Welcome to Hump Day News guide to big music venues: Boston and Beyond Edition. Looking for medium or small venues instead? Get out there!

Have updates to suggest? Email us at info[at]humpday[dot]news.

The Venti Mofos

Big, bad, baller arena-type venues. Some have history and charm, others are corporate creations. For what you pay, you should be getting state of the art sounds and performances by the heavy hitters.

Big Night Live

110 Causeway St, Boston, MA 02114

Web

Big Night Live: Live Reviews

BMAs 2023

Scream Velvet

Boch Center Wang Theatre

270 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116

Web

Fenway Park

4 Jersey St, Boston, MA 02215

Web

House of Blues

15 Lansdowne St, Boston, MA 02215

Web

House of Blues

May 20

May 20, 2024

Echo & The Bunnymen

May 20, 2024

House of Blues: Live Reviews

A Dinosaur, an Ohioan, and a Comic Walk into a Bar…

Leader Bank Pavilion

290 Northern Ave, Boston, MA 02210

Web

MGM Music Hall

2 Lansdowne St; Boston, MA 02215

Web

MGM Music Hall at Fenway

Jul 31

An Evening with Regina Spektor

Roadrunner

89 Guest St, Boston, MA 02135

Web

Royale

279 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116

Web

Sanders Theater

45 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Web

Sanders Theater: Live Reviews

The Fabrication of Light

TD Garden

100 Legends Way, Boston, MA 02114

Web

The Palladium

261 Main St, Worcester, MA 01608

Web

Tracks

Ty Segall: “Void”

Garage punk, sure. But the art core impulse is unmistakable here.

Blame Shifters: “Social Creeps”

You keep waiting for the song to blast off.

Sonic Youth: “Expressway To Yr. Skull”

Sonic Youth knew how to massage the feedback.

Amulette: “Bozé”

Mathprog from “Western, MA.”

Jlin: “Iris”

Got that tremolo rocking on the synth sample, right?

Blondshell: “Docket” (ft. Bully)

Collaboration is fun.

Doug Paisley: “Life To Go”

The artist takes on a song by George Jones.

Muzzins: “We Can Be Together”

Like they say on The Bachelor: “I apprishiate you.”

Stirrup: “Chill Cot”

Fractured experimental jazz going sixteen ways at once.

Britti: “Reach Out”

Straight outta New Orleans!

Genital Shame: “Taste Rot”

The metal’s so black they named it twice.

Frances Chang: “Eye Land”

Moony psych indie rock is in the offing.

Trailer Swift: “Cross My Heart”

And hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.

Tiny Wine: “Replace It”

A sweet sounding medium fi indie rock ditty.

Helado Negro: “Colores Del Mar”

A quizzical pop enchanter.

Melkbelly: “Precious Cargo”

An uptempo post punk bone rattler.

Perennial: “Action Painting”

Gobs of garage rock action.

Albums

FACS: Still Life In Decay

The Chicago artcore band has work in the morning.

Angel Bat Dawid: Requiem For Jazz

Angel Bat Dawid versus Mozart in a steel-cage match. Who you got?

Pile: All Fiction

Pile’s ninth album. Better than Beethoven’s Ninth?

Eddie Japan: Pop Fiction

Eddie Japan's elegant new wave pop opera, Pop Fiction.

Nighttime: Keeper Is The Heart

Go back to the future with Nighttime’s time-traveling wyrd folk spectacle Keeper Is The Heart.

Horse Lords: Comradely Objects

“Fusion” is a genre-descriptor that is constantly on the verge of utter uselessness.

Keeley Forsyth: Limbs

Can we befriend the specter of silence?

Maneka: Dark Matter

Maneka writes a new chapter in rock n roll with its latest LP.

Living Hour: Someday Is Today

The gazey, dreampop excursion takes us into a languid interior dimension of emotional transcendence.

Kitner: Shake The Spins

Kitner tells the story of life lived at the tail end of a boozy buzz, with another night of debauchery on the way.

Twen: One Stop Shop

Twen charts a course across the sound waves of trans-Atlantic pop on their LP One Stop Shop.

Iceblink: Carpet Cocoon

Ambient is no longer the province of purely theoretical sound experiments. Enter Iceblink.

Mamalarky: Pocket Fantasy

A gooey, 12-stack musical layer cake, shotgun-blasted with rainbow sprinkles by a laughing clown.

NNAMDÏ: Please Have A Seat

NNAMDÏ ghosts his songs before they ghost him. But you’ll love Please Have A Seat anyway.

Already Dead: My Collar Is Blue

Already Dead remembers punk’s roots in political dissidence on their latest LP My Collar Is Blue.

Dear Nora: human futures

The band out of Joshua Tree gets real about life, memory, and crustaceans.

Live Reviews

Club Dub

Dub Apocalypse come out for Tami-Fest II at Sally O’Brien’s.

Tom Yum Soup Is Good

Daniela Schächter Trio is not background music at The Mad Monkfish.

And The Winner Is…

The Ghouls take the W in the Rumble Finals at Sonia.

Steve Albini Is Dead

Puppy Angst didn’t kill him at The 4th Wall.

Theremin. Period.

Brontez Purnell wears a shirt at O’Brien’s Pub.

Home Again

Oneohtrix Point Never goes home Again at Royale.

Drop The Charges

Circus Trees sway in the three-ring breeze at The 4th Wall.

I Want!

Helado Negro sexes the symbol at The Sinclair.

My Plans Were Spoiled Years Ago

The George Garzone Quartet laid four on the floor at The Mad Monkfish.

Next Stop, Finals

Gut Health top the bunch to win a Finals berth at Sonia.

Two Out of Four

The Ghouls fly to the Finals at Sonia.

A Big TV Program

Yoko Miwa is ready for her closeup at The Mad Monkfish.

The New Thursday

(t-t)b phone home at Silhouette Lounge.

Marathon Monday

Dwelley crosses the finish line at The Jungle.

JP Jammerz

Pledge Pins serve cookies at Midway Cafe.

Ain’t No Democracy

Tiny WIne stares into the eclipse at Silhouette Lounge.

The 1st Annual Christian McBride Festival

Christian McBride isn’t in Arlington, Texas at the Regent Theatre.

270 Volts of Electricity

Wire Lines grab the third rail at the Middle East.

What’s In The Suitcase?

Gut Health travels heavy at the Middle East.

Ready, Set, Go

Sunshine Riot rains down on you at the Middle East.

Portland Calling

J. Graves plays the faves at Deep Cuts.

Bougification

Good & You? names their EPs with numbers at Union Tavern.

Mancala Up

This Day In History never forgets at Deep Cuts.

Sitar? I Hardly Know Har!

Elephant Stone slips back into the dream at The Rockwell.

Flight of Whiskeys

Donna Byrne Quartet jazzes the lounge at The Mad Monkfish.

Respect Boston

Edo.G, Big Shug, and Akrobatik hip the hop at the Middle East.

Dan’s Back From Theater Shit

Jiddo humps the night at Silhouette Lounge.

The Last Laugh

Jerry’s Got Jokes gets the last laugh at Midway Cafe.

Land Ho!

Dwayne Haggins subs the terranean at Lizard Lounge.

Ex Are My Copilots

Ex Pilots fly ex planes at Silhouette Lounge.

The Backyard

Bent Shapes: Feels Weird

From the Archives, Feels Weird doesn’t feel weird at all.

Interview: Lord Jeff

A chat with Lord Jeff from the Archives.

Letter from the Editor

Quiz Time! The Hump Nights giveaways get an upgrade.

Interview: Arms and Sleepers

A chat with Arms and Sleepers from the Archives.

Letter from the Editor

Hump Day News reflects on what the site fucked up (and did right!) in 2023.

One Door Closes, The 4th Wall Opens

Andrew Stern; interview with DIY venue 4th Wall organizers; and more.

AER079: You Can Be A Wesley

An Ampeater Review of You Can Be A Wesley from the Archives.

Just Ask Ansel

The nation’s leading incel advice columnist on love and life.

Letter from the Editor

Hump Day News kicks off Hump Nights.

Sharon Is Carin’

The nation’s leading wellness goddess on living better.

Letter from the Editor

Hump Day News supports Bandcamp United on May Day and every day!

Interview: Sammy Yager of Birthdays

A chat with the Sammy Yager of Birthdays from the Archives.

Just Ask Ansel

The nation’s leading incel advice columnist on love and life.

Interview: Shoney Lamar and the Equal Rights

A chat with the busking bluesman of Boston & company from the Archives.

Letter from the Editor

‘Change or die’ is the motto. Better than ‘change and die.’

Interview: Great Waves

A 2009 interview with Great Waves, an indie Americana act out of the Northwest. And a message for Ashley’s dad.

Boston Guide to Large Venues

The Venti Mofos

Big Night Live

Boch Center Wang Theatre

Fenway Park

House of Blues

Leader Bank Pavilion

MGM Music Hall

Roadrunner

Royale

Sanders Theater

TD Garden

The Palladium

Tongue Love In Broad Daylight

Joan Shelley: “Like The Thunder”