Gig Watch – November 2022

Shows not to miss in and around Boston for the month of November.

Halloween is over and the skeletons are packed away in their closets ’til next year – that must mean it’s time for another gig roundup. Here are this month’s picks:

11/1 – Peel Dream Magazine / Winter @ Lilypad

A dreamy double bill glides into Inman Square, featuring the lounge-y RIYL-Stereolab-core of Peel Dream Magazine and the shoegaze stylings of Winter.

11/4-11/5 – The 1975 @ MGM Music Hall

U.K. artpop luminaries The 1975 kick off their first North American tour in 3 years in Connecticut early this month before swooping into MGM for two sold-out shows. A tough ticket, but for one of the more intimate rooms you’ll be able to see the band in anytime soon.

11/9 – Actor|Observer @ The Rockwell

Local post-hardcore crew Actor Observer play a hometown record-release show for their forthcoming Songs for the Newly Reclusive at Somerville’s Rockwell Theater.

11/11 – Undeath @ Sonia

One of death metal’s most buzzed bands brings their tour in support of this year’s great It’s Time…to Rise from the Grave to Cambridge with a fittingly wild support bill including 200 Stab Wounds, Enforced and Phobophilic.

11/12 – Sunburned Hand of the Man @ Lilypad

Boston psych scene veteran Kris Thompson celebrates his 60th birthday with a specially-curated gig at The Lilypad topped by long-running local experimentalists Sunburned Hand of the Man, joined by Matt LaJoie and Dyr Faser.

11/13 – Mercyful Fate @ MGM Music Hall

Black metal progenitors and all-around legends Mercyful Fate played their first U.S. show in over two decades at Psycho Las Vegas this past summer, and they’ll finally hit the road in earnest this fall with German thrash vets Kreator and Cleveland speed metal maniacs Midnight. Never turn down an invitation to a dangerous meeting with the King.

11/14 – Bartees Strange @ The Sinclair

Genre-omnivorous singer-songwriter Bartees Strange continues his ascent, celebrating the release of June’s Farm to Table with a tour that hits The Sinclair with guests Pom Pom Squad and Spring Silver.

11/15 – Cloud Nothings @ The Sinclair

Dylan Baldi and company mark ten years since the release of Cloud Nothings’ instant-classic breakthrough Attack on Memory with a fall tour, supported by former locals Speedy Ortiz.

11/16 – The Smile @ Roadrunner

The second-ever U.S. show for the new project from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood (and Sons of Kemet’s Tom Skinner) goes down at Roadrunner mid-month. Sold out, unsurprisingly.

11/18 – Alvvays @ Roadrunner

On the heels of their great new record Blue Rev, indie pop darlings Alvvays headline far and away their biggest Boston show to date at Roadrunner.

11/19-11/20 – Turnstile @ Roadrunner

Capping off a banner week for Allston’s newest venue, Baltimore punk upstarts Turnstile will headline their biggest local shows yet in support of last year’s world-conquering Glow On. Indie rockers Snail Mail open both nights, while Saturday will also feature Mary Jane Dunphe and Sunday will welcome Boston’s own Fiddlehead.

11/20 – Will Sheff @ Crystal Ballroom

Upon the official-unofficial retirement of the Okkervil River name, bandleader Will Sheff hits the road behind his first record under his own name, October’s Nothing Special.

11/23 – Amon Amarth @ MGM Music Hall

Swedish melo-death vets Amon Amarth will bring what’s sure to be a party worth of the Viking gods when they storm into town alongside a stacked bill of heavy music legends that includes Carcass, Obituary and Cattle Decapitation.

11/25 – Exhumed @ Sonia

Splatter-happy deathgrinders Exhumed couldn’t put on a dull show if they tried. Expect the sparks and blood to fly as the band sets out on the road behind their latest slab of brutality To the Dead.

11/26 – Guided By Voices / Dinosaur Jr. @ House of Blues

Two giants of indie rock team up for a killer post-Thanksgiving double bill. The scheduling might keep GBV under the 50-song mark for the night, but probably not far under. Comedian Eugene Mirman opens, in a fun twist.

11/29 – Palm @ The Sinclair

Philly oddballs Palm – one of the more engrossing and sonically out-there indie “pop” bands of recent vintage – get back into the swing of things this year with a tour promoting their excellent new record Nicks and Grazes. 

11/30 – Mclusky @ The Sinclair

Caustic Welsh noise-rockers Mclusky have been kinda sorta reunited for a few years now, but hadn’t brought the production stateside. That changes this fall, where they’ll be playing 2002’s unstoppable Mclusky Do Dallas in full during a run that stops at The Sinclair to close out the month. See you in the pit.