I took a break! But I am back. If you want an easy pick for this weekend, my friend Yan is doing a comedy show (Tapered Expectations) on both tonight and Friday. It's going to be awesome, check it out.
THURSDAY - JANUARY 29th
Tapered Expectations XL @ Cloud & Spirits @ 8PM
Acquired Taste Comedy presents a special 2-night standup comedy event featuring the area's best comics at an intimate cocktail lounge in Central Square.
Museums at Night @ Harvard Art Museums @ 5PM
Get ready for an evening of art, music, food, and more! This event is free and open to everyone.
Art-Making After Dark @ ICA @ 6PM Enjoy free admission, art-making activities designed by local artists, gallery tours, & more!
ArtsThursday: Puzzle Party @ Harvard Museum of Natural History @ 5PM Enjoy a free night of puzzling adventures around the museum as you tackle a series of playful puzzles about different topics.
Venna @ Brighton Music Hall @ 7PM With Hasan Barclay
ALLYCVT @ Royale @ 7PM With Seth David & Tazu
Dean Johnson @ The Sinclair @ 8PM With Lily Seabird
Ryan Montbleu @ Passim @ 8PM With Rebecca Hart
Bad Bad Hats @ Crystal Ballroom @ 8PM With Smut
Beno @ The Rockwell @ 7PM With Tabano Hollow & Michael Kameron
FRIDAY - JANUARY 30th
Tapered Expectations XL @ Cloud & Spirits @ 8PM
Night two of Acquired Taste Comedy’s 2-night standup event at Cloud & Spirits, featuring the area’s best comics in an intimate cocktail lounge setting.
‘Bandsplain’ Podcast Live @ The Sinclair @ 8PM With Yasi Salek & Chris Ryan
Community Chamber Concert @ Fenway Center @ 1:30PM Hear the BSO musicians perform classics by Haydn, Ravel, and Montgomery.
The Elovaters Night 1 @ MGM Music Hall @ 7PM With JARV, Afroman, & Sixfoxwhiskey
Stanaj @ Brighton Music Hall @ 7PM With Jack Avery
Sudan Archives @ Royale @ 7PM With Halima
Infinite Alien @ The Palladium @ 7PM With Disqualifier, Shortwave, & Queer Bait
SATURDAY - JANUARY 31st
‘Be Good’ with Paulette Comedy Show @ The Rockwell @ 9PM Comedian Daniel Maseda brings well-mannered idiot Paulette to Somerville for the first time with this fan-favorite show that never plays out the same way twice.
Candlelight: Best of ‘Bridgerton’ on Strings @ Old South Church @ 7PM Experience the beloved Netflix show’s melodies, reimagined by a talented string ensemble.
Almost Queen: Tribute to Queen @ Hanover Theatre @ 7:30PM With an impeccable attention to detail and authentic energy, Almost Queen brings the magic and essence of the legendary band to life.
The Elovaters Night 2 @ MGM Music Hall @ 7PM With Shwayze, The Quins, & Collie Buddz
Something In The Way Fest Day 1 @ Roadrunner @ 1PM Featuring Explosions in the Sky, The Hotelier, Tigers Jaw, Momma, & more
Max Styler @ Royale @ 10PM With Wil Trahan
Left To Suffer @ The Palladium @ 7PM With Your Spirit Dies, Fr3ak, The Last Ten Seconds of Life, & more
SUNDAY - FEBRUARY 1st
Teen Sundays @ MFA @ 12PM Teens are invited to visit the museum on select first Sundays for activities such as tours, art making workshops, and artist talks curated for teens by teens.
Play Date @ ICA @ 10AM Bring your kids for fun art-making activities, story time in the galleries, and a chance to meet other families.
Weval @ Brighton Music Hall @ 7PM With DJ Carbo
Something In The Way Fest Day 2 @ Roadrunner @ 1PM Featuring Sunny Day Real Estate, Citizen, First Day Back, Glitterer, & more
Jonah Kagen @ The Sinclair @ 8PM With Anna Graves
LFO @ City Winery @ 7:30PM With Trevor Penick of O-Town
ALL WEEKEND
SATURDAY & SUNDAY - Drop-In Artmaking @ MFA
Get inspired by artwork in the collection, then use the art materials provided to create a work of your own.
THURSDAY & SATURDAY - ‘poor hymnal’ & ‘Good News Mass’ in Concert @ Symphony Hall The BSO continues its exploration of religious and spiritual expression through music in a special series of gospel concerts ‘Faith in Our Time.’
All weekend - The Boston Festival of Films from Iran @ MFA
Enjoy some of the best, award-winning films from and about Iran.
All weekend - Panorama Queer and Trans International Film Festival @ Peabody Essex Museum The annual Panorama Film Festival in Salem features films by an international array of queer and trans filmmakers.
All weekend - ‘Some of the Best of 2025’ Film Program @ The Brattle See 2025’s best releases including ‘Nouvelle Vague,’ ‘Frankenstein’ Eephus,’ and more! Ends 2/5.
All weekend - ‘Some Like It Hot’ Musical @ Citizens Opera House With its irresistible combination of heart and laughs, song and dance, this hit musical production tells the story of two musicians on a life-changing cross-country tip. Ends 2/8.
All weekend - ‘Wonder’ Musical @ Loeb Drama Center Based on R.J. Palacio’s novel and hit feature film, this uplifting new musical follows the Pullman family as they navigate change, identity, and what it means to belong. Ends 2/8.
All weekend - ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ Musical @ BCA Plaza Theatre In this original Broadway production, an eclectic group of teenagers vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. Ends 2/1.
All weekend - ‘Job’ Play @ Calderwood Pavilion Following a therapist and his patient, this psychological thriller explores power, politics, and mental health in an age where identity is performative and everything is on the record. Ends 2/7.
All weekend - ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Musical @ Hanover Theatre Set in the 1980s and drenched in leather, glitter, and neon, this reimagined ‘Dream’ transforms love and lust into an epic night on the dance floor. Ends 2/14.
ONGOING
Ongoing - Somerville Winter Farmers Market @ Arts at the Armory @ 9:30AM Saturdays* - This weekly winter market features 70+ local food vendors with the best locally grown and regionally produced foods.
Ongoing - ‘Monsters of the Deep: Between Imagination and Science’ Exhibition @ MIT Museum Using historical prints, this exhibit traces the scientific process of observing, measuring, and describing that turned whales from monsters into mammals. Ends 1/2026.
Ongoing - ‘Faces in the Crowd: Street Photography’ Exhibition @ MFA Take a look at how different photographers employ the camera as a tool of transformation, taking everyday pictures from the ordinary to the strangely beautiful or even ominous. Ends 7/13.
Ongoing - ‘Reality and Imagination: Rembrandt and the Jews in the Dutch Republic’ Exhibition @ MFA This exhibition draws on the MFA’s collection of Dutch art and Judaica to explore the different ways Jewish communities interacted with the artistic culture of Holland in the 1600s. Ends 12/1.
Ongoing - ‘One Hundred Stitches, One Hundred Villages’ Exhibition @ MFA This exhibition presents nearly 20 rarely seen kaleidoscopic Chinese patchwork textiles coming from remote provinces that reflect local styles and reveal artistic sensibilities and personal histories. Ends 5/3.
Ongoing - ‘Martin Puryear: Nexus’ Exhibition @ MFA The exhibition brings together sculptor Martin Puryear’s diverse artworks, highlighting his elaborate craftsmanship and sophisticated sources of inspiration—from global cultures, social history, and the natural world. Ends 2/8.
Ongoing - ‘Rituals for Remembering’ Exhibition @ MFA This exhibition brings together works by influential Cuban artists María Magdalena Campos-Pons and Ana Mendieta whose art explores the notions of displacement, exile, and nature as transformative tool. Ends 2/15.
Ongoing - ‘An Indigenous Present’ Exhibition @ ICA Spanning 100 years of contemporary Indigenous art, this thematic exhibition features artworks that represent personal and collective narratives, describe specific and imagined places, and build upon cultural and aesthetic traditions. Ends 3/8.
Ongoing - ‘To My Best Friend’ Exhibition @ ICA Drawing from more than 50 artworks from the collection, this exhibition highlights a consistent interest in formal and material experimentation through works by historically underrepresented and women artists. Ends 12/31.
Ongoing - ‘Critical Thinking’ Exhibition @ Harvard Art Museums With its unexpected juxtapositions among little-known prints, this installation is designed to generate experimental thinking. Ends 5/10.
Ongoing - ‘Double Happiness: Celebration in Chinese Art’ Exhibition @ Peabody Essex Museum Presenting 30+ highlights from the museum's wide-ranging Chinese collection, this exhibition invites visitors to discover plants and animals, myths and symbols and decipher the Chinese character for "Double Happiness." Ends 5/3.
Ongoing - ‘Draw Me Ishmael: The Book Arts of Moby Dick’ Exhibition @ Peabody Essex Museum ‘Draw Me Ishmael’ is the first exhibition focused on the book arts of the hundreds of editions of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick - the most persistently pictured of all American novels. Ends 3/29.