Moon Over Salem, a marvelous two-day arts and culture fest, returns Sept. 12-13. Just ahead of the spooky season in a spooky city, which is not an unimportant detail.
If you’ve been a Masshole long enough, you’ve had the experience of out-of-state family and friends talking to you about Salem and its most famous historical episode. There’s a short list of Bay State topics that people from elsewhere feel comfortable enough to spitball about with zero preparation.
These topics include …
The Celtics. Uggg. Not this year. Next!
Lobster rolls. Too expensive. Only for tourists (try monkfish instead – the “poor man’s lobster”). Next!
Karen Read. Will this ever end? Next!
That leaves us with the Salem witch trials. We all pretend to have studied the 17th century hullabaloo on the North Shore at some point in school. Let’s be honest, the main wellspring of our knowledge comes from TV, movies and sundry googling.
What did it all amount to? A case of mass hysteria crossed with a superstitious and (my deepest apologies to Third Way) patriarchal culture that literally “demonized” women to the extent that the townspeople started hanging them as witches. Pour one out for Bridget Bishop and the gang.
The only bit of genuine witchery that Salem ever pulled was convincing generations of tourists that their witch-sploitation attractions and haunted tchotchkes were worth your hard-earned dollars.
Don’t get it twisted. Salem is great. But we can tell our out-of-state friends and family that it’s great for any other reason besides the witch history. Food, arts, culture, nightlife, the actual nonwitch history (shout out to the House of the Seven Gables, subject of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel). And we can tell them to visit outside of the spooky season, unless bachelorette parties behaving badly is their thing.
If you’re headed north in the second week of September, pull through Moon Over Salem. Twin headliners Rebuilder and Choke Up are at the top of the bill, aided by the visual artistry of Digital Awareness, abetted by dozens of other artists scattered among the multiple stages of Salem, including Tigerman Woah, Layzi, Battlemode, Mallcops, Cape Crush, Impossible Dog, Harmony’s Cuddle Party, Jiddo, Lesotho, Pintail, Spirit Hotel, The Croaks, Bus Crush, Vivid Bloom and, believe it or not, “many more.”
Tell ’em Cotton Mather sent you for a free drink ticket.
Hit this
Friday: Blush, sunshy, Circus Trees (Lilypad, Cambridge)
Singapore’s Blush is touring its latest album “Beauty Fades, Pain Lasts Forever” through The Lilypad. Their dreamy, gazey, washed-out pop designs sound like a throwback to indie sleaze. Chicago noise poppers Sunshy joins them, along with local sadcore support Circus Trees. This bill was originally scheduled for The Rockwell, since relocated. If you made an early bird purchase, hopefully you’re the type to double check the event info before the night of the show. Always double check the info!
Wednesday: Willie Fest III (Warehouse XI, Somerville)
Somerville mayoral candidate Willie Burnley Jr. should just set up a cot at Sanborn Court. Between Willie Fest I at The Jungle, the forum on arts and culture this Monday and Willie Fest III, both at Warehouse XI, and sundry special events dotted around the scene, he’s a local fixture. The latest fundraising event features musical guests The New Noise, My Chemical Chungus and See You at Rogers, plus a DJ set. That’s a solid rock ’n’ roll triple stack, Somervillians. Go expand your mind and, if you’re not already registered to vote, get it done.
Sept. 4: M-Dot & Confidence (Middle East, Cambridge)
A “Library of Sound Album Release Party”: Boston rapper M-Dot teamed up with producer Confidence to create a lush and gritty East Coast experience titled “Library of Sound.” The rapper has been a mainstay on the scene for years, keeping the lamplight of Boston hip-hop lit. This release party gathers longtime inspirations such as Big Shug and other guests such as EMS, Aztech from Hybrid Thoughts, Jake Cuts Fresh and more. House rules: “No vaping or smoking in the building.” Good luck with that.
Live: Gary Air at The Rockwell
Psych rockers Gary Air (rhymes with “derrière”) convened with family, friends and fans at The Rockwell for a laid-back mix of covers and originals Wednesday. Since releasing their self-titled debut in January, the five-piece has plenty of originals to pick from.
Frontman Cole Guerriere (rhymes with “derrière”) has a gentle and melodic voice that, when accompanied by his bandmates, harks back to the layered harmonies of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Add into the mix some sweet James Taylor tenderness, ’70s pop instincts and neo-jam band influences, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a groovy night out.
Included among the covers was David Bowie’s “Changes.” A song that hangs its hat on themes of generational clash and the inevitable drift of artistic novelty as one trend displaces another in the endless revolution of cultural evolution.
Yet here we are in 2025, vibing on a rock ’n’ roll hit from 54 years ago. Opener Vetyver also brought an old school, blues- and jazz-based sensibility. So much for the revolution. Hat tip, Francis Fukuyama.
Can you imagine the baby boomers at Woodstock cutting loose to Canned Heat’s version of 1915 showstopping tunes such as “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” and “I’d Rather Be a Lamp-Post on Old Broadway”?
I mean, I can – but can you?
Michael Gutierrez is an author, educator, activist and editor-in-chief at Hump Day News.
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