Is change in the air at the Somerville Theatre? We’ve been hearing some rumblings about a transition in management.
You can add the Crystal Ballroom and Arlington’s Capitol Theatre into the mix, because all are operated by Frame One Theatres and owned by the Fraiman family. Melvin Fraiman, who passed away in 2022, acquired the Capitol Theatre in 1979 and the Somerville Theatre in 1984. His son, Richard Fraiman, assumed leadership more than a decade ago and oversaw the renovation and return to glory of the Crystal Ballroom in 2021.
The historic venues have been in business for more than 300 years combined. That’s a lot of popcorn, talkies and Goobers under the bridge. If a change of ownership is in the works, it will be more than movie and music lovers paying attention, as a large chunk of Somerville’s (and Arlington’s) cultural legacy passes into new hands.
Whose hands exactly? Longtime general manager and booker Ian Judge confirmed Tuesday that Frame One Theatres is exploring the transfer operations to an as yet unnamed management entity. The Fraimans will still own the building, presumably leasing the theater to the new management entity.
What does that mean for local audiences? Maybe a lot, maybe a little. The management entity could be all about maintaining business as usual. On the other hand, the Regent Theatre in Arlington, which transferred ownership to industry newcomer (and Harvard professor) David Malan in recent months, looks to be in the process of reworking its basic business model, with plans to introduce more educational programming (and possibly fewer Goobers) in the near future. Where will Somerville Theatre & Co. fall on the spectrum? Stay tuned!
Hit this
Saturday: The Sheila Divine, Baabes, Teardrops (The Sinclair, Cambridge)
Local postpunkers The Sheila Divine formed in 1997, enjoyed a successful run of about seven years, then imploded as a result of the usual cocktail of gig overload and clashing personalities. Since then they’ve reunited and reemerged, like cicadas, every so often, much to the pleasure of a fanbase that has kept them at the front, or back, or side of mind all these years. If you’ve been following the breadcrumbs of singles and EP releases, you’ll be happy to know they have a new full-length LP “I Am the Darkness. We Are the Light.” Go hear some of it live. Openers Baabes and Teardrops both favor black-and-white PR photos. It’s classy!
Jan. 9: J.Wail featuring David Murphy (formerly of STS9) (Sonia, Cambridge)
Things fall apart. About 11 years ago bassist David Murphy parted ways with the jam band STS9. Which was a tough split, because he played the role of frontman, and many fans at the time couldn’t conceive of an STS9 without him. The era before the split forever became known as the “Murph era.” STS9 went on its merry way, continuing to build a reputation as a premiere act on the touring circuit. Murph, on the other hand, took a few years off to sort himself out and explore life outside of music. So now we find ourselves in 2025, the sorting is done, the exploration complete. David Murphy is getting back in the game. Except it’s with a band called J.Wail and includes a new cast of characters from the jam ranks. Team Murph, assemble!
Jan. 10: Job Creators with Lady Lupine and Elisabeth Hoffman (Lizard Lounge, Cambridge)
I’ve described Job Creators as “krautrock” elsewhere. If you’ve never heard the descriptor, if it makes you uncomfortable, if its strangeness sinks you into a state of perplexity, and possibly a primordial state of indignation, I’d rather just skip past the term entirely and focus on the “rock.” We all know, and many of us love, “rock.” Job Creators rock. Openers Lady Lupine and Elisabeth Hoffman join in the fun. Quo vadis? To the Lizard Lounge, baybeeee!
Live: Electric Zeus at State Park Bar
A psych rock barnstormer unfolded in State Park Bar on Sunday, part of the regular calendar of music events at the beloved basement bar at One Kendall Square.
But there’s nothing “regular” about Electric Zeus. The indie rock-meets-raga ensemble rolls deep, packing in three to four times the musicians of your average band. Jessie Gallagher (Apollo Sunshine), musician and certified hatha yoga instructor, arranged them in rows like a kindergarten choir. The shortest up front, seated crisscross applesauce, and the tall kids in back, totaling around eight, nine, 10 players in all.
We can’t be exact with the numbers. Musicians floated in and out of the ensemble throughout the continuous two-hour first set, an amorphous glob of glorious sound, undulating like a petri dish full of copulating amoeba.
Just know that there were a lot of musicians, which means a lot of instruments. Standard rock ’n’ roll gear such as guitars, drums and keyboards and samplers. Jazzy, orchestral add-ons such as violin, cello, clarinet, saxophone and turntables. Appalachia-meets-world music obscurities such as jaw harp, jugs, finger cymbals, jingle bells and a goddamn ocarina. It takes a village of sound to power Electric Zeus.
The music swelled and surged, advanced and retreated like the tide. There were vocals, but the utterances seemed to form themselves in shapes other than words, channeling a cosmic hum rather than communicating a particular message. If there was a message, it was a message designed to undo messaging, to draw us out of our all too common states of individual alienation into a shared communal presence. And I’m not talking about that “sharing” you do when you blast out a meme to strangers via a smartphone.
Or something like that. The new year is a good time to reflect on the big stuff. Isn’t it strange that clocks and calendars, which are supposed to measure advancing time, operate in a cyclical fashion? 11:59 always finds its way to 12:01, December always turns to January. You’d hardly know that time is passing at all …
Except that we grow old. We feel time passing in our flesh and bones. We feel time passing in the changing landscape of loved ones, who arrive too late and leave us too soon. Clocks and calendars may run in circles, but we feel the forward movement of time in sore bodies and aching hearts.
You don’t need me to say it, but I’ll say it anyway. Pour one out for Jimmy Carter, and let’s treat each other better in 2025 than we did in 2024.
Michael Gutierrez is an author, educator, activist and editor-in-chief at Hump Day News.
The post was updated Jan. 2, 2025, to change language around exploration of a change in management at theater and music venues in Somerville and Arlington.
A stronger
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