The Weekender, Nov. 10-12: Harvest Fest, puppets and Veteran’s Day

Chris Ross and the North

1. Now here’s some proper November weather — sunny, chilly, crisp, below freezing at night, all that jazz. I’m not saying I prefer it, but I am saying it’s appropriate. On this seasonable weekend in Bangor, on Friday night you can take your pick for entertainment, from either local heroes Chris Ross and the North at the Sea Dog, vinyl DJ night at Nocturnem Drafthaus, or rockers the Lost Woods at Paddy Murphy’s; up in Orono, Wyld Lyfe plays at Woodman’s, and the Fremont Street String Band plays at Black Bear Brewing. On Saturday, Dave Mello plays at Nocturnem, Fules Gold is at Paddy’s, Driven is at Sea Dog, and Draw the Line is at the Downunder Club at Seasons. On Sunday, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra‘s next concert in its season is set for 3 p.m. at the Collins Center for the Arts, featuring violinist Rachel Lee Priday.

David Crosby, pictured in 2012. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

2. Friday is a whopper of an evening in Portland, with more cool stuff to do than you can shake a stick at. First off, there are two really special events — King Friday’s Dungeon puppet slam — a puppet cabaret! — is set for 7:30 Friday (and Saturday) at Mayo Street Arts in Portland, and at the Space Gallery, there’s a fundraiser for Hurricane Maria relief, featuring Milo, Lina Tullgren, African Dundada, Lisa/Liza and Kafari. Elsewhere, roots and jam bands are featured, including Carbon Leaf and Will Evans at Port City Music Hall, Pardon Me Doug at Portland House of Music, and Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters at One Longfellow Square. For local showcases, there’s Town Meeting, Planet Nowhere and Timothy Jackson Scott at Empire; Rigor Samsa, Fonfon Ru and Computer at Sea at Bayside Bowl; Liz Hogg, Random Ideas and the Asthmatic at Geno’s, and Nice Life, the English Muffins and Safe Word at the Apohadion. And that’s just Friday! On Saturday, Chris Ross and the North, Cannonball Bootstrap and Joel Thetford are at Portland House of Music, Five of the Eyes, Added Color and Quad are at Empire, Beggars and Mannequin Republic are at Bayside Bowl, and Riverton Diesel, Battery Steele and Retro Grave are at Geno’s. On Sunday, David Crosby and Friends are at the State Theatre, Dan Deacon and Friend Roulette are at the Space Gallery, and the Movement and New Kingston at Port City Music Hall.

Barn Arts’ Rocky Horror Show

3. On the Midcoast, there’s a truly unique assortment of things to do, starting Friday, with the quarterly Pecha Kucha night at the Camden Opera House, magician Nash Fung is at the Unity College Center for the Performing Arts, night one of two nights of the Rocky Horror Show live with folks from the Barn Arts Collective, 7:30 p.m. Friday and 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, at the Strand Theatre in Rockland, and songwriter Tom Albury at Rock City Coffee and Kirk Rouge at Rock Harbor Brewery, also both in Rockland. On Saturday, The Tune Squad plays at Thresher’s in Searsmont, the Bill Barnes Jazz Trio is at Rock City Coffee, and Shane McNear plays at Rock Harbor Brewery.

Maine Harvest Festival 2016, BDN file photo

4. This weekend brings the seventh annual Maine Harvest Festival, a two-day celebration of the incredible diversity of Maine’s farms, growers, makers and brewers, set for Saturday and Sunday at the Cross Insurance Center. More than 100 vendors offer food of all stripes (to bring home and to eat there), gifts, dry goods, gardening supplies and more. Admission is $8 for adults ($5 for veterans/military) and free for kids 12 and under. I’m a big fan of this event. It’s insanely easy to spend a lot of money there, and I kind of don’t mind that at all.

5. Finally, Saturday is Veteran’s Day, a day to thank all our military members, those and alive and those not with us, for their service. In Bangor, the parade starts at 10:15 and runs from the Brewer Shopping Mall to downtown Bangor, while in Portland, the parade starts at 11 a.m. at the corner of State and Congress. There’s also an extensive listing of events up on our BDN events page. 

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.