Giuseppe Verdi's rapidly complicated, frequently histrionic, infrequently performed opera Ernani plays like a telenovela on fast-forward with the volume turned up. Opera Boston's production, which opened Friday night at the Majestic Theatre, is exactly what you think opera looks like: there's candelabra, and wigs, or hair carefully styled to look like wigs, and more red velvet than David Lynch could shake a stick at. The labyrinthine plot—a story of imperial intrigue overshadowed by a......

The Boston Pops announced today that Symphony Hall will, on June 27, play host to a show that could very well be one of the highlights of the summer concert season here in Boston. Josh Ritter, singer-songwriter and Bostonist favorite, will grace the Symphony Hall stage for a special creative partnership with the Pops. It's the latest in a series of innovative collaborations for the Pops, who will team up with Natalie Cole, Natalie Merchant,......

Much as the Dropkick Murphys are part of the Boston fabric, much like the marathon and the Red Sox, they might have stretched themselves a tad too far with their latest adventure. Red Sox Monster noted that they opened a sports bar today--McGreevy's 3rd Base Saloon at 911 Boylston. Fine and dandy. The Dropkick Murphys love the Sox, but the language of the release is remarkably Planet Hollywood: "The result is an unmatched Irish Pub......

Well, Bostonist was thinking Bon Jovi, but Fenway Park delivered something quite different, smooth crooner Neil Diamond. Of course people will be thrilled to see Mr. Diamond on August 23 since his song "Sweet Caroline" is the icing on the cake at every Red Sox game. So good, so good ... Diamond even unveiled the news in a taped announcement at the home opener. But what is going to happen when he sings something other......

A Bostonist was in the thick of the action at the Bang Camaro show, and she was properly rocked.......

In Mozart's delightfully farcical opera Così fan tutte, everyone is culpable. The title—roughly, "They're all like that"—refers to the fickleness of Woman, the hypothetical Fiordiligi and Dorabella in particular (sung by Leah Sapko and Kristina Reagle in Thursday's performance) but their fiancés Ferrando and Guglielmo (David Vogel and Jonathan Nussman) likewise prove themselves to be utter cads in the course of their very complicated attempt to prove the sisters' fidelity. The Boston Conservatory production, set......

Bostonist couldn't help but get misty-eyed when we read on Boston.com of how Newton teen Nathan Alden Robinson was posthumously honored during NBC's mini-marathon of "The Office" on Thursday night. Robinson, 15, died in March of of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, pneumonia, and influenza; the youth was a budding piano talent and a huge fan of the NBC television show. As the Globe noted in its obituary, Robinson learned the show's theme song a few weeks......

After months of "will they, won't they" rumors and days of "wow, they will" anticipation, the New Kids on the Block announced on the TODAY show this morning that they are officially reuniting. A new album and new tour are in the works, and the band's first live performance will take place on May 16, at New York's Rockefeller Plaza. The local media has been abuzz with ideas about what this could mean for NKOTB's......

Boredoms, the long-running Japanese noise and experimental music group, have always had a strange popularity. They are probably the only band who prefaced a career on Warner Bros. Records by releasing an EP called Anal by Anal. (They have since moved to the indie label Thrill Jockey.) But Bostonist was still taken by surprise when we learned that their Saturday show at the Paradise Rock Club had sold out. People have listened to this......

The music festival where unsigned bands from around the world mingle with underground heroes, cult faves, and superstars. Since this Bostonist still hasn't made the pilgrimage to South By Southwest, a trip through the Internet tubes gave us an idea how our local bands fared. It's a mind-blowing proposition for the rabid music fan who wants to maximize quality or quantity, even before it swelled to its current size. What started as a laid-back......

If you didn't get enough of the Dropkick Murphys over St. Patrick's Day (and we freely admit that you may have overdosed), Activision has made a pack for Guitar Hero III so you can play along to the Dropkick Murphys to your hearts content, which we first heard about at HubArts. The Globe says you can download it from XBox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Store. While that's all well and good, can we get......

Consistency is an underrated virtue in these challenging and changing times. Just as you can count on the stock market to recklessly bounce up and down like a fat kid on a trampoline, for years Boston has been able to count on the reliable Emergency Music to deliver the goods for the able ear. Delegates of pop perfection, old Emergency will headline an increasingly rare appearance this Saturday at T.T. the Bears. Bostonist caught......

Juventas New Music Ensemble & OperaHub present Tramps, Emails & Hemlock Seully Hall, Boston Conservatory, 8 The Fenway March 18, 19, and 22 at 8 p.m., $6-$24 (20% discount if purchased through the Juventas web site) J. Jacob Krause was demanding something unusual of some singers leaning over some unusual props: more salivation directed at the laptops, please. Bostonist had slipped into Seully Hall in the midst of a dress rehearsal, where OperaHub and Juventas......

Mountain Goat chief songwriter John Darnielle may not have much control over his instruments, but he certainly has power over the audience. Throughout the band's Saturday night show at the Middle East, Darnielle had issues with tuning and at one point lost an earplug in his pocket. The audience so did not care. Darnielle could have gone onstage and tripped over a cord. The audience still would have loved it. When he emerged onto......

Missy Higgins Acoustic Borders Downtown Crossing Tomorrow, 1:00 pm, Free Usually, when a show is sold out, Bostonist says "Do what you must." Go to craigslist, go to StubHub, work your connections or plead at the door. Well, we don't need to say that for Missy Higgins, whose show in Boston tomorrow night is sold out. You can still see her perform at a free lunchtime gig. Even if you haven't heard her but work......

Music Hometown keytar heroes Freezepop have returned from touring the world (okay, Florida, and the Rust Belt) to once again rock Cambridge, with the help of the The Information, The Main Drag, and Michael Hensley. Middle East Downstairs, 8 pm, 18+, $14. Beer Harpoon will hold its St. Patrick's Festival at the brewery on 306 Northern Avenue. Wear galoshes because the floor may well be slick with beer. Harpoon Brewery, 5:30 to 11:00 pm,......

Books Sarah Boxer bravely prowled through the blogosphere to share its treasures with us in Ultimate Blogs. Of course, Go Fug Yourself makes the list. Brattle Theatre (via Harvard Book Store), 6:00 pm, $5. Edit: Event has been moved to Harvard Book Store --If you've been reading Bostonist for a while, you might know how we feel about the potential of wind power. A while ago, we read this barnburner of a book about......

We’ve always had this weird love/hate relationship with instrumental music and the bands who play it. One the one hand, instrumentals are transcendentally personal, evoking a different image or concept in every listener. What’s sad to one person might be peaceful to another. There’s no singer telling us exactly what the piece is about. Also, instrumentals require a certain technical mastery on the part of the musicians that songs with vocalists can slide on, less......

Books Is it possible to be saved by the Sex Pistols? The answer to that is a resounding yes. Michael Patrick MacDonald will be reading from Easter Rising, an account of his youth in the Boston punk scene, at Brookline Booksmith. Bostonist had the opportunity to hear him read from the book when he spoke at UMass-Boston, and we say with great emphasis that this is a must-see, not just for those who love......

Music and Cryptozoology A set of local organizations--Cloud City (aka Ben Sisto), The Footlight Club, and the Milky Way--are throwing a fund-raiser for 826 Boston. In a match made in heaven, the bookish Harry & the Potters will be the main event, and the openers will be Pants Yell! If you're nice, Bigfoot might show up in the shadows. Be observant. The Footlight Club, 7A Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain, 5:30 doors, 6:30 show, $12.......

Music Annie Clark went to Berklee, paid her indie-cred dues in Sufjan Stevens' touring band and the Polyphonic Spree, and named her solo project St. Vincent after a church where which she fell in love and the hospital where Dylan Thomas died. Her songs are chamber pop clad in synthesizers and charm. Middle East Downstairs, 8 pm, 18+, $12. Carnal Carnival Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys know how to throw a......

Short Cartoons You saw the nominees for the Live Action Short Film Academy Award last night; come back to the ICA for the contenders in the animated category. Formats include traditional 2D animation, CGI, and claymation. Check out the John Lennon interview film "I Met the Walrus." Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Avenue, South Boston, 7:00pm. $7/$9. Recover Heal a broken heart with laughter. Ben Karlin has assembled a collection of raucous breakup......

Books --Charles Bock's Beautiful Children isn't as delicate as it sounds. A couple reels after their child vanishes in the Las Vegas desert--only it's so, so much more than that, and it's received a flood of attention. The Globe thought Bock threw too much into his debut, but everyone seems to agree that he's ambitious. Brookline Booksmith, 7:00 pm, free. Speaking of free, he's letting you download the book without dropping a single dime.......

Daft Punk's Electroma Gus Van Sant, Isaac Asimov, and a French-loving raver walk into the desert... Not a joke, but the vibe of Daft Punk's art-house film debut that debuted at Cannes in '06. In what could either be called a long-form music video or a 74-minute silent movie, it's a beautifully-filmed story that touches on some classic human themes, but in a really twisted way starring robots. (It better have been filmed beautifully......

Music Atlas Sound, featuring Bradford Cox going solo during Deerhunter's hiatus, hits the Middle East tonight, riding a wave of praise for his new project. Cox's hometown weekly, Atlanta's Creative Loafing, raves, "Let the Blind contains Cox's most haunting and sad songs to date. It throbs with delirious depression, and is bursting with powerful, barely contained emotions." For those of you who can handle strong emotions in the bleak winter, Cox is your fella.......

Saturday, March 1st NUIT ELECTRONIK Ricardo Villalobos Dandy Jack, Ric Y Martin w/ DJ Vincent Lemieux, DJ Poontz, Che Vi Che, DJ Bliss Metropolis (59 Sainte Catherine East) Montreal, Quebec 10pm-8am Tickets: Availble Here Mutek: Website Facebook: Event page It's time for that impulsive road trip to get you ready for spring. And there is no better way than this. Read on for information on the event, as well as setting up your travel......

Oscars Hooray that the writers' strike is over, and we can see overmedicated stars and their pretty dresses walk the red carpet! Regarding the actual movie-picking, Reel Hub is a touch grouchy due to the shadiness of the Oscar voting process. If you'd like to watch the festivities with others, dress up for the Fafarazzi.com Oscar party at Lir, 903 Boylston, Boston, 5:00 pm. Travel Plans The Boston Globe Travel Show is on at......

Dancing Hipsters Probably most famous for dating producing transatlantic hipster heartthrob MIA, Diplo made his name DJing. He's a dance music polymath who introduced the world to Brazilian Funk Carioca and Baltimore Club while inspiring a legion of white guys in skinny jeans to invest in Serato Scratch Live. He spins in Allston tonight. Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave, Allston. 9:00 pm. $15. Music --Darkbuster's Hometown Throwup continues with Hub City Stompers, The Allstonians,......

Art Somerville's Nave Gallery has brought us thoughtful installations before, but their new "Ghost Town" sounds positively compelling. Artists imagine our earth in a process of transformation, with cities growing and shrinking, populations moving, people interacting with nature, and everything cycling both naturally and unnaturally toward growth, decay, and chaos. Might sound like a bunch of hippie nonsense, but we think it makes for some appealing art. "Ghost Town" runs through March 21 at......

Movies The MFA calls Les Saignantes "the first science fiction film to come out of Africa," which should be reason enough to see it. But did we mention that it has won comparisons to Russ Meyer? And that it's about a group of women determined to rid their distopian future world of all men? Cameroon director Jean-Pierre Bekolo wins Bostonist's seal of approval. Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, 6:00pm (also screening Sunday). $8/$9......