonus American premiere of a piano concerto by Dieter Ammann, with soloist Andreas Haefliger. Oct. 25-27. Symphony Hall. 888-266-1200, www.bso.org
EMMANUEL MUSIC Emmanuel begins its 49th season with a performance of Bach’s monumental Mass in B Minor, including a small chorus featuring many Boston Lyric Opera regulars. Oct. 26, 8 p.m. Emmanuel Church. 617-536-3356, www.emmanuelmusic.org
NEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC Boston’s most adventurous all-volunteer orchestra settles in for the new season with a typical 20th-century and new music grab bag — as typical as this orchestra ever gets, anyway. Pianist Jeffrey Swann gets a one-sided workout with Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand: other works by Hilary Purrington, Hannah Lash, Gunther Schuller, and Schoenberg. Oct. 26, 8 p.m. Tsai Performance Center, Boston University. 855-463-7445, www.nephilharmonic.org
ARTS
Theater
42ND STREET Brian Boruta directs a buoyantly enjoyable production of the quintessential showbiz valentine as The Umbrella Stage Company, a former community theater, makes a promising debut as a professional theater in its extensively renovated space. The cast includes Aimee Doherty, having a ball as the vain, egocentric star Dorothy Brock; Todd Yard as Julian Marsh, the autocratic director with a hidden heart of gold; and Gillian Mariner Gordon as Peggy Sawyer, the ingenuous chorus girl who suddenly gets a shot at stardom when Dorothy breaks her ankle. Through Oct. 20. The Umbrella Stage Company, Concord. 978-371-0820, www.theumbrellastage.org
MARIE & ROSETTA A biodrama-with-music by George Brant (“Grounded,’’ “The Prince of Providence’’) that focuses on the legendary gospel and R&B singer and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe (played by Lovely Hoffman) and her young protégé, Marie Knight (Pier Lamia Porter) as they prepare for their first performance together in 1940s Mississippi. Directed by Pascale Florestal. Through Nov. 10. Coproduction by Greater Boston Stage Company and The Front Porch Arts Collective at Greater Boston Stage Company, Stoneham. 781-279-2200, www.greaterbostonstage.org
THE THANKSGIVING PLAY Playwright Larissa FastHorse, a member of the Sicangu Lakota nation of South Dakota, takes satiric aim at well-meaning liberals in this comedy about oh-so-woke “teaching artists’’ who try to devise a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving pageant for elementary school students that also celebrates Native American Heritage Month. Directed by Scott Edmiston, with a cast that includes Barlow Adamson, Amanda Collins, Grace Experience, and Jesse Hinson. Through Nov. 10. Lyric Stage Company of Boston. 617-585-5678, www.lyricstage.com
Dance
BLACK GRACE For nearly 25 years, this spirited company has celebrated the Samoan and New Zealand roots of founder Neil Ieremia though innovative, boundary-busting dance works. The company’s repertoire is known for its powerful physicality and conceptual integrity, often drawing from the rich storytelling traditions of the South Pacific. Presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston. Oct. 26-27, $60-$75. Boch Center Shubert Theatre. 617-482-6661, www.celebrityseries.org
BJM/LES BALLETS JAZZ DE MONTRÉAL The internationally renowned company presents the Boston premiere of its most ambitious work to date, the evening-length “Dance Me / Music of Leonard Cohen.” Inspired by the venerable Montréal-based poet, artist, and songwriter, the work is an homage to Cohen’s life and artistry, created under the artistic direction of Louis Robitaille with choreography by Andonis Foniadakis, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Ihsan Rustem. Oct. 25-26, $40-$79. Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. 617-876-4275, www.globalartslive.org
LAUGH TRACK If it’s true you sometimes have to laugh to keep from crying, this interdisciplinary mixed bill of dance and comedy might just fit the bill as a send-off for Green Street Studios, which closes for good at the end of the month. The show, produced by Jessy Zizzo and Eliza Malecki, promises a hilarious evening’s exploration of life’s absurdities. Oct. 25-26, $13-$35. Green Street Studios, Cambridge. www.laughtrack.brownpapertickets.com
Galleries
TOBY SISSON: DECONSTRUCTED AMERICAN The word “American” connotes citizenship, rights, responsibilities, and ideals, some of which mean different things to different people. Sisson makes hand-drawn monotypes of the word, breaking up and shuffling letters into black-and-white abstractions that conjure associations to chalkboards, graffiti, silver prints, and starscapes. Through Nov. 26. Howard Yezerski Gallery, 460 Harrison Ave. 617-262-0550, www.howardyezerski.com
ANTHONY GOICOLEA: POSE To Goicolea, who grew up a gay, Cuban kid in the South, portraiture is a dance of veils — revelation, concealment, and performance. His “Anonymous Self-Portraits” here, pastiches of gesture, body language, and collages of other people’s features, suggest that identity is always in flux. Through Nov. 9. Montserrat Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, 23 Essex St., Beverly. 978-867-9604, www.montserrat.edu
KATARINA BURIN AND FARHAD MIRZA: A LOW STOREY BETWEEN TWO OTHERS These two artists explore the nether worlds of memory and the collaborative process, giving visual form to an exchange of recollections. “Museum Memories,” a publication co-edited by Burin and writer Claire Barliant, in which writers and artists reflect on childhood museum experiences, accompanies the show. Through Nov. 30. Anthony Greaney, 438 Somerville Ave., Somerville. 617-482-0055, www.anthonygreaney.xyz
Museums
HANS HOFMANN: THE NATURE OF ABSTRACTION Not the household name like those that came after him — Pollock, Rothko, De Kooning, Still — Hofmann, the legend goes, both preceded and influenced Abstract Expressionism, the moment at which the international art world focused squarely on America and really never looked away again. Hofmann, who moved to the US from Germany in 1933, was a teacher of great renown, counting among his star students Louise Nevelson, Lee Krasner, and Ray Eames. Through Jan. 5, Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem. 978-745-9500, www.pem.org
GORDON MATTA CLARK: ANARCHITECT Gordon Matta Clark sliced houses in two and bored bus-size holes in derelict apartment buildings several stories up, highlighting late-20th-century society’s wasteful ways regarding, well, everything, from gas guzzlers all the way up to building stock. Matta Clark’s inference — that everything is temporary, and disposable — first made in the ’70s, feels now like the proverbial canary in a coal mine, with a planet poised at the edge of ruin. Are we ready to listen yet? Through Jan. 5, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3434, www.brandeis.edu/rose/
JENNY HOLZER Holzer, who became a giant of American post-conceptual art in the 1970s with her flinty, political text works, already has a huge permanent footprint at Mass MoCA, so it makes sense the museum would want to deepen the relationship with one of its marquee draws. This fall, it’s presenting a broad survey of Holzer’s works, stretching back to the ’70s — almost 1,000 or so posters, as well as vitrines chock-full of scribbled notes and various bits and pieces collected by the artist over decades. Through summer 2020, Mass MoCA, 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams. 413-662-2111, massmoca.org
EVENTS
Comedy
WITCHES, PROBABLY Angela Sawyer hosts this stand-up showcase, presented by Roslindale Comedy, featuring Emily Ruskowski, Carrie Ross, Ricardo Perez, Tooky Kavanagh, Erin Matthews, Allie Genereux, Laura Clark, and Danya Trommer. Oct. 23, 8 p.m. $5 suggested donation. The Square Root, 2 Corinth St., Roslindale. 617-477-3392, www.squarerootrozzie.com
THE COMEDY STUDIO The early show features stand-up from Jessie Baade, Big D., Sean Duffy, and Brandon Vallee, and if you stick around for the free 10:15 show, you can see a jazz band improvise along with a silent movie — a new movie every week, and the band isn’t told the selection before they start playing. Oct. 24, 8 p.m. $12. The Comedy Studio, 1 Bow Market Way #23, Somerville. 617-661-6507, www.thecomedystudio.com
ISMO The native of Finland has been learning a lot about English since he moved to America, including the propensity of some to yell “Language!” when someone curses. He thinks it’s a bit broad. “To me it’s like the same if you see somebody about to get hit by a bus and you yell out ‘Transportation!’ ” Oct. 24 at 8 p.m., Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. $20-$25. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com
Family
NEWTON HARVEST FAIR Enjoy a day of shopping for handmade gifts, listening to live music, eating good food, and watching the kids delight in amusement rides. Bands scheduled include The Buzzkills, The Mighty Silverbacks, Cross Street Band, and Boston Soul and Rock Review. Oct. 20, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Free. Newton Centre Green, 1221 Centre St., Newton. newtoncommunitypride.org
TALES OF THE NIGHT Once upon a time, on a spooky October evening, Drumlin Farm held a festive night for families to come enjoy themselves. Attendees are welcome to throw on a costume, grab a flashlight, and enjoy activities and refreshments. Take a haunted hayride, peruse the jack-o’-lanterns, and stroll around the farm’s candlelit paths. Oct. 25 and Oct. 26, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., $15 for members, $17 for nonmembers, free for ages 2 and under. Drumlin Farm, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln. massaudubon.org
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS BLOCK PARTY It’s time to celebrate the dead! Taza Chocolate is hosting a Dia de los Muertos celebration outside the chocolate factory. There will be food and music, including a live performance by Veronica Robles and her Mariachi. La Piñata will lead a traditional remembrance ceremony. Oct. 26, noon to 5 p.m., free. Taza Chocolate, 561 Windsor St., Somerville. tazachocolate.com
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Nov. 17 Neon Indian at Big Night Live ticketmaster.com
Nov. 19 Angel Olsen at Royale royaleboston.com
Nov. 23 Mandolin Orange at Shubert Theatre bochcenter.org
Dec. 2 SiR at Paradise Rock Club crossroadspresents.com
Dec. 4 Lucy Dacus at Royale royaleboston.com
Dec. 5 Twin Peaks at Sinclair axs.com
Dec. 7 The Mezingers at House of Blues ticketmaster.com
Dec. 8 Cher at TD Garden tdgarden.com